Gujarat has taken a series of groundbreaking steps that mark out Gujarat as a role model of e-governance in India.

Projects

GSWAN – the backbone of e-Governance applications

The Gujarat State Wide Area Network is one of the biggest IP (Internet Protocol) based network in the Asia Pacific and connects over 12,000 nodes of more than 2300 government offices in 25 districts and 225 talukas with the state headquarters in a closed user group.

The GSWAN essentially is the backbone of all e-Governance activities in Gujarat and this massive network enables a seamless video, voice and data connectivity down to the last mile.

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BISAG – Application of Space Technology and Geo-informatics for Development

BISAG- Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Application and Geo-informatics is a state level nodal agency to facilitate the use of spatial and geo-spatial technologies for the planning and developmental activities pertaining to Agriculture, Land & Water Resource Management, Wasteland/Watershed Development, Forestry, Disaster Management and Education.

Equipped with a rich satellite data archive, a multi-disciplinary team, a state-of-the-art Remote Sensing, GIS and Image Processing Laboratory, SATCOM facility and an Academy of Geo-informatics for carrying out research and training - BISAG has been instrumental in helping developmental planning, natural resources audit and supporting decision making processes across departments.

BISAG has developed very useful softwares like PRAGATI, Image Processing Software and SDIS - An Satellite imagery archival and retrieval software. Gujarat State has received National Award in the Best Product Category for “PRAGATI” software at Elitex-2005 organised by Department of Information & Technology, Govt. of India. www.bisag.gujarat.gov.in

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SICN – State-of-the-art connectivity

The Sachivalaya Integrated communication Network (SICN) enables excellent connectivity between the various government offices. The electronic telephone system with over 7000 connections handles around 1,25,000 internal calls and a further 70,000 calls outside the network each day. The system has resulted in tremendous savings for the government on internal calls and also provides enhanced facilities such as voice mailbox, conference calling, CCTV and disaster communication. A state-of-the-art Server Farm integrated with the network has been commissioned with web servers, DNS servers, mail servers and database servers to enable the government departments to host and manage their websites locally.

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IWDMS – Streamlining Documentation for knowledge – led governance

Being a repository of information, the Secretariat plays a crucial role in the governance of the state. Decision-making and policy — Formulation processes within the Secretariat involve receipt, dispatch and maintenance of a huge volume of correspondence. For improvised governance, it is hence critical to have an efficient document control & monitoring mechanism in place. Integrated Workflow and Document Management System (IWDMS) is a perfect fit solution which addresses these concerns and aims to standardize and streamline document management by leveraging the established networks in the Secretariat (Departmental LANs and GSWAN).

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Digital Signature Certificates – For a secure digital world

Gujarat is the first state in the country to set up a Public Key Infrastructure for Digital Signature, which facilitates authentication and validation of digital documents. The GNFC promoted (n)Code Solutions has been awarded the commercial Certifying Authority License from the Controller of Certifying Authorities, Ministry of Information Technology for the issuance and management of Digital Signature Certificates under the Indian cyber laws. The PKI Project of GNFC has also won the e-Gov Project (Technology) award at CSI 2005.

Disaster Management – The most humane applications of Information Technology

SDRN - State Disaster Resource Network - is one of the key projects initiated by the state under the Disaster Risk Management Programme. It is a comprehensive database of disaster management related inventory which is so critical for an organized response in case of a disaster.

With complete information on the disaster prone zones, vulnerable elements, demographic data of villages, socio-economic profile, search and rescue equipment availability, emergency contact numbers etc. already keyed into the system, this becomes an excellent decision making tool for the government machinery to respond quickly to emergency situations, mitigate such disasters and minimize the damage.

Citizen Convenience Centres – Setting standards in One-Day Governance

The citizen’s charter is a set of almost 72 events/ occasions wherein a citizen comes in contact with a municipal corporation, a mamlatdar’s office or a collectors office.

Whether it was for payment of taxes and utility bills or for registration of birth or death, a visit to the government offices used to be a harrowing process for the citizens. Long queues at every counter of the ancient and dilapidated work places and apathetic employees behind these counters were accepted facts of life. All this has changed now. The once dusty, gloomy and highly bureaucratic offices have evolved into Centres of Excellence. These Citizen Convenience Centres now provide impeccable services at mind boggling speed.

All types of certificates, applications, affidavits and licenses Eg. Issue of an Income certificate which used to take 25 days earlier, now gets done in a day. Successful implementation and functioning of City Civic Centres in Ahmedabad and Vadodara has led to the replication of this model in five other municipal corporations.

e-Nagarpalikas – One-Day Governance for everyone

The exemplary success of the One-Day Governance model in cities and bigger towns has captured the imagination of government, citizens and regulatory bodies across the state. 121 Nagarpalikas have already started offering the benefits of One-Day Governance to the local citizens. And by the end of 2006, all 141 City Civic Bodies will evolve into e-Nagarpalikas.

Certificates, Licenses, Street light complaints, Garbage removal requests, Water tap applications – all these are now just a click away, and citizens in smaller towns too are experiencing a ‘never before’ convenience and transparency.

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Gyan Ganga – The river of knowledge

Gyan Ganga is one of the most ambitious initiatives of the Government of Gujarat to ensure wireless internet connectivity to all 18,000 villages. At the heart of the Gyan Ganga is corDECT - a technology based on Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) - specially developed by IIT-Madras.

Rural citizens can now access a host of online services such as e-mail, Internet browsing, land records, rural job opportunities, status of various government projects etc. and even consult specialists through video conferencing for their agricultural, veterinary and healthcare queries.

Today, over 400 kiosks are already operational in several talukas and 1000 villages will be networked by the end of 2006. Over the next few years, Gyan Ganga will reach all villages and e-Governance services available through e-Gram would be integrated on this network.

e-Gram – e-Governance at the Panchayat level

The basic objective of e-Gram is total computerization of the Gram Panchayats. This e-Governance application entails computerization at the village level itself for instant processing of birth & death registration and issuance of certificates such as agriculture, caste, income and electricity. The computerization also includes tax collection and issuance of certain forms.

Encouraged by the successful implementation of a pilot project in the Valukad village of Bhavnagar, the government has set a target of implementing this e-Gram concept across all villages of Gujarat. By now 8835 Village Panchayats have been covered with e-Gram facility. Efforts have been continued and it has been planned to equip all 13753 Village Panchayats to have e-Gram facility by 31st March 2007. Panchayat Department has planned to roll out e-Gram services in all villages of Gujarat State. Government aims to make these centers self sustainable and therefore it has been decided to provide Technical and Training Support to these e-Gram Computer Centers.

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e-Dhara – Land Records Online

The objectives of initiative-Dhara are to ensure an efficient, accurate and transparent delivery mechanism, facilitate conflict resolution in ownership, provision of electronic records of rights to land owners at nominal rates and empowerment of land owners through timely and accurate information.

This user friendly system with a local language interface benefits citizens as well as the administration. The land owners can get printed copies of their land-holding documents with ease and tampering with revenue records is minimized. From an administration perspective, the data retrieval is now simpler and detailed reports of land use, crops taken, source of water, type of electrical equipment fitted, trees etc. can be instantly generated.

As a part of the e-Dhara project, 98 lakh 7x12 forms and 54 lakh 8A forms have already been computerized and available online at the taluka offices. A pilot has also been successfully undertaken to provide land records from village itself in Lodhika Taluka of Rajkot District and guidelines have been issued for its replication in all other villages.

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Talim Rojgar

This dynamic portal site is a virtual employment exchange that handles a database of over 11 Lakh job seekers from all over the state.

Data related to all the jobseekers registered in the 36 employment exchanges of Gujarat is registered on this site, making it one of the biggest and most comprehensive database of jobseekers. Prospective employers can make use of this database free of cost

Talim Rojgar has already facilitated employment to thousands of youth and this site not only brings unemployed people within easy reach of the prospective employers, it also offers career tips, vocational guidance, and useful information on self employment opportunities and training schemes.

SWAGAT – An epitome of transparency

SWAGAT - State Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology, is a unique online grievance redressal system to put the common man in direct touch with the highest office in administration.

The 4th Thursday of every month is a SWAGAT day and citizens can walk in any district ‘Jan Sampark’ office and register their complaints. All complaints are registered and sent to the relevant departments for redressal. These departments have to be ready with their responses by 3 pm the same day. The DDO, Collector or the SP concerned have to remain present for the video conferencing meeting and the CM personally addresses these issues and recommends appropriate steps to resolve them.

With the CM himself keeping a vigilant eye on the pending issues, there has been a marked change in grievance redressal and in just 3 years, over 25,000 grievances have been effectively resolved. Little wonder that Manchester University has recognised this application as a model case of e-Transparency.

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SWIFT - State Wide Information on Financial Transactions

SWIFT facilitates Finance Department and other Government Departments for monitoring the financial transactions done by the department itself and their sub offices at respective District Treasuries and Pay and Account Offices (PAOs).

Financial transactions and its monitoring is a vital part of every Government Department. The Departments are mainly collecting the inputs from the lower level offices and deriving the expenditure incurred and its funds availability. The majority of these transactions are done through treasuries and PAOs and all the treasuries and PAOs have computerized their operations & connected to GSWAN. This has provided the opportunity to disseminate the information to each office and its head office simultaneously. Initially it started with the online status and voucher information for each bill. Now the data from all treasuries and PAO is compiled at state data centre on daily basis and consolidated statements are generated at each level.

CCIS - Comprehensive Case Information System at High Court of Gujarat

CCIS is developed to take care of a case from the stage of filing to its disposal and centralised counters are setup for filing & issue of processes like notices, writs etc. Several statistical reports for monitoring purpose are generated on daily/monthly/yearly basis. Public centric applications like availability of case status at the query counter and on the internet, advocate wise cause list, simple copy of the order/judgment instantly, certified copies of the judgment / orders, list of registered matters of an advocate over a period of time, advocate diary (passbook facility for the advocates for getting the copy of cause list / orders / filing list etc.) are operational.

Court Case Monitoring System (CCMS), a web based application has also been developed for facilitating Government Departments for monitoring the proceedings of their cases in various Courts.

IDS - Integrated Disease Surveillance System (IDS)

NIC has developed IDS for Department of Health and World Health Organisation (WHO). For 16 identified diseases, data of new cases and deaths are collected weekly at Remote Units, Corporation Hospitals and Medical Colleges (Hospitals attached to it). Data on weekly basis is entered at the district level and transferred to Central server at Gandhinagar for detail analysis including District wise details of new cases and deaths. Comparison of syndromes and laboratory results can also be obtained. Concerned authority can monitor the status of remote units who have not reported data in last four weeks.

e-PRIMA (Panchayati Raj Institutes – Maintenance of Accounts)

e-Prima is primarily designed considering recommendations of 11th Finance Commission for monitoring the utilization of local bodies grant for the development of Gram Panchayat, Taluka Panchayat and District Panchayat by using Information Technology (IT). Local fund officials will monitor financial data and progress of funds, income, expenditure, sources of revenue. This system captures data of Opening and closing balance of PRIs, works carried out in PRIs under particular schemes, income and expenditure, closing balance, financial progress of funds received from CFC, State Government, own funds etc. Trainings have also been conducted for District, Taluka Panchayat staff, Talatis, Sarpanch, etc. about use of the system.

HMIS – Health Management Information System

The Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) has been envisaged to not only help the administrators to have better monitoring and control of the functioning of hospitals across the state using decision support indicators but also assist the doctors and medical staff to improve health services with readily reference patient data, work flow enabled less-paper process and parameterized alarms and triggers while patient treatment cycle. The HMIS monitors pre-defined health indicators and the embedded exception reporting enables decision making by the hospital management and state level administrators for policy and strategic decisions.

Government’s futuristic plan for IT Savvy Manpower

Government is contemplating CCC and CCC Plus courses for Government employees. The content of these courses will address the change in the requirements for training government employees in today’s context. Moreover, DOEACC “O” level certification State Government is considering proposal for making compulsory for the new entrants in the government. Thus, Government is ensuring that it has IT Savvy Manpower in the long run.

Industry-Institute Linkages – College to Career Programme

Government of Gujarat in collaboration with IBM had conducted a project INVITE – Initiative to Nurture a Vibrant Information Technology Ecosystem in 2005, which concluded in March-2006.

Under this program, more than 1800 Engineering & MCA students of about 31 colleges from 9 Universities have participated and they have developed a Prototype solution for local E-Governance needs at various levels. Under this project, technical seminars and workshops have been conducted in major cities across the state to benefit local IT Professionals and college teachers.

The Final Analysis

Happiness and prosperity of the citizens is the only legitimate objective of any good government. And the government of Gujarat is on the right track.

Whether it is ration cards or old age pensions; smart card licenses or gram panchayat computerization; city civic centres or land records digitization Gujarat is a state where technology has synchronized with civic needs.

Red Tapism is being eliminated Transactions are now absolutely transparent Government offices are getting into a ‘less paper’ environment File processing is now faster and efficient Government employees have evolved into proactive Karmayogis

Be it the urban citizens in cities or the rural populace in remote villages the distance is dead and Good Governance is just a click away...

The One-Day Governance concept is already operational in all the 225 talukas and citizens are reaping the real benefits of IT. Earlier, the minimum number of tables through which each application moved was 65. Now the number of tables through which each application in the citizens charter moves ranges from 5 to 30. And that too, electronically. This transformation has not happened overnight. It called for an overhaul and re-engineering of existing processes.

“To my mind, technology is an enabler and good governance essentially is a management project. I believe, in the years to come, Gujarat will emerge stronger as a state simply because of the empowerment of the masses that is happening all along.”

- Shri Narendra Modi, Chief Minister, Gujarat