Archive for the ‘ e governance ’ Category

Understanding the UID with Nandan Nilekani

For Nandan Nilekani , the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India , the challenge now is not just to roll out one lakh or more Aadhaar numbers a day, but to create an ecosystem for players to build applications on top of this identity infrastructure. Now, Nilekani has been negotiating with the Reserve Bank of India to allow banks to treat Aadhaar number as the only document for opening an account. In a free-wheeling interview with Shantanu Nandan Sharma, Nilekani talks about life after Aadhaar when a villager would be able to use a micro-ATM in his locality, or a migrant from Bihar would be able to flash out his number in Mumbai as an identity proof. Excerpts:

You will issue only a number and not a card. That means even after I get my UID number, I will have to carry separate ID proofs?

Nilekani : Whether it’s a passport, a ration card or a PAN card—each one of these has a purpose. Whether they will continue to remain as it is, or merge in the future, it’s a matter of future direction. Fundamentally, what we are giving is an identity infrastructure.

What does the number mean for a citizen?

Nilekani : Broadly, Aadhaar, as it is called, addresses several things. It addresses the issue of inclusion. It’s most important because we have hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t have an acknowledged existence by states. And if you don’t have acknowledged existence, you can’t avail of many public and other services. You can’t rent a house, you can’t get a job. In a way, identity is the foundation for life in some sense. First, it gives a chance to a large part of people who are not in the banking system to be a part of the system.

Second, it addresses the problem of migration. India is already a migrant country. We have 120 million migrant population. And the migration is going to go up in the next 20 years. We can give them a portable identity which they can carry with them and authenticate wherever they are.

What does a migrant do now?

Nilekani : Either he has no identity or even if he has one, say a ration card, the moment he moves out of his area, it does not have any validity. The ration card is a state document, not a national document. What Aadhaar does is that you get a number in one part of the country, and it is valid in all parts of the country. It gives you national portability. Ours is a nationally verifiable identity infrastructure. So it makes identity portable like a mobile phone makes communication portable.

Also, it provides a platform for innovation. The way we have made this architecture, it allows new innovators to build new services on the top of it. Therefore, it can be a platform for delivery.

What’s the road map ahead?

Nilekani : We launched it on September 29, now we have already crossed 100,000 in seven states so far. We are sending the users a letter, and that itself sometime will be a proof of their identity. And we are providing online authentication all over India.

Recently Visa has announced that they will build a card around UID. What does it mean?

Nilekani : Aadhaar provides an identity infrastructure. If somebody is in the financial services—be it Visa, MasterCard , NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) or even the banks—they can develop a variety of financial products which use Aadhaar authentication as one of the identity proofs. We are providing an open architecture which allows people to build applications on top of it.

Do you see more number of players to come and do business around Aadhaar?

Nilekani : We have agreements with Reserve Bank of India, Indian Banking Association, NPCI, all the banks—all of them are looking at using Aadhaar for financial inclusion.

Will the Aadhaar number be enough as a proof to open a bank account? Will the RBI agree?

Nilekani : One of the major problems for the poor to get a bank account is the lack of identity. And because of security reasons, the KYC (know your customer) requirement has become more and more demanding. The poor is out of this system. We are negotiating with regulators and the finance ministry to allow ‘Aadhaar equal to KYC’ for bank accounts. And if that happens, once you have an Aadhaar number, you don’t need any KYC to open a bank account. This will include many marginalised people into the banking system.

According to the new Bill being introduced in Parliament, you want to change the name UID.

Nilekani : No. Changing the name is just one thing. It’s now National Identification Authority of India . It gives this organisation more stature. The Bill is brought in because we need to have regulation on enrolment and authentication and penalty of misuse, etc. All that requires regulatory architecture.

There is an apprehension particularly in North-East that Aadhaar will give an illegal migrant an advantage to get Indian citizenship?

Nilekani : This is in no way, a citizenship or nationality number. The authorities who provide nationality document will continue to do the same checks.

You have crossed issuing 1 lakh numbers so far? What are the milestones next?

Nilekani : First, we have to stabilise our platform. Since we have rolled out, many small issues have come up which we need to sort. That’s what we are going to do in the next six months. Second, we have to increase the enrolment—from 10,000 a day to 100,000 a day, then we have to scale it up further. That’s a big challenge. Also, we have to launch applications on this infrastructure.

What kind of applications?

Nilekani : For the banking system, once ‘Aadhaar equal to KYC’ is agreed upon, then we will not only make opening a bank account for poor easier, but it will help creating a network of mini ATMs. So, instead of walking 40 kilometres to reach the nearest bank branch, a man in a village can walk into a micro-ATM.

How will a micro-ATM work?

Nilekani : It’s a device, say a mobile phone with fingerprint reader attached to it. You go to a micro-ATM, put your finger, authenticate yourself and withdraw money from your bank account. The micro-ATM will be inside the house of a business correpondent of a bank who will then give money say from a kirana store, and it will be linked to his account. Now, we are doing a pilot project on it.

Any other applications?

Nilekani: We are working how ‘Aadhaar equal to KYC’ may give you a mobile connection. We are discussing it with DoT (department of telecommunications). On the top of these, the government gives a lot of cash benefits like old-age pension, disability pension, widows pension, NREGA payment—all these can flow into the banking system.

What does UID mean for corporate India?

Nilekani : It has many possibilities. The employability can become simpler. Also, people’s benefits can be made more portable. Once the provident fund schemes begin to use it, the benefits become more portable.

Has life changed after joining the Govt?

Nilekani : The life is quite different. I moved from Bangalore to Delhi, moved from private sector to government, moved from running a hundred thousand person company to launch a startup. But overall, I am very happy with what I have done in the last 16 months. It has been a positive experience. It has a few challenges but every job has challenges.

You have recruited a number of bureaucrats as your main deputies?

Nilekani : We have a good mix of people. We have some excellent people from within the government and some from outside, volunteers, private sector people, interns etc. It gives us a diverse intellectual capital which is useful for the project.

But will you return to the corporate sector?

Nilekani : Governance requires a lot of technology-enabled reforms. I think I can help in that area.

Will more corporate people join the Govt?

Nilekani : I don’t want to speculate but if the government wants to bring in more people from outside, we will then have access to a wider talent pool.

What’s after UID?

Nilekani : It’s a big job. I have enough work for four years.

Courtesy : Economic times

2010: 11/28
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
General
Leave a comment

CSIR Effective Financial Managment software update

As per information available on this link the following items has already been deployed in the new software:

Reports

*Bank Day Book

*Purchase Day Book

*JV Book

*General Ledgers

*Sub Ledger

*Trial Balance

*Trial Balance (Consolidated)

*SL Trial Balance

*Balance Sheet

*Balance Sheet (Multiple Centre)

*Balance Sheet (Consolidated)

*Income & Expenditure A/C

*Income & Expenditure A/C (Consolidated)

*Schedule Wise Income & Expenditure A/C

*Income & Expenditure (Multiple Centre)

*Receipt & Payment Account

*5% LRF Transfer

*Broad Sheet

*OB Detail

*OB Summary

*Project Wise ledger

*Fund Code Wise Cash Balance

*Diary Report

*Head Wise Allocation Expense Chart

Payments

*Children Education Allowance

*LTC Advance

*LTC Adjustment

*Journal Voucher

*Telephone Bill

Reimbursement

*Vendor Bill Automated

*GPF Withdrawal

*GPF Ledger

*GPF Broadsheet

*GPF Advance

*Paybill Posting in FA

*Payment to Project Asstt. in ICT Project

*Overtime Allowance

*F&AO Cheque (D.D.O. Cheque)

*Multi Voucher Single Cheque

*Single Voucher Multi Cheque

*Pay Slip

*Salary Sheet

*OB Advance

*OB Adjustment

*Configuration Module

*Bank Reconcilliation

*Dealing Assistance Intelligent Panel

*SO Dashboard

*Self Test

*Search & Print Posted Voucher

*List of Passed Bill

*All Payment Posting

DG Dashboard

*Allocation & Expenditure

*Financial Performance

*Key Reports

*Fund Balance

Others

*Configuration Module

*Bank Reconcilliation

*Dealing Assistance Intelligent Panel

2010: 11/17
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
Leave a comment

Practice Stop. Think. Connect.(TM ) and encourage others to do it as well.

Tips and Advice

Tip: Keep a Clean Machine.
Advice:

Keep security software current: Having the latest security software, web browser, and operating system are the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.
Automate software updates: Many software programs will automatically connect and update to defend against known risks. Turn on automatic updates if that’s an available option.
Protect all devices that connect to the Internet: Along with computers, smart phones, gaming systems, and other web-enabled devices also need protection from viruses and malware.
Plug & scan: “USBs” and other external devices can be infected by viruses and malware. Use your security software to scan them.

Tip: Protect Your Personal Information.
Advice:

Secure your accounts: Ask for protection beyond passwords. Many account providers now offer additional ways for you verify who you are before you conduct business on that site.
Make passwords long and strong: Combine capital and lowercase letters with numbers and symbols to create a more secure password.
Unique account, unique password: Separate passwords for every account helps to thwart cybercriminals.
Write it down and keep it safe: Everyone can forget a password. Keep a list that’s stored in a safe, secure place away from your computer.
Own your online presence: When available, set the privacy and security settings on websites to your comfort level for information sharing. It’s ok to limit who you share information with.

Tip: Connect with Care.
Advice:

When in doubt, throw it out: Links in email, tweets, posts, and online advertising are often the way cybercriminals compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best to delete or if appropriate, mark as junk email.
Get savvy about Wi-Fi hotspots: Limit the type of business you conduct and adjust the security settings on your device to limit who can access your machine.
Protect your $$: When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security enabled. Look for web addresses with “https://” or “shttp://”, which means the site takes extra measures to help secure your information. “http://” is not secure.

Tip: Be Web Wise.
Advice:

Stay current. Keep pace with new ways to stay safe online. Check trusted websites for the latest information, and share with friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to be web wise.
Think before you act: Be wary of communications that implores you to act immediately, offers something that sounds too good to be true, or asks for personal information.
Back it up: Protect your valuable work, music, photos, and other digital information by making an electronic copy and storing it safely.

Tip: Be a Good Online Citizen.
Advice:

Safer for me more secure for all: What you do online has the potential to affect everyone – at home, at work and around the world. Practicing good online habits benefits the global digital community.
Post only about others as you have them post about you.
Help the authorities fight cyber crime: Report stolen finances or identities and other cybercrime

Courtesy: Stop. Think. Connect.^TM

2010: 10/06
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
e payment
Leave a comment

Setting up of National Knowledge Network (NKN)

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has accorded in principle approval for the establishment of the National Knowledge Network (NKN) to be implemented by the NIC.

BACKGROUND:

One of the important recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) is to inter-connect all knowledge institutions trough high speed data communication network. This would encourage sharing of knowledge, specialized resources and collaborative research.

The Government’s decision to set up such a National Knowledge Network was announced in 2008-09. An initial amount of Rs.100 crore was allocated to the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and IT for the establishing the NKC. A High Level Committee (HLC) was also set up to coordinate and monitor the establishment of the NKN.

Implementation strategy and targets :

The architecture of the NKN will be scalable and the network will consist of an ultra-high speed Core (multiples of 10Gbps and upwards). The Core shall be complemented with a distribution layer at appropriate speeds. The participating institutions can connect to the NKN at speeds of 1 Gbps or to the distribution layer through a last mile connectivity bandwidth.

The NKN will provide nation-wide ultra high-speed backbone/data-network highway. Various other networks in the country can take advantage of this ultra high-speed backbone, with national and international reach to create independent and closed user groups.

The NKN will have about 25 core Point of Presence (PoPs) and 600 secondary PoPs. It will connect around 1500 Institutions. The physical infrastructure (setting up of core network) is expected to be completed in a span of 24 months.

Major impact :

NKN will enable scientists, researches and students from diverse spheres across the country to work together for advancing human development in critical and emerging areas. NKN will catalyze knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer between stakeholders seamlessly – that too across the nation and globally. NKN is expected to encourage a larger section of research and educational institutions to create intellectual property. NKN would enable use of specialized applications, which allow sharing of high performance computing facilities, e-libraries, virtual classrooms and very large databases.

Health, Education, Grid Computing, Agriculture and e-Governance are the main applications identified for implementation and delivery on NKN. Applications such as Countrywide Classrooms will address the issue of faculty shortage and ensure quality education delivery across the country. The crux of the success of the Knowledge Network is related to the education related applications, databases and delivery of services to the users on demand.

Current status of Initial Phase:

In the initial phase a core Backbone consisting of 15 Points of Presence (PoPs) have been established with 2.5 Gbps capacity. Around 40 institutions of higher learning and advanced research have already been connected to the network and 6 virtual classrooms setup.

2010: 01/24
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
Leave a comment

CSIR ERP Finance & Accounts Module (including eFinance, eAccounts, ePayments, eReceipts, and eRecords Management & Automation of all processes)

Open publication – Free publishing – More finance

2009: 10/02
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
e payment
finance
1 comment

E-governance drive gets a babu beating

<!–

–>

Ashish Sinha
New Delhi, July 27, 2009

An ambitious government plan to revolutionise the trundling pen-pushing procedures of the Indian bureaucracy, by aligning it with an e-enabled computerfriendly regime, is facing opposition from within. The “Central Secretariat Manual of e-Office Procedure”, the first draft of which was circulated recently by the department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG), is aimed at bringing higher efficiency, transparency and accountability among government officials. However, computer- unfriendly Indian officials wary of e-enabled changes in the working environment are opposing the move citing concerns over privacy, legality and lack of computer training. The existing manual on office procedure lays down in great detail how a central government office should function, right from the point at which a file is created till a decision is taken at the highest echelons of the government. Now, in line with the government”s thrust on e-governance, the DARPG”s new “electronic” version of the draft manual incorporates changes in the system so that a “modern office environment” can be created. Steps have been taken to improve the core spirit of the previous manual by “incorporating procedures to support electronic environment and introducing transformational opportunities after due deliberation,” reads the objective of the draft, prepared by National Institute of Smart Government (NISG), Hyderabad, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The draft makes far- reaching proposals. It suggests that chatting on the Net between on an issue can be a time-saving way of arriving at a decision and should be recognised as a means of “official communication”. It also says that an exchange of SMSes between officers after sending a file from one office to another over the electronic system should be recognised as a way of acknowledging that the communication has been duly dispatched and received. But the seemingly radical move”though similar steps are already a commonplace in Indian businesses”involves computer literacy. The bureaucracy”s well-known resistance to change and “fear” of the digital world are key factors that are acting as roadblocks in the way of introducing the e-enabled system. Privately, senior government officials are candid about their reasons for resisting the new move. “I am not ready to look at a computer screen from 9 am to 5 pm every day. There are the issues of eyesight and legality. How do you sign a file? How do you incorporate changes? At present, several drafts are made and discarded. I do not understand how you can do that on a computer,” said a senior bureaucrat speaking on the condition of anonymity. A joint secretary in the government said, “I have gone through it (the “Central Secretariat Manual of e-Office Procedure”). It reads like a dream manual. Even if partially adopted, it will not only save time but bring about accountability, efficiency and transparency. But, to suddenly change the way we have been working is a huge challenge.” Another official said “the most difficult part” for the bureaucracy, which is comfortable with the paper filing system, is to learn computer and Internet usage. Aware that officials would oppose the draft manual of e-office procedure, the government has said it will do what it takes to support the changeover to e-governance. It is ready, for instance, to provide as many computers as an office needs. Under the rules, government departments are expected to spend 5 per cent of their budget on information technology, including the purchase of computers and allied systems. The e-manual draft document takes pains to address other concerns raised by the bureaucrats from the “old school”. It says how a file should be created and moved. The originating department should send the file in a digital format to another department. The receiving office should then create a “shadow e-file” at its end and this document would then be moved to different sections and officers for their opinions. Before the document is sent back to the originating department, only the final result of this process would be recorded on the e-file by the officer concerned. Assigning an e-number to the file so that it becomes an instantly retrievable record is the task of the “Dak” section. “The department will open subject-wise e-files each year in which such routine notes will be kept. The inter-departmental note recorded on the e-file of the originating department will bear the subject e-file number to facilitate storage and retrieval for future reference,” says the document. Since government departments already have a huge volume of existing physical records, the manual proposes that when a department switches over to the e-office system, the existing physical files will have to be scanned and digitised. It proposes that while all current/live files may be scanned and digitised, semi-current/nonlive files can be preserved only on a need basis. “All closed physical files which contain decisions of longer lasting value from the angle of running the department may also be scanned/ digitised. All important treaties/agreements etc may also be scanned digitised,” it says. Some of this language may be obscure for government officials and could make the move to the new modern system more difficult than it appears. To begin with, government officials are under no obligation to dump the existing filing system. Some government departments, however, had adopted egovernance earlier. These are departments that have a direct interface with the public–like issuing various types of licences, collecting taxes, issuing passports, public grievance registries, those responsible for land record management and ticketing systems. Yet, age-old habits of officials in most departments have acted to discourage the shift to an e-enabled environment. “I know some secretary-level officers whose personal assistants place printouts of emails on their tables every morning. To make the manual successful, it has to be made mandatory in a time-bound manner. Computers must not be used as stylish typewriters,” said a senior officer posted at Planning Commission. Courtesy: Mail Today
Print

2009: 09/08
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
1 comment

Faq’s on Digital Signature Certificate

What is a Digital Signature Certificate?

Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) are the digital equivalent (that is electronic format) of physical or paper certificates. Examples of physical certificates are drivers’ licenses, passports or membership cards. Certificates serve as proof of identity of an individual for a certain purpose; for example, a driver’s license identifies someone who can legally drive in a particular country. Likewise, a digital certificate can be presented electronically to prove your identity, to access information or services on the Internet or to sign certain documents digitally.

Why is Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) required?

Like physical documents are signed manually, electronic documents, for example e-forms are required to be signed digitally using a Digital Signature Certificate.

Who issues the Digital Signature Certificate?

A licensed Certifying Authority (CA) issues the digital signature. Certifying Authority (CA) means a person who has been granted a license to issue a digital signature certificate under Section 24 of the Indian IT-Act 2000.

What are the different types of Digital Signature Certificates valid for MCA21 program?

The different types of Digital Signature Certificates are: Class 2: Here, the identity of a person is verified against a trusted, pre-verified database.

Class 3: This is the highest level where the person needs to present himself or herself in front of a Registration Authority (RA) and prove his/ her identity.

What is the cost of obtaining a Digital Signature Certificate?

The cost of obtaining a digital signature certificate may vary as there are many entities issuing DSCs and their charges may differ.

How much time do CAs take to issue a DSC?

The time taken by CAs to issue a DSC may vary from three to seven days.

What is the validity period of a Digital Signature Certificate?

The Certifying Authorities are authorized to issue a Digital Signature Certificate with a validity of one or two years.

What is the legal status of a Digital Signature?

Digital Signatures are legally admissible in a Court of Law, as provided under the provisions of IT

2009: 08/30
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
e payment
Education
service condition
technology
Leave a comment

Battle for multi-billion dollar e-governance projects hots up

Leslie D’Monte in New Delhi

The battle over standards for the multi-billion dollar e-governance projects is once again hotting up.

IT majors like IBM, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat have shot letters to industry bodies — Nasscom (for software) and MAIT (for hardware) — and the department of information technology, protesting over the inclusion of clauses which allow for ‘multiple standards’ and ‘royalty on software’ versus a ‘single’ standard and ‘free’ software.

At the second meeting of the apex body on standards for e-governance held on June 17 this year, all the members approved Unicode 5.1.0 as a standard for e-governance applications for all 22 Indian languages (except Kashmiri).

They also approved the Open Type Font as a mandatory standard for e-governance applications.

With regard to metadata (name, age, sex, etc. for land records and the like) and data standards, too, there was a consensus.

However, it was on the draft policy on ‘Open Standards’ that the differences emerged. While Nasscom presented that ‘multiple’ standards should be allowed, secretary DIT, R Chandrasekhar, himself pointed out that ‘complete interoperability could possibly be achieved through single standard.’ However, he added that the ‘. . .possibility of ensuring the same through multiple standards can also be considered in consultation with Industry.’

Nasscom and MAIT were to get back with industry feedback on this subject by July 7-8 which they did.

But players like IBM and Sun are not happy. Insisting that they do not subscribe to Nasscom’s views on the subject, they have put on record that they were not consulted by the software body before it presented its view to the government.

“Sun Microsystems believes the Draft Policy on e-Governance Standards, ver 2.0 is an extremely well drafted policy evolved by the government and the policy will help save valuable tax payer’s money from being wasted and in creating sustainable e-governance assets…Specifically, we believe that adopting multiple standards in any way will greatly damage the critical e-governance infrastructure of the country and would also increase its vulnerability.

“We also believe that adopting standards that are not Royalty free will compromise the technological sovereignty of the nation….Sun Microsystems was not consulted by Nasscom before presenting its view on the Draft Policy on e-Governance standards,” stated Jaijit Bhattacharya, country director, Government Strategy (Asia South and India), Sun Microsystems India, in a letter addressed to Nasscom President Som Mittal.

Ashish Gautam, country leader (open standards), IBM India, confirmed the same and said: “We have written to the DIT, expressing our concern on these suggestions.”

Venkatesh Hariharan, corporate affairs director, Red Hat, too, asserted that his company was not consulted, adding: “…We do not support the recommendations of Nasscom…since standards should belong to humanity and not be controlled or owned by anyone.

“In the physical world, we do not pay for using standards like weights and measures. . .In order to protect India’s digital sovereignty, we must ensure that national data is stored in formats that are open and free of all encumbrances like royalties, patent claims etc. The government is the custodian of data that belongs to the citizens of India. It must therefore ensure that this data is not stored in formats that are owned and controlled by anyone.”

Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT, when contacted, said: “We are in the process of consulting our members, and will soon come up with a well thought-out stance.” The e-governance apex committee is expected to meet shortly.

The draft ‘Open Standards’ policy for e-governance has been in the works for the last two years and several public consultations have been held on this subject. The two recommendations — one of royalty under ‘reasonable and Non Discriminatory’ terms and multiple standards — if accepted, will lead to multiple, proprietary standards, argue these companies.

Egovernment data like land records, etc., these companies point out, remain relevant for hundreds of years. If this data is stored in proprietary formats, it will prove expensive for the country in the long-term, and unnecessarily end up gobbling tax payers’ money (if royalty has to be paid).

Incidentally, there has never been a more intense global industry debate over ‘open standards’. On the one hand is Microsoft’s Office Open XML file format backed by Apple, Novell, Wipro [Get Quote], Infosys [Get Quote], TCS [Get Quote], and Nasscom. On the other is the Open Document Format, supported by the likes of IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, Google, the Department of Information Technology, National Informatics Centre, CDAC, IIT-Mumbai and IIM-Ahmedabad.

India recently maintained its earlier stance of ‘No’ to the software major’s OOXML (which has been accepted by the International Organisation for Standardisation as an international standard).

ODF proponents oppose OOXML on the grounds that ‘multiple standards’ are not good, while Microsoft argues that OOXML — a recognised standard by ECMA International too — is a response to evolving technology formats in line with continual evolving technology systems.

The debate appears to be a proxy for product competition in the marketplace, argue opponents. It is significant, in part, because it will influence the future success of Microsoft Office — one of Microsoft’s largest and most profitable product families.

Governments are wary of holding digital data in proprietary formats, which could make them hostage to a software vendor.

States such as Delhi, Kerala and others from the North-East are heavy adopters of ODF file formats which are open and free (excluding maintenance and support).

Courtesy: Rediff

2009: 07/11
POSTED BY: Khanna Arvind
CATEGORY: e governance
technology
Leave a comment

>Battle for multi-billion dollar e-governance projects hots up

>Leslie D’Monte in New Delhi