Express Computer (Vol.28, No.9) September, 2017

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VOLUME NO. 28, NO.9, PAGES 16, SEPTEMBER, 2017, ` 75

11 | INTERVIEW Amit Ranjan, Architect, National DigiLocker Project (National eGov Division, Ministry of IT, GoI)

6 | INTERVIEW

10 | INTERVIEW

12 | FEATURE

14 | INTERVIEW

Aman Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to CM (IT and Electronics), Government of Chhattisgarh

Roopwant Singh, Managing Director, Gujarat Informatics Limited

Mapping the value of e-governance in India: 10 Key Projects

Brijesh Singh, Inspector General of Police (Cyber), Government of Maharashtra

‘IR-ONE ICT’ CAN TRANSFORM INDIAN RAILWAYS In an exclusive interaction with Express Computer, Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, Government of India speaks about ‘IR-One ICT’, which aims to enhance customer satisfaction, improve revenue and enable efficient operations in Indian Railways

Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, Government of India

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EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

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EDIT EXPRESS COMPUTER Vol 28. No. 9. September, 2017 Chairman of the Board Viveck Goenka Sr Vice President - BPD Neil Viegas Editor Srikanth RP* Delhi Mohd Ujaley, Ankush Kumar, Mumbai Nivedan Prakash, Abhishek Raval Bangalore Rachna Jha

MORE INSIDE COVER STORY Nivedan Prakash nivedan.prakash@expressindia.com

Indian Railways: The flag-bearer of digitalization

INTERVIEW

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6 | Aman Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to CM (IT and Electronics), Government of Chhattisgarh

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4 | ‘IR-One ICT’ can transform Indian Railways

7 | Tech for solving contentious citizenship issue of Assam 8 | West Bengal rapidly moving forward towards becoming an IT enabled state

I

nformation and Communication Technology (ICT) has had a central role in Indian Railways right from its inception. Over the years, railway systems have improved in various fronts with extensive usage of ICT and the most important advancements have been in the areas like security, operations, customer services and access to railway services.

Improvement of railway services and operations is difficult without integration of strong IT systems. And this is why Indian Railways has always been at the forefront of adopting latest technologies to its benefit.

In the last couple of years, Indian Railways has been often applauded for the usage of social media, Twitter in particular, for helping passengers in distress.Under

Indian Railways is working on an ERP software system, which has been rated by some agencies as the largest such project anywhere in the world the aegis of the railway minister Suresh Prabhu, the railways has also been contemplating new social media features like Google+ and Instagram to allow passengers to connect with senior rail management.

Apart from this, Indian Railways has created an inhouse analytics tool to scrutinize complaints and suggestions on a real-time basis.

In the recent past, Indian Railways has taken a number of IT initiatives to save cost, increase

transparency, reduce corruption, and boost efficiency.

One such major project has been Indian Railways One Information and Communication Technology Platform (IR-OneICT), an initiative to enable Indian Railways to deliver goods and services in tune with the demands of the fast growing economy by creation of logistics and transport capacity enabled by the digital platform.

As rightly put by Suresh Prabhu, “OneICT is planned to transform Indian Railways with an aim to positively affect the following business outcomes – improved customer satisfaction and revenues, and effective and efficient operations. Indian Railways is working on an ERP software system, which has been rated by some agencies as the largest such project anywhere in the world.”

Indian Railways has identified six projects as the foundational ones for OneICT “Digital Railway for Digital India”. These projects are – ERP based Human Resource Management System (HRMS), Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) over IR, and implementation of E-Office for Zonal Railways, Enterprise Architecture, Master Data Management, and Rail Cloud.

The other feather in the cap has been the partnership with ISRO for 2 projects – convergence of Geographical Information System (GIS) with the help of Drone technology, and creation of a Real Time Train Information System (RTIS). In addition, as part of Mission 41k, the Ministry to Railways is extensively using ICT tools for saving `41,000 crore in the next decade in the railway’s energy costs.

In another significant move, pilot projects are being conducted to minimize rail accidents, wherein Indian Railways is using dedicated optical fiber cable based acoustic sensing to provide an innovative safety solution.

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West Bengal committed to create a healthy startup ecosystem 9 | Webel playing an active role in bringing equitable IT investment across West Bengal 12 | Mapping the value of e-governance in India: 10 Key Projects

INTERVIEW 10 | Roopwant Singh, Managing Director, Gujarat Informatics Limited 11 | Amit Ranjan, Architect, National DigiLocker Project (National eGov Division, Ministry of IT, GoI) 14 | Brijesh Singh, Inspector General of Police (Cyber), Government of Maharashtra Arati Naik, COO, DIGISOL Systems

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EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

4 | COVER STORY

‘IR-ONE ICT’ CAN TRANSFORM INDIAN RAILWAYS In an exclusive interaction Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, Government of India speaks about IR-One ICT (Information and Communication Technology), which aims to enhance customer satisfaction, improve revenue and enable efficient operations in Indian Railways

By Abhishek Raval

Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister, Government of India

6 SIX PILLARS OF IR OneICT

‘DIGITAL RAILWAY FOR DIGITAL INDIA’

ERP based Human Resource Management System (HRMS)

Hospital Management Information System (HMIS)

Implementation of e-Office for Zonal Railways

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

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COVER STORY

The purpose of the IT initiatives is to save costs, increase transparency, reduce corruption and boost efficiency in the IR. Please enumerate the initiatives taken to fulfill each of these objectives A number of IT initiatives have been taken by IR to save cost, increase transparency, reduce corruption and boost efficiency.

Some of the important initiatives taken to fulfill these objectives are listed below: ◗ Paperless ticketing for unreserved passengers ◗ Introduction of e-ticketing for reserved category of passengers ◗ Introduction of Hand-held Devices for Train Ticket Examiners (TTEs) ◗ Introduction of e-procurement system for procurement of materials through e-tendering ◗ Material Management System for maintaining of inventory. ◗ Parcel Management System – Online tracking of parcel can be done by the customers. ◗ Loco shed Management System -This system will facilitate effective maintenance and management of Locos.

The Railway Display Network (RDN) system will create one of the world’s largest networks of connected digital Information System. RailTel has been appointed as the nodal agency to carry out the entire process in a transparent manner Suresh Prabhu Railway Minister, Government of India

◗ Freight Operation and Information System - A complete management module for freight trains handling the billing and revenue collections. It has played a major role in the improved wagon productivity on IR. ◗ Track Management System – The project is for revamping the entire maintenance practices and better decision making as well.

This will bring about lot of economy in the track maintenance. ◗ Control Office Application – The key features of the application include the ability of the controller to order trains, view all possible routes, divert or re-route trains, if required. For managerial supervision the charts can be printed apart from the fact that structured MIS reports are also generated.

IR plans to converge Geographic Information System (GIS) with ICT technologies like Drones. It also involves partnering with ISRO. What's the status about this project and what is the objective behind it ?

Geographical Information System (GIS) has been planned for mapping of IR assets and for

Enterprise Architecture

establishment of GIS portal for IR. GIS application will interface with all asset management applications of IR and other customer service applications placed in the pilot GIS system. A Bhuvan Node has been established in Delhi at CRIS Data Centre. Bhuvan is an initiative of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to showcase Indian earth observation capabilities from the IRS series of satellites. The same is available for use as satellite imagery in background and it will be linked with various IT applications of IR. ◗ Aerial videography by Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS-Drone) is considered as efficient way of monitoring projects. The Geographical Intelligence captured by drone technology will help in efficient management, monitoring and fast decision making. Pilot recordings have been completed in Northern and Central Railways and all Zonal Railways have been asked to initially do one round of recording of all important projects and operational routes of IR covering all the buildings, structures, level crossings and approaches, bridges, yards, depots and IR track, etc. ◗ Real Time Train Information System (RTIS): Automatic acquisition of train movement data on IR had always been identified as a key requirement for improving operational efficiency and quality of passenger information. Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) is executing this project jointly with ISRO. MoU had been signed between CRIS and Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO for this project in Dec, 2016.

The work is on to integrate all the departments in the railways and thus run IR on an independent ERP. This can be the world’s biggest IT project ever. What's the progress on this major initiative and how will it bring efficiencies in the IR as a whole ?

For improvement in ICT implementation across IR, an integrated system model is required to create an Enterprise Wide System. Indian Railways One Information and Communication Technology Platform (IR-OneICT) is an initiative to enable IR to deliver goods and services in tune with the demands of the fast growing economy by creation of logistics and transport capacity enabled by Digital platform. It shall involve use of digital technology to better connect the goods and services with the market and efficient internal management leading to higher customer satisfaction. The better capacity and asset utilization would mean helping IR in running more trains, carrying more freight, providing better and reliable services to the passenger, increased revenues, safe operations which would be ensured by IR-OneICT platform by using best in class technology, world class business analytics, state of the art software solutions available and use of automated data collection from single source with real time availability.

The principles of OneICT are –Data collection at source with minimum human handling, single source of validated information, timely availability of actionable information to authorised person at

place of use, improved data analysis.

OneICT is planned to transform Indian Railways with an aim to positively affect the following business outcomes- improved customer satisfaction, improved revenues, effective and efficient operations. Indian Railways is working on an ERP Software system which has been rated by some agencies as the largest such project anywhere in the world.

You had also invited ideas from companies, startups for innovative suggestions on how IT can be used for the IR. How has been the response ?

There are a number of innovative suggestions received from various sources. Recently we have started the concept of roundtable conferences in IR. These conferences are an effort to bring stakeholders and IR on one platform. It helps us in getting new innovative ideas and the best professional advice. We are working on the implementation of ideas received from various sources.

What are the pillars of making IR digital ?

Six projects have been identified as the foundational projects for OneICT “Digital Railway for Digital India”. These projects are- ERP based Human Resource Management System (HRMS), Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) over IR, Implementation of e-Office for Zonal Railways, Enterprise Architecture, Master Data Management and Rail Cloud. In addition to this, we have started e-procurement, e-tendering, e-catering, e-tickets, e-recruitments.

Recently, a special conference was organised by IR on how can data analytics be used for the railways. Please elaborate on how analytics can help IR have a large amount of data available from across the spectrum of the operations of the Railways, e.g., Public Reservation System (PRS), Freight Operation Information System (FOIS), asset, accounting related data, which can be analysed to help in: Providing innovative services, offers to passengers to improve occupancy and thus passenger is able to get confirmed accommodation, decision making regarding running of extra trains, increasing frequency of trains, decreasing frequency of trains, decision regarding composition of trains, adding extra coaches, better asset utilisation, management of unforeseen circumstances, fund management, etc.

As a vision, how has the IR institutionalized the usage of ICT ?

There is a dedicated department which handles ICT in the railway board. It is headed by an additional member. The railway ministry has a dedicated IT arm, CRIS. It develops and manages the IT applications of the IR. It focuses on new ways of conducting business by combining IT innovation and adoption, while leveraging an organization's current IT assets. It works with the IR to conceive prudent technology strategies and build new services in

Master Data Management

ICT @ RAILWAYS ◗ MoU signed with Ministry of Urban Development to create 'Smart Stations' in planned Smart Cities ◗ Implemented one of the world's largest complaint resolution system through social media, dedicated helpline numbers

◗ 100% e-procurement of goods implemented to ensure transparency ◗ Largest ever online recruitment exam conducted with over 94 lakh applications today's dynamic digital environment. CRIS’s large pool of skilled personnel enables us to develop complex information systems, and our presence +across the country gives us the reach to support large-scale rollouts. Entire implementation of ICT is well structured and institutionalized.

Ministry of Railways has come up with Mission 41k to save Rs 41000 crore in the next decade in Railways’ energy costs. To implement this comprehensive strategy with the participation of various stakeholders. Railways shall take advantage of regulatory frameworks, look at new technologies. What's the update on using ICT tools for saving energy costs ?

Mission 41k is implemented for saving in energy cost and reduce carbon footprint, with participation of various stakeholders, update on using ICT tools for saving energy costs.

The areas of focus are energy audit in railway installations, dedicated transmission line network of IR, harnessing green energy, etc. Demand side management, optimization of traction power procurement cost, etc.

How many stations in India have been made Free Wi-Fi and what's the reason behind providing free Wi-Fi ?

Free Wi-Fi internet facility has been provided at 117 railway stations for passengers to access internet and broadband based applications, while at stations. WiFi Broadband access to these rail users will aid in implementing government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative.

Security is a major issue for the Indian Railways and lately many railway accidents have taken place. How can ICT be used for avoiding railway accidents ?

We have taken several initiatives for safety. Pilot projects using dedicated optical fibre cable based acoustic sensing to provide an innovative safety solution to railways are being coordinated. It works on the optical fibre systems optical transmission getting modulated by various acoustics produced near the railway track.

This system helps to detect rail/weld fracture, flat wheel, pandrol clip removal, digging activity near track, etc, thereby enhancing safety and security of train transportation.

This system is proposed to be introduced in North Central Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway.

How do you plan to use ICT for training and skills for the employees of railways?

Adequate steps have been taken in this regard. There is

Rail Cloud

an e-learning centre and digital classroom at IRISET/Secunderabad with adequate facility for imparting training. In IRIMEE/Jamalpur, films of working models have been made and uploaded on the net which can be accessed by use of QR codes. Simulators are provided for training of loco running staff in Zonal Railways, so that the trainees can have hands-on learning about driving locomotives.

Crew lobbies have been computerized and before running staff goes on duty he is supposed to update himself on the latest instructions and circulars which are available on the PC provided there. Similarly, the Zonal Training Institutes also have uploaded substantial course materials on their websites.

What are some of the key steps taken to thwart cyber security threats ?

IR Info Security Group Project has been sanctioned for establishing of a Security Group in CRIS. The project is aimed at addressal of the confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication and accountability issues related to managing the critical information of Indian Railways IT projects like PRS, COA, UTS, NGet, NTES, Claims, CMS, ICMS, RSMS, IREPG, IRPortal etc.

As a step forward for ensuring IT Security, work has been sanctioned for audit of important Railway Applications hosted by CRIS through an External Agency.

Are there any examples of usage of ICT tools being able to mobilise funds for the IR ?

Rail Display Network is one such unique project that envisages the networking and centralized control of about 2 lakh Digital Display Screens (LED pixel screens and LCD Screens) of different types, sizes and shapes, spread across 2175 + A1 to D category railway stations across the country. The network is primarily meant for displaying information related to passenger amenities, comfort, convenience and safety. RDN will also be used for transmission of information of national importance including disaster management. The display infrastructure created will be utilized for commercial advertising in defined time frames and format to generate substantial revenues which will be shared among the consortium, RailTel and Indian Railways. The RDN system will create one of the world’s largest networks of connected digital Information System. RailTel has been appointed as the nodal agency to carry out the entire process in a transparent manner. abhishek.raval@expressindia.com

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

6 | INTERVIEW Making IT right for investors: Chhattisgarh THE RECENTLY LAUNCHED Mukhya Mantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana, Chhattisgarh aims to provide job opportunities to more than 50,000 fresh graduates in IT and IT enabled services companies over the next three years. Aman Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to CM (IT and Electronics), Government of Chhattisgarh explains how the state government has a focused strategy to attract investment and boost employment opportunities

What steps are you taking to ensure the growth of IT industry in Chhattisgarh?

In many ways, Chhattisgarh has been setting benchmarks as far as use of IT in governance is concerned. The state has a strong history in the adoption of modern technology, both - for efficiency and improvement of its own working, as well as for providing better services to its citizens and businesses. Today, the state of Chhattisgarh commands a leading position in adoption of IT and has been a pioneer in data driven decision-making and transparency.

The current ICT policies of the state i.e., Electronics, IT & ITeS Policy 2014-19 and Chhattisgarh Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Policy 2016 have served as the launch pads for the development of an ICT ecosystem. This is on account of spurt in technology investments in the state in recent years. Top BPO companies like HGS, PatraBPO, NextWealth have set

up production centres in Chhattisgarh, generating more than 2000 jobs.

A state-of-the-art tier four data center is being set up at an investment of `200 crores.

A 120 acre Electronics Manufacturing Cluster is in the process of being established in Naya Raipur which caters to the requirements of ESDM investors with mobile devices, IT systems & hardware, consumer electronics, industrial electronics and other electronics as target segments. And several other investors, both domestic and foreign, are in different stages of executing their investment plans.

What are the main challenges before the IT industry within the state and what is being done to address the issues ?

A vast majority of the 30,000 professionals graduating from various educational institutions in the state seek opportunities in the IT sector outside the state today. Given the interest of various

domestic and international players in the Electronics & IT sector to setup operations in the state, we are hoping we will be able to create jobs for at least 50 percent of the fresh graduates within Chhattisgarh itself in the coming years.

There is availability of ready infrastructure for services businesses. The state has invested in creating ready to move in facilities such as the Central Business District in Naya Raipur, to provide access to quality, affordable space for enterprises to start operations in quick time. Besides that, the transportation infrastructure within and connecting all major locations, has been improved tremendously over the past few years, including roads, rapid transit services and other amenities. Today, most investors are pleasantly surprised by what Chhattisgarh has to offer in terms of infrastructure, talent and amenities for starting a new business.

What steps are being taken to ensure that connectivity in

the state improves?

Connectivity is a key focus of the Chhattisgarh Government.

There are several path-breaking connectivity initiatives that are under way in Chhattisgarh. The state recognizes that ‘Right of Way’ is a major enabler for connectivity projects; “Right of Way Policy for Development of Telecommunication Infrastructure, 2015’ provides permission for free right of way for the telecom infrastructure development in the state of Chhattisgarh through transparent and time bound process. The policy empowers IT Department to act as a nodal agency for such clearances related to public works department, water resources, forest, agriculture and local bodies. Apart from this, the government has taken several key initiatives like BharatNet, BastarNet, and Sanchar Kranti Yojana.

BharatNet aims to provide infrastructure for affordable and high speed broadband connectivity and e-Governance services to 27 districts, 129 Tehsils, 10,209 Gram Panchayats, 19,567 villages, 48 lakh households and more than 2.5 crore people. BastarNet is an initiative to lay a massive 836 km long OFC backbone to bring communication infrastructure across all seven districts of Bastar division. The network architecture of BastarNethas has been designed to be interoperable with BharatNet. And Sanchar Kranti Yojana is a unique initiative where `1000 crores has been allocated for providing 45 lakh smartphones to rural households, urban poor households, and university students.

What steps are being taken by your department to enable the youth of the state to develop skills in IT ?

Chhattisgarh runs one of the largest skill development initiatives in the country. Close to three lakh people have been trained in the last three years.

Chhattisgarh has been allocating more than 25 percent of the state budget to quality education and skilling over the last 4-5 years. In 2013, Chhattisgarh became the first state in India to provide Right to Skill to its youth.

Chhattisgarh is also one of the few states which does industry standard assessments to help the youth of the state to gauge their employability and get skilled for careers in IT. Through its recently launched Mukhya Mantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana, Chhattisgarh is running a major program that aims to place more than 50,000 fresh graduates in IT and IT enabled services companies over the next three years.

What is the current progress of MMPs within the state under the ambitious Digital India project?

Under Digital India, various Mission Mode Projects are being implemented in the state.

One of the key projects for increasing usage of e-Gov by public is E-District through CSCs. Around 92 percent of Gram Panchayats have been

Government officers play an important role in ground level implementation of e-Governance programmes, training on e-Gov project management has been conducted for all District Collectors and e-District Managers

covered under CSC 2.0 with over 12,000 active CSCs. Over 40 lakh transactions have already been done through the e-District platform. Over 60 lakh Aadhaar registrations were done by the CSCs in the state. e-Procurement platform is a tool for bringing transparency and increasing efficiency of procurement of all departments. Around 45 departments have been on boarded out of which 31 are already live and more than 8,000 vendors have registered.

Over 10,000 tenders have been floated with a total tender value of more than `30,000 crores.

Keeping in view that government officers play an important role in ground level implementation of eGovernance programmes, training on e-Gov project management has been conducted for all District Collectors and e-District Managers. This curriculum has also been included in the state services training programme.

What has been your focus for associating with private organizations under the PPP model ?

Chhattisgarh is pushing the envelope on PPP. It had organized a workshop on PPP at IIM Ahmedabad for senior bureaucrats. Electronics Manufacturing Cluster, which intends to create an ecosystem for promoting Electronics Manufacturing in the state is an example of the government’s approach in this regard. The EMC is operating on an SPV model based on the guidelines issued by DeitY, GoI, whereby EMC units will jointly hold atleast 51 percent of the equity of the SPV with no single unit owning more than 25 percent.

The EMC is coming up in 120 acres at Naya Raipur and will focus on mobile devices, IT systems and hardware, consumer electronics, and industrial electronics.

How much is the state’s thrust on capacity building?

We recognize that capacity building is a major driver of higher penetration of eGovernance projects. Capacity building is being taken up at a large scale for public as well as key government officials.

Digidhan Melas were conducted in every district in which over 3.5 lakh citizens participated and learnt about various digital payment methods. Chhattisgarh was the first state to have achieved the target under Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) programme in the assigned timeframe. More than 17 lakh customers (public) and over three lakh merchants had benefited under DFL programme.

What are your plans for turning your state into an entrepreneurial hub?

The state prepared a dedicated ‘Chhattisgarh Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Policy’, which was released by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 21st February 2016 in Raipur. The policy outlines the need to have all major players in the innovation ecosystem onto a common platform. The first state incubator or ‘Hub’, named as '36 Inc’, would provide infrastructure to connect with Startup India Hub, national or international incubators, mentors, venture capitalists, angel investors, etc. And 36 Inc will have state-of-the-art equipment which would help the startups to make rapid prototypes while learning in a co-working space. Apart from support in mentoring, coaching and prototyping, we will also help the startups to establish market linkages within the country and globally too.

To support innovation and entrepreneurship further, the state is investing in creation of centers of excellence in upcoming technology areas such as IoT, Industrial Automation and others.

Tech for revamping the healthcare system in Uttar Pradesh THE YOGI ADITYANATH government has started the process for a major revamp of the healthcare system in Uttar Pradesh. To address the challenge of shortage of doctors and infrastructure, the state is mulling to start walk-in-interviews, BUMS at PHC, telemedicine, and upgradation of existing hospitals by the World Bank. EC's Mohd Ujaley, speaks with Sidharth Nath Singh, Health Minister, Government of Uttar Pradesh What are your key priorities in the healthcare sector in the state?

My priorities in the next two years would be to put the entire healthcare system and health service delivery of Uttar Pradesh back on track and running. Besides, I would like to completely stop leakage and corruption in healthcare service delivery Our first priority has been to change the image of the ministry hitherto known for

corruption, inefficiency and lacklustre attitude. Now the ministry is known for delivering healthcare services.

The ministry has undergone an image makeover.

Secondly, there are many areas where the health services need to be improved. It requires adequate availability of the doctors, medicine and technicians. However, we have shortage of 7000 MBBS doctors and 18000 paramedicals staff.

I have taken a two prong approach to overcome this challenge – focus on human resource and technology. On the HR side, it is about getting more doctors but that does not mean that I have a recruitment which can match the shortage of 7000 doctors. So, the only way is to use the existing doctors and infrastructure to the optimal. It means if there is a morning OPD, there should be an evening OPD too. So that more people can get medical services.

I am also talking to Indian Medical Association (IMA) for hiring their doctors on honorarium basis. In addition, to fill this gap, we are mulling to start walk-in-interview system rather than fully depending on the Lok Seva

Ayog (Public Service Commission). The Lok Seva Ayog will continue. I have no objection if they continue. But these are the HR side and we need to fix it quickly.

The second approach is by using technology to fill the gaps in healthcare service delivery.

Technology means telemedicine. Very soon, we will come out with a tender to roll-out telemedicine services across the state. Once that happens, we will be able to narrow the gap because through telemedicine, if you need 100 doctors, you may be able to manage with 10 doctors.

In Uttar Pradesh, you already have Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow with dedicated telemedicine facility. Why are you not using the same facility?

Yes, it is there but that is very small. When you talk about telemedicine, it has to be universal. It must touch the primary healthcare (PHC), not just a medical colleges.

NHM envisaged to have at least one MBBS doctor at PHC level but doctors are

reluctant to go there. How do you plan to address this challenge?

I am okay with it. If an MBBS doctor goes to PHC, its great. If they can’t go, we have to find a way to address this challenge.

I am coming up with a policy where we will allow Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS) doctors to serve at PHC level. It is better to have something than nothing.

To smoothen patient interactions with doctors and hospitals, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and few other government-owned hospitals have started online appointment system for OPD and clinics. Is Uttar Pradesh

also planning to do that?

Going forward, we are going to come up with many technology driven things that will help us in delivering better healthcare services in the state. But at this stage, we have to go step by step, we cannot do everything together.

First step is that we must have doctors. If the doctors are there then the appointment comes. If the doctors are not there what will I do with the online appointment system.

So, I am very clear about what I want to do. There are shortage of 7000 doctors that we need to fill it and by various method I am planning to fill it.

All these need a lot of investment in health delivery system in the state. How do you plan to fund your programme?

We have inherited more or less empty treasury. With that max, one can't draw maximum out. So, whatever is there, we have to live with it at least for the first year. I am looking at various other models including public private partnership (PPP) and help from central government which they have promised under various programme of National Health Mission (NHM). To be

honest, I am grateful to Union Health Minister J P Nadda, he has given a helping hand to me in our endeavour to overhaul the health service delivery in the state.

Under Make in India programme, the Union government is incentivising both states and private firms for setting up manufacturing plants in India. Are you planning to promote that?

I know that Government of India is promoting local manufacturing under Make in India programme but it is little different. It is not related with the health services. That is related with the industrialisation programme of the government.

Government of Uttar Pradesh is very soon going to come up with an Industrial Policy which will have components like industrial park and different economic zones. If people want to set up pharmaceutical plant, they can. Many people have already approached us. But that is not related with the health ministry. It has more to do with the industry and investment promotion. We are primarily concerned about the

healthcare service delivery in the Uttar Pradesh.

As a health minister, in coming two years, what would you like to achieve?

My priorities in the next two years would be to put the entire healthcare system and health service delivery of Uttar Pradesh back on track and running. That counts everything – including doctors, paramedical staff, technicians, all the machines and test equipments like Digital X-ray, CT Scan, MRI Scan etc. I will try to put all these things in the hospitals.

Second, I would like to completely stop leakage and corruption in healthcare service delivery. To achieve this, we are upgrading hospitals across the state.

I have personally taken up Lal Bahadur Shatri Chikitsalaya, Varanasi. Out of 173 district hospitals, 10 have been taken for upgrdation by World Bank.

That pilot project hopefully is going to be successful by September this year. They will take up the balance also. I am also in discussion with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for them to give us helping hand.

Its early days for us.

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

|7

FEATURE

Tech for solving contentious citizenship issue of Assam

KEY STATISTICS

14

million legacy data delivered

0.63 million legacy records (over 45-65 years old) scanned and digitised

33

million NRC applicant data digitised in distributed 2657 locations

6.8 million

family tree generated

270000 boundaries of Assam digitized

GUWAHATI-BASED IT consulting firm Bohniman Systems has digitized legacy data of NRC 1951 and electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971 for the government of Assam to enable people find ancestor details and claim their citizenship Mohd Ujaley mohd.ujaley@expressindia.com

A

ssam’s struggle with its citizenship issue is not new. After a prolonged agitation, the tripartite talks between the centre, state and All Assam Students Union (AASU) in 1985 led to signing of Assam Accord that decided

to solve the contentious citizenship issue once and for all by accepting people who have migrated from East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) upto the midnight of March 24, 1971 as legal migrants and eligible for citizenship of India including Assam.

But for many years, the state government could not find a viable method to create a database of people who had

lived in Assam before the cutoff date. Its attempt to update National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 2010 was mired by chaos, police firing and it had to be stopped. Finally, technology showed the way and the government decided to digitize all the legacy data of NRC 1951 and electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971, in order to help people find ancestor details and claim their citizenship.

“At this point of time, all the data related to electoral rolls of 1971 and NRC of 1951 have been digitized and people have started claiming their citizenship. During this entire process, two-crore records from 27000 villages were scanned and digitized and so far 14 million legacy data has been delivered and 6.8 million family trees have been

Legacy Data Publication

Field Verification

During this stage, Legacy Data was made available to the public. The data is provide through NRC Seva Kendras and online. The process started in February, 2015.

Distribution of Application Form During this stage, application form was distributed. This process started in April, 2015 and run till May, 2015.

Receipt of Application Filled applications were received from last week of April, 2015 and lasted till July 31, 2015.

generated based on these data,” saysAbhijit Bhuyan, MD, Bohniman Systems, an IT solutions and consulting firm based out of Assam. The company digitized the entire legacy data for the state government.

For Bohniman Systems, it was a tough task because data was scattered across the state. In 1951, there were 8 districts and now there are 27 districts in Assam. People had either migrated or they are now part of the new district.

Data had to be collected from different places and presented on a single platform, so that people did not need to go from pillar to post to find their details.

“All the documents were in the custody of superintendent of police of each district. The documents were very old and

Verification of applications was done at field level by authorised personnel. The process started in June, 2015.

PROCESS OF UPDATING

Publication of Draft NRC A draft of updated NRC was published

NRC Receipt & Disposal of Claims & Objections Objections, claims etc was entertained during this phase.

DIGITIZING LEGACY DATA ◗ Legacy data

is the primary set of documents admissible to prove the claim of citizenship for inclusion in the updated NRC for the state of Assam.

◗ NRC update was one of the key demands related to Assam Accord of 1985. But due to various reasons substantial progress did not happen until the Supreme Court of India directed Assam government to complete upgrading NRC. ◗ National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the register containing the names of Indian citizens. The NRC was prepared in 1951 after completion of 1951 Census. ◗ The inclusion of names in updated NRC will be based on the data

of 1951 NRC and electoral rolls up to the midnight of 24th March, 1971 and a list of admissible documents of Pre-1971 period (when name is absent in NRC of 1951 and Electoral Roll of 1971).

fragile. Regular scan was not possible as it could have damaged the documents itself. So, we created a large team and started scanning by taking pictures of the documents. We scanned close to 6,025,000 documents,” informs Bhuyan.

Interestingly, the NRC 1951 is a hand-written document in Assamese language and most of the present-day citizens are more comfortable with English than Assamese. After digitization, the documents were translated into English.

Also, to solve the issue of different spelling of same names, a software with a phonetic capability that can recognize similar sounding names were added into the system.

Bhuyan says, “We not only scanned, digitized and

created software to search the documents but we linked each and every document in the legacy database with the original images to ensure data authenticity. Now people have all the data at one platform.

They can look for their descendants and can also view the original image either on the Internet or by visiting the 2500 NRC seva kendras spread across the state.”

According to government officials, the current NRC has been fully digitized and people have applied for the inclusion of their names in the new NRC. “We found that 95 per cent of the population have given the reference of their ancestors through the legacy portal,” says Bhuyan, adding that the portal has helped people in finding their data easily.”

We found that 95 per cent of the population have given the reference of their ancestors through the legacy portal. It has helped people in finding their data easily Abhijit Bhuyan Managing Director, Bohniman Systems

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

ADVERTORIAL

8 | FEATURE

West Bengal rapidly moving forward towards becoming an IT enabled state OUR VISION IS to become one of the leading states in India in the IT and ITeS and ESDM sectors and to enable West Bengal to transform into a knowledge-driven technologically enabled welfare society, says Bratya Basu, IT Minister, WB Bengal What are some of the key steps that you are taking to ensure that the IT industry manages to grow and thrive in West Bengal?

Under the visionary leaderhip of our Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt Mamata Banerjee, IT & E department has initiated quite a few steps.

To name some of them: ◗ Development of physical infrastructure in the form of IT Parks, Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) and Hardware parks. ◗ We have already established 12 new IT parks since 2012 in Rajarhat, Siliguri (Phase II), Durgapur (Phase II), Asansol, Purulia, Barjora, Kharagpur, Haldia, Howrah, Kalyani, Bolpur, Taratala.

There are 4 facilities under development stages viz., IT Parks at Malda, Bantala,

Siliguri (Phase II), Krishnanagar. Approval for further 7 IT parks at Coochbehar, Belur,Durgapur (Phase III), Sector V (02 numbers), Kalyani (Phase II), Rajarhat (Phase II) has been obtained for construction. We are outreaching to the hills with planned IT parks in Darjeeling and Kalimpong. ◗ The development of two hardware parks at Sonarpur and Kalyani are expected to act as catalysts for the growth of the ESDM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) sector and develop the ecosystem for hardware manufacturing in West Bengal. The development of two Electronic Manufacturing Clusters, one at Naihati and the other at Falta will be providing

suitable facilities for attracting investments. ◗ Development of core digital infrastructure like State Data Centre, State Wide Area Network and similar initiatives. ◗ Webel fosters ICT skills via training, certification and skill building. 20,000 candidates are trained annually from over 150 centers. ◗ Webel also extends venture capital support and administers the ICT Incentive Scheme of West Bengal.

When compared to other states, what do you think are some of the major benefits for an IT company to invest in the state of West Bengal?

Major benefits include the following: ◗ Low cost of operations when compared to other states ◗ Stable political environment ◗ Strategic location for reaching out to north eastern states and neighboring countries ◗ Vast talent pool from a network of excellent engineering and management institutions in the state

◗ Excellent social infrastructure What is your vision for green cities? What are some of the steps taken for ensuring the growth of green cities?

The Government of West Bengal, Department of Information Technology and Electronics and Webel will work together to develop the ICT infrastructure to make cities, towns and villages across Bengal greener and smarter. Webel has developed competencies in areas like CCTV surveillance which are vital to digitizing living spaces.

What's your view on the use of technology in improving the ranking of West Bengal in the area of ‘ease of doing business' Technology enablement is definitely one of the key drivers towards achieving improved ranking in the Ease of Doing Business spectrum.

The Business Reform Action

Plan 2017 lists actionables pertaining to digitization of several G2B services that are essential for setting up a Business in a State. Our Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt Mamata Banerjee has taken a personal interest in this matter and is closely monitoring the progress.

Government of West Bengal has been actively involved in meeting the compliances within the deadline and towards this end, a team of experts have been identified, who are regularly interfacing with the concerned Departments and the associated vendors.

Initiatives such as development of a Single Window, implementation of a Common Application Form, online wizard to assist the investor in identifying the comprehensive list of clearances/ approvals/ licenses required, are covered under Ease of Doing Business initiative.

How is the state trying to attract technology startups?

Can you name some prominent technology startups who have set up base in West Bengal?

The state is aspiring to boost startups by creation of incubation centers and creating platforms for startups to showcase their innovations. We have kick started Bengalathon which is India’s first state level hackathon.

Webel is home of NASSCOM’s 10,000 startups warehouse initiative.

TaxMantra, BuyHatke, Mihup’s Nectar, SIBIA Analytics, MindHour, iKure, Surgerica, Outbox, Fashionove, Justshop24, Packr and Paaltao are some technology startups from West Bengal. Some of them have made big by now.

What are some of the significant benefits for startups who want to set up

a base in West Bengal? ◗ Access to subsidized rentals in IT Parks ◗ Lower cost of operations ◗ Space availability to set up establishments in Hardware Parks and EMCs ◗ State’s incentive scheme We want to hear about the message to the potential IT and Electronics investors in WB. Our message to investors is that they should confidently invest in West Bengal. We have a sustainable competitive advantage as a state which will translate into a positive return on investment for your outlay.

As our Hon’ble Chief Minister has said, we are willing to go all the way to make our state the number one IT destination in the country in immediate future.

We have kick started the creation of suitable infrastructure to minimize your capital investment.

West Bengal committed to create a healthy startup ecosystem WEST BENGAL WILL develop an ecosystem that facilitates 500 startups in IT sector in next ten years says Shri Debashis Sen, Additional Chief Secretary, IT & E, West Bengal How much is the department’s focus on emerging technologies?

What are the areas that these technologies are being used effectively?

We are deeply committed to understanding and leveraging emerging technologies.

As a demonstration of our commitment to emerging technologies we are conceptualizing a national level institute dedicated to data science. We have also initiated proceedings to setup a Cybersecurity center of excellence. Other areas of effective use include artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, big data analytics. These efforts manifest themselves in varied spheres like healthcare, agriculture, energy and others.

coders/developers/engineers who will conceptualize and design solutions to prevent malicious hackers from compromising government and corporate data. As per Harvard Business Review even after 20 years1 of effort and billions of dollars of investment we still are still struggling with cybersecurity.

This makes it the opportune time to develop competency in this area.

The unifying ambition behind the plethora of new initiatives is to establish West Bengal as a premier destination for IT/ITeS investment by creating sustainable competitive advantages for the state like a deep talent pool, credible centers of excellence etc.

What is the rationale behind National Institute of Data Science?

India will continue to enjoy its leadership position in business analytics and data science services over other competing regions such as China, the Philippines, Eastern Europe and Latin America (Reference: Report by the financial services firm, Avendus Capital). India will be a primary contender for business analytics projects due to various factors such as an increase in data generation, cost savings, operational efficiencies, access to a highly talented workforce, improved quality and maturity of the industry and the sheer spectrum of services. Bengal is in a good position to leapfrog competitors and gain a first mover advantage by setting up a national level institute of data science to capture this business opportunity.

What is the rationale behind the Centre of Excellence dedicated to Cyber security?

Cybersecurity has rapidly become a very vital area in the Information Technology domain. The recent spate of ransomware attacks further gives credence to the fact that it has become vital to harden mission critical IT systems as modern businesses are very much reliant on smooth functioning of underlying IT hardware and software.

Bengal has the potential to create a talent pool of

What is the rationale behind Introduction of Courses of Data Science and cyber security in Colleges & universities?

It is very necessary to create well rounded information technology professions who will inculcate employable skills early in their undergraduate academic career. DIT&E feels that the existing information technology as well as computer science and engineering curriculum should be augmented and made more robust by addition of courses on data science including machine learning, analytics as well as

cybersecurity. This will create more employable professionals who can target upcoming opportunities in the relevant fields.

Please illustrate your vision for Startup action plan.

The Government of West Bengal is deeply committed to creating a healthy ecosystem for startups in West Bengal.

Startups require maximum support in the initial fragile years before they start earning free cash flow. In this context we have envisioned initiatives to nurture startups from the very primary stage.

The State will develop an ecosystem that facilitates 500 startups in IT sector in next ten years. Over the years, state has created or supported creation of IT parks, research centers, and innovation/incubation centers across the state. Now the state has put further emphasis on innovation/incubation in coming years. Some of the planned initiatives are incubation centers to be established in all the districts of West Bengal to foster entrepreneurship, at least 50 incubation facilities to be established in Kolkata/Greater Kolkata/Tier II cities, total 10 lakh square feet of incubation space to be developed, innovation competitions to be held, colleges to be made focal points for startup development, tie up with angel investors and venture capitalists to be achieved, facilitation of generation of new innovation technology solutions with social impact in healthcare, education, housing, food, security and clean environment sectors.

We have started with NASSCOM’s 10,000 startup warehouse hosted by Webel.

Furthermore we want to make our IT Parks a viable destination for startups.

Incubation centers at each park will create a pan Bengal network of growing new age firms supported by reasonable rental fees and

access to state of the art infrastructure.

Please illustrate your vision for Skill development action plan.

The skill development action plan is aimed to address the gap between demand and supply of skilled resources in the State. IT and IT enabled Services (ITeS) industry (including hardware and electronics sector) is one of the most promising industrial sector in the country in terms of GDP contribution and employment generation.

However due to low employability and over-supply diluting the talent dividend, a significant number of students do not get placed in the industry. Government of West Bengal, being cognizant of present scenario has taken several initiatives in the past.

As of now, WEBEL has opened more than 140 centers across the State offering various short term and long term courses. As part of the skill development action plan, special focus shall be given on training and re-skilling related to contemporary and next generation technologies. The program shall look at improving employability of youth of West Bengal who have either dropped out of the formal education system or have found it difficult to find employment post completion of the school or college education What is the rationale behind Bengalathon?

Hackathon is a wellestablished model in the corporate world for generating technology prototypes and ideas. It is a pure play online event, consisting of activities where technologists, domain experts, product managers, and user experience designers intensively collaborate, design and code to build software and hardware prototypes to operationalize new ideas.

Department of Information Technology and Electronics, Government of West Bengal aims to encourage innovation and entrepreneurial mind-set of technically inclined individuals, tech start-ups and local companies. In this context “Bengalathon 2017” has been launched, which will be India’s first State Level Hackathon.

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EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

|9

FEATURE Webel playing an active role in bringing equitable IT investment across West Bengal STRATEGICALLY LOCATED IT and Hardware Parks will lead to even distribution of IT investment to enable West Bengal to transform into a knowledge-driven technologically enabled welfare society, says Kaushik Halder, MD, Webel From a region point of view, which are some of the top regions in West Bengal where you expect maximum investments in IT? Is there a view to develop specific clusters in different cities? How has been the response from the industry?

Webel has established IT parks on a pan West Bengal basis. With a view of equitable and holistic development of the state, IT Parks have been positioned to bring the benefits of the IT revolution across the various districts. We expect the strategically located IT Parks, EMCs and Hardware Parks will lead to allround equitable distributed investment in IT. Each of these establishments will foster the growth of an ecosystem in the region.

Industry has demonstrated enthusiasm to take up occupancy in our establishments.

What steps has the state government taken in the areas of skill development – specifically in the area of IT? The Department of Information Technology and Electronics via its nodal agency – West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Limited (“Webel”) and its subsidiaries have taken a number of steps to foster the growth of ICT skills in the state. Webel focuses on training, skill building and certifications.

Annually 20,000 candidates are being trained in various domains of information technology across more than one hundred and fifty centers.

Initiatives like ICT@School are bringing IT skills to students.

According to a media report, small and medium businesses employ over 111 million Indians. The

government estimates 39.44 million of these are owned as private outlets with most concentrated in India’s eastern state of West Bengal and the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Small units don’t have highly educated owners, chartered accountants or even the Internet.

How do you plan to bridge the gap using IT? Webel is bridging the gap by setting up incubation centers where shared services like accounting, payroll etc. support functions can be shared across small and medium businesses to drive down costs.

Also training programs exist to foster ICT skills as explained previously.

Seamless connectivity is present in our IT Parks where MSMEs can set up shops and get modern state of the art amenities at reasonable subsidized rental rates.

West Bengal is coming up with the EMCs, what progress is being made in setting up in this field?

Webel is in the process of developing electronic manufacturing clusters at Naihati and Falta which are expected to act as catalysts for the growth of the ESDM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) sector and develop the ecosystem for hardware manufacturing in West Bengal.

These EMC s will have robust infrastructure for ESDM sector.

The following facilities will be present: Manufacturing support services: ◗ Central warehousing & raw material block ◗ Product design house ◗ Testing and R&D centre ◗ Incubation center for startups Welfare services: ◗ Hostel, mess, food court ◗ Medical centre, Crèche/nursery ◗ Shopping centre & departmental store ◗ Bank & ATM Essential Services: ◗ Administration office, electric substation, water supply & distribution centre, sewage treatment plant, drainage system, rainwater recharge system, solid waste collection & disposal system, firefighting facility What steps are being taken by the State Govt to develop infrastructure that will enable the youth to develop the necessary skills in IT and Electronics?

Webel Informatics Limited and Webel Learning Services are working to develop a network of training centers that will propagate skill building in ICT. These training centers

will impart courses in various aspects of ICT and create more employable graduates.

In what area of WB do you expect maximum amount of investment in IT? We expect investments to increase in Tier I cities and then propagate outwards via our network of IT Parks, EMCs and Hardware Parks. We have decided to promote the holistic development of the state by equitably spreading investments.

The Govt of WB has unveiled the new Policy on Information and communication Technology, 2012 and West Bengal ICT Incentive scheme 2012. What is the kind of response from the Industry?

Also tell us the plan to continue the incentives or augmentation of

the same including the incentive programmes for the Start-ups.

The industry has favorably responded to our incentive scheme with a large number of takers.

The ICT Policy 2012 received favourable response from the industry as focuses were on verticals where this region was strong. IT start-up took major focus while a geographical demarcation was unveiled in order to promote tier I and tier II cities in the state. The state focused on traditional strength areas such as banking, insurance, retail and distribution, engineering design, life science etc. Further, animation and gaming was given adequate focus. Promotion of innovation and R&D, leveraging IT for the benefit of citizen, setting up of Electronics Manufacturing Clusters were the other important focus areas.

The ICT incentive scheme 2012 is going to be expired soon. The New Incentive scheme 2017 is going to replace the earlier scheme. The new scheme is expected to be comparable or even better than any other incentive schemes offered by other states.

We will continue to extend fiscal incentives for the benefit of investors.

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

10 | INTERVIEW

Making govt-citizen interface more effective, transparent and efficient GUJARAT INFORMATICS LTD (GIL) has positioned Gujarat as a key state in the knowledge sector and acts as a medium to make government-citizen interface more effective, transparent and efficient. Roopwant Singh, Managing Director, Gujarat Informatics Limited speaks about the rapid transformation that the state has witnessed in a few years and the role of GIL in making it digitally enabled. By Ankush Kumar Our PM and Gujarat’s exCM, Narendra Modi always used to have this vision in his mind that first the citizen should be given the utmost preference. In order to support this great vision, public participation has always been a priority for any governance initiatives. Gujarat has been the first state to build first State Data Center of the country under NeGP. Apart from this, we have also started online eProcurement for government tendering from very early days of e-Governance. GIL, along with DST has created excellence in human resources and encouraged strong Public Private Partnerships within the state to leverage ICT resources. This has helped successful roll-out of e-GRAMs, being operated through Village Computer Entrepreneurs (VCEs) on a revenue sharing basis under PPP. Also, there are more than 6000 VPs working under Common Service Centers (CSCs) NeGP.

What is the current mandate of GIL, and what have been the key achievements under your leadership ?

Gujarat Informatics Ltd (GIL) is the Nodal Agency for development of IT in the state of Gujarat. It was established by the Govt of Gujarat in Feb1999 under Department of Science & Technology with an objective to promote IT and accelerate the process of ICTbased e- Governance initiatives across the state. Since its inception, GIL has worked aggressively to make stunning forays in the implementation of IT in the state. Having made a promising beginning with projects like, GSWAN, GSDC and the GR BOOK, GIL is gaining significant ground with its endeavours for digitization of government departments, training of CIOs, developing applications, forming mergers and signing MOUs with leading national and international companies.

What are the steps taken to promote IT and accelerate

the process of e-Governance in the state?

Being a nodal agency, GIL has always played crucial role in setting up of core ICT infrastructure projects in state like GSWAN, State Data Centre, (coincidently it’s the first SDC in India under NeGP) and eGRAM, CSC, etc., with use of advanced technologies like GIS and mobility solutions, to provide smart governance to its citizens and businesses.

GIL, with the adoption of innovative, constructive and result-oriented policies for use of ICT as facilitator, has helped the government in leveraging significant benefits in e-Governance or digital governance.

Some of our prime initiatives in order to continuously accelerate development of IT in the state and provide backbone support to new ventures and start-ups in e-Governance and to dovetail the state eGovernance model with the ‘Digital India’ Programme, is to revise government strategies

by publishing new guidelines and polices time-to-time and create a conducive ecosystem to propel growth of IT sector. In order to this, we along with, the Dept of Science & Technology, have last year formulated and declared some policies for the period 2016-2021; IT / ITeS Policy, Electronics Policy, Start-Up and Innovation Policy, and Bio-technology Policy. We have received tremendous response to these policies and many major, as well as small startup companies have already leveraged benefits under these policies.

Besides providing support and assistance for growth and expansion of operations, one of the major benefit the state will receive is employment generation through these initiatives, which is really notable.

What is the focus of the state on PPP (public private partnership)? In what way it can be beneficial to your state ?

What has been the focus on capacity building, as it is seen as major pillar for e- Governance projects in terms of conceptualization and implementation in the state ?

The thrust and focus on capacity building for the state

GIL, with the adoption of innovative, constructive and result-oriented policies for use of ICT as facilitator, has helped the Government in leveraging significant benefits in digital governance

FLAGSHIP MMPs BEING ROLLED OUT SUCCESSFULLY ACROSS GUJARAT MMP in State

Ministry / Department

CCTNS

Home

Implemented

CSC

Dept. of IT

Implemented

eCity

Urban Dept. – Municipal Corporation

Implemented

eCourt

Status

Legal Dept. – High Court of Gujarat

Implemented

eDhara / eJamin Garvi / CSIS

Land Resources / Revenue

Implemented

e-District

Dept. of IT

Implemented

eGram

Panchayati Raj

Implemented

eMunicipalities

Urban Employment

Implemented

HMIS

Health

Implemented

IFMS

Finance

Implemented

IWDMS

General Administrative Dept.

Implemented

SATHI – HRMS

General Administrative Dept.

Implemented

SWAGAT

Chief Minister Office (CMO)

Implemented

TPDS

Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs

Implemented

through IT, reflects in GIL/DIT’s vision statement.

Realizing to the fullest possible extent the infinite potential of the equation: IT + IT = IT, which means, Indian Talent + Information Technology = India Tomorrow - to create and build a vibrant and sturdy edifice of IT/ITeS eco-system on the basis of innovation and knowledge capital, to utilize huge young talent pool of the state and to contribute to the overall economy and prosperity of the state and the nation.

To meet with the challenging expectations of the ever changing requirements, it is necessary that IT/ITeS sector plays a lead role for both employment creation, economic growth, and for upskilling and capacity building.

How are Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) being implemented in the state ?

What is the current progress of their implementation?

Gujarat has always

played a significant role in pioneering and implementing e-Governance initiatives in the state in line with various MMPs under NeGP. Gujarat has been considered as an aspiring leader state in eReadiness Assessment being conducted by MeiTY (earlier known as DeITY). Awarded for Best e-Governance State, Gujarat is a frontline state in the implementation of e-Governance policies and projects and setting up of key infrastructure for eGovernance. Some of the flagship MMPs being rolled out successfully across the state with assistance of GIL are CCTNS, CSC, eCity, eCourt, eDhara / eJamin, Garvi / CSIS, e-District, eGram, etc.

What projects have been initiated by GIL with respect to the state IT Policy (201419) launched in 2014 ?

The Government of Gujarat has always being proactive and has adopted innovative, constructive and result oriented progressive ICT policies for the promotion and implementation of eGovernance initiatives across the state. Being the IT Nodal Agency, GIL has positioned Gujarat as a key state in the knowledge sector and acts as a medium to make GovernmentCitizen Interface more effective, transparent and efficient. Some of the flagship district-level e-Governance projects being implemented successfully in the state during past 5-7 years are: AIMS (Aapno Taluko Vibrant Taluko – ATVT Inspection Mobile System), E-Mahiti Shakti (eBroadcast), Employee Work Management System (EWMS), E-Waste (Electronic / IT Waste Disposal Management System), UDANT (Livelihood Portal), GujCop and SASGUJ (Safe And Secure GUJarat) applications.

What are some of the other initiatives and projects that are transforming the state with the help of IT? As stated earlier, to foster the growth of IT sector in the state, DST has recently revised and upgraded various policies for the promotion of ICTenabled governance. The policies act as a medium to make Government-Citizen Interface more effective,

transparent and efficient and creates a conducive ecosystem in the state. GIL has contributed in state-level policy uphauling by publishing revised policies for the period 2016-2021, which will helped transforming various ITenabled sectors in the state as under: Biotechnology (Gujarat State Bio-Technology Mission); Remote Sensing, Space Application and Seismology (Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Application and GeoInformatics – BISAG); Inculcate scientific temper among students (Science City); and Encourage research and emerging technologies (Finishing Schools, CoEs).

How has Gujarat aligned its vision with the Digital India programme ?

We want to be an inspiration for other states and want them to know how digitally enabled Gujarat is as a state and the pivotal role GIL plays in taking forward the vision of Digital India programme. GIL has helped envisioning a robust, longterm and effective, “Digital Gujarat Vision” in alignment to the Digital India Programme vision and its key areas. The Digital Gujarat vision is focused on to provide reliable and secure backbone for internet connectivity to reach till last mile making all G2B and G2C services available all across the state.

It aims to establish a highly reliable, robust and secure communication corridor. Also, efforts are being made to create single unified effective intranet for the government, thereby facilitating effective communication and creating less paper environment. The focus is also to facilitate electronic delivery of government services to citizens, government to businesses services and to provide connectivity to all the e-Governance applications of the state. It is important for us to provide low-cost and alternate means of communication with internet connectivity during normal time and at the time of any kind of disaster. Last, but not the least, we want to create a plug-and-connect environment for all government departments / PSUs so as to provide bandwidth on demand.

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

| 11

INTERVIEW

DigiLocker can become a transformative governance game-changer ONE OF THE BIGGEST initiatives and comparable to Aadhaar, DigiLocker is a key initiative under the Digital India programme, and aims to eliminate the use of physical documents and usher India into an era of paperless governance. DigiLocker’s creation is interesting, as its founder, Amit Ranjan, was an entrepreneur, and interestingly, moved to the government ecosystem to become one of the key architects for DigiLocker. Amit Ranjan, was earlier co-founder of SlideShare, which was sold to LinkedIn. In a detailed interaction with EC’s Srikanth RP, Amit Ranjan, Architect, National DigiLocker Project (National eGov Division, Ministry of IT, GoI) shares why he chose to become a part of the national initiative. Some edited excerpts from the interview: area. The government sector is fundamentally divergent – the work area is broad, you get pulled from different directions and often don’t have locus of control. It’s like the difference between solving a quadratic equation versus a higher degree polynomial equation!

From being a co-founder of SlideShare to working as the Architect of the Digital Locker Project, how has the transition been for you? What are some of the major learnings?

My role in the government was not planned, but a spur of the moment decision. In 2014 after a decade long entrepreneurship journey, I was exiting SlideShare/ LinkedIn and planned to take a year or two off, The core idea before going back of DigiLocker to start another is to digitize the company. That’s when I bumped into documents some people from and certificates the governmentthey told me about issued to an this project and Indian citizen invited me to be a part of its team. My over his/her first reaction was lifetime “Off course not - I have no plans to work for the government, not even in my dreams!” But on careful introspection, the enormity of the project, its transformational nature and the roleit can play in nation building as a key national technology infrastructure became clearer to me. It seemed an unparalleled intellectual and operational challenge. I guess SlideShare has intrinsically made me more risk taking, so I thought – “Let me take this risk, hopefully I’ll be able to make some contribution

towards the country. Besides I’ll get a chance to work in a totally different environment after my industry and startup stints.”

To make this transition, I started off by trying to set the right self-expectancies.I realize the government is an incredibly complex organization and operates very differently than the private sector. To succeed in this environment, I’d need to start up from scratch (think a government startup!) but avoid dialling back too much into my previous experiences. I’ll need an open mind, be a quick learner and continually keep adapting to the emerging situation. Personally I’ve been a big believer in the Darwinian rule that it isn’t the strongest that survive and thrive, but the ones most adaptable to change. And there’s no reason why the government would be an exception to this universal rule.

The learnings are immense and are continuing every day. At a broad level, I’ve now aware of how the government system works and the rules, procedures and practices that drive its rhythm. I’ve been exposed to the vast socioeconomic differences that exist in our society, and why the government often takes a very bottom-of-the-pyramid approach.

One of the key learnings has been the contrast between the government and private sectors. In the private sector (particularly in startups), one has the advantage of converging on a problem and working in a narrowly focused

What were some of your key challenges in building this platform? Can you share some views on the initial days to the final delivery of the project?

The Digital Locker project is attempting to build a complete paperless governance ecosystem in the country. The core idea is to digitize the documents and certificates that get issued to an Indian citizen over his/her lifetime and build a paperless platform where the entire document transaction happens digitally in a safe and secure manner. Imagine a world where you are never issued any paper documents – everything comes to you on the internet and you further use it digitally in a paperless way.

There are three parts of this challenge. First, you need to conceptualise, design and build the core technology platform and the APIs, infrastructure that will power it. Secondly all documents and certificates (past and future) need to be digitised and made available on this platform. Thirdly you have to build out the larger ecosystem whereby this technology is available to everyone in the country through a public – private partnership model. This ecosystem has to interoperable, based on open standards and systems without technology or vendor lock-in. And all of this has to be backed by appropriate changes to the Indian IT Act and its subordinate rules and regulations, so that it can stand legal and constitutional scrutiny.

One important point to mention is that the government wants to invoke a strong public private partnership in building out this ecosystem. Digitising documents and certificates across government and private issuers across the length and breadth of the country is a gigantic task and no single entity can do justice to it.

This necessarily means that multiple players have to be a part of the paperless ecosystem in an economically sustainable model and contribute to expanding its footprint.

DigiLocker was launched as a secure platform for Indian citizens to store and access

their documents on an electronic repository provided by the Government of India.

What are some of the key highlights/ achievements for DigiLocker?

The National Digital Locker project was launched by the Prime Minister in July 2015. This marked the rollout of the government digital locker called “DigiLocker”, which is being built by the Ministry of IT. Since then, about 4 million citizens have registered for their DigiLocker accounts on the website and about 1 million citizens have downloaded the DigiLocker mobile app from the Android PlayStore.We have succeeded in integrating 25 government agencies and departments as document issuers.

These 25 agencies have collectively made available about 1.65 billion digital documents on the DigiLocker platform. The digital documents include Aadhaar cards (issued by UIDAI), driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates (issued by Ministry of Transport), LPG vouchers (issued by Ministry of Petroleum), CBSE Std XII & X mark-sheets and certificates, besides a host of other documents like income certificates, caste certificates, domicile certificates, birth certificates at al – the document list consists of 208 different types!

Getting issuer departments to undertake digitization of their databases (many of which are based on standalone, legacy systems) and subsequent integration with DigiLocker has been a very demanding effort. It has taken a lot of dogged persistence to convince issuers

Month - Wise Registration trends

2016-2017 8M

Registration Progress (No)

7M 6M 5M

Registration 4M 3M 2M 1M July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

2,030,059

2,123,993

2,673,628

2,840,091

4,000,242

4,152,451

4,261,964

4,557,765

4,868,253

April 5,049,788

May 6,079,160

June 7,309,160

about the feasibility of the platform and get them to be amongst the early adopters of this untried system. We have undertaken a nationwide roadshow of sorts – pitching Digital Locker to hundreds of central, state and municipal government entities across the country. Our team is really proud of the effort that has gone into this.

In your view, what are some of the major areas/functions on which Digilocker has made a major impact in the country?

Can you cite some examples?

It is early days for Digital Locker, since the platform is still being built. The pace of its adoption partly depends on the speed at which digitization can happen i.e. availability of digital documents are a prerequisite for usage. But people have already started using it in their daily lives.

The digital driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates available on the platform are used by motorists across the country for verification when they get flagged down by traffic policeman. People are using the digital Aadhaar card from DigiLocker to prove their identity at railway stations, trains, airports, etc. STD XII CBSE students who passed out in 2016 were issued their digital certificates on the day of result announcement itself. Many of them started applying for universities and colleges using the digital certificates immediately without waiting for the physical certificates (which takes a few weeks). Indian citizens applying for PAN cards online via the Income Tax Department’s appointed agencies – UTI & NSDL can directly use DigiLocker documents as part of the application process.

An additional feature of DigiLocker that is getting used extensively is the eSign facility.

Citizens can also upload scanned copies of their certificates, digitally sign it using eSign and share it with requesters – this is an online equivalent of the selfattested documents required for availing various services. As more digitised documents enter the digital locker ecosystem, we hope a multiplier effect will kick in and lead to a critical mass of users nationally.

As a creator for DigiLocker, what kind of apps or services in other sectors would you like to see DigiLocker being leveraged?

As I explained, Digital Locker is planned as an interoperable ecosystem in which multiple digital lockers will co-exist to cover the document footprint across the country. The Ministry of IT is in the process of notifying

the licensing norms for this multiplayer architecture. This means that in a few months from now, you will have not just the government built DigiLocker, but other digital lockers offering their services. Citizens can choose any one or more of these digital lockers and they will get to see a unified view of all their documents (made possible by interoperable APIs). This is similar to how the credit card infrastructure works – your credit card is issued by your bank, but it can be operated in any banks’ ATM across the country.

We expect vertical specific digital lockers to emerge eventually. These could take the form of a digital locker exclusively for health records, or for aggregating insurance policies, or banking documents. Specialized digital lockers for education are already being built. So the concept can be extended to any domain.

Your future vision for DigiLocker (which is going to become more important, especially in a cashless paperless world that is being actively pursued by the Government)? What are the sectors (education, healthcare) can be transformed using the power of DigiLocker?

When we started the initial work on Digital Locker, the end goal looked BHAG - big, hairy and audacious. It took us some time to break out the goal into logical building blocks which can be explained to others in a simple way. One of the analogies I’ve used to explain it - imagine if you were building a complete transportation system for your city. You’d have to first build the car (i.e. digital locker tech platform) followed by building a steady supply of fuel (i.e. digitised documents). Finally you’d have to build out the interconnected roads and formulate the driving rules (i.e. ecosystem). Only once all these are in place can one say that the traffic is smooth across the city and delivering people from one point to another. My personal vision for paperless governance using digital locker is inspired by this example.Our tech platform is ready, the digitization engine is firing up, now what is needed is the multiplayer ecosystem to kick in – that will complete the loop and get the national paperless flows running. Coupled with cashless payments, we hope digital locker will become a transformative governance game-changer and make the lives of Indian citizens simpler and more convenient than before. It will also lead to reduced bureaucracy, result in massive cost savings and usher in a new era of technology enabled governance.

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

12 | FEATURE

Mapping the value of e-governance in India: 10 Key Projects

5

3

State PENSION Portal - Online Social Security Schemes Management System (OSSSMS), Social Justice and Disabled Welfare Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

4

NREGASoft, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India

6

Hawk Eye Hyderabad, Telangana

1

Loan Charge Creation Project, Land Administration Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

2

Aadhaar enabled Public Distribution System, Civil Supplies Department Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

8

UE Mission by Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

7

MyGov, MietY, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India

gTriangulation Gurugram, Haryana

Haryana 5

3

Madhya Pradesh

Gujarat 10

10

Design, development & implementation of web based GIS application along with GIS database at Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), Government of Gujarat Surat, Gujarat

Telangana 6

1

Karnataka

Andhra Pradesh

9

2

9

Nation’s First Intelligent Transport System with Mobile app at Mysore City, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Karnataka Mysuru City, Karnataka

WITH THE INITIAL emphasis on automation and computerisation, e-governance is now beginning to encompass the areas of connectivity, networking, setting up systems for processing information and delivering services

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n a recently held seminar on Supreme Court’s journey towards becoming a ‘Digital Court’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi said e-governance must be encouraged as it is environment friendly and will result in paperless offices. “e-governance is easy, effective and economical. It is also environment friendly as paperless offices will benefit the environment,” said Modi.

The “e” in e-governance stands for ‘electronic’. Thus, e-governance is basically associated with carrying out the functions and achieving the results of governance through the utilization of ICT (Information and Communications Technology). Over the years various e-governance

initiatives have been instrumental in transforming some of the major sectors. Effective use of ICT by many government departments to automate their age old processes is no more a newly adopted trend.

Digitization of various services like passport/VISA and railway services is considered to be the most transformative initiatives in India.

And now digitization projects like ration cards, pensions, income certificates, building licences, road transport, property registration, land records, and income tax payments have brought about a sea change in the lives of Indian citizens.

As every year a large number of e-governance initiatives are taken by the center and state

governments, we put together some of the most impactful projects.

LOAN CHARGE CREATION PROJECT, LAND ADMINISTRATION Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

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his project is a unique example of excellence in government process re-engineering. Loan Charge Creation module has been developed to curtail bogus and multiple loans given to the farmers by providing access to banks to view Adangal, ROR 1B and facility to create loan charge against a survey number. To avail the loans on land for cultivation, farmers used to go to banks and provide their Pattadhar Passbooks for availing loans. Previously there was no mechanism to verify the records online, whether the farmer/ individual has multiple loans in two or more banks. In order to avoid or curtail these fake, bogus and multiple loans, Loan Charge Creation Module has been launched in 2014 and has shown

positive outcomes last year. Using Loan Charge Creation module, bankers can verify the land details in Adangal and ROR-1B copies and also know whether any loan has been taken on the same land. Beneficiaries of the project are Government of Andhra Pradesh, Revenue Department, Agriculture Department and financial institutions like banks.

AADHAAR ENABLED PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, CIVIL SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

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his project resulted in delivering enhanced value (qualitative or quantitative or both) to its beneficiaries through effective use of ICT. Government of Andhra Pradesh has successfully implemented Aadhaar enabled Public Distribution System in all fair price shops across the state. AePDS upgraded to JanDhanPDS by integration of Jan Dhan Accounts of beneficiaries with

the dealer account for seamless transfer of money using AEPS using onus or off-us transactions. This is the only such project in the entire country to implement JAM technology in PDS. For achieving end-to-end computerization of TPDS, the Department of Food & Public Distribution, recognized four key areas, which is the creation and management of digitized beneficiary database; supply-chain management of TPDS commodities from Food Corporation of India (FCI) till fair price shops (FPS); sale of TPDS commodities at fair price shops including identification and authentication of beneficiaries and recording of transactions. Through e-POS (electronic Point of Sale); transparency and grievance in AePDS, a beneficiary is able to get all the commodities at one time. Even when one commodity is not available in a FPS, the beneficiary can take the same from nearby FPS. To reduce diversion, AePDS has been expected to check diversion of PDS commodities by checking proxy issues. Diversion in PDS supply chain

at any stage (while procuring, storage, at the time of movement from warehouse to FPS or at FPS) is possible only when proxy issues can be recorded in the system. AePDS targeted towards elimination of diversion by using online real time mechanical authentication, at the time of service delivery by route officer along with the dealer, at the FPS to weed out poor performing FPS to create transparency. The transaction data recorded at the shops would be put in public domain and hence AePDS enables public scrutiny and social auditing of the FPS.

STATE PENSION PORTAL ONLINE SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (OSSSMS), SOCIAL JUSTICE AND DISABLED WELFARE Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

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he projects highlights on demonstrating the use of path breaking ICT or innovative use of an

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

| 13

FEATURE existing ICT for enhancement in efficiency, effectiveness of process, cost, quality, service delivery or a combination of these.

Objective of the initiative involves effective use of various available ICT technologies e.g. data mash-up, web, mobile app, sms, GPS, Aadhaar, QR codes, predictive computing for adoption of proactive and entitlement based model governance so as to ensure transparent and effective implementation of various social security pension and other schemes in Madhya Pradesh. The IT platform, MIS, resident database, seamless integration with other databases like database of PwD,Database of BPL families facilitates predicative computing.

Further, the system also allows rule-based identification of the people eligible for benefits and facilitates sanction of benefit of schemes proactively by deputing the concerned officials for completing the formalities with minimal interventions and sanction of the benefits on the date of eligibility. The system also facilitates online requests for benefits, online verification, automated switching to schemes with higher benefits on the date of eligibility. The system facilitates DBT and may be considered as an example of minimum government and maximum governance.

Beneficiaries of the project include 33 lakh pensioners that include old age persons, people with disabilities, widows, deserted women, mentally retarded people, people with multiple disabilities, parents with only girl child and others

NREGASOFT, MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA Government of India

N

REGASoft is a local language enabled workflow based egovernance system and is available in online as well as offline (for poor internet connectivity areas) mode to capture all the activities under MGNREGA at center/ state/ district/ block and panchayat level.

NREGASoft has been developed and deployed at http://nrega.nic in by NIC in collaboration with ministry of rural development.Each stakeholder can access relevant information through this portal.

Wage, material, admin expenditure payment can be made through eFMS module. For wage payment, NeFMS has been implemented in eleven states. Key features include works management module that captures the complete life cycle of the works created under MGNREGA; Electronic Fund Management System (eFMS) that transfers amount electronically directly to accounts of MGNREGA beneficiaries/vendors/agencies having account in bank / post office, bridged through PFMS; Fund Management Module that tracks the transfer of fund from the ministry of rural development to the pocket of the person. Its grievance redressal system allows all stakeholders including illiterate worker/citizen to lodge complaint and trace the subsequent response.

The staff module captures details of staffs involved in MGNREGA activities. The details being captured are name, designation, mobile no., Aadhaar no., e-mail address, account no. etc. Mobile Monitoring System captures work demand, allocation, muster roll attendance, measurement book with geo-tagged photograph, IPPE work planning and Aadhaar seeding. Its life module captures the data for life survey, training and placements. The beneficiary of the project include all eligible workers below poverty line.

GTRIANGULATION Gurugram, Haryana

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his unique methodology was tried and tested on several test cases by validating and revalidating the results obtained by digitally ortho-rectifying highresolution satellite data as well as by measurements conducted on sites.

The objective was to link all databases end to end. Textual records of land parcels are available in the form of Haryana Land Record Information System.

Similarly land transactions reflected in Haryana Registration Information. Geo-spatial imaging

was done through unmanned aerial vehicle with a resolution of five cm was superimposed on cadastral map and repositioned by correcting them by comparing and matching parcel to parcel data at village level, tehsil level , district level and finally state level. The idea was to seamlessly link all the three databases to allow public to procure the land records online in a a dynamic manner. Key objectives included the value added services and direct benefit transfers; parcel to parcel analysis of villages in Manesar that provides perspectives for repositioning entire land records system; to remove information asymmetry by connecting geo-spatial imaging to textual records available in the form of Haryana land records information system; and refining all major errors that crept in since 1958 by way of matching the ROR records with GIS imageries.

HAWK EYE Hyderabad, Telangana

H

awk Eye is all about integrating the police communication network system for prompt response to citizens. It also serves as a tool in improving the operational efficiency of the police and in enhancing collaboration between public and police, particularly for establishing a safe and smart Hyderabad city. This tool emphasizes police to achieve its primary function / objective to respond to citizens reports / complaints for assistance in emergencies in the shortest possible time with appropriate resources.

It offers integrated emergency services like report a violation to police, women travel made safe,register with police, SOS, reaching out to emergency contacts, community policing, know your report status, vehicle and mobile search, traffic updates, notifications, facebook pages. It allows Aadhaar linked registration and encourages people to register their tenants/servants to prevent crime. Key services include integration of lost mobile / theft mobile data by providing an IMEI based search; integration of stolen vehicle data for immediate information to public about stolen vehicles; information relating to cab drivers so as the make the women travel more safe; on hand information and dynamic linking of Aadhaar based authentication ;traffic alerts on traffic jams, diversions etc. considerably reduces the travel time and plan the journey accordingly; crime notifications and alerts created sense of awareness among general citizens; and enhanced communication across police officials improved transparency.

MYGOV, MIETY, MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Government of India

M

yGov (mygov.in), citizen engagement and crowdsourcing platform of Government of India, aims to promote active citizen participation in India’s governance and development. The vision of MyGov is to create a participatory digital democracy, leveraging technology to enable every citizen to contribute ideas and efforts for nationbuilding, transforming these ideas into actions and recognizing individual contributions. Among the world’s largest participatory consultation platforms, MyGov enables direct citizen participation in governance and policy making, utilizing multiple media. MyGov App (tasks & discussions), Swachh Bharat App (share cleanliness activities, take pledge and nominate others), MyGov-MOVE(Volunteering for Gov Schools), SMS based polls, IVRS based audio recording and OBD for Mann

Ki Baat. Its key beneficiaries include citizens that can engage in governance issues from policy formulation to programme implementation through various activities on MyGov. Ministries, departments and autonomous bodies of the Government of India can now seek creative inputs in the form logos, taglines, mascots, videos, songs for upcoming policies and projects. Additionally, they can harness the talent and knowledge of citizens in further refining/tweaking policy documents and garner public opinion through polls and surveys.

UE MISSION BY RURAL ELECTRIFICATION CORPORATION LTD Government of India

U

nder UE mission, all 18452 villages of the country are to be electrified. To meet the ultimate goal of electrification of these villages in time bound manner, a comprehensive project monitoring mechanism has been developed called “GARV”. This unique monitoring mechanism leverages the mobile technology and empowers all stakeholders viz. central government, state government distribution company and general public at large. The interactive dashboard of the GARV app provides complete information on status of electrification works in these villages in a highly transparent manner. Key services include project management for execution agencies viz. state distribution companies, monitoring

for funding agencies viz.

Government of India through Rural Electrification Corporation and transparency and control for general public through media and easily accessible mobile app.GARV is an app for people which ensures highest level of transparency and accountability inimplementation of rural electrification program of government of India. The UE mission aims to make electricity available in remaining 18452 unelectrified villages in the country with minimum delay.

These villages have always remained in dark and even after 69 years of Independence, people in these villages are leading life of misery. The impact of basic amenity electricity on all the developmental aspects of life viz. standard of living, education, healthcare, agriculture, small scale industries and employment opportunities is becoming visible.

The people residing in these villages are seeing the arrival of electricity in their villages as a ray of hope for a better present and bright future. They are actively participating in the program and are facilitating solutions to local issues faced during the execution of works.

NATION’S FIRST INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM WITH MOBILE APP Mysuru City, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Karnataka, Karnataka

BUSINESS AVENUES

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mplementation of intelligent transport systems at Mysuru city is an effort by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to accelerate modal shift from personal use of vehicles to public transport system. It also helps in lowering the pollution levels, by offering high-class services through state of-the-art technologies. The intelligent transport system project implemented at Mysuru addresses the critical issue of road congestion by offering state-of-art technologies and attractive, convenient, comfortable, value added services to encourage the usage of bus services against individual personal vehicles. Some of the major services include the information regarding arrival and departure of buses on phone; announcements inside the buses; service details on mobile; tracking of buses for safety; improvement of ridership, providing better fleet management and enhancement of operational efficiency; bus stop mapping; exact travel time data; rescheduling and route rationalization based on field travel times, route optimization; commuter portal with static and real-time data, passenger friendly commuter website – http://mitra.ksrtc.in in English and Kannada; and operations management which includes computers aided dispatch, schedule adherence, incident management. The key beneficiaries include all people traveling by public transport in Mysuru city.

DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT & IMPLEMENTATION OF WEB BASED GIS APPLICATION ALONG WITH GIS DATABASE Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) Government of Gujarat

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he objective of the project was to develop a GIS based system for entire functioning of the Surat Municipal Corporation and to enable citizens of the city of Surat and the people at large to view and share various vital information required for common use. Further, the platform was to provide a transparent and accountable administration. Major objectives include mapping for utility system like water supply, sewerage system, drainage system, road network and solid waste management system.

Also the aim was to develop a web based GIS application for planning, management and governance in the context of entire functioning of the organization; land information system (LIS) which carry spatial as well as non spatial details of town planning schemes, development plan, property tax mapping, incorporation of various physical features like road network, railway, water body, etc. The key beneficiaries include parastatal agencies like development authority, other agencies operating within city like collectorate, police, transport organizations, etc.

EXPRESS COMPUTER | SEPTEMBER, 2017

14 | INTERVIEW

Thwarting large scale cyberattacks, the Maha way THE GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA has conceptualised Maharashtra Cyber Project. It has four major components – technology assisted investigation, CERT-Maharashtra, Big Data Analytics Centre, and capability building module. In an interview with Mohd Ujaley, Brijesh Singh, Inspector General of Police (Cyber), Government of Maharashtra talks about the objectives of the project Maharashtra government has conceptualised Maharashtra Cyber Project. What is the major focus of this project?

The government of Maharashtra has concept-ualised Maharashtra Cyber Project.

It has four major components – technology assisted Earlier, it was rare investigation, CERTto find a 6 Gigabits Maharashtra, per second (GBPS) Big Data attack but with Analytics Centre, and Mirai, you have capability attacks in Terabits building module. We per second (TBPS). are almost Now, we will through with the first need modern and module that is scale cyber technology defence assisted investigation. mechanism to In fact, thwart large scale Maharashtra happens to be cyberattacks a unique state which has established 44 cyber labs which also functions as cyber police stations.

The cyber police station does not take away the rights of a normal police station to investigate but all the specialised cyber cases would come to cyber police station. These cyber police stations have the

state of art tools, technology, equipment and training infrastructure for police personal to help them solve cyber cases in more prompt and efficient way.

We are now focusing on our second module—CERTMaharashtra and the Big Data Analytic Centre. As far as CERTMaharashtra is concern, it is a really an ambitious project and need of the hour for the state.

Maharashtra being the financial capital of the country, it is constantly under the cyber threat and cyber-attacks. Large banking institutions are also headquartered in Mumbai. S,o we as a state do not want to lose this competitive edge that we have, as you know there are other states who are competing in this space.

As a state, if we do not offer them some kind of cyber defence, apart from losing competitive edge, we may find a situation where we are unable to handle if some large scale cyber-attack take place.

Looking at the trend of cyber security attack in 2017, you will find large Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are happening across the world. For a service based industry like India, cybersecurity becomes very critical. But our ability to face large scale DDoS attack are slightly limited right now.

In this space one development has taken place is the Mirai Botnet.

It has changed the scale by the factor of 100. Earlier, it was rare to find a 6 Gigabits per second (GBPS) attack but with Mirai, you

We already have CERT-India, so why Maharashtra has decided to set-up CERT-Maha?

Look, India is growing. The states critical infrastructure is growing. The central body, CERT-India, is doing great job but with the growth, it has been felt that CERT needs to expand itself.

That is why under the guidance of CERT-In, the government has asked to form regional CERT and sectorial CERT. So, the regional CERT will be in partnership with CERT-India and it will basically lead to augmentation of the capacity.

have attacks in Terabits per second (TBPS). Now, we will need modern and scale cyber defence mechanism to thwart large scale cyber-attack. Maharashtra is very cognizant of all these development and we are wanting to develop a good cyber defence infrastructure, that is why we have conceptualised Maharashtra Cyber Project.

You mentioned about CERTMaharashtra, what is your strategy about writing request for proposal (RFP) because most things in the cyber world are evolving and that means you need to have a futuristic RFP? We are floating an expression of interest on a turnkey basis. We are checking solutions of companies and consortia who are major players in the field of IT and cybersecurity. We have deliberately chosen this path because if we go on RFP based with our existing knowledge, we may be missing different things.

But with floating expression of interest, best solution and finest companies of the world would come to tell us about different aspect of the project. They may also tell us what is do-able now and what is futuristic. Once, we have the good idea of the terrain, we will come up with the comprehensive RFP and I hope we will be able to design something which will be a next generation and futuristic.

Are you also in touch with other states or other government

organisations who have done something significant in the field of cybersecurity?

Yes, we are in touch with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). Both of them are guiding us. In addition, some of the corporate organisation have also come forward to provide their suggestions. They are telling us what is needed and what is available right now in the market.

So, there is lot of synergy happening. I feel Maharashtra would take the lead in establishing the modern CERT, which will be very useful for people, government and corporate.

Is Centre also funding the project?

No, funding is completely from state of Maharashtra but for knowledge sharing we are closely liaising with the centre.

MeitY and CERT-In are fully supporting it from policy wise.

Both secretary and the minister are very supportive of this project and whatever help Maharashtra needed from Centre in terms of guidance and policy that is being provided by the ministry.

Regional CERT is a good idea but what about breach notification ? Most mature markets like US and EU have robust guidlines, framework or law in place but we don’t have it.

What is your view on this?

We are positively moving in that direction. In June 2013, India came up with the cyber security

policy of its own. Dr Gulshan Rai, who now heads the cybersecurity in PMO was the instrumental in bringing this policy. Apart from that government is coming up with a cyber infra policy. Even, under IT Act, set of guideline and rules have been laid down for liability and intermediaries. This is something that we learn by doing.

We can’t do it by copying the laws and rules which were made in other countries. Recently, RBI has made mandatory to report incidents of cyber breaches. You know, there is a flip side to it too.

Once, the breach is reported, the law enforcement agency should have capability to do something about it. It is not there right now but in future we will have something on this. I am sure the rules and guidelines will be drafted which is easy to follow and take care of the interest of both government, people and corporate.

Other than, you know in a democracy, government is run by trust. It is essential to have framework that have trust in the system. You know there is paradox in it. The big IT companies know everything about us. From dark to light but those are not available to government. Government will try to get these data. They will try to collect as much data as they can to protect people. But they need to come up with the guideline or framework which says that they will only use the collected data in the case of national security or in crime cases.

Our main focus is in positioning the DIGISOL SCS products in the country WITH INDIA FORAYING into the new age of technology and digitization across the nation, DIGISOL is seeing a huge opportunity in the Structured Cabling market and has thus decided to once again make the most of it with the available resources and expertise by entering into the cabling business. Arati Naik, COO, DIGISOL Systems, shares her perspective Please explain the rationale behind foraying into Structure Cabling business again? What opportunities do you see in the India market?

We took an important step in our corporate journey of 24 years with the introduction of our Passive range of Structured Cabling business in India. We now offer an entire range of Copper, Fiber and FTTH Structured Cabling Solutions for customers in India along We want to with our position our Active Products line, brand as a ‘Made thus in India’ brand providing an end to end with no networking compromise on solution.

The quality and with company has technologically more than two advanced decades of experience in products manufacturing and marketing of SCS products.

We have created top brands for structured cabling in India over the year and along with this, we had complete infrastructure and technology required for cabling business. With India foraying into the new age of technology and digitization across the nation, we saw a good opportunity for

DIGISOL in the Structured Cabling market and thus decided to once again make the most of it with the available resources and expertise by entering into the Cabling business.

With this foray, how are you looking to position the company in the Passive Networking domain vis-a-vis the competition?

Our main focus is positioning the DIGISOL SCS products in the channel, mid-market as well as the enterprise segment. Once we create trust and comfort amongst the partners with our wide range of SCS products, quality, specs etc, we want to focus on brand awareness among the end customers. We want to position our brand as a ‘Made in India brand with no compromise on quality and with technologically advanced products.

Please highlight the range of products that is being offered to the market DIGISOL’s cabling portfolio includes Copper cabling solutions (Cat5e, Cat 6 & Cat 6A), UTP/STP LAN Cables, Keystones , Patch Panels, Patch Cords, Face Plates etc. In the Fiber range, we have Fiber cables, Fiber Patch Cords, Pigtails, LIU couplers and an entire FTTH Product line.

DIGISOL cabling products adhere to EIA/TIA and ISO/IEC international standards. They are RoHS compliant and are backed by international 25 years product

warranty performance. DIGISOL Structured Cabling Systems is here to fulfill the network connectivity needs of medium to small businesses and home networks, as well as SME & Enterprises requirements. We also offer technologically superior products like our patented tooless keystone and 90 degree patch panels which ease the System integrators work.

What value proposition is being offered to customers with passive products?

What are the advantages of manufacturing the products in India?

Manufacturing in India is our Chairman’s passion, and we are happy to introduce a full range of passive products, of which majority are made in India. We have introduced a game-changing product which can prove to be highly efficient for System Integrators, like our patented toolless keystones which are manufactured locally and focus on easy installation, as well as our 90 degree patch panels ranging from Cat 5e to Cat 6A for easy termination. Our main aim is to provide products which save time and efforts and thus make the cabling procedures simpler along with giving best user experience.

This is what our Chairman has always believed in.

The biggest competitive advantage of local manufacturing is that we can customize our products as per local

requirements and conditions. We have the capability of not only manufacturing but conducting R&D in-house as well.

What is your go-to-market strategy for the complete range of passive networking products?

We at DIGISOL have wellconceived marketing strategies, coupled with a business framework that delivers value, quality, and efficacy, which is instrumental to our success in the market. Integral to our business model, is a wide-spread marketing and distribution network that ensures deeper market penetration.

This year we will be conducting various events and activations

across India for our SI partners and Channel partners, where we will be communicating as well as connecting with them. We also plan to actively participate in the third party events, etc. Apart from these, we will be aggressively conducting various in-shop branding, activations and training sessions across the country.

We believe in having a good portion of our marketing funds reserved for Training and Seminars which will help our SI Partners to understand our products and solutions and be technically qualified for offering these solutions. DIGISOL invests considerably in training and empowering their channel partners to build their own technical expertise as well as enhance the DIGISOLs brand positioning and visibility in the industry. Sound market knowledge and in-depth understanding is helping us to emerge as a front runner in delivering end-to-end products to customers covering a broad spectrum in SOHOs and SMEs. With our strong presence in SMB & Enterprise, we will work with regional and national SI’s for enhanced presence in large scale projects and select verticals.

With both your active and passive range, how are you aligning with the government’s Smart City and Digital India mission?

DIGISOL wants to be one of the key drivers of the digital India with

the range of our products like Routers, Enterprise Wireless Solutions , Switches, IP Surveillance solutions and Structured Cabling Solutions. The core strength of DIGISOL is ‘Networking’ and networking is an integral part of making digitally connected India a reality. We want to establish ourselves as best in class ‘Made in India brand’. We have technology and infrastructure to do that and that makes DIGISOL different from other brands.

How are you looking to engage with system integrators and other partners to capture the burgeoning market opportunities in this domain?

We have a full-fledged enterprise sales team who are mapping the enterprise businesses and projects and are aligning with major SI’s and consultants. Beside this, we are reaching out to our SI Partners with various activities such as our own events and third party events.

This year we are engaging with System Integrators and VAR’s in a stronger way than ever before, with having done a large number of events with the primary focus being on training SIs and VARs. In the first phase, we have been largely working on visibility amongst SI community coupled with SI engagement programs.

Going forward we would continue to closely work with SI partners with a host of activities such as road shows, events and training programs.

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