The New Indian Express 27.05.2010
E-governance hits a roadblock
KOCHI: The launching of the e-governance project in Kochi Corporation has run into rough weather following the State Government’s decision to integrate the software developed by the Information Kerala Mission (IKM) with the one developed by Wipro for the project.
The Kochi Corporation, which had appointed Wipro for developing the software for the much-hyped e-governance project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, is now at crossroads after the government decided to introduce a common statewide solution for implementing the e-governance projects. “We had appointed Wipro as the implementing agency a year ago and the company has already completed the software development process. But, the Central Government in January instructed the state to introduce a unique state-wide solution to the e-governance projects in the local self-government institutions to avoid repeated submission of separate proposals by various corporations,” Mayor Mercy Williams said. As a result, the state had asked the IKM to develop a common platform for the urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state, she said.
But, Wipro has already completed the software development for the Corporation and what the civic body was expecting was an integration of the software developed by Wipro with the technology developed by the IKM, Mercy Williams said.
Another top Corporation official said it was not possible to integrate the IKM technology with the software of Wipro which was more advanced.
“Wipro says is it will develop the technology which IKM can market. This is not acceptable to IKM,” he said.
More than that, the integration of technology will be more expensive and time-consuming, he said. “But it seems the State Government is in favour of the IKM. The state has already invested a considerable amount on the IKM for the development of technology for the ULBs,” he said.
However, Mercy Williams said the civic body had already requested the State Government to find a solution to the issue. “Otherwise the e-governance project’s fate will hang in the balance,” she said. The e-governance project mainly aims at bringing the major services, including utility management, property tax, registration of births and deaths, water supply and other utilities, grievances and suggestions, and building approvals online.
