The Hindu 19.08.2014
Fresh push to e-governance in civic bodies
Will the Nagercoil municipality or the Vellore municipal corporation be able to provide its services using mobile applications?
The
answer will be in the affirmative once e-governance plans of the
municipal administration authorities fructify. And, the days are not far
off for various urban local bodies in Tamil Nadu to offer a
comprehensive set of services through information technology, says a
senior official. About 10 days ago, Municipal Administration and Water
Supply (MAWS) Department issued an order, giving the go-ahead for a
project to implement a State-level solution for e-governance in all
urban local bodies. However, this initiative will not include Chennai
Corporation, which has a separate plan.
Pilot basis
On
a pilot basis, the project will be carried out in the Coimbatore
municipal corporation and a few municipalities. After studying the
outcome, it will be rolled out in the rest of the State. A sum of Rs. 18
crore has been sanctioned.
The proposal originally
forms part of the National Mission Mode Project on e-governance, a
component of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission that
awaits an overhaul under the new BJP government. To carry out the
project, the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration h
as
chosen a systems integrator: Bahwan CyberTek, a global provider of
software products and solutions. PwC has been made the project
management consultant.
The Comptroller and
Auditor-General, in its report for the year ended March 31, 2013, pulled
up five municipal corporations for the tardy progress in
computerisation during 2005-2013.
The latest project envisages web-based applications and interface with geographical information system (GIS).
Different
modules are being developed for a host of functions of the local bodies
such as property tax, water supply, building permission, solid waste
management and grievance redress. Other modules, for schools management
and hospital management systems, will also be formed.
As
for the fate of the existing level of computerisation in different
urban local bodies, the official says this will be absorbed into the
proposed e-governance regime. The main idea is to improve service
delivery to the public.
The other objectives include
increasing the transparency in the processes; ensuring seamless flow of
information across all levels of the local bodies; and increasing their
productivity.
On the progress of the project, the official says it is expected to be completed in a year.