After several delays, finally the e-Governance project of the Kochi   Corporation is going to get launched this August. Actually mooted in 2007,  the e-Governance programme was supposed to be implemented two years back.   But, various hurdles, including the restructuring of the office arrangements, had delayed the project.

However, with the work of the pilot phase completed, the Corporation   authorities are planning to launch the first phase of the e-Governance programme by this August.

According to an official concerned, some key services offered by the    Corporation will be available online after the launch of the first phase.  “The key services including issuance of birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate and trade licence will be available online after the launch of the pilot phase. The availability of Ernakulam Town Hall for various programmes, booking of the hall and the list of programmes scheduled will also be available online,” said the official.

The Rs 8 crore e-governance programme is being implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) with an aim to make all the major services offered by the Corporation available online.

Property tax collection and assessment, professional tax collection, assessment and issuance of occupancy certificate, details of the council meetings and major decisions taken by the council and agenda and minutes of standing committee meetings will also be available online, adding to the transparency of the civic administration.

The official said that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is implementing the e-governance programme, had completed the procedures, including the software development for major modules. “Another major module in the pilot phase is the store management. The existing website of the Corporation, www.corporationofcochin.net, will be relaunched as an interactive web portal by August. The other modules for the non-pilot phase will also be completed soon after the launch of the pilot phase. The complete e-Governance programme will be launched by December,” he added.

The work of modules for the non-pilot phase including health and sanitation services, engineering, budget and asset valuation will be completed  by September,” he added.

The new systems purchased in connection with the launch of e-Governance will be installed soon. “The data entry to record all the major decisions took by the present and previous council meetings is progressing. The data post 2003 will be entered manually by composing while scanned copy of the older records will be made available,” he added.