INDIA Capacity building of government staff for e-Governance
The government is planning a massive capacity building drive to train government staff in the various ministries and departments who do not have the skill-sets required to implement the e-Governance projects. This will speed up the e-Governance projects of the Government of India under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), which is due to be implemented aggressively. The national e-Governance Plan (NeGP) covers 26 Mission Mode Projects (MMP) and eight support components, to be implemented at the Central, State and local government levels. The fundamental requirement towards fulfilling this goal is to build capacity of the implementing staff. Towards this, the government plans to use the expertise of not only the existing government officials but also 500 professionals with project management and process re-engineering skills from external agencies who will be hired on a contract basis for a three-year duration. Besides, the Government of India is also to launch a new project called ‘e-district’ soon.
Rethink on the need to conserve e-Libraries During a workshop recently conducted on ‘Care and Maintenance of Library Materials’, Prof. NR Satyanarayana, Head of Library Science, Lucknow University, suggested that the National Research Laboratory for | August 2006
NEWS REVIEW Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC) needs to work in the direction of preservation and conservation of e-Libraries and digital libraries. Tracing the history of library materials from clay plates to bhojpatras to paper and now e-libraries, Satyanarayana said that NRLC should work on computer storage devices such as disks, CDs etc. Trainees from over 10 libraries across the country attended the 5-day workshop. The trainees are being trained on how light, heat, biological agents lead to different kinds of deterioration in library material and about de-acidification, stain removal and also the storage, transportation and packaging of library materials. National Institute of Smart Governance, a nongovernment organisation formed under the aegis of the Andhra Pradesh government, NASSCOM and the Ministry of Information Technology are assisting the MOIA in implementing this project.
e-Payment for BSNL customers Emigration goes IT way! In a significant step aimed at boosting business reengineering process and eGovernance, the Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) has decided to computerise 20year records, and also standardise the format for applications and the processes. Besides, steps would be taken for computerisation of database, system integration and streamlining of processes. According to MOIA minister Vyalar Ravi, the automation of the emigration offices would simplify the immigration process, lead to speedy clearance and make the emigration offices transparent. With computerisation, the ministry would be able to access data of its eight centres from Delhi and get weekly updates on the number of applications.
Leading state-owned Indian Telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to introduce e-Payment system for its customers. With the completion of the project, all bills for both cellular and landline phones would be made through electronic payment. Previously, phone bill payment was made through cheque, which was cumbersome and time consuming. Announcing the switch over plan to e-Payment mode, BSNL has issued directives to all circle heads to gradually migrate to the e-Payment mode. 37