DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 28 (DIPR): Nagaland State has been awarded the CSI- Nihilent e-Governance Award by the Computer Society of India (CSI) for the year 2015-16 for outstanding performance in e-Governance.
This was informed by Commissioner & Secretary, IT & C, K.D Vizo during a brief facilitation programme at the Chief Ministers Office at the Nagaland Civil Secretariat, Kohima on February 28. The Commissioner & Secretary, while addressing the programme stated that the CSI award is given every year to outstanding performance in e- Governance, based on two broad categories, the state category and the project category.
The Project Category is normally given for innovations and the State Category is given every year for the overall performance of the State in the field of IT and e-Governance. He mentioned that in the State Category, the award was given to the State of Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh in the year 2014-15. For the year 2015-16, the Computer Society of India (CSI)-Nihilent had given the award to 4(four) States (Rajasthan, Telangana, Odisha and Nagaland).
The State of Nagaland was duly recognized as a top performing State from among the North Eastern States in the field of IT and e-Governance sector and this award of recognition for North Eastern Region was given for the first time.
Citing reasons for getting the award, the Commissioner & Secretary further explained that Nagaland was the first in India to take over State Portal and State Services Delivery Gateway (SP&SSDG) core infrastructure project; the only State in India where the State IT Department is running the State Data Centre without engaging private Data Centre Operator (DCO); the only State in India where the State is acting as Service Centre Agency (SCA) without engaging private companies for running Common Service Centre (CSC) and the state is ranked in Number No. 1 category in India in the e-District Mission Mode Project along with Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
He also stated that Nagaland is the first State in North Eastern Region to implement Aadhar based Biometric Attendance System in Nagaland Civil Secretariat. He also mentioned that the award given by the Computer Society of India is the highest award in the county by an NGO.
Nagaland State Chief Minister, Dr. Shürhozelie Lezietsu while congratulating the Ministers, Commissioner & Secretary, Office and Staff of the IT Department said that much progress has been made in a very short span of time and the department has brought laurels to the state while also attracting foreign companies.
Dr. Shürhozelie also stated that the young generation of the State will have no problem with the advancement of technology and expressed his hope to see Nagaland emerging as one of the best states in the field of Information & Technology. The Chief Minister also assured his support towards the development of the department.
While highlighting his earlier experience of interacting with foreign experts brought by the Department of IT&C from Estonia, he mentioned that today in other parts of the world, many things can be done online by sitting at home, he opined that special effort should be given for promotion of IT and e-Governance sector. He went on to say that through proper use of Information Technology, the State of Nagaland can be a model for other States to follow and from now onwards the State Government will be giving more importance for promotion of IT and e-Governance sector in the State.
Minister, IT&C, P Paiwang Konyak mentioned that the Department of IT&C had achieved this prestigious award through hard work and with acute manpower. He further mentioned that the department is proposing for implementation of e-Procurement and Tendering System in the state of Nagaland to bring about transparency in procurement and tendering system. He also mentioned that it is high time that the state should concentrate on revenue collection and the Department of IT&C can be of help in improving revenue collection for important departments like Power.
Chief Secretary Nagaland, Pankaj Kumar, IAS stated that the Department has been achieving very significant milestones for the state. He stated that Nagaland is not ranked too well in the “Ease of Doing Business” in the country, however the state IT Department has created a portal for the Industries & Commerce Department and expects the states ranking to improve. The Chief Secretary also commented that Nagaland is the first State in the North East to be presented with the award.
Out of seven States (Gujarat, Nagaland, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Kerala, Pondicherry and Uttarakhand) which have taken up the National Information Infrastructure (NII) pilot project, Nagaland was the first state in the country to commission the pilot project for National Information Infrastructure (NII) on January 6, 2017 by the Chief Minister in presence of Joint Secretary, MeitY, Government of India.
Nagaland also has the largest BPO (Call Centre) in the North Eastern Region with 400 seats and the first phase was commissioned on January 27, 2017. These are some of the major achievement of the state after getting the award.
The Computer Society of India is the first and largest body of computer professionals in India. It was started on March 6, 1965 by a few computer professionals and has now grown to be the national body representing computer professionals. It has 72 chapters across India, 511 student branches, and about 100,000 members. The society conducts periodic conferences, seminars and it meets frequently to exchange views, learn and share ideas.
Nagaland receives CSI Award for being:
• First in India to take over State Portal and State Services Delivery Gateway (SP&SSDG) core infrastructure project.
• The only State in India where the State IT Department is running the State Data Centre without engaging private Data Centre Operator (DCO).
• The only State in India where the State is acting as Service Centre Agency (SCA) without engaging private companies for running Common Service Centre (CSC).
• Ranked Number No. 1 category in India in the e-District Mission Mode Project along with Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
• First state in NE to implement Aadhar based Biometric Attendance System in Nagaland Civil Secretariat.
