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E-Governance

Private players to manage e-governance

Wednesday, 11 December 2013 05:43 administrator
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The Hindu              11.12.2013 

Private players to manage e-governance

N.J. Nair

Civic bodies told to part with database developed by IKM

Moves are reportedly afoot for handing over the management of the e-governance system in urban local bodies to private IT majors in phases.

Local Self-Government Department sources told The Hindu here on Tuesday that Kochi Corporation had taken the lead by roping in a prominent company for Rs.9 crore and high-level consultations were completed of late for bringing another IT company to manage the e-governance system of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation at a cost of Rs.13 crore. Civic bodies have been told to part with the database painstakingly developed by the Information Kerala Mission (IKM) to the private players on striking the deal.

More urban civic bodies will soon relinquish the decentralised IT architecture developed by the IKM to suit their needs following the devolution of powers and will switch over to the private service providers who lend their support at exorbitant rates. This would be a drain on the exchequer and also affect the quality of services now being offered by the civic bodies at present. Edging out the IKM would go against the spirit of decentralisation of powers to civic bodies, the sources said.

Central aid

The changeover is being expedited on the premise that it is mandatory for securing Central government assistance apportioned for computerisation of civic bodies. Despite its minor infirmities, the IT applications developed by the IKM, Sevana for civil registration, Sulekha for preparing Plan projects, and Sankya for accounting in LSGIs have been found to be user-friendly and cost-effective and had eased the problems faced by the public in registering births, deaths and marriages, pension disbursal and also streamlining the accounting system.

The mission had been offering a variety of services and, more importantly, periodical software upgradation and maintenance at negligible rates. At the same time, on completing the assigned task, private players tend to demand substantial fees for attending to the technical problems that arise in the course of implementing a software and also for making periodical changes to meet the emerging needs, the sources said.

Earlier experiments involving private companies in managing the accounts of civic bodies were proved to be a failure and the IKM had to strive hard for putting it back on the rails.

Rather than going in for a thorough changeover, the State government should have taken the lead to give due technical support for strengthening the IKM and address the minor glitches being reported by its clients, the sources said.

 

E-tenders Invited for Road Works

Tuesday, 10 December 2013 08:54 administrator
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The New Indian Express             10.12.2013

E-tenders Invited for Road Works

Making a remarkable stride in e-governance, the City Corporation has, for the first time, moved for calling e-tenders. Initially, the e-tender has been invited for road works in 10 sections under the civic body. Alongside, the normal tendering process is also followed.

“All works under the public works section will, from now on, be under the e-tendering process. Based on legal advice, the usual method will go hand-in-hand,” said Works Standing Committee chairman of the City Corporation V S Padmakumar. Contractors can obtain the tender forms till December 16 and the last date for submitting the forms will be December 17. 

The City Corporation is all set to implement the e-tender process for all works above Rs 5 lakh. Towards ensuring its smooth functioning, training was provided for the officials, councillors and contractors in the city well ahead of the launch.

“The e-tender will ease the effort of the contractors as they can sit at home and carry out the procedures. There are also facilities to pay the amounts applicable online. Transparency would be ensured in the process,” said Deputy Mayor G Happykumar.

 

Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation starts LBT e-payment facility

Monday, 09 December 2013 12:10 administrator
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The Times of India               09.12.2013

Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation starts LBT e-payment facility

KOLHAPUR: While traders under the Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation (SMKMC) object to the implementation of local body tax (LBT) in its jurisdiction, the corporation has gone ahead with its plan to provide electronic payment facility for traders paying the tax.

More than 7,000 traders conduct their businesses in the three towns of Sanlgi, Miraj and Kupwad and are eligible for LBT payment. The SMKMC was the last local governing body to come under LBT cover in the state in May 21 this year.

SMKMC deputy commissioner Omprakash Divatay said, "Bank accounts have been opened in Union Bank of India, Axis Bank as well as IDBI Bank as these banks have core banking system. The traders have been given the details such as the account number and the IFSC code so that they can start transferring monthly taxes electronically. It will save their time as they can do away with the old ways of manual registration at the bank and the tedious job of saving payment receipts as they would be stored electronically."

Divatay added, "The corporation was in talks with a couple of public sector banks for starting the online payment gateway facility for LBT. The civic body and officials of banks interested in offering the facility held some meetings over the issue and decided to implement it at the earliest. The system is aimed at simplifying tax payment facilities for traders as well corporation officials as the tax would be deposited directly into the account of the civic body."

The traders in the city had recently told district guardian minister Patangrao Kadam that they were still against the implementation of LBT. Kadam had assured them of taking the issue to the chief minister.

A trader said, on the condition of anonymity, "Earlier, there was a lot of speculation about tax assessment and collection. I later realized that the LBT structure is easier and should not be protested against on baseless grounds. I have started paying the tax and the electronic payment facility will save my time."

Assistant accountant of the corporation Arun Jadhav said, "The electronic payment facility has been welcomed by many traders in the city, who have started paying the tax. More than 2,000 traders in the city have obtained their LBT registration number and have started paying the tax every month. The tax collection in November alone was Rs 6.17 crore and we are expected to touch the Rs 7-crore mark by December 20, the deadline for tax payment. The new facility will definitely speed up the tax collection procedure."

 
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