E-Governance: State IT department bags award

The IT Department of Kerala has been chosen for eIndia Special Mention Award in the ‘ICT for D Pioneer State’ category, for effective implementation of e-governance.

 The award recognises the application of information and communications technology to government functioning in order to create smart governance.

Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Minister for IT and Communication, Andhra Pradesh, presented the award to P H Kurian, Principal Secretary, IT Department during the eIndia summit held in Hyderabad.

 Addressing a seminar on the topic ‘e-governance in India: the Road Ahead,’ at the summit, Kurian said that e-governance in Kerala had advanced a long way, from computerisation of government departments to initiatives that encapsulate the finer points of governance. They include citizen centricity, service orientation and transparency.

 He also highlighted how e-governance can reform society in a better way. The changes produced by ICTs on the governance processes in Kerala, including its regulatory and legal frameworks, have helped in achieving the targets set by the Union Government in several fronts of e- governance.

 Increased use of ICTs in the organisational and administrative procedures and roles of various stakeholders involved have made consequential effects in the decision-making process in governance, public management and service delivery in the State.

 G Unnikrishnan, head, e-Governance, Kerala State IT Mission delivered a lecture on ‘Aadhaar based service delivery.’

Kerala has performed outstandingly in the recent past in many areas of e-governance, including in the e-district programme, citizen call centre and implementing e-tendering.