Port Blair, Nov 22: The Lt. Governor, Lt. General (Retd) Bhopinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM today inaugurated the Andaman and Nicobar State Data Centre (ANSDC) in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology (DBRAIT) by unveiling the plaque. Thereafter, the Lt Governor launched the Employment Exchange Mission Mode Project and mobile-governance initiative-‘SMS alert for electricity billing and payment’ by clicking the mouse button followed by rollout of 12 Common Service Centres (CSCs) in rural parts of South Andaman.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor stated that the limited electronic penetration within the Islands and poor connectivity with other parts of the country is the major bottleneck in using Information Communication Technology for governance as well as for economic development. To overcome this vital challenge of connectivity, the Administration had taken up an ambitious project of laying undersea cable which will connect all remote Islands, which will also bridge the digital divide with the rest of the world. The Administration is in the process of signing an agreement to provide optical fiber connectivity with all Panchayats. Thus, unlimited bandwidth will go a long way in creating much needed employment opportunities for the younger generation.
He further stated that the State Data Centre will function as core infrastructure to the existing as well as future e-governance applications for efficient delivery of services. The launch of the employment enrolment application to bring the employers and employees on a single platform will also make things easy for employment seekers by registering their names at the nearest Common Service Centre, he added. He further stated that very soon people will be exposing the employment enrolment and other applications over internet for “any-time, any-where” access by the citizen. The start of the SMS alert for payment of electricity bills is another step in providing IT related services to the citizens. Once the payment is made, the alert will also be issued to the registered mobile telephone of the customers.
He noted with appreciation that some departments have already developed software applications for delivery of different services and with the State Data Centre and all these applications will be migrated to the Data Centre with necessary modification to make these services accessible through internet or Common Service Centers. He further stated that by January 2013, the State Portal will be launched and 80 services will be rolled out before March 2013. Once this is done any citizen can submit his application electronically to the department concerned either from his home using internet or by visiting the nearest Common Service Centre.
The administration has also taken up the task to set up the State Wide Area Network and efforts are being made to put it in place before April 2013, to provide connectivity for all G2B and G2C services up to block level through 256 Common Service Centers. The response of the 10 Common Service Centers opened in the Municipal area has been quite encouraging and 12 new centers were rolled out today in the rural areas of South Andaman District. By April 2013 29 Common Service Centres will be rolled out in the Middle and North Andaman and by August 2013, 9 Common Service Centres will be rolled out in Nicobar District as well.
Referring to the land record computerization process, he stated that massive work have been undertaken by the Revenue Department for computerizing the land records and soon the citizen will be able to collect the Right of Records from any one of the Common Service Centres along with maps which are presently under digitalization.
Stating that IT is one of the key department with huge growth potential, the Lt Governor expressed confidence that with several IT projects in the offering, soon the Islands will overtake other states in providing IT related services to the islanders.
A welcome dance performance based on the theme song of National e—Governance was presented by the student of BRAIT on the occasion. A video presentation on IT initiatives in the A&N Islands was also made before the Lt Governor on the occasion.
Earlier, welcoming the chief guest and others, the Principal Secretary (IT), Smt Reena Ray highlighted the initiatives taken-up by the IT department for development of Information and Technology services in the Islands. She further stated that vigorous efforts are being made to put the A&N Islands in the IT map of the country. The function concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by the OSD (IT), Mr. A. James.
