The district of Leh, situated towards the east of the Ladakh region in Jammu & Kashmir, is a picture of unique contrasting features. This sensitive border District, with an area of 44,000 sq km, is one of the largest districts in the Country. However, its population density at two persons per sq km is one of the lowest. Ninety-five percent of the total population of 88,000 (1981 census) belong to the schedule tribes.

The Himalayas exercises a dominating influence on Leh's meteorological conditions. Leh has a climate characterized by almost total lack of rainfall, extreme dryness and intense exposure to the sun's rays. It is the highest and the most coldest region in the Country. The temperature varies from 35 degree Celsius in the short summer to an extreme of minus 35 degree Celsius at the height of the winter. The District generally remains isolated between November and June every year as the Srinagar-leh and Manali-Leh highways, which connect Leh with the outside world, remain closed during this period.

Where Teamwork counts

It is in view of these extreme physical conditions that the Leh District Computer Centre of the National Informatics Centre acquires added significance. Thanks to the sincere and dedicated efforts of Mr Jamyang Namgia, the District Informatics Officer (DIO) of Leh, the NIC Leh District Centre today functions round the year in spite of such adverse conditions. The District Centre became operational from August 20, 1990, and was formally inaugurated by Mr Ved Merwah, the then Advisor to the Governor, Jammu & Kashmir, in October, 1990. Mr Sarbjeet Singh, the then DIO, along with Mr Jamyang Namgial (who was then a District Informatics Assistant) played key roles in getting the site prepared. The National Informatics Centre owes special gratitude to Mr Samuel Verghese, who was then the District Development Commissioner. He left no stones unturned to make the District Centre operational. His keen support motivated the NIC personnel to fight against all odds and achieve success.

After getting the computer systems installed, the next task was to create computer awareness among the officials of the District Administration and, more importantly, to cultivate a culture of computers. The DIO and DIA knew that as far as computer utilization was concerned, they would have to start right from square one. There could be no short-cuts, no compromises. Drawing from the experience which NIC had garnered from its other similar projects, they went through the whole range of established procedures which begins with explaining just what a computer really is and what purposes it can serve, to conducting numerous training courses on the actual usage of the machines. It was when the ice broke, and the people lost their awe of the computer, that the real work started.

NICNET, which became operational in the meantime, was a boon for isolated Leh. Soon NICNET became a vital means of communication, especially when Leh remains cut off from the outside world.

Gathering Momentum

The various projects which have been undertaken by the Leh District Computer Centre include:

  • computerization of village amenity data
  • monitoring of village-level plan
  • executing various computerization projects for the DDC's office
  • monitoring the national project of drinking water supply in rural areas.

Other than these, a number of short term projects, especially in the field of recruitment, were undertaken and completed by the District Centre, thereby earning a lot of appreciation from the District Authorities.

Once a suitable atmosphere is created, and the people concerned realizes that the computer can be utilized extensively in all facets of their work, the overall process of computerization is set in motion. It is then the turn of the District Administration to specify the fields in which computers can be used fruitfully. The National Informatics Centre, on its part, has a whole range of readymade application software packages to offer for use in the District. The District Information System of NIC (DISNIC) plays a central role at this stage. And Leh shows every sign of following the same path.

The March onwards

In an NIC District Co-ordination Committee (NDCC) meeting, held recently, it was stipulated that the major thrust area now would be the implementation of DISNIC-PLAN. The data-collection exercise for all 113 villages of the District is already over, and data entry will be completed shortly.

Another important area taken up for computerization is the sheep husbandry industry of Leh, for which the system analysis phase is currently underway. It will not be long before the sheep husbandry department is brought under the framework of computerization.

We are there!

Leh is a symbol for NIC — a symbol of success. For it is in places such as Leh, where man has to carry on a continuous struggle against the forces of nature, that the advent of computers comes as a new glimmer of hope. That the National Informatics Centre has been able to conquer all the odds and provide its services to the weather-worn inhabitant of Leh is an achievement we all are proud of. It feels good just to say — "We are there."