Situated in the pristine beauty nestled in the hill ranges, Dumka - also called the second capital town of the Jharkhand state, is fringed with verdant forest and fast flowing rivers. Dumka means 'skirt of the hills' and was named by the Mughals due to the picturesque hills that surrounds the district. The district is crisscrossed by the rivers Ajoy and Mayurakshi, perfect for water sports, white water rafting and parasailing. The vibrant tribal culture can be seen in the lifestyle of the people - simple, traditional with strong community ties. Masanjore Dam on the river Mayurakshi is a beautiful picnic spot located 31 km from the city. NIC Dumka was setup in 1988 for providing ICT based decision support to the district administration. The centre has played a major role in utilizing technology for good governance. The IT infrastructure of the district was further strengthened with the installation of VSAT, STM line, Video conferencing facility and LAN which extends up to district Postal and SP Office. Excerpt of the letter from Deputy Commissioner, Dumka Sh. Prashant Kumar, IAS. NIC Dumka is fulfilling its assignments at Treasury, Transport, Consumer Forum, Central Jail, NREGA, GPF, Post Offices and other government departments as well as providing technical support through Data warehouse tools for the analysis of NREGA schemes in the District. In recent days, NIC Dumka has developed Old Age Pensioner Payment System which provides efficient, timeless, transparent and accountable system of pension payment through bank/post office and enable us to implement National Social Assistance Program (NSAP). Your assistance in this project ensured the celebration of "Pension Guarantee Day" on 7th day of each month in the district. Also the dedicated efforts put up by NIC officials during the elections is unparallel and beyond description. District Website: The district website (http://dumka.nic.in), developed by the centre provides information on history, administrative setup, welfare schemes, tourism, schools etc. The information on BPL list, GPF balance slip, PDS, Voter List, Agriculture, Industry etc justifies the effort. Details of public information officers in the website as provided in the RTI Act, has greatly bridged the gap between the people and the administration. Video Conferencing: NIC district center as well as the commissioner's office is equipped with Video Conferencing facility. VC facility set up between the district Civil court and jail has led to speedier trial of prisoners enabling quicker justice. Projects Implemented: Old Age Pension Payment & Monitoring System: The use of ICT in Old Age Pension Scheme under the National Social Assistance Program (NSAP) has percolated the benefits of e-Governance to the downtrodden. The manual process of sanction and disbursement of the monthly pension, was not only cumbersome, tedious and non transparent, the reliability of the information was also questionable. The district center, implemented the web based application software, which was inaugurated by the Honorable Chief Minister. Computerization and Networking of Consumer Forum (CONFONET): The web based “Case Monitoring System” under CONFONET provides storing the details of cases registered by complainants in consumer courts. The software provides for court wise entry of new cases, daily cause list generation, backlog entry of cases and finally uploading of daily orders and judgments on the website http://confonet.nic.in. Jail Computerization: The Prison Management System (PMS) and Visitors Management System (VMS) implemented at the Dumka central jail, eased day-to-day maintenance of prisoners details. Kuber: A web enabled secure, role based 'Treasury Information System' - 'Kuber' has been running in the district treasury office for maintaining treasury related transaction using JharNet a State Wide Area network. Biometric authentication at the level of Treasury Officer was introduced to make the whole system foolproof. The software facilitates operations like DDO's Creation, Fund Allotments, Online Bill Generation, Advice generation for the bank, Receipts, Book Transfers, Direct payments, capture of GPF/CPF schedules etc. GPF Computerization: The 'Bhavishya Nidhi' software implemented at the district GPF Office, maintains the subscriber details, their contributions, advances, refunds etc. The software generates the necessary accounts with proper checks. The department prepares monthly pay bill in which the GPF/CPS subscription of each employees are mentioned. District Transport Office Computerization: The VAHAN & SARATHI software is implemented at the District Transport Office for registration of vehicle and issuance of license respectively. The provision of issuing Driving License and Vehicle Registration on smart card had been incorporated. NREGA Software: The district has successfully implemented the NREGA software to effectively monitor the scheme's status and employment generation activities. The web based software has proved to be a great tool for implementing social justice. Online VAT: The VAT software provides for compulsory registration of commercial establishments which has led to improved tax compliance, minimized tax evasion and has also brought many new commercial establishments into the tax net. IT Training: District level IT training centre was set up with the purpose of imparting computer awareness training to the government officials. The training center was inaugurated by the Honorable Chief Minister recently. Other projects: Various other projects like 'Samvad' software for monitoring public grievances, MAMTA software & IDSP project in the health sector, AGMARKNET project, Instant Money Order (IMO) at Post Office, Land Record Computerization, DC Court Case Monitoring, Cattle Census are successfully implemented at the district.