FRIENDS of Kerala to help citizens

BANGALORE: The IT Department of Kerala has launched the

Integrated Citizen Friendly Counters (FRIENDS) in the state, which will be

one-stop shops for all remittances. According to a release, the FRIENDS solution

was developed and deployed by the Center for Development of Imaging Technology

(C-DIT) in technical collaboration with Microsoft Corporation India Private

Limited.

The FRIENDS counters will accept payment of electricity

bills, telephone bills, water bills, property tax, professional tax, building

tax, etc. Speaking at the inauguration of FRIENDS, Kerala Chief Minister Mr.

Nayanar, said, "Our endeavor has been to take the benefits of technology to

the common man. The initiative was prompted by our focus for this millennium–to

improve the lives of our citizens through technology and create an environment

for business growth. We are thankful to our partners, Microsoft, for their

contribution in our efforts to make Kerala a IT hub. Microsoft has extensively

researched how governments worldwide are deploying information technology to

enable better governance. Through this joint initiative, we are progressing

towards establishing greater efficiency standards for government

organizations."

The facility will have 20 computer terminals, with each

terminal acting as a payment kiosk. The kiosks will function on all seven days

of the week except public holidays. The facility, located in Thiruvananthapuram,

will cater to the area maintained by the Corporation of Thiruvananthapuram, the

release said. The next phase will see the deployment of FRIENDS in 20 wards in

Thiruvananthapuram and all major district headquarters. The solution will be

accessible over the Web as soon as the government’s infrastructure for

Internet access is in place.