The area which forms part of present Haryana is reputed to have been the cradle of the ancient Vedic Civilization. Though it became a state of India on 1st November, 1966, its history is inextricably linked with Lord Krishna who expounded Karma and Dharma through his world-famous “The Bhagavadgita”.

Bordered by the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Haryana has a population of 2,10,83,000 and an area of 44,212 sq. km. Since its coming into existence, the state has set a benchmark for prosperity for other states in the country.

Governance and transparency in government policies and processes are the main objectives within the e-governance initiatives in Haryana. The e-governance initiative of the Government of Haryana aims at ensuring transparency at all levels of government.

The Government of Haryana has recognized the huge potential of IT and decided to embark upon an ambitious journey to herald the benefits of IT to the people of the state.

The state has realized this huge potential and, as a result, is on its way to emerging as a premier cyber state in the country with its citizens qualifying to be e-citizens. The state of Haryana defines e-governance as “a technology-driven methodology leading to transparency, improved productivity, and an exciting business opportunity”.

“Having achieved Green and White Revolutions, our vision is now to usher an IT Revolution to transform the economy of the State by giving impetus to all areas of development. We intend to make this tiny State as one of the most prosperous states in the country with IT-driven economy, e-Governance, extensive percolation of IT literacy and massive IT-related employment opportunities. IT would improve the quality of life of the people, besides upgrading the standard of administration, especially in social and public services,” says Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of Haryana.

Quite obviously, therefore, the objective of achieving Electronic Governance (EG) goes far beyond mere computerization of standalone back-office operations. It means to fundamentally change as to how the Government operates and this implies a new set of responsibilities for the executive, legislature and the citizenry. The effort should aim to bring about a social catharsis, which needs to be orchestrated in a comprehensive, concerted and planned fashion.

IT Policy of the Government of Haryana

The State shall undertake intensive re-engineering and administrative reforms, redefining its role, and recasting the structure and functioning of its administrative departments to facilitate adaptation to IT. This exercise shall be carried out by removal of redundancies, resource optimization and rationalization of rules and procedures to bring about transparency in the working and enhancing efficiency and productivity.

IT application in transaction automation and creation of information databanks will be mandatory for all Departments, Boards and Corporations to achieve accountability and efficiency in administration.

As a part of administrative re-engineering, integration of projects across various departments to provide a single point of contact to citizens for electronic delivery of services would be put in place.

E-Governance in Haryana Secretariat

With the fast pace of technological changes taking place, it is becoming important for government to review existing structure of secretariat, hierarchies, policies and procedures. The Government of Haryana has stressed the need for changing the entire paradigm of the secretariat in the “Information Age”. Consequently, there is a need for a large-scale retooling and restructuring in the secretariat. Digital government will entail flatter organizational hierarchies and more personalized delivery of citizens’ services.

The “Electronic Governance” in the Secretariat of Haryana aims at IT-driven system of governance that works better, costs less and is capable of servicing the decision-making machinery and citizens’ needs as never before. An urgent need was felt to have a central mechanism [like Secretariat for Information Technology (SIT)], so that electronic feedback system is operationalized. The use of IT by the government would be made imperative to the extent possible in a phased but time-bound manner. For this, the central mechanism would endeavour:

* to use Information Technology in the process of governance and improve its response to its citizens

* to have connectivity between all its offices so that communication can flow through E-mail to enhance productivity.

* to computerize the process of governance, so that the citizens could file the documents required by the Government, electronically.

* to put in place a training programme to enable government employees to use Information Technology to enhance productivity.

E-Governance Objectives for Secretariat include identifying functional areas in secretariat branches, identifying the appropriate hardware platforms and software application packages for cost-effective functioning of secretariat branches, making this knowledge repository widely available through appropriate Demo- Mechanisms, offering a basket of these models to other branches and departments/organizations and amendment in the State laws through study and consultation.

Management of Change related Issues

* E-governance in the secretariat would lead to mandatory organizational and institutional changes affecting both people and methods at all interfaces of the decision-making Chain.

* For this, acceptance of these Changed Processes would have to be properly understood, accepted, internalized, adopted and improved to enable full advantages of the technology being adopted in the first part of Smart Governance in Haryana Civil Secretariat.

* De-layering of the decision-making levels leading to re-engineering and appropriate delegation in the decision-making process.

* Training and acclimatization of the personnel at all levels – more so at the lower rung of the secretariat.

Towards this end, while the EG initiative in the Haryana Civil Secretariat aims at tapping existing resources and expertise of the NIC Haryana State Unit and to develop courseware and methodologies to suitably catalyze the factors leading to easier adoption and adaptation of change. It would develop methodologies to ease this process of change so that the adoption is more system friendly. This is expected to enable experience sharing and learning on a common platform and which is a fundamental requirement for enabling implementation of Smart Governance objective in the secretariat.

Constitution of Committees

Under the IT Policy, four committees have been set up for giving impetus to E-Governance projects. These committees include State Level Steering Committee, IT-PRISM (Planning, Re-engineering, Implementation, Steering, Monitoring) headed by CS, State Technical Committee headed by IT Secretary, Facilitation Committee headed by PSCM, High Powered Committee, headed by the CM to consider special package of incentives/concessions for prestigious projects with an investment of Rs. 30 crore and above.

Society for IT Initiative Fund for e-Governance

* An IT Initiative Fund of Rs.10 crore established for e-Governance

* Governing Body of the Society headed by PSCM

* Executive Committee of the Society headed by IT Secretary

Primary Objectives of the Society

* Upgrading the standard and quality of administration through modernization and rationalization

* Providing public centred efficient and cost-effective governance

* Extensive percolation of IT literacy and education in the State

* Promoting investment in the IT industry

* Increasing share of IT in State Gross Domestic Product

* Generating related employment opportunities

* Enhancing earning capacity of the citizens, thereby ensuring a better quality of life

* Encouraging private sector initiative in IT-related infrastructure and services

Establishment of Secretariat for Information Technology [SIT]

The Secretariat for Information Technology has been established. The organizational structure of the Secretariat for IT includes Secretariat Branch of IT Department, Directorate of IT Haryana and Centre for E-Governance. The E-Governance Centre has been established in the Secretariat for Information Technology [SIT] at 9th Floor Haryana Civil Secretariat. The Centre has the following facilities, including Servers Room & LAN at SIT , Application/Data Centre, Web Studio-cum-GIS Lab, Two numbers of IT Training Labs/Learning Centre, Executive Briefing Centre/Lecture-cum-Conference Hall, Technology Showcase, Multimedia, presentations, Documents processing and regeneration Lab, Digital Library and Video Conferencing room: with two VC cabins.

The existing NIC Centre has been integrated with the Secretariat for Information Technology (SIT) to function as Network Control and Management Centre for Information Technology Secretariat, Network Control and Management Centre for Haryana Civil Secretariat, Application development and Management Centre, Data Management Centre.

The branches of FD have been taken up to be fully computerized on a pilot basis to demonstrate various components of e-governance model for a typical secretariat branch. Necessary plan for furniture, equipment, filing system, etc. has been prepared. These shall be developed into model branches and this model shall be replicated in other branches. The hardware for FD branches has been procured and is under installation.

The Secretariat for IT has started an IT newsletter with a view to disseminating information. It covers technological developments taking place in IT, projects being taken up in different departments of Haryana, important web sites index, other relevant information, etc.

The standard guidelines for re-engineering and IT Plan preparation have been prepared and approved by IT-PRISM. A panel of agencies to outsource IT plan preparation has been prepared and circulated to all departments. The IT plans of about 30 departments/agencies have been prepared with the help of NIC, Hartron and empanelled agencies. Most of these have been approved by IT-PRISM. The execution of IT plans has also started in some of these departments.

The administrative secretaries have been provided with one P-III machine in their office room and One P-III machine and a printer to their personal staff. Deputy Secretary and Joint Secretary level officers have been given one P-III machine and a printer, which will be shared by their P.As. also.

The Ministers have been provided one P-III machine and their staff have been provided with one P-III machine along with one printer.

Secretariat Intranet

A local Area Network has been established in Haryana Civil & New Secretariat. It has been decided to provide LAN cabling in each room in both the secretariats. Cabling plan for Haryana New Secretariat and Haryana Civil Secretariat has been prepared to cover each room. The estimates have been prepared and the cabling work has been assigned to Hartron to execute on a priority basis.

There are four servers in e-governance centre, in addition to existing 07 servers of NIC. There are above 300 client computers working in the Civil Secretariat. Most of these are connected to the servers and Internet, e-mail gateways over the LAN. A similar type of network is functioning in Haryana New Secretariat Building and both the buildings are linked through a wireless Radio Frequency link. There will be more than 1,000 nodes functioning on this Intranet in the near future. NIC is responsible for the coordination and management of this Intranet and related activities. Entry-level support manpower is being deployed to perform functions like Operation of Computers and other Computer Infrastructure (computers, UPS, projectors, air-conditioners, electrical fixtures, etc.) and troubleshooting of problems related to the above, technical support to users (both in terms of hardware and software operations), Hardware & Technical activities Coordination.

As highlighted in the IT Policy – 2000, proof-of-concept applications (replicable and reusable software models) are to be developed at the E-Governance Centre, and MIS applications for Hon’ble Chief Minister, Administrative Secretaries and DCs will be developed. A Central Data Repository (CDR) will be maintained, the input to which shall be provided from departmental Data Warehouses/Data Marts. The Digital Information System [DIS] will be implemented by digitizing the identified information so as to weed out the historical records. The NIC have been working on Application software design, development and implementation for various branches of Haryana Civil Secretariat, Hon’ble Chief Minister’s Office and Finance Department. The flagship applications are enclosed.

In addition, workflow applications like Centralized File Tracking and Movement Information System have been developed and tested successfully over LAN in Haryana Civil Secretariats. The Application/Data Centre has been established in the E-Governance Centre to achieve the total e-governance in the Secretariat in a scheduled time. This centre will also focus on providing a Central Data Repository and shall cater to the Data Warehousing and Data Mining requirements of the State. To implement such a large programme successfully, the NIC application development team is being strengthened by providing support-coding manpower from e-governance fund by the Secretariat for Information Technology.

Web Site Services

It is very essential to have a single Official Portal for the entire State of Haryana, to act as a single repository for the services offered by the State of Haryana. Through this portal, the state has offered all informative, transactional, interactive and collaborative services to the people and business.

The Haryana Online Portal is the most significant venture towards excellence in the field of information technology. The portal contains features that enable all the departments of the State Government to transact and communicate with definite technology.

The Web Site Policy of the Haryana Government was prepared, approved by IT-PRISM, printed and released to all HODs, Boards, Corporations and DCs.

The official portal of Haryana Government “http://haryana.nic.in” is being updated on a daily basis. This is a window to all web sites of Haryana State. The site provides general information on Haryana and link to all related web sites. It also provide information on various policies of Haryana Government, press releases, tender notices, jobs availability, Admission Notices, various results, State Budget, service rules, special achievements of government, and special functions.

Web sites of 16 districts of Haryana, and around 15 departments, boards & corporations have been developed and hosted on the NIC’s official web server.

An independent e-mail server with DNS “http://hry.nic.in” has been established to provide e-mail services in the Haryana Civil Secretariat. E-mail accounts have been created for all IAS, IPS, IFS, HCS officers, MLAs, departments, boards and corporations, DCs, SPs, DIOs and other officers. These accounts have been compiled in the form of an e-mail directory. A full-fledged user manual on E-mail prepared and integrated in the e-mail directory. The Government has declared the e-mail addresses on this server as official e-mail accounts. This server is being maintained on a 24-hour basis.

GIS Services

The Geographical Information System of Haryana (GISH) is an online web- enabled application released by the Chief Secretary of Haryana on Internet on September 17, 2001. The users can make online queries on administrative framework of Haryana (state boundaries, district boundaries, block boundaries, village boundaries), infrastructure (road network, rail network), rivers, dynamic roadmap of Haryana that shows road distances between two cities just on a single click. A database on tourism that can be queried for various tourist facilities and a click on that particular tourist site will display details of distances, accommodation, facilities, expenditure, etc. User can query a particular district for village-wise socio-economic aspects like literacy, population, workers, voters, etc.

The map of Haryana with block and district boundaries, district and block names has been digitized. The population data has been integrated on the State map.

The maps of all districts of Haryana with village and block boundaries have been digitized. The village infrastructure data of Hisar district has been successfully integrated on the map of Hisar district. These base maps will be utilized for providing GIS-based services. The GIS will be used in integrating, analyzing and visualizing different types of data for spatial planning, environmental protection, utility management, traffic regulation, etc. The spatial database for Haryana State has been developed by NIC-HSU with the help of GIS division at NIC-HQ.

IT Awareness Training

The IT awareness training of Secretariat staff was started in the month of June 2000 at the NIC IT Centres in Haryana Civil and New Secretariats utilizing the existing infrastructure. The curriculum was prepared, approved by the Secretariat for Information Technology [SIT] and around 2,500 copies of the training material were printed. The curriculum for the IT awareness training of

Ministers/MLAs was also worked out and three training books in Hindi were prepared and printed.

To Organize Training Programme successfully, Two IT Training Labs (each of 20 training machines) and one lecture/conference hall with a capacity of 50 persons, at a time, has been established at the E-Governance Centre. The support manpower for lectures and hands-on has been provided to strengthen the efforts of NIC from the e-governance fund.

Under 100% IT Literacy Programme (ITLP) in the Secretariat, SIT/NIC has trained around 3,000 officials since June 2000. A special two-month training for MLAs was conducted. Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana inaugurated the MLAs Training Programme. The training also included around 200 officials of CID. The IT awareness training is also being provided to district officials. Four training labs have been planned to be established at divisional HQs shortly for the benefit of the field staff.

This centre has been established to brief the executives of the State Government as well as visitors from other States on trends, directions, technological plans and technology updates with their relevance in the real-life situation. In addition, the centre will assist executives to frame, review and discuss strategies and plans in regard to e-governance in their sphere of operations in order to achieve competitive advantage.

This centre has been equipped with state-of-the-art multimedia presentation –technologies like high quality Large Screen Projection System, Digital Video Disk player, Public Announcement System, Multimedia computer systems, etc.

This centre has been established to focus on the cutting-edge technologies in the field of e-governance by showcasing and demonstrating them running on their respective development platforms. This technology showcase shall cover the showcasing of solutions developed by organizations like NIC, Microsoft, IBM and other state governments to give a feel about the benefits and operational requirements of the software solutions.

The centre will have facilities to develop multimedia presentations and requisite equipment to demonstrate the presentations and showcase products.

This Centre has the latest books, journals and periodicals on hot topics of IT. A bank of compact Disks on System Software, Training, encyclopaedias, replicable and reusable application software module, proof-of-concept applications, etc. being established in this Centre. The continuous downloading facility, on the latest knowledge base and trends, from Internet is also being established for the benefit of users.

This Centre will also be equipped with Desk Top Publishing tools to facilitate the government in generating quality magazines, brochures and other print materials.

The Centre will also have equipment for Documents Processing and regeneration such as scanners and colour printers.

The Video Conferencing Studio has been established to facilitate Video Conferencing with DCs, other State Governments, Central Ministries/Departments and other countries. A facility for multi-point VC has been established in the committee room of the Chief Secretary. The VC facility has also been established at Kurukshetra, Gurgaon, Hisar, Haryana Bhawan and Rohtak. The VC facility helps in organizing meetings with distant functionaries from the Secretariat itself. This will help in reducing the cost on travel and time and will also help in reviewing the implementation of various schemes with field functionaries.