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Tamil Nadu is an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) pioneer. It was one of the first States to release an IT policy, in the early 2000s, which paved the way for a vibrant IT industry with exports of over ₹1.11-lakh crore, employing nearly 6.75 lakh people at the end of March 31, 2018.
The State is now acting fast to put robust e-governance programmes in place, as envisaged by the National e-governance Plan. The aim is to ensure efficient, transparent and reliable services at affordable costs to fulfil the basic needs of the common man.
By 2023, the Tamil Nadu government expects to make its services accessible online from anywhere, or through local Common Service Delivery outlets, mobile platforms and handheld devices.
e-Governance Policy
It rolled out the e-Governance Policy 2017 to create a comprehensive framework for the initiatives taken by various departments to implement e-governance.
While e-governance will promote the proactive delivery of online services to citizens, it is also expected to help improve productivity levels within the government.
To achieve this, an integrated environment to deliver seamless government-to-citizen, government-to-employee, government-to-government and government-to-business services in a cost effective manner will be established in a phased manner. The Tamil Nadu IT Policy 2018-19, presented recently in the Assembly, says e-governance would be the catalyst to narrow the digital divide and augmenting IT adoption in the government.
Among the planned/implemented e-governance projects is an online lift licence management system and tax collection system for power utilised through the Government of Tamil Nadu Electrical Inspectorate. The department runs a portal that enables online licences for the erection of lifts and online tax processing for electricity sale or consumption.
The Directorate of Horticulture’s online farm management system facilitates the tracking of various activities such as production of seedlings and sales of produce across 50 farms and 18 parks in the State.
The Directorate of Town and Country Planning is coming up with an innovative solution for the automation of the building plan scrutiny and approval system.
Similarly, the Archaeology Department has introduced a web-based service integrated with GIS for the virtual tour of 75 monuments.
Incidentally, the Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN) was among the first lot of e-governance infrastructure created under the National e-Governance Action Plan. TNSWAN, a shared scheme between the Centre and the TN government, commenced operations on December 1, 2007.
A detailed project report on Phase 3 of TNSWAN with a complete revamp of both IT and non-IT components at a revised value of ₹443.64 crore has been submitted to the government for administrative approval and sanction of funds.
TNSWAN at the forefront
The third phase of TNSWAN will be important for the State, as it will provide a reliable and secure connectivity to government departments up to the block office/taluk level for accessing various e-governance applications hosted at the Tamil Nadu State Data Centre.
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