e-Governance Initiatives in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh, India’s second largest state, lies across the very heart of the country, occupying an area of 3,08,144 sq. km. Surrounded by five states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan. Its central location in India, has remained a crucible of historical currents from North, South, East and West. Its central location makes the state a strategic hub with many logistical advantages. Easy reach, convenient travel and good connectivity make Madhya Pradesh a choice destination.

IT Policy

Foreseeing the opportunity of growth in the Information Technology sector, Madhya Pradesh government had announced its IT policy way back in 1999. The policy ushered the state into the 21st century. The objectives of IT policy are as follows:

  • Improve the life of the common man leveraging the strengths of e-Governance
  • Attracting investment in the sector so that the educated youth is able to contribute to the development of the State
  • Create a pool of highly skilled professionals who are at par with the best in the country.
  • Transforming Resource Based Economy to Knowledge Based Economy.

e- Governance initiatives of Government of Madhya Pradesh

Government of Madhya Pradesh in the last two to three years has implemented several e-governance projects. State’s IT policy emphasizes induction of IT in all walks of government functioning with focus on masses and aims to leverage IT for transparency and better governance. The following are major projects that have been undertaken;

Commercial Tax Department: The department is the largest revenue-earning department of the government of Madhya Pradesh. A comprehensive computerisation project which offers instant information access of the dealers and also offers major processes of the department ‘on-line’ has been implemented. Department’s internal functions such as payroll, pension related activities, personal information processing has also been made on line.

Treasury and Accounts: Integrated Treasuries Computerization Project (ITCP) is a major e-Governance initiative by Government of Madhya Pradesh. While its coverage extends to entire state (229 locations), through 53 district treasuries, 159 sub-treasuries, serving almost 8000 drawing and disbursing officers belonging to all departments of the State Government the facility provided in this project. The project won Golden Icon Award for the exemplary Horizontal Transfer of ICT based Best Practice for the year 2007.

Land Records: State of Madhya Pradesh has prepared a database of Land records in the country. In the State of M.P. the Land Records of all revenue villages have been computerized, i.e. the textual data of land records are 100% converted into electronic form. Computerised land records are updated on regular basis with the facility of automatic weekly backup. Thirty Five million Khasra (Plot/Survey) numbers comprising of 11 million Landowners have been computerized.

Directorate of Technical Education: Directorate of Technical Education, Madhya Pradesh act as coordinating agency between Government, Industry and Institutions and to advice and assist the Government in the all round development of technical education. Letter entry system, Pay bill System, Admission Systems, Gradation System, Court System, MIS System and Budget System works towards the e-Governance initiative.

Transport Department: This project aims to computerise transport department’s activities by issuing Smart Cards for Driving Licenses and Vehicle Registration. The project was implemented on BOO (Build Own Operate) basis by a service provider. MP is pioneer state in usage of IT for better service delivery on PPP model. Presently all activities of RTO offices are computerised. Information of vehicles registered in MP available  via SMS & Internet. Citizen friendly site: www.mptransport.org.

Mandi Board: The project is modeled on public private partnership basis. The project empowers the farmers with the latest information on the rates, arrivals etc. in the neighboring state / national Mandis. This not only improved the effectiveness of trading in the Mandis but also brought transparency in the Mandi operations Received several e-gov awards (Golden Icon, CSI, Development Gateway etc)

Urban Administration and Development Department: In Madhya Pradesh following cities have taken initiatives in e-Governance and has resulted in improved public service delivery Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khandwa, , Ujjain Raisen, Dabra, Balaghat.

Krishinet: Krishinet project is developed for strengthening / promotion of ICT at the State, District, Agricultural Block and grass root level and departments for faster information exchange / dissemination.

e-Tendering in Madhya Pradesh: As part of its e – Governance plan for state of Madhya Pradesh and as an effort to standardize the procurement process, the State Government decided to implement an Electronic Tendering solution for use by all its departments/PSUs and authorized Madhya Pradesh Agency for Information Technology (MAP_IT) to select a suitable service provider for the implementation.

Department of Registration & Stamps: This Department is responsible for the stamps and registration of various types of documents, mostly related to property transfer in the State.

Mponline: The Government of Madhya Pradesh has developed its online citizen services portal by the Joint venture company of Government of Madhya Pradesh and TATA Consultancy Services Limited.  MPOnline on the lines of the Vision of the GoMP, provides citizen services in the areas of health, education, agriculture, government services, and business to the majority masses in the Rural Madhya Pradesh.

State’s ICT Initiatives in Education: The state strongly believes that information and communication technology can yield significant outcomes in improving the quality of education.

Headstart – A Computer Aided Learning Program for Students and Teachers: Under the District Primary Education Programme, the State in the year 2000, initiated a computer-enabled education programme called “Headstart”. The programme uses computer as a teaching learning tool at elementary education level.

Edusat – Connecting the Isolated: Edusat – the satellite launched by Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad, is full of communication technology potentials in terms of provision of video/data broadcast using the DVB-RCS technology. The State strongly believes that the potential of Edusat should be utilised at the optimum level in the school education sector. In collaboration with IGNOU and ISRO, Initiative for Edusat supported elementary education program was started on December 17th 2005. As of date, 700 schools in Sidhi district and 30 schools in Jabalpur district have been provided ROT facilities. Based on the research findings, the program shall be reviewed and modified accordingly.

Common Services Center (Csc) Project: The Government of India has formulated the National E-Governance Plan with the vision of providing all government services in an integrated manner at the doorstep of the citizen, at an affordable cost. The NeGP envisions a three pillar model for delivery of “web-enabled Anytime, Anywhere access” to information and services in rural India. These are: Common Services Centers (CSCs), State Wide Area Networks (SWANs) , National Data Bank/ State Data Centres (SDCs). The CSC Scheme, as approved by the Government of India. CSCs operates as the front-end delivery points Madhya Pradesh State has about 55,000 villages. A total of 9232 CSCs is being set by January 2009, one for every six villages spread over entire 48 districts of the State, when the Scheme gets fully implemented.

State Wide Area Network (SWAN) Project: The Deptt. of IT Govt. of India has approved the project for establishment of State Wide Area Network up to block level in MP at a cost of Rs.174.21 Crores. The establishment of SWAN will be extremely helpful in providing reliable connectivity for various e-Governance applications of different departments. The project envisages connecting all block headquarters to the State Capital through districts & commissionaires.  M.P. State Electronics Dev. Corporation Ltd has been designated as the implementing agency of the project. The first installment of the grant has been received by MPSEDC. Swan will be in place by December 2008.

Appointment of CIOs, Creation of Web sites by Deptts. & Training: With the efforts of IT Department, presently, around 30 departments/ agencies have appointed their Chief Information Officers (CIOs). This initiative is expected to contribute in having a nodal officer for IT activities in the department, making an IT Plan of the department, Sub head for IT- for allocation of resources etc. IT department is coordinating with various departments to have their websites/ portals for better delivery of information and services to citizens. Department also conducts seminars, workshops and organizes training programs to create awareness among senior officers of the Government about IT, its uses and how IT can improve governance.

National e-governance Plan (NeGP): The capacity gaps are identified in the Capacity Building Roadmap and the amount of money required for sustaining these activities are elaborated in the Detailed Project Report.MAP_IT has been identified as the State e-Governance Mission Team [SeMT] which shall act as a catalyst for e-Governance projects.  It is also expected to play the role of a friend philosopher and guide.

National Informatics Centre [NIC]: NIC, Madhya Pradesh State Centre has played a big role in providing e-Governance solutions to the state. It provides State-Of-Art Networking Solutions for the establishment of Internet/Intranet/Extranet and providing specialized services over specialized technologies such as LAN/WAN/Wireless/VSAT/Leased Line/Dialup etc.  NIC, Madhya Pradesh is connected over 2×4 Mbps Leased Line with Head Quarter (HQ) and 44 District locations are connected over 2 Mbps Leased Line with  State HQ.

Video Conferencing: Video Conferencing services are operational since September 2004. NIC has established Video Conferencing Studios at 48 District locations, Secretariat, CM Residence and State HQ. On an average 35 Video Conferencing sessions are held per month and Madhya Pradesh is the highest among all states in the utilization of VC Services. Utilization of Video Conferencing Services has been registered in the Limca Book of Records.

Mail Messaging, Internet and VPN Services: NIC has provided approximate 5000 E-mail and 300 Internet accounts for the various Government Officials. NICNET/Internet services have also been extended to various Bhawans like M.P. Vidhan Sabha, Mantralaya, Satpura Bhawan, Academy of Administrations and Narmada Valley Development Authority over Wireless.

e-PDMS (Public Distribution Monitoring System) for Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Protection, Bhopal:
In order to strengthen the Public Distribution System, under government of India notification for PDS (control), NIC, State Unit Bhopal has developed a Computer-based system for Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Protection, M.P.

e-CCENAIS [Crop Cutting Experiments for National Agricultural Insurance Scheme]: National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) was introduced in the country from the 1999-2000 Rabi seasons, replacing the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (CCIS) which was in operation in the country since 1985.

e-PROOFS (Electronic Processing of Firms & Societies) for Registrar, Firms and Societies, M.P., Bhopal: The system (e-PROOFS) deals with the computerization of the Registration process and other activities of Societies and Firms at the Registrar’s office, M.P.

Agricultural Marketing Information System Network (Agmarknet): AGMARKNET caters to the availability of prompt and reliable market information about arrivals and prices of commodities which considerably improves the decision making capability of the farmers and strengthens their bargaining power.

PANCHLEKHA: A Panchayat Raj Institution Accounting System Software (PRIAsoft). Designed, developed and implemented in most of the districts of Madhya Pradesh since 2005. The system is aimed at efficient management and monitoring of funds at Janpad Panchyat, Zilla Panchayat & State Head Quarters and is empowering the administrators to monitor the fund receipt, availability and expenditure at all four-tier administrative setup of PRIs.

Result Processing System for Rajya Sikhsa Kendra, Bhopal: Designed and developed to Computerize basic students information, processing of results (for 5th and 8th class Board Examination) followed by subsequent dissemination of information on Internet and generation of Analytical Reports. Successfully implemented in 38 districts of Madhya Pradesh since September 2006.

e-Gram Suvidha: Implemented in Collectorate / Zila Panchayats of 5 districts (Chhatarpur, Bhopal, Mandla, Dhar & Damoh). e-GRAM Suvidha is a Geomatics-based Decision Support System towards creation and management of facilities at village level in rural areas. It covers about 20 facilities organized under 10 major sectors like Education, Health, Communication and Roads etc.

Departmental Monitoring System in Mantralaya, M.P.: It is the Intranet based System which allows all the Departments at Mantralaya, M.P. to access the information pertaining to CM letters, CS references, Cabinet Decisions, CM Announcements and other related information and update its status over the net. The information is retrieved by all the concerned for the monitoring purposes. G2G system, Information Retrieval, Updation of the Status and Speedy Disposal of Matters

Computerisation of the Office of Chief Minister: Implemented in Office of Chief Minister , Govt. of MP. Lot of Computerisation is done in the office of the chief minister. This includes development of softwares for keeping track of mail received from Public & its representatives, monitoring of CM Announcements and implementation of Manifesto, Maintenance of C.M. Relief Fund , Monitoring of Announcements made by the Hon’ble CM and petitions received during Jan Darshan Programme.

Computerisation of Office of Chief Secretary: The office of the Chief Secretary being the office of head of administration deals with various important issues. The various softwares developed and implemented for the purpose of monitoring. These includes Mail Monitoring System, Cabinet Decision Monitoring System and File Monitoring System.

PARAKH (Basic Services/Amenities Management System): Government of Madhya Pradesh, recognizing the fact that access to minimum level of social infrastructure facilities must be an integral part of a strategy for improving the quality of life of the people and for eradicating poverty. GoMP has introduced the Basic Services/Amenities Management System called “PARAKH” for improving the delivery of the Basic Services/Amenities in Rural Areas of the state. For this purpose, a computerized system for maintaining the Basic Services/Amenities is put into place.

Web-based RuralSoft Monitoring System: RuralSoft is a computerized Web-based monitoring system for monthly progress of various developmental schemes of Department of Rural Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh.

WaterSoft (PHEMIS): Watersoft (PHEMIS) is a Web-based solution for effective management of Water Resources , Schemes/Programmes (Rural/Urban Water Supply Schemes), Equipment Information, Water Quality, Contractor Information, Material & Stores, Total Sanitation Campaign, Finance & Works Accounting.

There are some more projects in the pipeline awaiting its implementation by NIC.

OUTCOMES

Some of the major outcomes of adopting e-Governance are as follows:

  • The citizen benefits because there is transparency, efficiency and integrity in his dealings with the government; furthermore, there is easy information access. Convergence of services and delivery mechanism for deserving beneficiaries and vulnerable groups and extending outreach.
  • The government benefits because it reduces redundancy and duplication. The processes of data collection, analysis and audit are made much easier. Decision making gets expedited and there can be tremendous improvements in specialised areas such as criminal justice, transport etc.
  • The business community benefits because e-Governance can become a catalyst and a channel for e-Business, Furthermore a web-based government will enable tax paying online, reduce corruption and bending of laws.
We at Madhya Pradesh envision the commitments made to the citizens and works for nurturing our dreams come true.
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