AP Excise deptt to be automated

Toeing the lines of the US-based retail major Wal Mart's management
information system (MIS), the government of Andhra Pradesh is attempting to do a
replica in the state excise department. With the automation thus done, it is
slated to cut down corruption drastically and enhance efficiency in the payment
mechanism.

Ernst & Young, the two-month-old consultant to the government of Andhra
Pra-desh, and the Andhra Pradesh Technology Services Ltd (APTS) are closely
working in tandem to come out with a proposal to automate the excise depart-ment
thereby putting the existing rudimentary process on the shelf.

"The MIS should be built in such a way that would establish a network
between the supp-liers, stockists and retailers. And the payment mechanism
adopted should be equally effective. Here the retailer would be benefited, as
there would be no holding costs for the product and thereby he could sell it at
normal prices without additional costs. And if the whole system is on the
network, the suppliers and sto-ckists would then be conti-nuously updated on the
avai-lability thereby easing the process of replenishing the stock,"
explained Ran-deep Sudan, MD, APTS.

Presently, Ernst & Young is undertaking a study on this model that would
be ready by the end of this month. "We have also set up a committee to
invite and coordinate with various liquor companies.

Discussions are also on with the excise commissioner too. The model would be
submitted to the government in a couple of week's time," informed Sudan.

This free-of-cost research for the government is under-taken by Ernst &
Young that would be getting returns after deploying the project on the
transactions being made, thereby becoming an equity partner.

"Various liquor companies are also coming forward to invest, and once
deployed this automation process would surely exemplify the efficiency of IT and
the benefits it would derive," Sudan added

Sunitha Natti

CyberMedia News