Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced that over 18,000 Gram Panchayats across Gujarat have installed Adobe Acrobat for the electronic issue of vital citizen certificates and other official documents under the E-Gram project. This project is collaboration between Adobe and the Panchayat Rural Housing and Rural Development Department, Government of Gujarat.
After a review process by the Gujarat Government, Adobe’s Acrobat software was selected for the E-Gram project, and deployed across more than 18,000 CSCs, making this the largest Acrobat implementation in India to date. Adobe has also provided training (live sessions and video-on-demand) for most of the Village Computer Entrepreneurs to transition from the old, paper-based system to the digital era ushered in by the project.
The initiative of the Gujarat Government aims to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural Gujarat by providing citizens access to digital information for all government documentation. At the grassroots level, the process has removed the waiting period for various certificates, documents and application forms to be issued from a few days or weeks to just a matter of few minutes.
Umang Bedi, Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe said, “Adobe has worked with governments and communities around the world to address citizens’ needs for more accessible, responsive communications. We believe the delivery of high-quality services to rural areas can help India produce more inclusive and balanced growth. This initiative is a strong statement of our vision towards achieving that reality.”
At E-Gram project, a digitalized databank operates to issue citizen certificates at the village level. To leverage IT resources at the village level, E-Grams are being operated through a Village Computer Entrepreneur (VCE) on a revenue-sharing basis under a Public Private Partnership model.
