Howrah, the second largest city of West Bengal has a rich history, which dates back to around 500 years. It is situated on the west bank of the Hoogli river, and is Kolkata's twin city. Though it is the smallest district in area, the city is densely populated having a total population of 42,73,099 (as per Census 2001). NIC District Centre came into existence in the year 1990 with the aim of bringing ICT at the doorstep of the district administration. Since inception the centre has achieved many milestones in e-governance. This has made the district administration more responsive and transparent, thus transforming it into an electronically governed administration. The centre has provided e-mail and Internet support to various departments at the district level. Official email accounts for block and panchayat level functionaries have been created paving way for faster official correspondence. The various e-governance projects successfully implemented by NIC Howrah District Centre are as follows.
Vahan and Sarathi: The Vahan software for computerization of Registration of Vehicles had been implemented in the district since March 2006. All the functionalities related to registration of vehicles have been implemented. The Sarathi software for computerization of Driving License has also been implemented. The implementation of the software has ensured better services to the citizen, transparent interface between the government and the citizen, better management and supervision of vehicular information adhering to the Motor Vehicles acts and rules.
Common Integrated Police Application: CIPA, a national level project was launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs for the police department with a view to reduce manual records & registers at the Police Stations. In the first phase the project is being implemented at 10 police stations of the district. The computerization of the entire activity at the police station has been taken up and the project is progressing well in this regard.
Land Acquisition Information System: The LAIS software is successfully implemented and has benefited the citizen as well as the district administration. Land Acquisition is a vital function of the Land Acquisition Department of the Collectorate. In the manual system, preparation of estimate, land schedules, calculation, award preparation, payment notice and other activities caused tremendous delay in the payment of compensation to the persons affected, which resulted in a huge amount of interest payable on compensation. The Land Acquisition Information System (LAIS) software has accelerated the disposal of the Land Acquisition cases thereby benefiting both the Government and the Citizen.
Computerisation of Land Records: The BHUMI software for computerization of land records has been successfully implemented at all the Blocks and Land Reforms Office of the district. The computerization of Land Records is aimed at computerization at block level and district level “Land Reforms Office”. The software is used for computerization of existing Land Records volumes. The system facilitates on-line mutation and speedy disposal of cases which has led to maintaining an up-to-date status of the records. The common citizen service provides certified copy of ROR (Record of Rights) and plot related information.
Computerisation of Salary Accounts (COSA): The software had been implemented at about 30 locations at the District, Sub-division and Block level. Other offices are also taken up in a phased manner with the aim to cover all the DDO level offices in the district. The software was developed as a low-cost desktop application. It ensures accuracy and timeliness in the preparation of pay bills, schedules and annexure as per the requirement for generating the salary bills.
Computerisation of Registration of Documents (CORD): The software was successfully implemented in the district at 5 Nodal Centres covering 8 Additional District Sub Registrar / District Sub Registrar Offices of the district. The software maintains various details of documents for registration as well as the accounting procedures for the revenue generated in the process.
Official Website of Howrah: District official website (http://howrah.gov.in) provides vital information related to the district along with the facility to download public utility forms and tender notifications. The section “District at a Glance” gives details of the departments with contact numbers, Tourist Information, Area & Population, Geography & Climate, Block Details, Industries, Medical facilities etc.
Geographic Information System: A digitized base map of Howrah district has been prepared incorporating information related to Blocks, gram panchayats, mouzas, roads & railways. Various thematic maps are being prepared related to Health Centres, Educational Institutions, Police Stations, Industries, ICDS Centres, Agricultural Cropping Patterns, Relief & Flood shelters etc. The GIS as a tool, has been effectively used for decision making and planning process at the district level. A regular training program for imparting knowledge on GIS and its applications are being conducted for district level officials.
Training: Training on various e-Governance projects as well as general computer awareness program for officers and staffs of the district administration has been a regular activity. During the current year a special training program was undertaken for all the officers and staffs of the District Collectorate. Officials from NIC state centre also participated in the training program.
Other significant projects implemented by NIC Howrah are: ❖ Computerization of Providend Fund for Landless Agricultural Labourers ❖ Public Grievance Redressal System ❖ Letter and File Monitoring System ❖ Polling Personnel Deployment System for General Election to Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and Local Body (Panchayat & Municipalities) ❖ Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY)
Excerpts of a Letter from Sh. Khalil Ahmed, IAS, DM & Collector Howrah... "NIC Howrah district has made remarkable strides in e-governance and there has been sea change in work culture through the use of computers. The general awareness about ICT and service delivery to the citizen has greatly improved. There has been marked improvement in transparency in day to day functioning of the administration."
For further information, contact: NIC Howrah District Centre Phone: 033-26411224 wbhrh@nic.in Shampa Das District Informatics Officer Debdeep Guha District Informatics Associate