AP govt.'s eSeva to boost eGovernance

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government has taken a major step in eGovernance by commissioning nine eSeva centers, christened "citizen interface centers", in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secundrabad. In due course, the Government plans to integrate both the State Government and some Central Government-centric services through these centers. ICICI, HDFC, GTB, UTI are some of the banks with whom the project has tied up to facilitate banking services. ATM, cellular services and mutual funds will also be added to these centers. Eseva is thus all set to give a much-needed boost to the eGovernance initiative of the state of AP.

"The service will aid those having access to computers and those who do not have computers can use the eSeva centers. The project was developed on the BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) model by CMS Computers and Ram Informatics combine," said, eSeva project director, K Madhusudana Rao.

The services available include payment of utility bills, reservation of road transport buses, registration of births and deaths, property valuation. Gradually, linkages will be provided to services related to Central Government departments, such as payment of telephone bills, insurance premiums etc.

By launching eSeva, a project that will offer a wide spectrum of citizen-friendly services online, Andhra Pradesh has achieved the distinction of being the first state to introduce such an eGovernance tool, which will go a long way in bridging the digital divide between the rural and urban areas. Sitting at any remote corner of the state, any citizen can interact with the government agencies using the Internet. The service also allows the public to pay utility bills or obtain certificates online.

The government of AP had fully computerized the records of over 1,125 mandals and the entire data relating to 7.6 crore citizens of the state has already been recorded. Accordingly, the state government has proposed to introduce multi-purpose cards soon.

Further, the state government is implementing another data integration project aimed at connecting the state secretariat and the mandal headquarters. The project is being implemented by Tata Consultancy and expected to be operational before December, informed Rao.

"eSeva centres, will be connected to the proposed portal www.esevaonline.com, enabling the citizen to pay to their utility charges online. There are nine eSeva centers (with 200 service counters) spread across the twin cities, operating from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm every day. The services offered by the facility include utility payments, government certificates, licenses and permits and reservations," said PS Raman, Executive chairman of Ram Informatics Ltd.

The eSeva project, implemented on a public-private partnership model, is a rollout of the TWINS pilot project launched at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad in December, 1999. The role of the State or the Government in providing social infrastructure facilities such as health, education and sanitation gained added importance.