The long wait for the implementation of e-governance in Kochi Corporation would end soon. The authorities said that the project has reached the last lap.

“We are trying to cross the last round of hurdles before implementation of the project. We expect to launch it within one month,” said  a technical officer with the Corporation associated with the project. He added that over `1 crore-worth system, database and applications developed for the e-governance project have been taken to Thiruvananthapuram to link them with the State Data Centre.

“The database and applications have been taken to Thiruvananthapuram and linked with the State Data Centre. With this, we are set to launch 13 modules of the e-governance project initially,” said the official. The Corporation also plans to re-launch its website to ‘www.corporationofcochin.gov’ from its present address ‘www.corporationofcochin.net’ with the launch.

The e-governance project of the Corporation has a long controversial tale to tell. The `8-crore programme, implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to deliver all major services offered by the Corporation available online, came under sharp criticism after it was inordinately delayed for almost six years since its announcement in 2007.

The pilot phase of the project was supposed to roll out in last August but the work came to a standstill when it was struck with an additional expenses of `4 lakh. The authorities were of the opinion that the Corporation lacked the infrastructure to instal the system like air-conditioned rooms, 24-hour power supply and ample security needed for the servers. Later, it was decided to transport and link all the equipment here to the State Data Centre in Thiruvananthapuram and to operate it from Kochi. The decision, however, had its own risks. The equipment had to be insured before transportation and there was considerable opposition on spending more on the project.

Once set into operation, the key services of the project include to make online issuance of birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate and trade licence. The booking availability of Ernakulam Town Hall and the list of programmes scheduled, property tax collection and assessment, professional tax collection, assessment and issuance of occupancy certificate, minutes of the recent council meetings and that of standing committee meetings will also be made available online. The project is supposed to bring in more transparency to the governance of Corporation and to make its offices a paper-less one.

 The technical solutions for the website was provided by Tata Consultancy Services and the detailed project report was given by Wipro.