South 24 Parganas, the biggest district of the state of West Bengal with its headquarter at Alipore has an urban fringe of kolkata metropolitan city on one side and the remote riverine villages in the Sundarbans at the other. The worlds largest estuarine forest and one of the last preserves of Bengal tiger, Sundarbans, is a vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp forming the lower part of the Gangetic delta extending into the Bay of Bengal. The region is also famous for some commonly domesticated livestock breeds which include the Garole breed of sheep and Chinae hans or Muscuovy ducks. Apart from the Sundarbans the other places of interest in the district are Ganga Sagar and Bakkhali.

NIC South 24 Parganas, established in 1988, has developed and implemented many MIS and Decision Support Systems towards facilitating e-Governance in the district. The various ICT activities of the district center has created a large repository of information in the form of database which has helped the common citizens by fast delivery of information through setting up of touch screen kiosk. The district center has also benefited from its proximity to the state center in implementing many central and state projects

Excerpt of the letter from District Magistrate Sh. Khalil Ahmed, IAS, South 24 Parganas I am happy to note that the e-Governance projects of South 24 Parganas District will be published in Informatics, the quarterly Newsletter of NIC. Since the inception NIC has been closely associated with the district administration on its various e-Governance projects. ICT initiatives by NIC at 5 Treasuries of the District, Transport, Rural Development, Consumer Forum, District Court, Land Registration & Others. Apart from these grass root level planning and support in the implementation on NREGA has been commendable.

The special effort put by NIC officers during elections are extremely helpful in meeting the constitutional obligations. With ICT based solutions flourishing in the District, it is a wining situation for both common citizens of the District and the administrators. I am confident that the district administration in coordination and support from NIC will bridge the digital divide and will complete the e-Governance activity up to the grass root level which is yet to be done within my tenure as District Magistrate in the District.

Web site: The Web site of the district - http://s24pgs.gov.in as well as that of the Zilla Parishad - http://zp24pgs.gov.in were developed and are regularly updated by the district centre. The district website gives detailed geographical, historical, cultural, statistical and other relevant information and activities of the district.

e-Governance projects

Computerisation of Land Acquisition Cases: It is well known that land is most important resource for any development activity it is most sought after by people from all walks of life. Government also needs it for different projects and hence acquires private land from its citizens. The software developed by NIC helps the district administration in monitoring, calculation, notice generation, award generation, Cheque preparation etc for Land Acquisition Cases.

BHUMI (Land Records Computerization): LRC project has been implemented at all the blocks of the district. The software has been designed, developed & implemented in the district. The database of land records thus created helps in issue of ROR, Mutation and various types of MIS reports for the district administration.

CORD (Computerisation of Registration documents): The software for registration of documents, mainly property related has been implemented in the district. The biometric device incorporated into the system helps in checking impersonation etc. The online system facilitates registration of documents with proper calculation of stamp value as per the property rates fixed by the government. The CORD system has been implemented at 25 nos of Sub Registry Office (SRO's) of the district by the district centre.

Transport Computerization: VAHAN & SARATHI software of NIC revolutionized the transport sector in the district and has been a major e-Governance project. Vahan accomplishes registration of motor vehicles where as Sarathi is for Computerization of License issue. The software has helped in the following activities - Collection of Govt. Approved Fees for Printing of Registration Certificate (RC) Book and Driving License (DL), Printing of RC & DL of Smart Shield Oriented Card, Collection of various taxes fees as per the act, Automated application tracking system etc.

TIS (On Line Treasury Information System): Online Treasury Information system is successfully running at the district. The system was developed by NIC, and it facilitate, on line acceptance of Bill, processing of bills, Computerised cheque generation and Monthly account preparation.

COSA: “Computerisation of Salary Accounts' has been implemented at all the Govt. offices at the district, sub-divisional and block level. The system has helped in the generation of monthly pay bill, pay slip and various monthly schedules required by the treasury.

Rural Development: The district centre developed customized software to monitor various schemes related to rural development. Implementation of NREGA, which is operational at 312 Panchayats of the district, has ensured ICT benefits to the poorest of the poor.

GPMAS: Gram Panchayat Management & Accounting Systems implemented at the district has been a major ICT effort to bring e-Governance at the panchayat level which covers services like Birth & Death Registration, Issuance of Birth & Death Certificates, Issuance and registration of Trade Certificate and Maintenance of accounts.

Election Support: Computerized management of elections (Assembly / Parliamentary / Municipal / Panchayat) by the district centre has helped the administration to greatly simplify various activities like Preparation of Polling Personnel and Counting Personnel, Randomisation and generation of Appointment letter for Polling Duty & Counting Duty, Counting Management System and flow of information between District Election Officer & State Election Commission etc.

Pre-litigation and Counselling Cell Management System for WB Women Rights Commission (WB-PLCCMS): Software was developed and implemented to provide total solution to the WB Women Rights Commission starting from pre-litigation and counseling process, receipt of applications and consequently up to the disposal of such applications.

Online Pesticide Licensing System (AGRISNET): The district was selected as the pilot for monitoring & issuance of pesticide license. The system is fully functional and the beneficiaries are handed over the license using the system.

Online Pesticide Licensing System being reviewed

Capacity Building: Regular project based training and orientation programs are conducted by the District centre for district and Block level officials to promote ICT awareness in the district.