A National Informatics Centre (NIC)-designed software, e-Office, is set to make government offices more efficient and transparent work places by minimising the paper work. Soon after moving to the office, the tech-savvy Narendra Modi dispensation issued instructions to the ministries to fast-track adoption of e-Office to phase out the use of paper, according to a senior Cabinet official. To start with, officials will be trained to operate eFile to ensure effective and transparent inter- and intra-government processes. eFile, an integral part of e-Office, is a file tracking system designed to make government departments paperless by scanning, registering and routing the inward correspondence attachment, draft for approvals and movement of files as well as receipts. “Once the officials are trained and the system is in place, we will ask the states to send proposals and other documents through the file-tracking channel,” a rural development ministry official said. The official said though the NIC had been working on the e-Office project for quite some time, it is now in the fast-track mode after the ‘directive from the top’ last week. An NIC official said it will take only a month to train 400 staff in the rural development ministry on the management of eFile, which will include the features of existing manual handling of files with addition of a more efficient electronic system. The eFile system involves all stages, including the “diarisation of inward receipts, creation of files, movement of receipts and files and finally the archival of records”, the official said. According to the NIC, with this system, the movement of receipts and files becomes seamless and there is more transparency in the system since each and every action taken on a file is recorded electronically. “This simplifies decision making, as all the required information is available at a single point. It envisions a paperless office, with increased transparency, efficiency and accountability of the organisation,” said the NIC.
