e-Sampark is the new mantra

After garnering Rs 700 crore from e-Sampark centers in the last three
years Chandigarh is set to profit from its kiosk services. SK Sandhu, Finance
and IT Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, in a conversation with Bhaskar
Hazarika from CyberMedia News, shared the government plans to boost the IT
initiatives in the state

What are the e-governance initiatives in Chandigarh?

Chandigarh administration has been taking active interest to roll out
e-governance initiatives in the state. We have rolled out nine e-Sampark
centers. Project is a multi-service single window system, which connects various
public dealing departments with electronic centers. The Government of India has
awarded the 'Golden Icon Award' for this e-governance project. In this
center, we are offering 20 services including payment of taxes, utility bills,
passport application, disbursement of old-age pension and other utility
services. e-Jan Sampark is another project. Every center supports multi-service
delivery, which includes non-transactional services. We are planning to set-up
70 such kiosks on public-private partnership. It will be built on the reverse
model of built operate and transfer (BOT). We will be setting up these centers
in the next six months. We have also set up 17 e-Gram Sampark centers in 17
villages of Union Territory of Chandigarh. It is combination of e-Sampark and
e-Jan Sampark, targeting the rural population. Through these centers, the
citizens will be able to use 15 G2C and 3 B2C services.

How much revenue is generated from these centers?

In the last three years of establishment of these centers, the
administration has transacted more than Rs 700 crore. In 2006, we earned
revenues of Rs 350 crore, which is expected to increase every year. We are
transacting more than Rs 1.25 lakh per month from these centers. We have
recorded selling 1,000 stamp papers on a daily basis. We are planning to set-up
70 e-Jan Sampark centers in the next six months.

What are the incentives that the government would be offering to attract
IT companies?

Under the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) project, the
government has been taking special initiative to attract IT companies. This
initiative has been divided into three phases. In the first phase, 123 acres of
land has been allotted to two companies to set-up centers in the site. Infosys
has set-up its center here and around 2,000 people are being employed. DLF Info
city has also built up a center which houses a number of IT companies such as
IBM Daksh, Net Solutions, eSys and SAP Solutions.

Under the second phase, 250 acres of land has been allotted, of which 125
acres has been allotted to IT and ITeS companies. Development of the third phase
of the park on 270 acres has already begun. We have identified the land and are
in the final stages of acquisition. It would be partly under SEZ and partly
under STPI. Once the project is completed, it will bring in an investment of
more than $600 million apart from employing 25,000 IT professionals.