‘e-district’ project to make 25 services online at the click of a mouse in four months
31 Oct, 2013The State Apex Committee held under the chairmanship of Union Territory Adviser K K Sharma has decided to roll out the ‘e-district’ project that would make 25 services online at the click of a mouse in the coming four months. The required software for the project would be implemented by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which would ultimately lead to making a total 64 services available for the public in the next two years. State Wide Area Network (SWAN), State Data Center (SDC) and network of Sampark Centres would be used to deliver the services in electronic form to the citizen via Internet.
The e-district programme is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan and was conceptualised by the Department of Information Technology and duly approved by the Government of India. The other Mission Mode Projects being implemented in Chandigarh includes Computerisation of Treasuries, Excise and Taxation Department, Police etc.
All the departments involved in the projects would be provided with the desired infrastructure to enable them to deliver the services electronically. The important services covered under e-district project includes - issue of birth certificate, death certificate, senior citizen card, new electricity connection, payment of electricity bill, payment of water bill and applying for bus passes. The 'e-district' project also includes a module for filing of applications under the Right to Information Act electronically.
The project involves provision of electronic application forms on the Internet, which the users can submit online to the concerned department. After processing the application, an SMS would be sent to the applicant after which the digitally signed certificate can be downloaded.
Such a system is likely to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. It is time that such a project is implemented at the national level instead of a piece meal basis.