Goa is one of the famous tourist destinations in the world. It is now marching ahead to become one of the IT destinations in the world. The Government and Private entrepreneurs are investing a lot in this direction. NIC Goa State Center was established in 1989. There are two NIC District Centers in Goa. In 1994 Goa Government Computer Center merged with NIC Goa. Since its inception, NIC Goa is contributing towards usage of IT in day-to-day activities of the Government departments in the State. It has been providing software and hardware support to State and Central Government departments in Goa. The services include Software development, Training, Internet & E-Mail connectivity and Consultancy support. Presently NIC Goa is focusing on E-Governance solutions and also trying its best to offer them at a low-cost by using open source technologies. The major activities carried out by NIC Goa are as follows:
| DHARANI Goa is the first state in the Country where 100% computerization of Land Records has been done. The Land Records computerization software called DHARANI has been implemented in all the Taluka and City Survey Offices of the State. Entire Mutation Process has also been computerized. The ROR (Record of Rights: Form I & XIV and Form D) are issued instantly across the counter to the public from all the offices and Mahiti Ghars (Information Kiosks). All the offices are inter-connected through a State Wide Network called GOANET which makes it possible to issue the ROR of any Taluka from any other Taluka or Mahiti Ghars. To ensure data security, Biometric authentication and Role based access measures have been incorporated in the software. Touch Screen based kiosks have also been installed at strategic locations to provide Land Records information in multilingual form to the public. Photo Caption: Former Union Minister for Rural Dev. Sh. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurating ‘DHARANI’ Project
| Municipal Administration Software (MAS) MAS, which consists of different software modules like Birth & Death Registration, House Tax Collection, Lease Rent Collection, Trades and Occupation Licenses and Receipts & Payments has been implemented in all the 13 Municipal Councils in Goa. MAS helps the Municipal Councils in providing better services to the public. MAS facilitates online registration of Births & Deaths, issuance of Birth & Death Certificates across the counter, easy and faster collection of House Tax, Lease Rent, Trade License fee and Renewal of Licenses. It also helps in timely generation of Tax Bills, Demand and Warrant Notices and in efficient maintenance of Taxpayer wise accounts. Since all the transactions are carried out online, at any given time up-to-date status are available on various parameters. MAS facilitates periodical generation of various types of reports for effective and better administration. To meet the data security requirements, three supplementary software modules namely Counter Services, Data Modification and Super User are provided for secured data modifications and house keeping activities.
| INFOGRAM INFOGRAM is an IT based service for rural masses. It is a computerized Service Center that envisages to provide all Government services to citizens at grassroots level in a faster and an efficient manner. INFOGRAM provides various services like Registration of Birth & Death, House Tax and Light Tax Collection, Lease Rent Collection, Construction Licenses, Trade Licenses. All transactions are carried out online and hence up-to-date status are available on various parameters. INFOGRAM also provides services like Issuance of Form I & XIV, Issuance of various certificates like Residence Certificate, Income Certificate, Character Certificate, Caste Certificate etc., Issuance of NOC for Water and Electricity connection. Through INFOGRAM citizens can also get information on Citizen Charters of all Government Departments, BPL Schemes etc. INFOGRAM has been implemented at 18 Village Panchayats so far and it is being planned to implement INFOGRAM in all the remaining 171 Village Panchayats in Goa in the next two years.
| Accounts Computerization Directorate of Accounts (DOA) is the budget controlling Authority for the Government of Goa. DOA has one Head office and one Branch office. There are two District Treasuries and 9 Sub-Treasuries. The Branch office is connected to the Head office through a 2 MBPS leased line where as the District and Sub-Treasuries are connected through 64 KBPS leased lines for faster transfer of data. The following software systems have been implemented in the DOA to meet all their functional requirements.
| Integrated Bill Processing System DOA follows the pre-audit system of accounts wherein the DDO has to submit the bill and get it passed before incurring the expenditure. Integrated Bills Processing System has been designed with a view to process the large volume of bills received at DOA every day. The system has the features to pass/object bills, maintain Budget Control Register (BCR) and print cheques.
| Compilation System The purpose of this system is to compile all the ten accounts of DOA. The compilation of accounts is done every month in two stages. Stage I compilation covers the compilation of accounts which are common to Head office and Branch office. Stage II compilation covers compilation of accounts with respect to Head office only. The system has the feature to generate various reports and registers like Facing Sheets (list of Vouchers/Schedules), List of Debit & Credit Vouchers, Compilation Register, TE Register, Classified Receipts & Payments Statement etc.
| Treasury System Treasury System has been designed to meet the requirements of the District and Sub-Treasuries in Goa. This system is used to maintain the Receipt & Payment account at the District Treasury/Sub-Treasury level. The details with respect to challans, encashed cheques and payment vouchers are entered in the Treasury System and it has the provision to generate Head-wise Register, Summary Register, Unit-wise Register, Daily Cash Register, Transfer Entry Register, Monthly Account and Reserve Bank Deposit Statement. Presently this system has been implemented in the two District Treasuries and shortly it will be rolled out in the nine Sub-Treasuries.
Photo Caption: Ex. Director, Directorate of Accounts, Sh. G K Warrior signing the first computerized cheque
| Works Audit System Works Audit System consisting of the following modules has been implemented at the Works Audit Section of DOA. WAS-Cash Assignment has been designed to maintain the details in respect of the cash assignments (both provisional and regular) made to the divisions. WAS-Monthly Accounts has been designed to maintain the consolidated accounts of the divisions and consolidate further based on the heads of account and to submit the same to Book section for final compilation of Accounts. WAS-Security Deposit has been designed to maintain the details in respect of the security deposits and the projects undertaken by the works departments. The Works Audit System provides user-friendly forms to record the transactions and has the facility to generate various reports and registers.
| GPF System There are about 40,000 GPF subscribers in the state of Goa. GPF System has been designed to maintain their accounts up-to-date, which includes monthly subscriptions, advances, refunds, withdrawals, interest calculation and final payment. The GPF System also has the features to generate GPF Slips, employee wise summary statement, statement of interest, DDO wise GPF subscription schemes, various reports and registers.
| Advances Management System Advances Management System has been designed to help the staff at the Loans & Advances Section of DOA to efficiently process the requests for various types of advances like HBA, MCA, FAN, Cycle etc., and to maintain up-to-date records. Advances Management System has the provision to check for availability of funds, pass the bills for advances, maintain up-to-date employee wise account, close accounts monthly & annually, calculate interest, issue No Dues Certificate and to generate various reports and registers. The advantages of Computerization of DOA are as follows. • Bills are cleared faster. • Cheques are issued faster. Reconciliation of cheques are also done effectively. • Availability of up-to-date Budget Control Register figures. • All the accounts are closed in time. • Compilation of various accounts is done faster. • Various Accounts Registers and Statements are periodically generated. • As the DOA and the District/Sub-Treasuries are interconnected it is possible to provide the up-to-date receipts & payment figures.
| Budget Information System Budget Information System has been implemented in the Finance Department of Goa Secretariat. Through this system the details required to prepare the annual budget are captured and the budget reports are printed. The details captured are: Expenditure estimates for the next year received from various departments, Actual expenditure received from accounts department, Revised estimates for the current year, Recovery details, Receipt Details, Budget Account Head Information and the Supplementary budget requirement details. With entered details, the budget is compiled and as per the suggested format reports such as Details of expenditure in Grants for each demand, Details of expenditure – Recoveries, Demand for Grants, Estimates of Receipts, Annual Financial Statement, Budget at a Glance and Budget Bill are generated.
| Election Information System The Election Management System (EMS) has been designed to meet the information flow requirements between Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), District Election Officer (DEO) and Returning Officer (RO) / Assistant Returning Officer (ARO). The requirements are classified into three groups viz., Pre Poll, Poll Day and Post Poll. For Pre Poll, the system has the features to generate various reports with respect to Nomination, Polling Station & Voters information, Randomized batch & booth formation etc., For the Poll Day, the information like Voters turnout, Percentage of votes polled etc., can be processed. For the Post Poll, the system provides facility to process information on counted votes. This system has been successfully used in Assembly Elections 2002, Parliamentary Elections 2004, ‘Zilla Parishad’ Elections 2005 and Assembly By-Elections 2005.
| SGSY Management System SGSY Management System (SMS) is a browser-based system deployed at DRDA North & South Goa to meet the requirements in respect of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) scheme. This system streamlines the workflow followed to process SGSY applications for credit-cum-subsidy assistance. The applications recommended by BDO are entered in the system, after scrutiny at various levels. Assistant Project Officer, Accounts Officer and Bank can recommend or reject the application. If the application is recommended then the forwarding letter is generated. The system has the provision to generate various reports and registers like Subsidy Register, Beneficiary Register, Register of Recommended Cases, Cheque Issue Register etc.
| Public Grievances Redressal Monitoring System (PGRMS) PGRMS is implemented at the Directorate of Public Grievances, Government of Goa. This easy-to-use system enables the Directorate to quickly redress the grievances reported by the citizens against any service delivered by State Government departments. The response period for each grievance can be individually set depending upon the nature of grievance. PGRMS provides facility for petition registration, generation of initial letter and reminders and status updation. The system also has features for generating various reports like List of pending grievances, List of closed grievances, Petition Register etc.
| MPLAD System MPLAD System has been designed to monitor the progress of works under MP Local Area Development scheme. This system has provision to collect information on work particulars, administrative and technical sanctions, tender particulars and amounts sanctioned. Also, it has provision to maintain information on funds received from Government and released for the works. Various letters, orders and reports required at different stages can be generated from the system.
| Provident Fund System Provident Fund System has been designed to meet the requirements with respect to management of Provident Fund (General and Contributory) of the employees of the Municipal Councils in Goa. Presently it is implemented at the Municipal Corporation of Panaji, Goa. The system has the provision to create subscriber’s accounts (GPF & CPF), update subscribers’ monthly contributions and refunds (GPF & CPF) figures, release of advances and withdrawals, close yearly accounts etc. The system also has provision to generate various reports like Nomination details, Contributions & refunds for a given period, Sanctioned Advances, Sanctioned Withdrawals, GPF/CPF Slip, Authority letter, GPF/CPF Ledger, GPF/CPF Broadsheet etc.
| High Court Touch Screen Kiosk A Touch Screen Information Kiosk has been setup in the Panaji Bench of Bombay High Court to provide information to the public on Final Orders, Farad Orders, Judgements, Acts, Rules & Regulations, Court fees etc. The Touch Screen Kiosk software provides the citizens a very user-friendly query feature so that the user can query on various parameters like Case Number, Party Name, Advocate, Order Date etc. The Touch Screen Kiosk is in regular use since its inauguration in 2002. Photo Caption: Justice Sh. Prasannakumar Vinayak Kakade at the inauguration of Touch Screen Kiosk at the Panaji Bench of Bombay High Court
| Other Projects Other than the above, NIC Goa has also implemented various systems at many Government departments and in District Colletorates in the state which are as follows: • Vehicles Monitoring System • Quarters Monitoring System • Stores Management System • Bill Processing System • Arms License System • Court Cases Monitoring System • Payroll • Water Billing System • Cabinet Decision Monitoring System • Students Information System
| Central Projects Necessary support is being given to the following projects from NIC Goa: • High Court • District Courts • Regional Passport Office • Registrar of Companies • Directorate General of Foreign Trade • Customs House • Airport Immigration
| Websites NIC Goa has developed and hosted several Websites for State and Central Government departments which are hosted at NIC Data Center in Delhi. Updations are done using remote updation facilities from user departments and NIC Goa Centre. Following is the list of some websites developed by NIC Goa. • http://goagovt.nic.in The Official website of Government of Goa. • http://goaresults.nic.in Examination Results website. • http://rdagoa.nic.in Rural Development Department. • http://ruralbazargoa.nic.in Rural Development Agencies. • http://nothgoa.nic.in and http://southgoa.nic.in District Collectorates • http://hcbombayatgoa.nic.in High Court of Bombay at Goa • http://slsagoa.nic.in State Legal Services.
| Goanet & SAN In the age of Internet, it is necessary to disseminate online information and services to the citizens. With this requirement in mind, NIC Goa has designed and implemented a State Wide Area Network called GOANET jointly with the Govt. of Goa, which has provided the required Computer hardware and Networking equipments. The recurring leased line charges are borne by Govt. of Goa. NIC Goa maintains the GOANET. GOANET interconnects many Govt. offices and Mahiti Ghars (Information Kiosks) for the purpose of sharing information. The District Headquarters are connected via 2 MBPS leased line whereas other places are connected via 64 KBPS leased lines. Currently various services like Issuance of Form I & XIV, Form D and Learners License are being offered via GOANET. In the near future NIC Goa will be implementing the SWAN Project of Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, thereby enhancing GOANET. Storage Area Network (SAN) with 1 TB Disk space has also been installed in Goa to meet the data storage and backup requirements.
| Training NIC Goa has a separate Training Section with one class room and another room for practical sessions. The training infrastructure includes twenty Client systems and one LCD Projector. Training programmes are conducted regularly throughout the year. The training is imparted on Introduction to Computers, Windows 2000, Open Office, Internet and E-Mail. So far over 3500 Officers/Staff of the Central and State Government departments have been trained through 175 training programmes.
For more information, contact State Informatics Officer NIC Goa State Unit Paraiso de Goa, H-Block, Alto Porvorim Panaji, Goa. email: sio@goa.nic.in