E-passports likely to be issued from July next year
Prafulla Marpakwar, TNN 18 December 2009, 01:14am IST
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/E-passports-likely-to-be-issued-f\
rom-July-next-year/articleshow/5349520.cms
|
MUMBAI: After a prolonged delay of more than a year, the Central Passport
Organisation (CPO) has drafted an ambitious plan to issue electronic passports
from next year, preferably from July 1, 2010.

"In June 2008, we delivered the first electronic passport to President Pratibha
Patil and the second to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. At that time, we had
promised to issue electronic passports to the public within a year, by July
2009. But due to technical problems, the project was delayed. Now, we are in a
position to issue e-passports by July 1, 2009,'' a senior passport official told
TOI on Thursday.

If the project is implemented by the scheduled date, India will be among the 43
countries across the world to switch over to an e-passport system.

Globally, the e-passport system was introduced on a large scale after the 9/11
attacks. An electronic passport contains complete information along with
fingerprint and photograph, so that the passport cannot be duplicated.

Secondly, the e-passport will simplify procedures during immigration. The
e-passports have been designed by the CPO in collaboration with Nashik's India
Security Press and Kanpur IIT. "The e-passport will be like our regular
passport, with an embedded electronic chip, which will contain the entire
information. Of course, the cost of the passport will be more than our regular
passport. We are in the process of working out the cost,'' the official said.

While diplomatic and other officials in New Delhi have already been given
e-passports, for the general public, these will be issued in a phased manner in
a time-bound period. "Currently, there are nearly three crore passport holders
in the country. When they come for renewal, they will be given e-passports. In
addition, an estimated 60 lakh to 70 lakh new passports are issued every year.
Our plan is to ensure that all new passports issued after July 1, 2010, are
e-passports,'' he said.

On the proposal to outsource part of the passport work, the official said it was
proposed to involve a leading consultancy firm for the purpose. However, that
project has also been delayed indefinitely due to the non-availability of
adequate infrastructure. It was proposed that basic work, particularly scrutiny
of application forms, was to be entrusted to a private organisation and a pilot
project was supposed to be launched from September 1, 2008, but now it appears
that it will take some more time. "Our aim is to deliver the passport within
15-20 days. With our existing manpower, we take at least 35 to 45 days for the
purpose. Hence, it was proposed to privatise part of that work. We appointed
consultant, but so far, there has been no progress,'' he said.

Further, the official said, though there is constant demand for more passports,
most passport holders have take it for identity purpose. "Our information is
that 70% of the passport holders have never travelled abroad and many of the
passports have lapsed and were never renewed. Since it is a type of an identity
card, there is more demand for it,'' he said.

Hooda assures support for unique ID project
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Hooda-assures-support-for-unique-ID-project\
/555525/

fe Bureaus
Posted: Friday, Dec 18, 2009 at 2230 hrs IST
Updated: Friday, Dec 18, 2009 at 2230 hrs IST


Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda has assured all help
of his government to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) and
said that the State level unit would function under financial commissioner and
principal secretary, Tourism, Keshni Anand Arora to allot unique identification
numbers to the residents of Haryana.

The chief minister was discussing the issue of allotment of unique
identification number with the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of
India, Nandan Nilekani. Nilekani, who has been visiting various States to
discuss the issue of unique identification number, expected Haryana to lead in
this venture. He said that the UIAI would not allot any card, but unique
identification numbers of 16 digits would be allotted to each resident of India.
He said that the UIAI would start issuing numbers in February 2011. He said that
these numbers would be allotted on the basis of 11 biometrics including 10
finger prints and the iris. There would be eight regional offices of the UIAI
and each such office would cover two-three states.

Another delay hits India's fast passport project
18 Dec 2009, 1716 hrs IST, IANS
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/travel/visa-p\
ower/Another-delay-hits-Indias-fast-passport-project/articleshow/5352123.cms

NEW DELHI: The indefinite wait for the start of the Passport Seva Project, an
e-project for faster delivery of passports, has got another sting

in its tale. The employees have now done a U-turn and asked for a "review" of
the Rs.1,000-crore project outsourced to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

"We are of the opinion that there is a need to review afresh the whole project,"
said a letter from the All India Passport Employees Association (AIPEA) to
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.

The Passport Seva Project is an e-governance project of the Indian government
which is supposed to streamline and bring efficiency in the process of
distribution of passports.

The contract for implementing the project, worth Rs.1,000 crore (Rs.10 billion
or $21.4 million) was given to information technology major Tata Consultancy
Services in October 2008, with an implementation timeline from June.

Since then, there have been multiple deadlines, in October and November. But the
project is yet to take off as TCS has been unable to provide fool-proof
software.

Incidentally, AIPEA had earlier reached an agreement with the ministry before
the contract was signed with TCS in 2008 for starting the project, after long
overdue promotions were given to a large number of employees.

The association consists of 2,400 employees located at regional passport offices
around the country. Incidentally, there has been a freeze on the recruitment of
new employees, despite the number of passports processed doubling in the last
seven years.

The association raised its disquiet about the status of the project in September
this year, following which a committee was formed, which included ministry
officials and union representatives.

The committee, which met in mid-October, has not been able to convince the
association leaders about their "crucial" role in the Passport Seva Kendras,
with the latter insisting that a passport employee should be at the front-end of
operations.

According to plans, TCS employees will be the face of the Passport Seva Kendras,
while the ministry employees are to remain behind the scenes, handling all the
sensitive processes.

A group of employees was taken Oct 28 to visit the Passport Seva Kendra in
Bangalore, which will be the location of the pilot project. The entire civil
works for the centre has been completed. After the visit, the staff said they
were even more dissatisfied with TCS.

"We regret that Tata could not show the testing to the committee because of some
technical problems and it was assured that testing shall be shown next week. Now
more than four weeks have gone, but the testing has not been shown to the
committee till date," said the letter written by the AIPEA.

The Department of Information Technology's Standardization Testing and Quality
Certification is doing the third party audit of TCS' software and has reportedly
found innumerable 'bugs'.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) had told the the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on External Affairs that as the software development was an "external
dependency", it could not give a firm date for launching the project. The
Standing Committee had taken had meanwhile pulled up the ministry for not
starting the Passport Seva project, despite previous assurances.

Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao visited the Bangalore office
to inspect the progress. "The bugs are there in the computability of the new
software in taking information from earlier database. Also, there are numerous
discrepancies noticed when the information collected moves from one stage to
another," said a senior ministry official.

Staff employees will be given 'digital signatures', which they will use to
authorise and check the more secure processes in the passport system. While
employees in Bangalore have applied for the 'digital signature', AIPEA officials
said the staff in the rest of the country would resist the move.

TCS has said the project will begin in January-end. But officials in the foreign
ministry have their fingers crossed.

Unique ID authority will charge fee for data
Subrahmanyan Viswanath, Bangalore, Dec 15, DHNS
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/41477/unique-id-authority-charge-fee.html

The enrolment cost, under the ambitious Unique Identification (UID) project, is
expected to cost a whopping Rs 3,000 crore, according to the Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), spearheaded by Chairman Nandan
Nilekani. Further, enrolment of each resident is likely to cost between Rs 20 to
Rs 25.

As a result, to meet the humongous cost, the authority, will levy transaction
fee on potential user agencies availing its services. According to the
confidential UIDAI working paper, made available to  Deccan Herald, while it
will provide authentication services to government agencies at subsidised rate,
other user agencies would be levied transaction fee.

The authority proposes to provide chargeable authentication services of two
types — address verification and biometrics confirmation. While for airlines it
would offer free service for basic ID confirmation, banks, would have to pay Rs
5 for address verification for account opening, and credit card companies Rs 10
for biometrics confirmation.

Revenue scenarios

Likewise, projecting possible scenarios of steady income from service fee, it
estimates total annual revenue of Rs 288.15 crore. From address verification Rs
159.55 crore and from biometric confirmation Rs 128.60 crore.

According to preliminary projections, from new mobile connections it expects Rs
19.59 crore, from PAN cards Rs 1.20 crore, from gas connections by PSUs Rs 1.50
crore, from passports Rs 6 lakh, from new LIC policies Rs 10.16 crore, from
credit cards Rs 70 lakh, from bank accounts Rs 11.55 crore.

Justifying levying service charges, the authority says, it takes both government
agencies and private sector firms anywhere between Rs 100 to Rs 500 for address
verification. Furthermore, it is usually done through physical visit besides
another enquiry to confirm information provided. Hence, address authentication
service by UIDAI will be valuable one.

Big ticket savings

Similarly, it observes that, issuing credit card or granting a loan, needs
confirmation of resident's identity, involving submission of photographs and
other documentation.
With UIDAI, however, the agency (card companies / banks) can send scanned
photograph or fingerprint (based on security level required) together with other
demographic details to confirm identity.

Incidentally, the authority says, the revolutionary single, universal ID number
by eliminating fraud and duplicate identities, will save the government
exchequer upwards of Rs 20,000 crore annually.

Citing an example, it says Ministry of Petrolum & Natural Gas can save over Rs
1,200 crore a year in subsidies reportedly lost on LPG cylinders registered
under duplicate or ghost identities.

Exclusive--Passport Seva Project Still to See Light of Day
The much awaited Passport Seva Project has been delayed for the third time due
to the clear lack of planning required to realise a project of such scale and
complexity
Priya Kekre
http://dqindia.ciol.com/content/top_stories/2009/109121402.asp

Monday, December 14, 2009
Print Comment Email Digg Del.icio.us Reddit Twitter

Promising a passport within three days, it peddled a dream to Indians crowding
understaffed and overburdened regional passport centres. But the Passport Seva
Project, one of the government's flagship e-governance programmes, is facing
inordinate delays.

The Passport Seva project began as one of the 27 Mission Mode Projects listed in
the national e-governance plan. In October 2008, the Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA) signed the agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to
implement the project, estimated to be worth Rs.1 billion. Passports would be
generated in 3 business days and under the `Tatkal' plan, they would be
generated on the same day. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon had then said the
pilot project will become functional in June 2009, with the rest of the country
to be serviced by 77 stations in 2010. But the project has been delayed for the
third time. The first deadline was in June, then October, before the revised
date of Nov 13 was arrived at, but this too was not met.

The pilot project would have seen 'Passport Seva' centres in 7 locations,
starting in Bangalore and later in Hubli and Mangalore, also in Karnataka,
followed by Chandigarh, Ludhiana in Punjab and Ambala in Haryana. A mini centre
will also be opened in Gulbarga (Karnataka) as an addition in the pilot project.
As per the project, front-end activities of passport issuance, dispatch of
passports, online linking with police, Central Printing unit for centralized
printing of passports will be put in place. The sensitive activities such as
police verification, printing and dispatch of passports will be performed by
government staff. The new system is aimed at 'timely, transparent, more
accessible and reliable manner' for passport issuance. While this spells good
news for the citizens, the thousands of passport agents who have been making a
living through commissions will be thrown out of business. No alternative
arrangements or employments means have been carved out for them by the MEA so
far. Certain industry sources are of the opinion that these agents have come
together to lobby against the Passport Seva project, unless their interests are
also kept in mind.

When contacted about the delays in the project, TCS directed all its queries to
the MEA. According to A Manickan, joint secretary, consular, passport and visa,
MEA, all the physical infrastructure is ready. This includes a user-friendly
building with swanky interiors, 25 counters and electronic token boards. Also,
the data centre based in Delhi is now operational. However, the problem was with
the back up data centre which took time to set up. A senior TCS official was
also quoted in the media as saying that the delay was due to setting up of a
'disaster recovery centre', which will have the back-up of all the passport
records. The state-run Software Technology Park of India (STPI) has now finally
set up the back-up data centre for TCS in Chennai and will be running it at a
cost of Rs.30 million (Rs.3 crore) over a period of seven years. However, the
networking to different stations may take longer. Incidentally, the National
Informatics Centre, which runs the current passport software, PISON (passport
information service system on the net), has already given the data for transfer
of nearly 80 lakh passport records to the MEA recently. The data will be kept in
a specially constructed data centre as it awaits migration to the new software
program developed by TCS.

But officials within the DIT who are privy to the project say the main delay is
due to the fact that TCS had not got its software ready. Apparently, there have
been some key errors in the applications that are being tested. Another major
reason for the delay is the inordinate time required to draft the software
requirement specification (SRS) document, which was completed only recently. The
SRS, which details how the software program will behave in diverse
circumstances, had taken a lot of brainstorming sessions between MEA and TCS
engineers. The final document comes to about 400 pages. The glitches do not end
here. The inordinate delays also have been caused by some highly inefficient
planning. When asked about the delays in the Passport Seva Project, Manickan
said, "The deadlines set for the project were internal guidelines set by both
parties based on discussions. While the infrastructure is ready now, when we
started off we found out that the locations for the data centres were not
suitable for setting up Level 3 data centres. Hence, we had to go back to
scratch to achieve these standards. That is the reason it got delayed to
October."

Post this, the infrastructure as well as the applications went through 4 cycles
of testing by DIT's Standarization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) in
the month of October. According to Manickan, the DIT auditors found several
defects on the security, strategic controls, and the entire passport
application, submission, and processing cycles which led to the delay even in
the third deadline set for November 13. After this, the Parliamentary Committee
pulled up the Ministry of External Affairs for the "repeated postponement" in
the launch of the Passport Seva Project.

The ministry still has to sign a non-disclosure agreement with TCS, as the
latter will have access to information of millions of applicants. Incidentally,
MEA has insisted that all "sensitive activities" will be carried out only by
government agencies. A lot of confusion also persists on whether the NIC's
current PISON (passport information service system on the net) will continue in
parallel to the proposed TCS software - and, if so, their mode of compatibility.
The dilemma has arisen as Indian missions abroad, which also issue passports and
are linked through the NIC program - are not part of the Passport Seva Project.
The MEA has still not issued a formal statement clarifying these details not has
it detailed a timeline by when the project will go live. "We will have another
round or the fifth cycle of STQC testing in the first week of January 2010,
before we decide on the future course." Manickan said. According to him, the DIT
has identified the key loopholes and based on the next round of tests will be
able to tackle them faster. He also went on to say that the DIT has brought in a
lot of senior officials to evaluate the project and placed a larger dedicated
team to solve the teething issues.

Once the tests and audits are completed in January, the pilot phase of the
project will be implemented in 7 locations. The pilot project will go through
another round of thorough testing before being rolled out across 77 locations in
the country, where initial scrutiny of application forms, acceptance of fee,
scanning of documents, among others, will be performed by selected service
providers. "It is a very complicated process. We want to make sure that all
redundancies are in place and that all the software glitches are solved before
we go live and operational. Once the project starts, we cannot leave any scope
for commotion or chaos. The delays are simply because we are trying to get
everything right and do not wish to compromise on any aspect," said Manickam.

All we can hope now is that, the MEA, TCS, NIC and DIT all work together and
make up for the lack of foresight and planning showed so far to realise this
much sought after e-governance project.

http://cdac.in/html/jobs/dg03122009.asp

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), is a Scientific Society of
the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology, Govt.of India. C-DAC's areas of expertise range from R&D
work in Foundation Technologies to Product Development, IP Generation and
Technology Transfer, Deployment of Solutions in various sectors directly or
through partnership model, High Performance Computing and Grid Computing;
Language Computing & Speech Processing; Computer Science & Software Technologies
including Free & Open Source software; and Professional Electronics including
Embedded Systems, Platforms, Specialized Hardware, Broadband and Wireless
Control Systems & Cyber-Security. On the applications and solutions side, the
prominent sectors include Science & Engineering, e-Governance, Health,
Education, Power, Railways, Industry among others. Education & Training
Programmes focused on high and specialized technical courses and finishing
school type modules of relevance to industry.

Applications are invited for the post of Director General for Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in HAG 67000-(annual increment @
3%)-79000 (pre-revised pay scale: Rs.22400-525-24500) and it is proposed to be
filled by Direct Recruitment /Absorption / Deputation basis.

The Director General shall be the Chief Executive of C-DAC and shall have
administrative and financial powers to implement decisions of the Governing
Council (GC)/ Coordination Committee (CC) of C-DAC, evolve strategies and plans
for proper management of C-DAC and shall make proposals to the CC / GC regarding
Staff Rules, Service Conditions etc. of C-DAC.

Method of Recruitment:

Direct Recruitment / Absorption / Deputation. The appointment would be for a
tenure not exceeding five years or till date of retirement on superannuation,
whichever is earlier, provided that, in case of appointment on Deputation, the
date of superannuation will be as applicable in the lending organization.


Direct Recruitment :
Essential Educational Qualifications & Experience

B.E. / B.Tech. in relevant discipline* with 25 years experience.

Or

Post-Graduate in Engineering in relevant discipline* with 20 years experience.

Or

Ph.D. with over 15 years of relevant experience*.

* Relevant Discipline / Experience: Computer Science / Electronics / Electrical
/ IT/ Telecommunication.

Absorption / Deputation Basis
:
In case of absorption / deputation - officers of the Central/State Govt. / PSUs
/ Autonomous Bodies: holding analogous post on regular basis.

Or

Having 5 years of regular service in the scale of pay of Rs.18400-500-22400
(pre-revised)

Possessing the qualifications prescribed for direct recruitment.
Age Limit for Direct Recruits :
Preferably below 50 years for Direct Recruitment and 56 years for Deputation /
Absorption (Relaxation can be given in deserving cases). The age will be as on
the last date of receipt of applications.

Job Responsibilities :
The Director General will be responsible for overall management and running of
C-DAC under the overall guidance of Governing Council.

Director General shall be the Ex-Officio Member of the Governing Council.

The Director General shall exercise such executive and financial powers as
contained in C-DAC charter or delegated to him by the Governing Council.

The Director General may delegate some of his powers, functions and duties to
subordinate levels.
Job Requirements:
The ability to guide, motivate, harness and lead a group of highly specialized
and talented pool of scientific, R&D, technical and administrative personnel
towards achievement of institutional goals.

The ability to independently manage an organization of high repute and national
importance including aspects such as manpower planning, development, budgets,
finance and various other organizational aspects.

A broad scientific, R&D and technological vision and ability to keep track of
recent trends and emerging developments in the relevant technology field.

In-depth exposure and sound knowledge of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and
commercial aspects of high-end research.

The ability to effectively interface with the Government, academic, R&D and
educational institutions and the IT industry.

Experience in heading and delivering significant R&D projects in the area of
High Performance Computing (HPC) / Grid Computing / Information Technology /
Software Technology / Telecommunications / VLSI Design etc.
Desirable Requirements:
Ph.D. in Computer Science / Computer Engineering from a recognized University or
institution and should be capable of guiding Post Graduate / Doctorate degree
students in Computer Science / Computer Engineering.

Proven track record and experience in leading and delivering significant R&D
projects in the areas of High Performance Computing (HPC), Grid Computing,
Information Technology, Software Technology, Telecommunications, VLSI Design
etc.

Must have to his credit national and international publications and acclaimed
research contributions.

Experience in dealing with projects involving foreign collaboration and liaison
with Government Departments and Industry.

High visibility in professional and academic circles and should have been
involved and contributed to national and international consultative / advisory
committees.



How to Apply: Candidates meeting the above eligibility requirements may send in
their applications complete in all respects in the prescribed format along with
the detailed resume and attested copies of certificates relating to
qualifications, relevant experience, date of birth, etc., by the last date
prescribed to The Director, ABC Division, Department of Information Technology,
6, CGO Complex, Electronics Niketan, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110 003.
Download the Proforma for Application

Persons working in Government/PSUs/Autonomous bodies may send their application
through proper channel, along with photocopies of ACRs of the last five years
duly attested by an officer not below the rank of Under Secretary or equivalent
and vigilance/disciplinary clearance. The integrity of the officer may also be
certified along with a certificate that no minor / major penalty has been
imposed on him.

Last date of receipt of applications: 22nd February, 2010.

Note:
Applications which are not in conformity with the requirement indicated in the
advertisement are liable to be rejected.
  Only short-listed candidates will be called for interview. Mere fulfilling of
requirement as laid down in the advertisement does not qualify a candidate to be
called for interview.
Head, Corporate HRD
C-DAC

The word satyameva jayate is missing below the National Emblem placed at the top
left corner of UID website http://uidai.gov.in/

According to the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act 2005,
Satyameva Jayate must be written under the national emblem — the Ashoka pillar.

No. 12013/21/09-UIDAI
Government of India
Planning Commission
Unique Identification of India
Third Floor Tower –II, Jeevan Bharati Building
Connaught Circus, New Delhi
Date: 14. 12.2009
OFFICE MEMORANDUM

http://uidai.gov.in/vacancies/Vacancy%20Circular%20-%20I.pdf

Subject: Filling up of various positions in Unique Identification of India
(UIDAI)

The Unique Identity Authority of India (UID Authority) has been set up by
Government under the Chairmanship of Shri Nandan Nilekani with a mandate to
issue Unique ID number to every resident in the country. UIDAI will own and
operate the UID database and be responsible for its updation and maintenance on
an ongoing basis.
The Authority is in the process of filling up various posts on deputation/short
term contract basis for its Headquarters at Delhi and the regional offices
located at Chandigarh, Lucknow,
Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The initial period of deputation shall be for three years extendable by a
further period of two years as per GOI, DOPT OM No. 2/29/91-Estt(Pay-II) dated
5.1.1994 as amended from time
to time read with DOPT's OM No. AB 14017/30/2006-Estt (RR) dated 29.11.2006.
The officials appointed in the UIDAI will be eligible for General Pool
Residential
Accommodation at par with Central Government employees at these locations.
A vacancy circular for various positions in UIDAI is attached herewith. It is
requested that
the applications of eligible candidates who can be spared immediately in the
event of their
selection may be forwarded to UIDAI in the performa as per Annexure –I along
with duly
attested photocopies of ACRs and vigilance clearance of the applicants. Last
date for
receiving the applications is 8th January 2010. The vacancy circular along with
the proforma
can be seen in the UIDAI website www.uidai.gov.in / www.uidai.nic.in.
(K. Ganga)
Deputy Director General
UIDAI

NIC raises concern over privacy of UIDAI database

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/nic-raises-concern-over-privacyuidai\
-database/379497/


  New Delhi December 14, 2009, 0:38 IST
The National Informatics Centre has raised concerns over privacy and security of
proposed database of Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI), headed by
Infosys founder Nandan Nilekani.

The newly established UIDAI would be hosting information of all residents of the
country on a private data centre, which NIC believes raises concern about
privacy and security, official sources said.

In a letter dated November 6, accessed by PTI, NIC writes, "It has been proposed
to hire the data centre services for PoC (proof-of-concept) and prototype on
rental basis. It is presumed that the data related to UID will be hosted in a
government Data Centre. If not, the issues related to privacy and security with
respect to UID data may require to be taken into consideration."

UIDAI replied that hosting the data on a private network "does not necessarily
lead to violation of privacy and security".

"There will be appropriate SLAs (Service Legal Agreements — both legal and
technological) to ensure that the data is protected. It is to be mentioned that
a number of sensitive database (Income Tax and PFRDA, to name two of them,)
which ensure security and privacy, though they are not necessarily housed in the
`government' Data Centre," the Authority replied.

It said UIDAI approach envisaged 24 Technical posts (Director Technical,
Principal Systems Analyst and Senior Systems Analyst). "This will ensure
adequate technical capacity to ensure both security and privacy concerns," it
said.

riday, December 11, 2009
 	 Ministry of Communications & Information Technology


   Task Force submits report for globally competetive IT Sector

RECOMMENDS SETTING UP OF NATIONAL ELECTRONICS MISSION
17:37 IST
The Task Force has recommended constitution of `National Electronic Mission'-a
nodal agency for electronics industry within Department of Information
Technology (DIT) with direct interface to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). In
its report submitted to the Union Minister for Communication and Information
Technology Sh A Raja here today the Task Force says that the nodal agency would
help in the synchronised functioning of industry through effective coordination
across Ministries and Government Departments. The report envisions a USD 140
billion electronics and USD 105 billion software and Services industry by
2014.The other key recommendations include building adequate basic, business and
social infrastructure; favourable business policy and regulatory environment;
fostering a sustainable ecosystem for innovation, R&D and manufacturing and
maintaining globally competitive tax regime.

Speaking on the occasion Sh. Raja said that DIT will examine the recommendations
and will initiate a dialogue with other Ministries/ Departments for appropriate
implementation. Commending the efforts of the Task Force the Minister said that
It was constituted in August 2009 to suggest measures to stimulate the growth of
IT and ITES and Electronics Hardware Manufacturing Industry in the country in
the backdrop of significant challenges being faced by the Sector owing to global
economic crisis.

*********

GG/PB

Salary cut for delay in providing driving licence
Delay in providing services like ration cards, driving licences will lead to
penalties such as salary deduction of officials.

New Delhi: In what is being billed as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's next big
move after Right to Information, the PMO has decided to implement the concept of
service level agreements. This will mandate penalties to be deducted from
salaries of dealing officials if there are delays in providing citizen services
like issuing ration cards and driving licences.

It's learnt that Delhi will be getting off the blocks first in April 2010.

The PMO is targeting Delhi and then the Union Territories, and hopes other
states begin taking the initiative on their own as many of the services fall
under state subjects.

This far reaching move will essentially convert existing citizen charters, which
are largely a statement of intent, into a SLAs that make it binding on
authorities to help provide certain services in a time bound manner.

It adds teeth by levying a fine or a penalty that would be deducted from dealing
official's salary if deadlines are not met. While the fine amount is still to be
finalised, sources said, the broad consensus is on Rs 200 to begin with in
Delhi.

Against much resistance and after several rounds of consultation, sources said,
the Delhi government agreed to implement the SLAs from next April. At a meeting
with the Delhi government last month in the PMO, it was decided to initially
cover nine services.

These include: Issuing of ration cards, issuing and renewal of driving licences,
registration of voters, issuing of voter identity cards, registration of births
and deaths, registration under Department of Value Added Tax, issuing of SC
certificate and OBC certificates.

The government will issue a notification to make the SLAs statutory and just as
commercial establishments are bound by their public claims, officials say the
aim here is to bind government departments to time commitments for the service
they seek to provide.

According to SLAs, the clock starts ticking the moment the department concerned
accepts the application form for any of the above services. A dealing official
will be identified and the applicant will be informed at the point of submission
of forms about who will be handling the case.

In fact, the agreement makes it clear that the onus to help an applicant
complete and submit the form also falls on the officials of the department
concerned. Once aaccepted, it will be assumed that all formalities have been
completed and a time limit will be set for each applicant's case. If any
shortcomings are detected in the form after it has been accepted, then the SLAs
hold the official who accepted the form accountable and not the applicant.

Given that this will be all computerised, the monitoring on each official's
performance will be done electronically and if there is a delay, then a penalty
will automatically be deducted from the salary of the official responsible for
this through what are known as TR-5 (treasury receipts).

To ensure that officials don't buck the system by delaying the submission of
forms, sources said plans are afoot to separate the officials dealing with the
case from those who would accept the forms. This way any vested interest could
be avoided at the time of accepting forms.

The Delhi government wanted to first start the process manually and then move to
monitoring SLAs on an e-governance platform. This was, however, rejected by the
PMO which has insisted on a centralized web system to monitor the SLAs.

This is now being developed at a quick pace following pressure from the PMO,
which wants the entire process to be brought on e-stream and made public on
April 1, 2010 in Delhi. To this end, Delhi government has been asked to
reengineer the identified services, if needed, which means making forms more
user-friendly, removing needless documentation requirements among other steps
before next April.

Source: The Indian Express

Monday, December 14, 2009
 	 Ministry of Labour & Employment

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55796

   Upgradation of Employment Exchanges
15:43 IST
LOK SABHA

National e-Governance Plan has identified modernization and upgradation of
Employment Exchanges as one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMP). Implementation
of this Project will help job-seekers to register on-line from anywhere and
approach any Employment Exchange for employment related assistance. Under the
Project, a national web portal with common software will be developed. This will
contain all the data regarding availability of skilled persons on the one hand
and requirement of skilled persons by the industry on the other. It will help
youth get placed and enable industry to procure required skills on real time
basis. National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), has been engaged as
Principal Consultant for the Project on Employment Exchanges who have already
conducted Survey and prepared Detailed Project Report (DPR), which is in process
for seeking mandatory approvals of the Government. The project will be
implemented in all States/UTs in the country simultaneously

This information was given by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment
Shri Harish Rawat in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Request for Proposal for providing Consultancy Services to UIDAI for Setting up
of Central ID Data Repository (CIDR) and Selection of Managed Service Provider

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) invites eligible IT
consulting companies for providing "Consultancy Services to UIDAI for Setting up
of Central ID Data Repository (CIDR) and Selection of Managed Service Provider
(MSP)".

1) Click Here to download the "Notice inviting Request for Proposal".

2) Click Here to download the "Request for Proposal (RFP)" document.


	  Published On: 13-12-2009

http://www.nisg.org/news.php?id=182

11th Dec'2009

Sh. Wajahat Habibullah,
Chief Information Commissioner
Central Information Commission
Government of India

Sub: Electronic Submission of RTI Request with online payment

Dear Sir,

1. Whereby Section 6 (1) of the RTI Act empowers a citizen to obtain information
in electronic form.
( 6(1) A person, who desires to obtain any information under this Act, shall
make a request in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in
the official language of the area in which the application is being made,
accompanying such fee as may be prescribed, to....)

2. There are very few public authorities who have listed the email addresses of
the CPIO/ Appellate Authority on their website to facilitate online submission
of RTI request.

3. As per the knowledge of undersign not even a single Public Authority
(including CIC while acting as Public Authority under RTI Act) has made any
reference to the Bank Account Number (or any alternate method like credit card )
for online payment of RTI request fees of Rs 10.

4. Therefore I would request you to direct all Public Authorities to implement
the complete provisions of Section 6(1) of RTI Act and facilitate electronic
submission of RTI request along with provisions of online payment.

5. I would also request you to direct DoPT to frame necessary rules / issue
notifications in this regard. (if required)

6. A sensatization of all State Information Commissions on the above subject may
also be considered.

7. State Governments of Bihar (through the Jankari Project) and  State
Government of Orissa (through portal http://www.rtiorissa.gov.in/ ) have already
implemented the same in a limited way.

8. With regards to technical feasibility the online submission of application
through portal http://www.rtiorissa.gov.in/ is a good example and the online
payment system has already been implemented by many Government Projects like
Online reservation of rail tickets and MCA21. Therefore there are no  legal and
technical issues in implementing the above. I believe that Department of
Information Technology (GOI) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) which are
implementing the prestigous National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) will come forward
to assist the various Public Authorities in this step towards greater
transparency. I have separately written to CPIOs in a few Public Authorities
championing e-Governance like DIT, DARPG, NIC,NISG etc requesting implementation
of the said provisions within their Departments. I will share their response
with you whenever recieved

9. Having said above I will be glad if you can direct all Public Authorities to
implement the electronic submission of RTI requests and put up the detailed
procedure for same on their websites.

10. Being the custodians of RTI implementation in country it will be a national
benchmark if CIC as Public Authority implements e-governance in  RTI request
processing and facilitate electronic submission of RTI requests. (along with
electronic payment)



With Regards,

Sameer Sachdeva
162, GH4, Meera Apartments
Pachim Vihar, New Delhi - 110063
Ph. 011-45522890; Mobile : 9999337900
http://sites.google.com/site/superwhistleblower/

Small businesses playing an important role in govt projects
11 Dec 2009, 0505 hrs IST, Ashish Agashe, ET Bureau
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/Small-businesses-playing\
-an-important-role-in-govt-projects/articleshow/5325003.cms

Mumbai-based e-governance provider ABM Knowledgeware gets 100 per cent of its
business from the government. But it's eyeing a fifth of its

revenues this year from a single clause in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban
Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Under the scheme which helps cities get funding for improving infrastructure,
every applicant city has to start an e-governance system to get the funds. "We
worked hard to prepare a good package which was selected by the Union ministry
of urban sevelopment among the packages which the cities can pick up," says the
firm's managing director Prakash Rane.

It is now being implemented in Mumbai, Nanded, Kalyan-Dombivili and Ulhasnagar,
he says.

ABM Knowledgeware is among a clutch of companies working with the government on
its flagship programmes and playing a pivotal role in making them happen through
enterprise, zeal and hard work. Be it JNNURM, the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), or the newly formed Unique Identification Database
Authority (UIDA) headed by Nandan Nilekani, there are now greater synergies
between the public and the private sector, especially emerging businesses.

Working with the government, of course, has it own challenges. Rane cites their
inability to distinguish between tangible and knowledge-based solutions provided
by his company. Moreover, being the trustees and not the owners of the money,
officials are often criticised to be slow in decision-making.

"You must know the procedural complexities, and once you know that, I can tell
you there's no customer like the government," says Rane.

Glodyne Technoserve, a Mumbai-headquartered company, has been working with the
Bihar government for creating the software architecture for NREGS
implementation. Under the scheme, it intends to start 25 million user accounts,
each having minute details like biometric information, for security.

"We have already done 1.5 million accounts and will complete the entire project
in 24-36 months. Nowhere in India has such a project been undertaken and
honestly, I will say it's amazing to be a part of this," says the firm's
chairman Annand Sarnaaik.

A senior member from his team says that the Bihar government is extremely
professional and asks for updates on a daily basis.

"We are supposed to create around 15,000 accounts a day. If we do not meet the
target, the officials make us explain," she says.

Glodyne, which expects revenues of over Rs 40 crore from the Bihar project, has
recently tied up with the district collector of the naxal-infested Gadchiroli
district of Maharashtra to replicate this model on a BOOT (build, own, operate,
transfer) basis.

Sunil Goyal, director at Mumbai-based Ladderup Corporate Advisory which advises
SMEs, attributes the surge in SME
participation in such government projects to digitisation and increased
transparency in administration.

"Earlier, they could not get to know of the various opportunities which were
floating around. But now they can get it at the click of a mouse," he says. It's
better to engage SMEs on such jobs because the localisation is better. On the
macro side, this ensures greater geographical distribution of the resources as
SMEs aren't concentrated in a single area while the SME benefits as the
creditors extend good line of credit courtesy these government projects on their
books.

Maze Private Limited saw an opportunity in the very niche cards space and is
eyeing the UIDA programme. Though the scheme doesn't entail distributing cards,
individual departments like the labour department and health services are slated
to distribute cards to beneficiaries with the unique number which will have all
the necessary data.

"The bigger guys will definitely get good business by providing the database
management solutions to UIDA but I see a requirement of at least 8,000 tonnes of
raw material to make the cards. At over $2,000-a-tonne, it's a great opportunity
for me," says the firm's MD Nisaurg Doshi.

Maze had supplied raw material to make the two million-odd cards and made the
envelopes in which they were sent during the pilot project carried out by the
Centre. Doshi says domain specialisation and dedication help an SME when
pitching for such projects.

"First, you have to recognise the talent within your company, then build a
reputation and finally, communicate that to the ministries and PSUs," he says.

However, sometimes government officials do live up to the stereotypes of laxity
and red-tapism, as the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) found out. Days before
the start of cotton procurement last year, NAFED (which has a monopoly on
procurement) realised it did not have the infrastructure or manpower in place in
Andhra Pradesh.

"Left with no option, they appointed us in distress," says NSEL's managing
director Anjani Sinha. NSEL officials worked along with NAFED through the
procurement season spanning three months till March this year.

Under the scheme, cotton bales were deposited by NSEL with NAFED for which they
were paid a service fee. The procurement was successful and NAFED re-appointed
NSEL to do the procurement this season as well, albeit in advance.

"Generally, no one wants to let go of their monopoly. Hence, reforms are quite
time consuming but in this case, we were to prove ourselves through our work

Now get information online
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Now+get+information+online&a\
rtid=7Nz7h/z5rhg=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=\
nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=


Express News ServiceFirst Published : 06 Dec 2009 09:58:00 AM IST
BHUBHANESWAR: From now on, one would not have to go to the different offices or
Government departments to seek and obtain information under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act. Log on to www.rtiorissa.gov.in to access different
departments and wings of the Government, file RTI applications and receive the
response.
  The RTI portal developed by the Information and Public Relation Department and
the State Information Commission in association with Luminous Infoways was
inaugurated by Chief Information Commissioner DN Padhi here. The portal seeks to
present a clear picture on the Government departments and organisations and
intends to effect transparency and accountability in the system of Governance,
he said.
  As per the Section 4 (1) A of the RTI Act every Government department or
organisation would have to make available all information through computer
network, display board and maintain registers for public.
  Every department and their subordinate offices would be linked up in the
network through a software christened Lok Soochana and provided with individual
IDs and passwords for uploading information. Till now about 600 departments and
Government organisations have been linked up with individual IDs. Besides,
providing comprehensive information on their organisation and activities, the
network would enable each parent department to monitor if their subordinate
offices were implementing RTI properly. The departments and PSUs would also have
to publish their annual reports and compliances with the cases on the portal.
  The citizen would just have to visit the portal to fill the form for
application and submit his query and preferences on the mode of receiving
response. They can also file cases in the Commission's appeal section against
violations.
  The I&PR Department being the nodal agency would also be able to monitor the
RTI implementation by the other wings of the Government and report to the CIC.

Par panel slams MEA for delay in launch of Passport Seva

  Share  Print  E-mail  Comment[ - ] Text [ + ]STAFF WRITER 18:37 HRS IST
New Delhi, Dec 3 A Parliamentary Committee today pulled up the Ministry of
External Affairs for the "repeated postponement" in the launch of the Passport
Seva Project, which was supposed to quicken issuance of the travel document.

"The project was due for launching in July-August 2009 but revised to October
one," the Standing Committee on External Affairs said in its report submitted
today.

After postponements, the pilot phase of the project was supposed to be launched
November 13 in Bengaluru and Chandigarh.

"But the Committee is surprised to find that in spite of the government's
categorical assurance, the project has not been launched so far. The Committee
expresses its strong displeasure that despite the assurance given to the
Committee, it has not been done," it said.

alse and fabricated information in E-Sahayata project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur
district
Thursday, December 10, 2009
http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowDistrictNews.asp?id=15697


Report by Amarnath Parida; Jagatsinghpur: E-Sahayata project has been proved
meaningless for common people for providing wrong and fabricated information by
the officials of National Information Center to the people of this district in
which people of this district has expressed their reluctant not use this
service. The government has been spent cores of rupees but this programme has
been proved as farce in Jagatsinghpur district by giving false information
during the inauguration of E- sahyata project at Jagatsinghpur on Wednesday.

This district has launched E-Shayata at collectorate, Jagatsinghpur to provide
citizen centric services through installation of touch screen Kiosik system for
common people on Wednesday.            Interestingly wrong information has been
given to the common people so locals has asked the sincerity of the officials of
NIC and asked why shall they depend this e=governance programe for giving wrong
information. Citing an example, the district superintendent of police Mr
S.Debdatt Singh joined in this district on last June but his name has not been
updated. The name of former SP Mr R.K.Sharma has been mentioned in the e-
Sahyata project. Similarly, the total police stations are 10 but seven Police
stations have maintained and seven out posts in stead of four have mentioned in
e- Sahayta project. This is only on sample but thousands of wrong information
and data has been given to the common people. One 10 year old student Deepak
Swain has asked queries that officials failed to give right information about
the SP, police station so how could expect correct information from E- Sahyata
projects. Locals have demanded to stern action against officials for giving
wrong information during inauguration progamme.

Inaugurating this project, district collector has informed that this project
will be introduced in panchayt level for the benefit of common and poor people.
He said that this programme would be success while people of remote villages
would get information from this system. He also expressed that this system would
difficult to launch in panchyat level because of no electricity and housing
facilities of many panchyats. Besides this, this district has common service
center at 46 panchyats out of 194 panchyats of this district.

All groups of citizens can avail the information regarding BPL, public
distribution system, welfare activities, tender work, advertisement, information
about the district, right of records of the land, and other detailed information
by touching the screen. Information technology has opened new opportunities to
provide qualitative and dedicated services for the common people. Rural people
can be benefited by e-governance programme.

Locals, students , intellectuals , scribe have strongly criticized to provide
wrong and fabricated information to the people and no steps have been taken to
change the common error in which they have lost their confidence on e-sahayta
prgramme. NIC officer Mr Bibhuti Bhusan Rout has confessed in this meeting that
information and data have not been updated due to staff shortage and non supply
of information in right time.

Locals alleged that latest and wrong information has been given to the people
through e- governance prgramme so this e-sahyata prgramme has been provide
meaningless for the common people as they have lost their confidence on this
system. Many data and information of this district has not been updated due to
negligence and in activeness of the officials of National Information Center so
this e-sahyata project has doubted for it's not been successful for providing
efficient and useful services.

Food Corpn's open e-sale of wheat from Dec 16
MCX's National Spot Exchange to handle trade.
Wheat will turn costlier by Rs 170 a tonne every month in the FCI's open sale.
This is towards interest and warehouse charges the Government has to bear for
stocking wheat.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/12/10/stories/2009121052771600.htm

M.R. Subramani

Chennai, Dec. 9

The Centre's open market sale of wheat from the stocks held by the Food
Corporation of India (FCI) is likely to begin from December 16 through an online
spot trading platform run by the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).

"We will launch the open market sale scheme of wheat for the FCI in Delhi. Then,
we will begin it in Bangalore," said Mr Anjani Sinha, Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer of National Spot Exchange, the electronic spot trading
platform of MCX.

"The FCI will decide the price and quantity of wheat that will be offered every
month. To start with, 80,000 tonnes will be put up for sale in Delhi at Rs
14,379 a tonne," he said.

According to initial plans, the Centre plans to sell at least 1.5 million tonnes
in the open market from its stocks of over 25 mt on December 1.

Earlier this week, the FCI floated a tender inviting expression of interest from
bulk wheat buyers to register for the open sale. The deadline for registration
is December 14 and bulk buyers have to fulfil various norms to be eligible for
buying wheat from the scheme.

"The process for empanelment of buyers is on. The FCI will do it. Our job is to
sell the wheat only," Mr Sinha said.

Empanelment

Official sources said the date for empanelment could be extended. "The FCI is
handling the entire process of e-tender and the Government is not interfering in
its operations," the sources said.

Roller flour mills industry players said they were in the dark on how the FCI
will go about the e-trading process. "We are unaware of how to go about
trading," they said.

But they seemed to be more worried about the floor price fixed for the open
sale. On Wednesday, the Union Minister of State for Food and Agriculture, Prof
K.V. Thomas, said the Centre was likely to revise the prices for open sale of
wheat.

It had immediate impact on the market as wheat (dara) prices in the New Delhi
market dropped to Rs 14,000 a tonne from Rs 14,700 a tonne.

Mr Sinha said prices for the open sale of wheat would differ at each centre.
"The FCI has worked out a formula for pricing based the distance of a place from
Ludhiana and that will be the base price," he said.

Wheat will turn costlier Rs 170 a tonne every month in the FCI's open sale. This
is towards interest and warehouse charges the Government is having to bear for
stocking wheat.

Bulk users are unhappy over the Government's fixing of the open price and the
additional charges they will have to incur every month.

Official sources said the FCI had been looking forward to sell wheat stocks for
quite sometime but had hit a roadblock in the form of lack of response. "We have
now decided to reduce the paper work. Let's see the response," the sources said.

For bulk users buying wheat through the online spot trading platform, the
exchange will charge Rs 100 for every transaction of Rs 1 lakh. "Besides, if the
buyer is not a member of our exchange, they will have to pay brokerage charges,"
Mr Sinha said.

Mills, particularly in the South, were the one who were looking forward to the
open sale. But with the Centre fixing a higher price, they resorted to importing
wheat from Australia.

Despite having to meet stiff phytosanitary norms and import in containers (25
tonnes), they have struck deals to import at least 50,000 tonnes, mainly from
Australia.

The consignments cost them Rs 14,000-14,750 a tonne and they incur an additional
Rs 1,500 a tonne to get the wheat to their gates.

This wheat is of better quality than the one available in the domestic market.
It is also cheaper that wheat available in the country at over Rs 16,000 at the
gates of the mills.

For the National Spot Exchange, the online experience of selling Government
stocks is not new. "We are already selling pulses imported by MMTC and PEC
through online," Mr Sinha said.

The FCI is reported to have held talks with other exchanges such as NCDEX. "We
were invited for the talks. We have explained to them the features and the
modalities have been worked out. The FCI is yet to finalise," NCDEX sources
said.

State e-governance awards announced
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?title=State%20e-governance%20award\
s%20announced&artid=WDVBH8naVXU=&type=


Express News ServiceFirst Published : 09 Dec 2009 07:10:28 AM IST
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government on Tuesday recognised excellence in
e-governance by announcing the first-of-its-kind awards for IT-enabled
citizen-centric services and projects which have improved the quality and access
for service delivery.
The awards were distributed by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Tuesday. The
winners were announced in the categories of online service and e-filing, best
website, e-payment service, digital file flow system and m-governance.
Thrissur Collectorate won the best award for online service and e-filing for
innovative use of technology to facilitate equitable and environment-friendly
sand mining and distribution within Thrissur district.
The best website award was won by to Kerala Tourism for its comprehensive web
portal which integrates multiple services aimed at consolidating Kerala's
leadership in the travel and tourism sector.
Palakkad Collectorate won the award under the digital file flow category for its
innovative harnessing of IT tools and optimising revenue collection in the
district. The m-governance award was won by  Kozhikode Collectorate for its
innovative use of mobile phone messaging technology to improve citizen access to
health services in Kozhikode district.
Electrical Inspectorate Department won the Service and Payroll Administrative
Repository for Kerala (SPARK) implementation award for diligent and speedy
implementation of SPARK solution to enable their process across Kerala.
Commercial Taxes Department bagged the Local language content development and
maximum utilisation of Akshaya centres award for its leadership in harnessing
the state's Akshaya network and creating a single state-wide window for
collection of VAT in Kerala.

Bangalore One grows to Karnataka One
The state will open e-governance centres like Bangalore One in other parts of
the state as well
http://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Bangalore-One-grows-to-Karnataka-One/91209\
128797/0/

BANGALORE, INDIA: Spreading the success story of Bangalore One to other parts of
Karnataka, the e-governance department is looking forward to opening similar
centers in neighboring districts of the state.

Speaking to CIOL, M N Vidyashankar, principal secretary, department of
e-governance, Government of Karnataka said that the department would open stores
in seven to eight districts including Mysore, Belgaum, Shimoga, Hubli, Tumkur,
Davangere.

Akin to the name given to the centers in Bangalore, the new centers will be
called as Mysore One, Tumkur One and so on. Bangalore-based CMS computers will
be the technology partners in providing the IT services and hardware.

Interestingly, unlike the Bangalore center that runs on Microsoft operating
system (OS), the new centers would be running on open source OS.
Vidyashankar informed that along with the Karnataka roll out, the Bangalore
center has plans to add six centers and introduce around four to five new
services in their offerings.

"We would very soon reach to around 62 centers within the Bangalore city, with
the opening of new centers and are at the final stages of introducing new
services from tourism aspect, insurance premium collection etc from Bangalore
One centers."

This initiative that was started around two an half a year ago, by the
Government of Karnataka is aimed to provide integrated services to the citizens
deploying the tools of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) so as to
enhance Speed, Convenience, Certainty and Accountability in providing such
services through the concept of a 'One-Stop-Shop' facility.

In these years, Bangalore One has got  eight to nine lakh users. Last year, it
earned roughly Rs 1600 crore of revenue from these centers. At present, there
are around 56 centers in the city offering around 31 services including private
services like, credit card/telephone bill payments, information services,
registration and many more.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009
 	 Ministry of Labour & Employment


   Moderisation of Employment Exchanges
15:46 IST
RAJYA SABHA

National e-Governance Plan has identified modernization and upgradation of
Employment Exchanges as one of the Mission Mode Projects (MMP). Implementation
of this Project will help job-seekers to register on-line from anywhere and
approach any Employment Exchange for employment assistance. Under the Project, a
national web portal with common software is proposed to be developed. This will
contain all the data regarding availability of skilled persons on the one hand
and requirements of skilled persons by the industry on the other. It will help
youth get placed and enable industry to procure required skills on real time
basis. The project will be implemented all over the country.

National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), the Principal Consultant has
submitted the Detailed Project Report (DPR) which covers the
Public-Private-Partnership details. The proposed PPP aims to act as a service
support to the existing Employment Exchanges for providing the following
services, wherever required:

i. Registration Services
ii. Employment Market Information (EMI)
iii. Vocational Guidance & Counseling / Talent Assessment Services
iv. Placement Services.

Since the Employment Exchanges in the country function under the administrative
control of the State Government / UT Administrations, the regulation and
co-ordination of the activities of the private placement agencies has to be
decided by them as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Labour &
Employment.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour &
Employment Shri Harish Rawat in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

VBA/RS

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri
R.C. Misra, IAS(OR-76), presently Special Secretary and Financial Adviser,
Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information
technology, as Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public
Grievances and Department of Pension & Pensioners welfare in the vancany of Ms.
Rajni Rajni, IAS(HY-73).
source - persmin.nic.in

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Framework –  The UIDAI would be set up under a Statutory authority. The UIDAI is
in the process of drafting a legislation for this purpose.

The UIDAI intends to have a large number of volunteers and people on Sabbatical
who would assist the UIDAI in its mission. For this the Draft Volunteer and
Sabbatical Rules have been put up in the Legislation section of this website.
Comments/suggestions are invited in order to improve these Rules. This may be
sent to webadmin-uidai@.... The UIDAI will finalise these Rules in due
course. The UIDAI will be inviting applications for the same once the Rules are
finalised. The details will be on the website shortly.

List of Consultations by the Authority on the UID
July – November 2009
July
1. Petroleum Ministry – 29th
2. Labour Ministry – 29th
3. Ministry of External Affairs – 30th
4. Income Tax Department – 30th
August
1. Planning Commission
2. XIII Finance Commission
3. Chief information Commissioner -18th
4. Chief Vigilance Commissioner -19th
5. Launch of partnership with NREGA with Ministry of Rural Development –
20th
6. Government of Meghalaya – Chief Minister and senior officials – 26th
7. Government of Karnataka – Chief Secretary and senior officials – 29th
8. Insurance Regulatory and Development Agency – 31st
September
1. Government of Delhi – Chief Minister and Senior Officials – 2nd
2. LIC – 4th
3. Public Health and UID Consultation Workshop – 8th
4. Indian Banks Association – 9th
5. Economists Consultation – 10th
6. Chief Accountant General – 23rd
7. NASSCOM – 24th
8. Government of Kerala – Chief Secretary and senior officials – 29th
9. Government of Tamil Nadu – 30th



October
1. PM's Economic Advisory Council – 5th
2. Government of Rajasthan – Chief Minister and senior officials – 6th
3. Government of Uttarakhand – Chief Minister and senior officials – 8th and
10th
4. Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie – 9th
5. Ministry of Housing and Urban Development – 12th
6. PDS – UID Workshop – 13th
7. International Donors Conference – 14th
8. Conference – Financial Inclusion, NREGA and UID – 15th
9. Government of Goa – 16th
10. Government of Andhra Pradesh – 21st
11. IDBRT – 21st
12. Micro-Finance field visits – 22nd
13. SVP National Police Academy, Hyderabad – 22nd
14. IIAS Conference, Shimla – 30th
15. Government of Himachal Pradesh – 31st
November
1. Government of Madhya Pradesh – 4th
2. World Bank Conference on international Experiences - 10th and 11th
3. Micro-Finance Institutions – 12th
4. Venture Capitalists – 13th
5. Government of Uttar Pradesh – 16th
6. Government of Bihar – 17th
7. National Law School of India University workshop on Legal Implications
of UID Project (included representatives from academicia ,civil society,
lawyers, students) – 23rd
8. Manipur Chief Minister – 24th
9. Government of Maharasthra – 27th
10. Forwards Market Commission- 27th
11. Maharasthra Chief Minister – 30th
12. Reserve Bank of India – 30th

http://uidai.gov.in/

UID number could help improve national security: Nilekani
8 Dec 2009, 1754 hrs IST,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/software/UID-number-could-help-impr\
ove-national-security-Nilekani/articleshow/5314881.cms

  Print 	 EMail 	 Discuss  Share  Save  Comment Text:
AHMEDABAD: The Unique Identification (UID) number would be useful in improving
security in the country, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
Chairman, Nandan Nilekani said here on Tuesday.

"When we have the full coverage, that is once everybody has the number, which
may take number of years, it will help in identification of a person," Nilekani
said when quizzed about implications of the UID project on national security.

"At that point if somebody doesn't have UID that would itself become an issue.
And more appropriately under the then legal framework you can also track
somebody (with help of the UID number). So I think it would benefit security.
But the primary focus as of now is on development," he added.

Nilekani was speaking on sidelines of a function orgainsed by the Indo-American
Chamber of Commerce (Gujarat Branch) where he delivered lecture on 'UID Project:
Issues and Challenges'.

"There may be a time when hotels may require UID number to get a room there.
Once a person gets the number and if he is suspected (of terrorist activity) he
can be traced."

Either way if one has the number or not, it will help improve security, he
added.

The co-founder of Infosys said that they plan to start issuing UID number within
18 months time.

"Our goal is to start issuing numbers within 18 months and our clock started
ticking on August 12. So by February 2011 we need to start issuing numbers,"
Nilekani said.

"Within next five and half years from now we hope to issue 600 million UID
numbers," he added.

"For this we need cooperation of all the agencies. What we are doing is building
the highways to collect information but the actual traffic on the highways or
speed depends on the political will and desire of the agencies to collect
information," Nilekani said.

He said to achieve their target they are building a core unit and would be soon
opening eight regional offices with technical and marketing teams.

Nilekani said the purpose of UID number was to verify the identity of every
Indian.

"We plan to make this unique using science of biometrics. In our model we
propose to have details of all 10 finger prints, picture of the persons iris and
have some combination of it to decide the uniqueness," he said.

"Our biometric committee will be coming out with recommendations soon. The
biometric signature would make the person unique," he added.

The UIDAI chairman Nilekani said data collection by various agencies involved
would be standard process which would be decided by a committee.

"To standardise the data that would be collected we have set up a Data Standard
and Verification Committee chaired by N Vittal, former Chief Vigilance
commissioner. They are going to come out with biometric and data verification
standards in next few weeks which will be uploaded on our website for public
scrutiny," Nilekani said.

He said UID number would enhance access to services by the government.

"With UID there will be reduction in frauds. Also it will reduce the time for
verification of identity of a beneficiary who wants to enrol for a development
scheme," Nilekani said.

He said that they have partnered with implementing authorities of National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Registrar General of India to collect
authentic information from across the country.

CM fellows to work for UID project
TNN 9 December 2009, 01:47am IST
Text Size:
|http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/CM-fellows-to-work-for-UID-pr\
oject/articleshow/5316567.cms

GANDHINAGAR: The students enrolled with the Chief Minister Fellowship programme
would be roped in for the Unique Identity project in Gujarat. A discussion to
this effect was held during a meeting between chief minister Narendra Modi and
Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI).

Nilekani, who was in the town for a lecture organised by the Indo-American
Chamber of Commerce, met the chief minister later during the day. According to
state government, Nilekani promised that his team of experts would visit Gujarat
before the project is kicked started to discuss the matter in details. The
government said that team would hold talks with Modi and make use of his
expertise on the planned project.

During the meeting, Modi told Nilekani that as part of Swarnim aGujarat
celebrations his government would call upon the youths in the state to give 100
hours for some social cause. He suggested that such volunteers could be
motivated to give their valuable hours for the UIDAI project. The CM said that
youth talent should be explored and those who enrol under the fellowship
programme should be roped in for the project. Nandan accepted the chief
minister's offer and said that the support of the CM was essential for making
this project a success, according to the government.

Orissa to roll out Rs 100 crore e-registration project
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/orissa-to-roll-out-rs-100-crore-e-re\
gistration-project/21/05/375757/

BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar November 09, 2009, 0:53 IST
The electronic registration (e-registration) project in the state is set to
become a reality soon as the state government would sign the concession
agreement with IL&FS- Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDC) within 15
days for implementing the Rs 100-crore project.

The project is being taken up on the public private partnership (PPP) mode and
it would be implemented by on BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) basis by
the Orissa e-Governance Services Limited, a special purpose vehicle formed by
the Orissa Computer Application Centre and IL&FS-IDC.

Pradipta K Mohapatra, the state IT secretary said, "We are going to sign the
concession agreement with IL&FS-IDC within 15 days for implementing the
e-registration project. As many as 176 sub-registrar offices in the state have
already been computerized to facilitate the implementation of the project." He
pointed out that the project would generate employment for around 600 people.

Mohapatra was speaking at a seminar on Moving Ahead with Innovation, organized
by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The e-registration project will
be applicable to all essential records including birth, marriage and death
certificates as well as land records.

The objectives of this project are to replace existing manual systems of
verification and scrutiny of documents, ensure valuation of properties,
capturing and preserving copies of the documents and maintenance of back office
records.

Govt click-starts video meetings
TNN 8 December 2009, 02:36am IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Govt-click-starts-video-meetin\
gs/articleshow/5312390.cms

BANGALORE: Holding meetings at government offices is just a click away. In a bid
to achieve quick decision-making, increase productivity and ensure
cost-effective communication, Karnataka government on Monday introduced video
conferencing to connect all its offices in the state.

After launching Karnataka State Wide Area Network (KSWAN), chief minister B S
Yeddyurappa said the new system will obviate the need of officers from Bangalore
travelling all the way to Gulbarga or any other distant place and vice-versa to
just hold a meeting. This will not only ensure transparency but also save time
and cost, he added.

Governor H R Bhardwaj, who delivered the inaugural address from his office in
the Raj Bhavan making use of the new system, appreciated the efforts of the
state. ``I hope the new system will ensure transparency and accountability and
help in preventing inordinate delays," Bhardwaj said.

The KSWAN had gone through a rigorous test. Yeddyurappa had held a series of
video conferences with the district authorities especially to monitor the
implementation of flood relief and rehabilitation works.

Explaining the salient features of the new initiative, department of
e-Governance principal secretary M N Vidyashankar said KSWAN aims at providing a
common telecommunication infrastructure for all government offices across the
state.

The Rs 177-crore project has been initiated by the Centre for e-Governance in
the state to establish a state information highway by setting up a
cost-effective network through public private partnership. ``The basic idea is
to ensure all government offices stay connected 24x7," he added.

As of now, 2,995 offices can avail of this facility. By March 31, 2010, every
gram panchayat is expected to be connected through BSNL broadband connections.
The Common Service Centres (CSCs) to be set up in all taluk headquarters will
bring government services, micro-business and agri-business opportunities to the
common man.

He said the administration uses the latest technology (Multi-Point Loop System)
by virtue of which even if the Internet service to a taluk or a district fails
from Bangalore, it can be routed through another district or taluk.

All senior officials and the officers in the district administration will be
linked by Internet Protocol phones which will mean that they can be in direct
touch instead of the present telecommunication system which is routed through
personal assistants. ``Officials can also make use of the telephones for making
free calls to various government offices," Vidyashankar said, while adding that
the new system will ensure a highly reliable, robust and secure communication
corridor at all levels at little time.