“We are leaders in e-governance. You will be surprised to know that every month, around 5,00,000 people get delivery of over 100 services in a time-bound manner from Setu Centres. The presence of international players such as WNS, ICICI, Wipro, Morgan Stanley, e-Serve, Mphasis, Exult, EXL and Hutchison, among a host of others in Mumbai and Pune proves clearly that these cities are best investment destinations in India. The State Government is working towards making these cities internationally competitive. Besides Mumbai and Pune, we are also developing Nagpur, Aurangabad and Nasik as IT-ITeS hubs.
The entire State is wired with state-of-the-art broadband networks. Mumbai and Pune have prominent Internet and Telecom Service Providers operating in the State. The State’s optical fiber and sub-marine cable connectivity add to its competitive edge.
The Government’s policy too is aligned with the needs of the IT-ITeS sectors. The State announced the new IT and ITeS Policy–2003, which lists various incentives available to IT and ITeS units. These incentives will include cheap electricity tariffs, stamp duty exemptions to IT units, refund of octroi, capital subsidy to special provisions pertaining to working hours of women workers and granting of additional FSI for units in the public IT parks. IT units are permitted throughout the State to have captive power generation facilities. The State Government has taken various proactive measures to ensure that it provides an investment-friendly regulatory climate.
Maharashtra’s abundant pool of qualified IT-ITeS manpower is the result of its focus on education at the school and college levels. The State ranked second, with literacy levels of 77.3 per cent, which was much higher than the national average of 65.4 per cent. The State’s engineering and IT institutions produce over 1,69,000 trained IT personnel every year. Over 1,69,000 college/university students graduate every year from Mumbai alone. Pune, the other big business centre in the State, has over 1,00,000 graduates getting ready for the job market annually.
We have already set up Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Mission to help bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots. This is an area where the industry leaders can help us to set up many e-centres in rural area, training centres for rural youth and creating software which can cater to the needs of these people. Excerpts from the speech of Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh, Maharashtra, at NASSCOM – 2006 “India Leadership Forum”
Information technology is slowly metamorphosing the social, economical and political life of citizens in India. In order to change the lives of people at the grassroots level, the Central and State Governments are very eager to establish the infrastructure based on Information Technology. Today, various State Governments have taken major initiatives to disseminate education through building a modern, computerized society with the help of Information Technology so that a knowledge-based society and economy can be established.
One among many such states is the state of Maharashtra which has always played a leadership role in the national economic and social renaissance. It has looked at advances in science and technology as great opportunities for bringing about economic transformation and social change. Today, the Maharashtra Government has responded very positively for implementing information technology and thus it has become a leading State in Information Technology. The state machinery of Maharashtra has always believed that access to computers, connectivity to Internet and availability of computer-based knowledge have the potential of transforming the already-strong industrial base and vibrant agriculture of the State into a modern and knowledge-based economic powerhouse.
With its strong HRD and infrastructure, Maharashtra is well poised to take full advantage of the Information Technology revolution sweeping the globe. The Centre for the Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), which developed India’s Supercomputer, is located at Pune in Maharashtra. The State also boasts of the largest number of software companies and accounts for the biggest portion of India’s software exports. It is Maharashtra Government’s commitment to strengthen the State’s leading position and to make its Information Technology industry globally competitive. To give its efforts a proper thrust, the Government of Maharashtra has taken a number of policy initiatives in the areas of HRD, infrastructure, incentives to the Information Technology industry and computerization of Citizen-Government interface.
Strategy for E-Governance Projects
In order to realize the desired objective, the Sate Government has always endeavoured to follow the philosophy of anytime, anyhow, anywhere connectivity through developing a world-class Information Technology infrastructure. The Government of Maharashtra is well acquainted that without putting in place an appropriate institutional mechanism and computerizing the Citizen-Government interface, the objective of establishing a SMART (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsible and Transparent) government cannot be achieved. To meet the desired objective, the Government has planned that in the next five years, computer labs costing Rs.15 lakh each will be set up in 637 government, semi-government secondary and higher secondary schools and, wherever possible, Internet connections will be provided.
The Government will also provide aid to secondary and higher secondary schools and they will be encouraged to set up computer labs through private participation. Apart from that, degree and diploma engineering colleges will be encouraged to increase their intake for IT courses. The Government has also planned to impart education and empower the citizens by inviting nationally or internationally reputed institutions to set up a software university. The Government of Maharashtra also aims to make Maharashtra the most-favoured destination for investments in the IT and ITeS industry. This is intended to be achieved by directing the State to extend support for opening up large-scale opportunities of employment and self-employment, facilitating growth of skilled and globally employable manpower, unprecedented spurt in exports, creating hassle-free and industry-friendly, 24X7X365 working environment, associating urban local governments and providing a legal framework for data protection and consumer privacy.
In order to harvest the benefits of growth of IT and ITeS industry in urban areas, the Maharashtra Government has decided to associate the Urban Local Bodies as partners with its efforts to support IT and ITeS units. To attract and promote the IT and ITeS units in Mumbai and other urban areas, the Government has issued directions to all Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils to levy property tax on all establishments, properties, buildings, premises of IT and ITeS units at par with residential areas in their respective municipal limits.
Infrastructure
The State Government of Maharashtra is quite aware that without creating a world-class IT infrastructure, the long-cherished dream of empowerment of citizens through e-governance cannot be achieved. For this purpose, the Government of Maharashtra has decided that the Internet facility will be made available to the government departments and institutions such as PWD, Irrigation Department, MSEB, Municipal Corporations, Zilla Parishads, etc. Besides that, public tele-info centres will be given government land on lease for at least ten years on the terms and conditions appl
icable to educational institutions. For first-generation entrepreneurs, plug-and-play incubation centres will be set up at Navi Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur. IT-enabled services like the call centres will be given land by MIDC and CIDCO on normal terms. A hardware park will be established on 400 hectares of land at Draonagiri node in Navi Mumbai.
Since faster growth of IT and ITeS units can take place in urban areas, the Government has decided to provide incentives to promote the setting up of public IT parks by government infrastructure agencies and private IT parks by private investors and developers in the State. These parks will have excellent infrastructural facilities for 24X7X365 working environment. For easy access and rapid movement of goods and persons in the IT Parks, the state machinery has decided that these parks will be connected to the main highways through high quality road network. To supplement investments by the State Government and Urban Local Bodies, developers of private IT parks will be permitted to invest funds for establishing such high quality road connectivity from the highways. Such roads will be transferred to the developers by the Urban Local Bodies and recovery of the investments of the developers would be adjusted against the property tax payable to the Local Bodies in future. The State Government will also issue necessary directions to the Urban Local Bodies for this purpose. For reliable and quality power supply round the clock, private IT Parks and public IT parks will also be given freedom of unlimited backup power, permission for captive power generation and status as “Independent Power Producers”.
In order to create a digital library in the State, the Government has decided to set up a dedicated centre as part of the University of Pune. A fund of knowledge will be made available to the people of the State in English and Marathi, or in electronic form – CD ROMs, Internet, etc.
Initiatives
The Government of Maharashtra has been supporting development of industry and business through a series of far-reaching policy initiatives. The Information Technology industry has been an important thrust area and has been receiving government support. During the last five years, the Government has focussed on HRD, IT-related infrastructure, fiscal incentives to IT units, IT in Governance and Institutional Framework for the IT sector. These initiatives have enabled the IT industry in the State to establish an initial lead and a firm foundation for a quantum leap has been laid. In order to deliver better connectivity, the whole State has been connected through an Optical Fibre Cable Network and a statewide network of competent training institutions has been established for building a pool of world-class IT professionals for providing strength and support to the IT industry in the State.
For ensuring ready availability of skilled and competent manpower for the IT and ITeS industry, which would be employable all over the world, the Government has facilitated the development of such a pool of manpower.
The State Government has taken major initiatives to impart training in the English language skills to the youth in the State. Private training institutes, and IT and ITeS companies has been offered infrastructural facilities in the schools of the Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Zilla Parishads on a lease basis, during non-working hours of schools, for conducting training in IT, ITeS related skills as well as English language skills. The State Government has endeavoured to provide industry-friendly and supportive working environment for the IT and ITeS units in the State. To enable IT and ITeS units to work efficiently on 24X7X365 basis, provisions under the Shops and Establishments Act have been relaxed for working hours, work shifts and employment of women.
In the end…
Currently, the Government of Maharashtra is working on various facets of e-Governance, with the main objective of bringing Government close to its citizens and making it more transparent and approachable. By converging IT with governance, through various e-governance initiatives, the State Government is able to reach out to the right person at the right time, in the right form and at the right place. Thus, through its various IT policies, the Government of Maharashtra has been able to satisfy the various information needs of the society and help it to seek, transact and transform itself into an information society.
