The northernmost district of Kerala, Kasargod came into existence on May 24, 1984. The District is bound on the north and east by Karnataka State, on the south by Kannur district of Kerala State and on the west by the Lakshadweep sea. Known for the Bekal Fort, Kasargod is a place of many languages including Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu and Konkani.
● GETTING STARTED ● GAINING POPULARITY ● INFORMATION SYSTEMS ● EXTENSIVE USE OF NICNET ● NICNET FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT ● DATABASE FACILITY
GETTING STARTED The NIC Kasargod District Unit started functioning in June 1988. The initial task was to generate computer awareness among the staff and thereby encourage them to use the computer communication facilities set up in the District. Training programme for various levels of Officer and staff was conducted. As a result, they were enlightened about the fact that use of computers is important to compete with the fast pace of time.
GAINING POPULARITY Once the Centre started providing its services and making its presence being felt, there was a race amongst the Departments of the District to use NIC Kasargod's services for bringing efficiency in their work.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS The District Unit has developed a MIS on Arms Licences. Issue, renewal and cancellation of licenses are being done with the help of the System. Monitoring of the cases is made easy by the System and this has imparted a sense of discipline among the licence holders and given a controlling mechanism to the District Administration. The Unit has computerized the District Treasury in order to maintain up-to-date records. As a result of computerization the complete work process in the Treasury has become fast and accurate. A Software has been developed to monitor the various activities (digging bore wells, making roads, construction of bunds etc) under the Special Component Plan (SCP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP). The Software also generates monthly progress reports for SCP and TSP. Computerization of Public Grievances brought about a dramatic change in the action taking and reporting process. People giving petition are being provided with acknowledgement generated on the spot. The petitioner can come according to his convenience and check the status of his case. Each action taken on a particular case is updated regularly. Land Assignment; Land Lease; National Savings; Pension Schemes; Watershed Development; Civil Supplies; Small Scale Industries; Land Registration; Revenue Recovery; Animal Husbandry etc are also computerized. As a result of computerization, once the basis data was entered, the respective Department can generate various reports according to their requirement. This development infused Informatics Culture in the Departments and the Officials could feel the benefits of Information Systems. The Unit is not resting after completing the aforementioned jobs but is busy with Land Records and District Court Computerization Process; Payroll Package for the Collectorate is in the developmental stage and Computerization of Office Procedures of Collectorate is under anvil.
EXTENSIVE USE OF NICNET NICNET facilities are being extensively used in the District. Almost all the Departments in the District are making use of NICNET facilities to send data/files/ information to other districts, State Capital and Delhi. For example- Civil Supplies Department is sending demand collection balance statement to Thiruvanthapuram; Economics and Statistics Department is sending market commodity price details daily to Thiruvanthapuram, Kannur etc. The Unit of Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (ICAR) in Kasargod District is making use of NICNET facility through modem. They are using this facility for sending and receiving international mails.
NICNET FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT Kasargod being a coastal District is always threatened by the calamity of floods. Floods cause a lot of destruction to human life; damage to public properties such as houses, crops, roads, bridges etc. With a view of helping the general public NIC Kasargod has developed a Software to process the data pertaining to daily damages due to floods. After processing the data every day, the report generated is transmitted through NICNET to Chief Minister's Office at Thiruvanthapuram. Based on these reports the Government provides financial assistance to the District for undertaking relief measures. During drought also NICNET facility is used for sending reports to the State Capital and acquiring necessary financial assistance.
DATABASE FACILITY The DISNIC-PLAN Database developed by the Unit gives general details related to all the Departments in the District. It gives details of health, education, drinking water, transport facilities etc. It also gives details of agriculture potential, fair price shops, livestock, land classification and cooperative societies. GISTNIC and MEDLARS facilities are also being used by the people of the District.
In appreciation of the NIC District Centre Kasargod, Mr Satyajeet Rajan, IAS, District Collector of Kasargod said" the success of computerization of a whole range of activities in the District is nothing compared to the enthusiasm computerization generated among the Government Servants. The active awareness of computerization and its benefits is owed to the hard work, enthusiasm and team work of NIC Officials.