Since its establishment in 1988, the NIC Sri Ganganagar District Centre has provided ICT services to the District Administration and other Central / State government departments in the district. To support the Digital India Programme visioned by the Government of India, it is engaged in promoting G2C, G2E, G2G, and G2B digital services in the district. Digital initiatives by the Centre such as Gang Canal, Krishi Mitra, ePass, and Learn Punjabi illustrate its commitment towards achieving the goal of becoming a Digital District.
In 1988, NIC Sri Ganganagar District Centre was established as a nodal ICT agency in the district. Since then, it has served as a platform to promote ICT initiatives, thus facilitating G2C and G2G services to the citizens. Through its website, the Centre is providing the citizens, information on Smart Irrigation, Smart Agriculture and Smart Education.
ICT Initiatives in the District Gang Canal Regulation Computerization System Gang Canal Regulation Computerization System aims to provide the latest information of canal regulation systems through a web portal to farmers. The data is periodically updated, every three hours, by the Irrigation Department for the water levels on each canal head along with canal opening and closing schedule. Currently, the system is integrated with Sandes and NIC SMS to improve information dissemination. Future integration with SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) will result in enhanced data acquisition. Salient features provides accurate information of water supply of canal and heads disseminate market news collates and distributes information on various Government schemes and plans such as crop insurance, diggi construction, fencing, pipeline irrigation etc. acts as authoritative source of Information on Government events, circulars, and other updates on meetings of ‘Jal Upyokata Association’
Learn Punjabi The District Administration ensured that education remained uninterrupted during the lockdown. For this, they supported the virtual mode of instruction and encouraged the development of high-quality digital content. With this objective, Learn Punjabi is made accessible through four modes (iOS app / Android app / Website / YouTube). This helped the application to reach a wide audience of students and teachers, who can access the subject-related content with ease, without worrying about the availability of specific devices. The application is intended to meet the needs of students at all educational levels. Due to its user-friendly and highly accessible interface, even young children can learn Punjabi (Gurmukhi) independently. This application functions through uniquely designed phases of language learning, including Primer, Grammar, and Textbooks (with tutorial videos).
Krishi Mitra Krishi Mitra app helps farmers, agricultural scientists, and students to get information on the Rabi, Kharif, and Fruit Crops grown in the district and the surrounding region. It provides information regarding planting, fertilizers, irrigation, pests, diseases, harvesting, nursery plant transportation and installation. It also has useful content for learning organic farming techniques.
Other Key Initiatives ePass ePass was used for issuing online passes during COVID-19 pandemic. It was extremely beneficial during lockdowns. It enabled citizens to apply for Curfew passes without physically visiting administration offices.
Fig. 5.1: Ganga Canal Computerisation Dashboard
Revenue Officers Performance Monitoring System Revenue Officers Performance Monitoring System (ROPMS) is a district-level analytics dashboard designed to evaluate the monthly work of revenue officers and aims to increase the accountability of all revenue departments and assist higher authorities in improving human resource management. In addition, the Centre is working on the development of Sinchai Mitra, a farmer-friendly application where they can obtain information about the efficient use of irrigation.
Project Implementation NIC Sri Ganganagar District Centre has played an instrumental role in spreading ICT culture in the agrarian district. In order to leverage the influence of eGovernance in the district, the Centre has been involved in the localization and implementation of a number of Central / State-level projects. These include Digital India Land Records Modernization Program (DILRMP), Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), integrated Road Accident Database (iRAD), eTransport - Vahan and Sarathi, Arms License Issuance System, Civil Registration System (Pehchan), Shala Darpan electronic Public Distribution System (ePDS), Rajasthan Business Register, ePanjiyan, ASHA Soft, NICCI Chatbot and D-Flow.
Accolades National Awards for eGovernance (Gold) for Gang Canal Regulation Computerization System by Government of India at National Conference on eGovernance, 2022 Bronze Award of Excellence in Research to Shri Paramjeet Singh for Promotion of eGovernance Research by Director General, NIC, 2021 Award of Appreciation by District Administration to Shri Paramjeet Singh, ADIO, on Independence Day (2022), Republic Day (2010, 2013, 2020), and National Voters Day (2014)
Fig. 5.2: Dr. Jitendra Kumar presenting the NIC Sri Ganganar District Centre team with the National Award for eGovernment for its Gang Canal Regulation Computerisation System.
Way Forward NIC Sri Ganganagar District Centre is well prepared and continues to provide all technical support to the district administration in order to realise the dream of “Digital India.” The Centre has made a name for itself in the district as a result of its dedication to achieving excellence. In future, it aims to roll out services like Sinchai Mitra to empower the agriculture sector in the district.