Kerala "Gods Own Country", is the first Indian State to achieve total literacy. NIC Kerala was established in 1987 as part of nationwide computer and communication network, NICNET. NIC district centers are located in the 14 district head quarters attached to the collectorate.
NIC one of the total solution providers of Government of Kerala, is actively involved in most of the IT enabled applications and has changed the mindset of the working community in the Government to make use of the latest state of the art technology in their day to day activities to provide better services to the citizens of Kerala.
Network & Data Centre Network Operations Centre (NOC) & Data Centre, with 24 x 7 operation support, has been established at NIC Kerala State Centre for strengthening the network and services to user departments. The National Network Backbone has been enhanced to 2.5 GBPS as a part of the National Knowledge Network. 2 MBPS leased line network has been established in Kerala which includes 14 NIC District Centres, High Court, NITC, Lakshadweep, 116 Post Offices, 4 Passport Offices, BOI, DGFT, PAO, PQS, VSSC (node of NKN) etc.
Dr. K. Santhana Raman State Informatics Officer, Kerala sio-ker@nic.in
Excerpt of the letter from Sh. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Hon'ble Minister for Home, Vigilance and Tourism, Government of Kerala I am proud to announce that the Kerala Prison Department has launched its official website. The website provides a modern and efficient interface between the Department and General Public. The website enables the people to learn more about the mission, vision, resources and various activities carried out by the Prison Department. I wish all success to this venture.
Content Management Framework (CMF) NIC Kerala has been developing websites using open source CMF since 2005. All the sites are updated regularly by the respective user departments and hence there is a feeling of ownership by them. Government of Kerala has migrated most of the department websites to CMF in 2009. It is found to be a very cost effective solution. Asha Varma Technical Director, Kerala ashavarma.kc@nic.in
Excerpt of the letter from Hon'ble Education Minister of Govt of Kerala, Sh. M. A. Baby The Education Department, Government of Kerala, with the technical support of NIC Kerala State Centre, could successfully implement various IT enabled projects like Result processing of SSLC & Higher Secondary, hsCAPnic, CAPnic for professional courses, Lateral Entry for B.Tech. Courses, Online application form for various entrance examinations, scholarship schemes, teachers' transfer etc. I wish all the success to NIC Kerala Team.
ICT Initiatives hsCAPnic: It is a 'Single Window System' which facilitates submitting single application for admission to any school. By using the system, plus-one admission service was given to about 4.5 lakh applicants in the academic year 2009-2010. There were about 45 lakh options for about 2.25 lakh seats in the 1,200 Higher Secondary Schools with 46 Course Combinations.
LCAPnic: This is a web based application for conducting online counseling for the allotment of seats for Lateral Entry Admission to B. Tech courses in Kerala.
FISHNET: It is work flow based system for the Department of Fisheries, using LAPP. The project components include knowledge based Portal with online site administration facility and ReALCraft Application (Registration and Licensing of Fishing Craft). It helps in the registration of fishing vessels and for issuing fishing licence based on Kerala Marine Fisheries Regulation Act. This system is in place in all 14 marine districts of the state and around 20 thousand vessels are already got registered. Recommendation of the ISDA-95 Conference gets realization in the State of Kerala in 2009 and becomes a "Kerala Model" for replication in all the Maritime states of India”.
Targeted Efficient Transparent Rationing and Allocation Public Distribution System (TETRAPDS) is a comprehensive package for automating the activities of the Taluk Supply Offices, District Supply Offices and Commissionerate of Civil Supplies. The Civil Supplies Department has created a Central database in the State of around 70 lakhs ration cardholders and 3 Crore family members. The details of all the ration cardholders and their family members can be accessed online from anywhere.
Information and Data Exchange Advanced System (IDEAS) is a web based application developed in LAMP to track the status of Petition/ Tapal/ File at the core with many add on features. System supports G2E & G2C services - Meeting Management, Knowledge Management, Dash board, Reminder Service, Notice Board, Messaging, Search Facility, Immediate attention, Transfer details, visitors pass, security checkups and Officer Alerts. It is successfully implemented in all the departments of Govt. Secretariat and proceeding for all other departments in the State.
Effective Management of LOC Issuance (EMLI): http://sics.kerala.gov.in/emli. is a workflow based web application developed for Finance Department for automating the Issuance of Letter of Credit (LOC) based on the bills submitted online by the work executing departments. 230 Division offices coming under departments like PWD, Forest etc., are using this application In the current financial year more than 20,000 bills have been processed and the LOC for Rs. 925 Crores have been issued using the system.
Scholarship Management System (http://dcescholarship.kerala.gov.in): The system facilitates the registration, selection and disbursement of various scholarships instituted by Government of Kerala and Central government. The system generates the file required to be submitted to the Bank for electronic transfer of funds to the bank account of the students and institutions. The key information of the application is bar-coded and printed on the web-registration printout, which is used for tracing the applications and verifications.
Excerpt of message from Principal Secretary Higher Education, Government of Kerala Sh. Kuruvila John, IAS “I would like to appreciate the commendable work done by the National Informatics Centre, Kerala State unit for developing the Scholarship management system and implement the same in a very short time………”
SEVANA is a portal (http://sevana.gov.in) where registered users can contribute information that they wish to share with others. Anybody who owns any public utility firm or offers any service can register their details in the site. Hospitals, hotels, supermarkets, etc or service such as advocates, doctors, and tree climbers can register. Registration is totally free and can be done from any of the AKSHAYA centers.
'Patta': A software for helping the district administrations in selecting the eligible candidates for the issuance of 'Patta' (land assignment) at 6 locations in Munnar area of Idukki district.
BPL Survey 2009: The software has been developed on LAPP platform, for the Rural Development Department for preparing the BPL list based on various social & economical indicators identified by the government. SAND is a fully computerized centralized mechanism for booking and monitoring of river based sand in the district. The System completely eliminates the presence of middle men and reduces the price to an affordable rate. The software is developed using LAMP.
Dr. SMS Project (http://drsms.kerala.gov.in): it is a health information portal for the information delivery of health facility spread over Kerala. An SMS with requested facility/specialty sent to the specified number will receive the details of nearest centers with the requirement. The facility centers are identified based on the PIN Code specified by the requester. Information includes Emergencies, Diagnostics Procedures, Laboratory service, General services etc spread in the various system of medicine, the details of Doctors working in respective specialties, Blood Donor details.
FOILCONSNET: It facilitates natural resource management activities - online and implants e-Governance solution in the Directorate and field offices of Soil Conservation Unit. It is developed using LAPP. The project components are Scheme Monitoring System for Watershed Project Implementation System, Budget Monitoring System and Budget Estimates for the coming financial year. TalukSuite: It is an application for Modernization and Computerization of Taluk/Village and an extension of DCSuite. All approved documents are prepared with bar code and timestamps which can be verified at any point of time. Counter, KIOSK, Web, SMS and WAP based Citizen services are provided. The project is implemented in Palakkad District using LAPP. RR Online: RR Online is a G2G e-service from District Revenue Administration for online submission of Form24 to all Requisition departments coming under RR Act. It is linked to DCsuite through an online tapal module which will take RR data to DC*suite. The service started in Malappuram District and presently 65 Banks submitted 1361 RR cases for an amount of Rs 5,03,31,149 in online.
SPARK: Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK) is a G2E web based Personnel Administration and accounts software covering 5.25 lakhs employees. Permanent Employee Number (PEN) for all employees are allotted through the system. The system addresses all requirements in HR, salary, Income Tax, generating Identity Cards and Establishment Accounts matters. Technology used: SQL Server 2005, ASP.NET. As on date spark is used for salary processing in 78 departments, 4003 offices and catering to 84940 employees.
Examination Management System : Examination Management System is a comprehensive package for candidate registration, processing and dissemination of results of SSLC, Higher Secondary, Vocational Higher Secondary, TTC, A-Level (SSLC Equivalency) Examinations conducted by the respective Boards of Government of Kerala. System requires capturing of candidates' data and marks alone. Parallel tabulation and data entry permits result publishing in the shortest possible time.
Early Warning System(EWS): Community based Early Warning System is a G2C service developed on LAMP. EWS is a part of disaster management system for district administration and it will provide disaster based authentic information to the target audience through EWS alerts or group SMS. The system is initially planned to cover all sea going fisherman in the costal districts of Kerala.
Friends Re-engineered and Enterprise Enabled Software (FREES): It is a “single window scheme” where citizens have the opportunity to pay all the taxes and other dues to Government. The salient feature of the project is the effective integration of IT and logistics for citizen services. Major Services to be Offered through FREES are KSEB (Power) bill, KWA (Water) bill, BSNL - Land Phone and Post paid Mobile Phone Bills, 134 Services of Motor Vehicles Department, tax collection for Corporation & board of Revenue, 35 services for civil supplies department and university dues.
e-District : Palakkad and Kannur are the two districts in Kerala selected for the pilot implementation of the e-District project in Kerala. The project aims an integrated, seamless and online delivery of citizen services at the district level through automation of workflow, back-end digitization, integration and process redesign. It is proposed to make available identified 42 G2C services through the Akshaya Centres, relieving people of the need to go to various offices to get their work done. The citizen will be able to track the status of their applications through the e-District Web portal.
Awards and Felicitations Excerpt of Message from Chief Secretary, Govt. of Kerala, Smt. Neela Gangadharan, IAS I would like to congratulate NIC Kerala for the CSI-Nihilent e-Governance award 2008-2009 bagged for the hsCAPNIC project under G2C category.
CSI-Nihilent Award for the Customized Vahan-Sarthi Project in the year 2008. CSI-Nihilent Award for the Message (Integrated File-Flow Management System) Project in the year 2008. CSI-Nihilent award of appreciation - Kannur district for 2008-09. e-Governance awards 2008 of Government of Kerala- Palakkad district for DC*Suite, Trichur district for SAND and Calicut district for Dr. SMS
District Collectorate Suite (DCSuite): DCSuite (District Collectorate Suite) is an integrated suite of applications for the District Collectorate. From a Tapal / Dak to the File and upto the disposal of the File, the entire flow is handled through the system. DC*Suite has been implemented in 13 out of 14 districts in Kerala. This has also been implemented in the state of Goa for which NIC Kerala has extended all assistances.
Central Projects: NIC Kerala is also implementing several central projects like eCourt, CIPA, NREGA, e-PRI, Agmarknet, Immigration, PlanPlus etc.
For further information, contact: Dr. K. Santhana Raman State Informatics Officer NIC Kerala State Centre, CDAC Building Vellayambalam, Trivandrum