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IT & ITES POLICY 2007 |
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ICT AS
TOOL FOR PROMOTING GOOD GOVERNANCE |
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1. E-Governance is
a key enabler for bringing about ‘good governance’ that characterizes more
efficient, responsive and transparent government machinery. To this end,
State Government has taken up a number of initiatives to automate and
inter-network government interfaces to citizens, businesses and also within
itself among various departments. State Government is also committed to
bridge the digital divide and to promote e-democracy. For this purpose, the
State shall take all necessary steps to gain the maximum advantage under the
National e-Governance Plan and the resources available therein. Given below
are some of the key policy initiatives being envisaged through this policy
document: 1.1 Strengthening
ICT Infrastructure for e-Governance 1.1.1 To create a central
repository of data and to facilitate inter-departmental data transfer
Government of Rajasthan has setup the State Data Centre (SDC). This will
house the enterprise level servers and network equipments, enabling the
different departments to be connected to each other on a real time basis. The
SDC shall be further strengthened so as to cater to the increasing
requirements of the Government in optimising e-governance efforts. 1.1.2 State Government
is executing the Rajasthan State Wide Area Network (RSWAN) which will connect
the State Capital to all the 32 districts and 241 tehsils with at least 2
MBPS link with built in redundancy. The State will also set up a wireless
footprint at District and Tehsil level with a radius of 10- 1.1.3 Government of 1.1.4 Government of
Rajasthan has already initiated the Secretariat Networking project. This
network already caters to over 3000 users within the Secretariat Campus and
links together all important Government buildings within 1.1.5 A state-wide
wireless based network called CARISMA is being set up to provide online
connectivity to over 1100 Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The aim of the
project is to promote sustainable Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) solutions for improving the quality of life in rural areas by providing
digital connectivity for need based agriculture solutions, communication,
healthcare, governance and other diverse services. 1.1.6 State-wide
networks like Edusat and Gramsat are also being used. 1.1.7 In order to promote
greater use of Internet and web-enabled applications, Government of Rajasthan
has allowed all government offices to avail the facility of Broadband
Internet services. 1.1.8 State Government has
rolled out citizen-centric e-Mitra Project across the State. District e-Mitra
Societies have been established in all the 32 districts to manage the rollout
of e-Governance initiatives. The forthcoming Common Service Centre project
shall be integrated into the format of the District e-Mitra Societies which
shall be suitably developed, administratively and financially, for delivering
services assigned to them from e-Governance initiatives of government. The
e-Mitra initiative aims at providing Government services and information to
the common man on an ‘anytime’ and ‘anywhere’ basis. E-Mitra would serve as
the umbrella interface for Government- to-Citizen (G2C) interactions. The
e-Mitra front-end service delivery channels have been built and are managed
and operated under PPP model. Private Partners would add entrepreneurial,
technological & marketing values to the supply chain. State Government
was awarded the Bronze Icon from the Government of India for “Outstanding
performance in Citizen-centric Service Delivery” in the year 2007. 1.1.9 State Government is in
the process of implementation of a Comprehensive Hospital Management
Information System at State's 1.1.10 Individual departments
are also taking up large computerisation projects. Some of the main
Departments include Home, Finance, Medical & Health, Commercial Taxes,
Registration and Stamps etc. Proposals of these and other Departments are
examined in the Department of IT&C and approvals granted so that
implementation can be facilitated. 1.1.11 The Department has
initiated steps to transform Jaipur into a 1.1.12 IT Parks at Sitapura,
Jaipur; 1.2 Budgetary
outlay 1.2.1 Efforts would be made to
increase the budgetary outlay for IT expenditure on a year-on-year basis to
substantially double by 2009-2010. These funds would be used for
infrastructure development and capacity building. 1.2.2 A separate budget head
has been opened to account for all expenditure related to ‘IT enablement’.
This head (62-Expenditure on Communication, Information & Technical
equipments) would enable collation of financial data for effective monitoring
of e-Governance related expenditure within the Government domain. 1.2.3 Empowered Committee and
Projects Approval Committee would appraise IT and e-Governance projects and
recommend appropriate funding within the budgetary limits of the concerned
departments. The State Government expects all departments to make best
efforts to earmark up to 3% of their plan outlay for implementation of
e-Governance initiatives. 1.2.4 All Government
Departments would be required to prepare 5 year IT plans with yearly
deliverables containing details of investments envisaged in the IT
infrastructure, training of personnel, etc. The plans would have to be in
consonance with the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) specially related to
improving service delivery to citizens. 1.3 E-Governance
framework 1.3.1 The State e-Governance
Council established under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Chief Minister is
working together with other advisory bodies like Economic Policy &
Reforms Council (EPRC) towards charting strategic growth plans for IT and
ITES Sectors. It also helps in formulating appropriate policy measures so
that the overall direction is in tune with the rapid changes taking place in
this sector 1.3.2 In addition, the State
level Apex committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary and the State
e-Mission Team under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary, IT & C will
also monitor and supervise the computerization activities of various
departments on a continuing basis. 1.3.3 Each department is also
expected to set up Project e-Governance 1.3.4 State Government would
align the e-Governance strategy to be in synergy with the National
e-Governance Plan (NeGP) particularly related to service delivery to the
common man. As part of NeGP, State level Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) would
be taken up for execution of expeditious basis. 1.3.5 State Government shall
develop comprehensive e-Governance architecture for the State. This
architecture would address all issues related to integration,
interoperability and uniform information interchange among various components
of Government back-offices, middleware comprising communication and security
infrastructure and front end delivery channels (kiosks, internet, mobile
phones, etc). 1.3.6 All State Government
Departments would be required to adhere to the State’s e-Governance
architecture while preparing their projects. 1.3.7 Department of IT&C
(DoIT&C)shall be the nodal agency for all e-Governance initiatives in the
State. 1.3.8 Suitable amendments in
Departmental rules would be brought about to facilitate privately owned
contact points (e-Mitra front end service delivery channels). Since
comprehensive computerisation of the user departments would take some time,
steps would be taken to ensure that the processes pertaining to quality
service delivery will be in place by the time the departments are fully
automated. 1.3.9 State Government shall
establish a framework for institutionalized Government-to-Government
interaction aimed at sharing and dissemination of knowledge on the best practices
in the e-Governance domain. Seminars, workshops and conferences shall be
regularly conducted where interactions can take place with the officers of
Government of India and other State Governments as well with the private
Sector. 1.4 Public-Private
Partnerships in e-Governance 1.4.1 Public-Private
Partnership (PPP) models are increasingly gaining acceptance in the country
as successful and effective building blocks for all round socio-economic
development. Rajasthan Education Initiative (REI) and Rajasthan Water
Initiative (RWI) are some of the PPP models under implementation in
Rajasthan. State Government would strive to provide a framework to promote
the use of PPP in rolling out of e-Governance programs as well as in the
interventions in mitigating digital divide, content development, rural
connectivity and capacity building. The assistance of IT majors would be
sought in formulation of policies that would impact on the rolling out of a
digital society in Rajasthan. 1.5 Increasing reach
and penetration of e-Government 1.5.1 It is essential for
effective implementation of e-Governance projects that ‘demand side’ of
e-Governance eco-system is at par with the ‘supply side’. Special efforts
would be made to inculcate the concept of e-enabled service delivery channels
among the common man, particularly among rural masses and other weaker
sections of the society. 1.5.2 State Government has
launched a special drive to use mobile communication facilities (mobile
communication vans) for taking e-governance service delivery to un-reached
sections of the society and to establish contact with the common man so as to
ascertain his grievances and problems and to energise a process of resolving
such local issues through the use of such communication technology. 1.6 ICT for Right
to Information (RTI) 1.6.1 Right to Information
Act, 2005 mandates information on demand to the citizens of 1.7 GIS for
Planning 1.7.1 State has developed a
very comprehensive Geographical Information System (GIS) – ‘VIKAS DARPAN’.
The GIS system will be used as a Decision Support system by various
Departments for long term planning of the development of the State. 1.8 IT enabling of
Government-to-Employee interface (G2E) 1.8.1 The State Government has
initiated a project to digitise employee related data and transactions such
as payroll, GPF, State Insurance, Pension and Service Books. The employee
related portal containing all the relevant information would be launched.
This would provide efficient and transparent information management and
delivery to its employees and improve the speed and quality of service.
Government shall examine the issue of Smart Card based Identity Cards. These
Smart Cards would contain all master and transactions records of the
Government Employees. 1.9 Business
Process Re-engineering (BPR) in Government Departments 1.9.1 To ensure long term
success of e-Governance, structured Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
would be taken up in all the key departments. External consultants have
been hired on turn-key basis to give inputs on the best practices and execute
the same. 1.9.2 State Government would
establish nodal committees at departmental levels to monitor implementation
of BPR and change management in the key public dealing departments. 1.10 Government
websites 1.10.1 Websites are one of the
primary channels for dissemination of information related to Government
domain among citizens. Proper framework and guidelines would be put in place
for maintenance, accreditation and updating of website of different departments
of the State Government so as to ensure that they subscribe to the specified
criteria. Private Sector support may be invited for content development and
management. 1.11 1.11.1 Change management is
one of the key issues of e-Governance. Government employees should accept IT
as a modern tool which can make their working environment more congenial and
efficient. However, this will need change in government employee attitudes. 1.11.2 Chief Information
Officers (CIOs) would be designated in all key Departments who would act as
domain level champions. These officers would be imparted training in
e-Governance issues, project management and change management issues at
premier organizations like National Institute of Smart Government (NISG),
Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), etc. The CIOs would be nominated for
a minimum period of 3 years and would be responsible for meeting the targets
of automation of internal processes. 1.11.3 Computer training
programs for Government personnel of all levels are being conducted on
regular basis to enhance internal capacity for technology absorption and
change management. These programs would be suitably strengthened to meet the
demands of the future. State-of-art training facility has been started
in the Secretariat for this purpose. 1.11.4 Possession of necessary
IT skills would be preferred as essential promotion criteria for all
Government employees. Class II and Class III Government employees would be
encouraged to obtain Basic or Advanced level certifications. These
certificates would be issued by the Department of Personnel (DoP) in
consultation with DoIT&C. The same shall be placed in the service records
of the concerned employees. 1.11.5 The recruitment
criteria on various government positions would include proficiency in
appropriate IT skills. For this purpose State Government would amend
recruitment rules for class I to III cadres of State Government. 1.11.6 State Government
Departments would earmark 50% of their training budget for IT training
programs. 1.12 Use of Open Source Software 1.12.1 State Government shall
encourage use of Open Source Software and multi vendor applications and
services. Appropriate competency in developing Open Source Software shall be
encouraged in the Government domain. Government shall ensure that the
government departments and government employees only use licensed software. 1.13 Cyber laws and Issues in e-Governance 1.13.1 The Government shall
strive to put in place a legal framework to prevent and curb cyber crimes.
Rules have been put in place to facilitate the same. The Government shall
invest in creating cyber crimes units in major cities and districts
headquarters and train and equip police personnel for this purpose 1.14 IT security policy 1.14.1 State Government would
initiate a comprehensive IT security policy for its ICT infrastructure. In
addition to security systems being monitored and maintained by the government
employees, scope for comprehensive third party audit would be factored to
ensure that IT systems are secure. 1.15 Intellectual Property Rights 1.15.1 State Government shall
endeavor to set up a suitable mechanism to address issues related to
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) aimed at protection of content and software
through appropriate enforcement of relevant copyright laws. 1.16 Condemnation of obsolete IT Equipment
& disposal 1.16.1 The State Government
understands that there is a high rate of obsolescence of IT Equipments.
Hence, the State Government would come out with a dynamic set of guidelines
for condemnation/disposal of obsolete IT Equipments. |