E-Governance in Uttar Pradesh Poised for Big Leap With New Initiatives

E-governance is poised to take a big leap in Uttar Pradesh with the state lining up a slew of initiatives to empower citizens in line with the 'Digital India' programme.

It is putting in place a system which would deliver vital services to citizens directly through the computer, mobile phone or tablet, practically eliminating the necessity of pursuing officials.

By December 2014, 26 citizen-centric services of eight departments had conducted over 37 million e-transactions through the e-District/State Portal, 14,500 Common Service Centres (CSCs) and 300 Lokvani centres (LCs).

The Uttar Pradesh government is likely to provide 90 more services through the network of CSCs and LCs, according to a CyberMedia Research press release.

The e-District project had been implemented as a pilot project in six districts in 2008. It is now being rolled out in the remaining 69 districts.

Under the rollout, e-Governance cells/computer labs are being established in each district headquarters with 14 computers.

Laptops are being provided to each sub-divisional magistrate and 'tehsildar' for improving efficiency through an end-to-end automated system.

District e-governance societies (DeGS) have also been constituted in each district. The project had gone live in 21 more districts by January 2015.

In a significant development, the state administration has decided to accept self declaration forms instead of sworn affidavits, along with an application for availing such services.

The IT Policy 2012 is helping to develop Agra and Lucknow as IT hubs under PPP (Public-Private Partnership) arrangements.

Under this policy, IT companies setting up their units in the state are eligible for 100 percent exemption from stamp duty and five percent interest subsidy (not exceeding Rs.1 crore) for a period of five years.

CyberMedia Research (CMR) in partnership with Dell is co-hosting 'Government Connect' series of roundtable across India, including Lucknow, on the theme "Future-ready IT, for future-ready government".

The aim is to bring together decision makers, domain experts from the IT and e-governance on a common platform as solution providers and management consultants.

The session in Lucknow will be inaugurated by Om Prakash Singh, the Uttar Pradesh minister for tourism, and Manoj Kumar Pandey, the minister for science and technology, later this week.

This programme is currently focused on developing necessary infrastructure, human capital, engaging with investors and ensuring policy implementation.