Hyderabad|India|November'2010: The Chief Minister said e-Governance will be taken to doorstep of the people in the State and will be used to deliver every government service so that it will reach real targeted beneficiaries with utmost transparency and accountability. Dr. Rosaiah said the Citadel of State Administration, the Secretariat, will be connected online up to Mandal level offices from January to make most of the administrative work speedily. This will not only ensure transparency, accountability and responsibility but also quick disposal of files and other related works. The A.P. Secretariat Wide Area Networking (APSWAN) Project is being completed and Andhra Pradesh will be the first State in achieving this networking in the country. This will help videoconferencing from Secretariat up to Mandal offices by any officer or department.

The Chief Minister will inaugurate the e-governance leadership meet meant for senior officers and bureaucrats being organised by the National Institute of Smart Governance at Secretariat on Tuesday, 16th of this month. He had a brief meeting in this regard with Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Principal Secretary, IT, Ms. Ratna Prabha today. It may be recalled here that a programme on the same lines for political leaders was held on 10th last at Hyderabad. The Chief Minister said the State is far ahead in e-Governance initiatives and going in a big way in implementing in all sectors & 2-tier and 3-tier cities, towns and Mandals.

Officials said, Andhra Pradesh is pioneer in e-Governance initiatives in India. Several land mark projects like e-Seva, e-Procurement are among the e-Governance projects that set an example of Citizen Centric Services Delivery and transparency in procurement system and these were replicated in other States.

The e-Governance Leadership Meet is being organized to sensitise the Secretariat officers and staff to leverage their support and commitment in taking e-Governance projects for improving the Government Citizen Services Delivery. This Programme will also enable the participants to understand about State specific e-Governance initiatives, challenges and the possible strategy to move forward for meeting the needs of citizens. The e-Governance Leadership Meet will focus on conceptional understanding of NeGP; sharing of experience by leader e-Governance practitioner and panel discussion to deliberate road ahead for implementation of interacted delivery of Government services to citizens. There will also be a session a hands-on familiarization programme on use of laptops for the officers and staff.

Officials apprised the Chief Minister that Andhra Pradesh has witnessed high growth in IT sector in the past one decade, due to the proactive initiatives taken by the Government in terms of creation of state-of-the-art physical infrastructure, provision of basic amenities such as roads, water, sewerage and power to the doorsteps of IT Layouts, availability of large English speaking and technical talent pool, lower cost of operation & innovative e-Governance programmes.

The Chief Minister said all the Tuition Fee Reimbursements and Post Matric Scholarships etc. in the State would be made online from this year without giving any scope for misuse or frauds. After the introduction of e-governance, delivery mechanism has vastly improved, transparency and accountability has been ensured. He said the introduction of online system in the MGNREGS with social audit made it very popular in Andhra Pradesh and has been hailed as role model in the country by Central leaders and other experts.

The Chief Minister said even in the Transport and Civil Supplies Department, e-governance initiatives were a big success and all services are done through online. Appreciating the efforts of the IT&C department, the Chief Minister said that e-governance initiates launched in the State became very popular. He said the technology can serve a variety of improved and better delivery of Government services, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, informed decision making while taking the policy-related decisions. He said even the payment of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Aarogyasri are now being done online.

ICT infrastructure is created through National e-Governance Plan to address the transformational needs of the Government to Citizens (G2C), Government to Business (G2B) and Government to Government (G2G) interfaces. Government of Andhra Pradesh is committed to build a citizen-centric, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, in a seamless manner, to achieve full potential in promoting sustainable development thereby improving the quality of life.

National eGovernance (NeGP) is one of the largest e-Governance initiatives in the world spanning across the Central, State and local Governments, with the objective of enabling transparent and accountable Good Governance. The vision of NeGP is to "Make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man".

-Nov'2010