May 2007
ICTD Project Newsletter
ICTD Project Review Workshop It is time to take stock of the ICTD project since the project is now moving into its final phase with only a few months to go before the project ends. This workshop focused on the lessons learnt which would be useful for replication and upscaling.
T
he United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country programme for India has set as its priority ‘the goal to work towards promotion of sustainable human development and elimination of human poverty and inequalities’. Along with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT), Government of India, UNDP conceptualized the project ICT for Development (ICTD) for the period 2003-2007, laying emphasis on the vital role that ICTs can play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Government (NISG) is responsible for project management and monitors the progress of these projects. A Review Workshop was held at Shimla on May 3-4, 2007 to assess the current status of all the pilot initiatives and focus on the Plan of Action for the pilot initiatives for the next 6 months and the steps to be taken by partners to move towards project closure and assessment. The workshop was attended by senior officials from MoCIT, Government of India and UNDP, along with representatives from each of the project partners.
Thirteen pilot initiatives are being funded under four themes, namely - Integrated Citizen Services, Rural Livelihoods, Governance, and Women’s Empowerment. These pilots are being implemented by project partners like state governments and non-government organisations.
A brief summary of the various projects presented at the workshop, their key discussion points and outcomes have been enumerated below.
The National Institute for Smart
DRISTI, West Bengal Hindole Dutta, DPRDO, Burdwan and Ranjit Maiti, Joint Secretary, Dept. of Panchayat Raj, Govt of West Bengal presented the status
of the project DRISTI, which seeks to create IT-based solutions for all major functions of the Panchayats (village level governance units), including micro planning at village level and providing updated information to all the stakeholders for promoting transparency and accountability. The project is being piloted in Burdwan district and is being implemented by the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department, Government of West Bengal. The components of the project such as Gram Panchayat Management System (GPMS) and Integrated Fund Monitoring & Accounting System (IFMAS) have been installed in 129 Gram Panchayats (village level) and 31 Panchayat Samitis (block level) respectively. The applications help in generation of Debit and Credit Vouchers, cash book, ledgers, subsidiary cash books for schemes, cheque issue register, cash analysis, receipts, and payments amongst others. The use of these systems has