BHOPAL

THE MADHYA Pradesh government has embarked on an ambitious task to introduce

e-governance that seeks to computerise and network all government departments, and set up computer kiosks across the state to reduce transaction time and costs for citizens interacting with state agencies.

The computerisation of various departments has already started and is likely to be completed by April this year, according to a senior information technology department official.

After networking all the state agencies, tenders will be invited from private companies to set up 7,500 computer kiosks in various parts of the state that will be linked to the government network.

The kiosks will enable people in remote areas to transact most of their work —- be it obtaining government documents and records, getting licenses, permits or certificates or paying taxes —without visiting the government offices, the official said.

Priority is being given to computerising the revenue earning departments like commercial tax, land records and transport. Subsequently all other departments will be computerised and linked to the government network.

The computerisation of the commercial tax and land records departments will not only allow the citizens to pay taxes and land revenue online through the kiosks, the government will also be able to keep a track of the tax dues and revenue earnings.

Similarly, with the computerisation of the transport department, the people will be able to register their vehicles, obtain licenses and road permits etc. through the kiosks. The facility of digital signatures will be used for issuing certificates, permits and licenses.

The transport department is also going to introduce a digitized "smart card" to vehicle owners, which will contain all the information about the registration of the vehicle, the vehicle owner and license etc. Under the project, the toll barriers will also be computerised and connected to the government network.

"The idea behind introducing this system is not only to ensure convenience to the people but also to make it easier for the government to function while removing red-tapism and ensuring transparency," the official said.

The government will not invest any money in setting up the kiosks and will give them on contract to private entrepreneurs, the official added. However, the fee to be charged by the kiosk operators for offering services will be decided by the government and a strict vigil will be kept to ensure that the people are not over-charged.

Moreover, those setting up the kiosks will be required to use fiber optic cable, which ensures faster Internet access, and will either have to lay their own cable or take it on lease from the State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam or private sector telecom services provider AirTel.

BSNL and AirTel at present have a network of 18,000 km of fiber optic lines laid across the state for telecom services and another 15,000 km of fiber optic line is likely to be added this year.

The official said India’s diversified conglomerate Reliance Industries, which is laying its own network of fiber optic lines for long distance telephony, has evinced a keen interest in the kiosk project and is working on the modalities with the government. — IANS

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