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e-district project to revolutionise Kerala administration

The project implemented in Kannur and Palghat districts was found most successful among 35 districts in the country, where it was launched as a pilot project, with the two districts issuing a million digital certificates in less than two years.

The Kerala State Information Technology Mission (KSITM), which is implementing the project in the state, has formed district e-governance committees in the remaining 12 districts for the proposed roll-out, which will make Kerala the first Indian state with all districts covered by e-district.

All revenue offices in every district have been connected through a web-enabled system. The State Data Centre, which is developed and maintained by the KSITM, will store all relevant details and digital documents related to each application received from the citizens.

Currently, as many as 23 revenue certificates are issued online. The KSITM has also plans to bring nine other departments under the project. They will provide 43 citizen-centric services through the e-district portal established by the KSITM for the e-district project.

The portal enables designated officers to track and monitor the flow of applications in each e-District. A separate web portal is also being created to monitor the hardware and other related issues. Under the e-district project a citizen can submit applications online anytime, even on holidays, and from anywhere for the permissible services. All certificates are issued through the e-district portal, which includes the digital signature of the issuing officer concerned.

The state government has already validated the digitally signed certificates and made its acceptance mandatory for various agencies. The e-district project was launched in June 2008 with the objective of making all government services accessible to the common man.

The KSITM has also proposed to revamp the citizen call centre facility using latest technology. The call centre, which has come as a boon to all including non-residents, has processed 650, 000 calls during January to November this year. More than 30 per cent of these calls came from the non-resident Keralites, mainly from the Middle East, according to KSITM director. The facility allows fast delivery of critical information that was otherwise either not accessible or difficult for citizens to trace.

The citizens call centre is equipped with a PRI / ISDN (primary rate interface / integrated services digital network) with 30 lines and is manned by a team of highly experienced and skilled call centre executives that address citizens’ queries round the clock.

The centre launched as a pilot project in May 2005 with nine participating departments today answers queries related to 34 departments. The call centre can be accessed through 0471-155300 and a toll free number 1800-425-1550. — news@khaleejtimes.com