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.