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What is your vision and strategy for enabling e-Government in your state?

There are various projects, which we perceive will be fruitful in the near future.  So far our eDistrict pilot project has benefitted people to a large extent in the  trial period. Looking on to the success of the project we will be implementing  eDistrict in a year to further 45 districts of the state. eDistrict has been  envisaged by Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP) as automation of  workflow and internal processes of district administration with the possibility  of seamless integration of various departments for providing services to the  citizens. The Government of India (GoI) intends to provide a facility for people  to put applications online with a ‘Front Desk Interface’ of the grievances and  proposals. To enable eGov, MP has been the pioneer in developing and  conceptualising IT to deliver services. The recently implemented Madhya  Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Act, 2010 is first-of-its-kind in India. No  other state has come up with such a ground breaking legislation to facilitate  public services to common man. At present National Informatics Centre (NIC) is slowly being engaged by the Department of Information Technology to  provide network backbone and e-Governance support to our Government  centrally. It offers a wide range of ICT services including Nationwide  Communication Network for decentralised planning, improvement in  government services and wider transparency of national and local  Governments.

Can you elaborate on ICT projects being implemented across departments in the state?

Majorly, Madhya Pradesh Agency for Promotion of Information Technology (MAP_IT) takes care of the ICT projects. The state is finalising the tenders and  the process of approval for various projects. The state data centers, NIC data  center and MP online data centers are gradually being established to facilitate   the process. The whole of MP is being computerised gradually with a constant process of upgradation centrally. The e-District project has been enabled by  creating an efficient IT enabled delivery mechanism for citizen services/ information being delivered from District Administration and its subordinate  offices. The electronic security and control of confidential data has made public  cases/appeals/grievances dissemination of information processes  faster. Transport department has developed an online payment gateway in  collaboration with State Bank of India. MAP_IT has initiated project of e-Tendering to be implemented across all the Government Departments and  Statue PSUs in MP. The contract has been awarded to a consortium of Wipro Ltd  and NexTenders (I) Pvt Ltd (Wipro-NT).

Has the state been able to set up MAP_IT as per promised in the state policy? How has it contributed in the development?

MAP_IT has been set up and has contributed a lot to the state infrastructure by  streamlining the processes. The whole state is networked and involves the  contribution of two centers. State e-Governance Mission Team (SeMT) is  providing support to the State Apex Committee and PeMT, as an advisory body  for providing an overall direction, standardization and consistency for  undertaking the ground work.

Do you have policy on standardisation and plans  for having legislation on cyber security and information security?

Yes, we do have certain policies to follow and maintain cyber security. GIS is  very well implemented in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Content Service  Provider has been very well identified. The IT department is working on Unicode policies to be followed strictly in all districts. All the websites of the  state will be in Unicode Fonts, common look and feel and with content relevant

“Map_it has been set up and has contributed a lotto the state infrastructure the processes” “Map_it has been set up and has contributed a lot by streamlining the process”

to the user group the site is intended for. MP online is providing services to  urban people with special focus on providing facility to the rural users with a  project implemented by the Cyber Security Division. MP is the first state to  implement Cyber Treasury with increasing literacy; citizens demand better  services from the government, in the shortest time, at the place of their choice  and in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.

Your website states ‘The government has also initiated changes in labour laws  to make them more favourable to IT industries.’ Please Comment.

IT policy states investment promotion and concessions for labour. The state  also leverages exemption from factories act, maternity act, contract labour act,  payment of wages act, minimum wages act, ESI act. Ladies are allowed to  work in shifts and thus various industries attract labour with such flexibility in  their acts. CSCs have been struggling for viability and sustainability in all states  in the country.

How are you proposing to fix these issues in your state?

Fortunately, the status of MP is marginally better as the state provides almost  130 services. In the department of education we have all exam forms available online for PSC, and other professional entrances exams. These websites are  doing good business. e-District project has also made few services viable to the citizens and expanded their work towards CSC. The state has provided best to  improve financial health and attracted good business. We have also realised  that the use of such websites is higher in urban areas, therefore initiated in the  rural areas too in order to help easy processing. The registration fees is  renewed as per the business made by the user. ICT has contributed in the financial inclusion of the state. SBI is in the process of becoming a  correspondent to NREGA. This has brought a good income to PSUs. As of now,  here have been 600 new business correspondents  in the state. This has further  helped in improving the financial state of the region and given a boost to the  economy.

Please shed some light on the state’s IT policy.

MP government had announced its IT policy in the year 1999. The policy was  revitalised in 2006 and new IT policy was launched with fresh willingness to  bring e-governance and IT investments in the state. State’s IT policy  emphasises induction of IT in all walks of government functioning with focus on  asses and aims to  leverage IT for transparency and better governance. It is one  of the leading states in terms of adoption of IT and works aggressively towards passing on the benefits to citizens.

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