4 Aug, 2010 2305hrs IST TNN
CHENNAI: Rallying behind suspended IAS officer C Umashankar, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday alleged that the dalit officer was being victimised by the DMK government in Tamil Nadu for “exposing and questioning the atrocities” of chief minister M Karunanidhi’s family.

Reacting to the suspension of the 1990 batch IAS officer on the charge that he had entered the civil services using a bogus community certificate, she said it was the responsibility of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to vet the antecedents of every recruit and verify all their certificates. “When this is so, the Karunanidhi government suddenly claiming that Umashankar had entered the service using a forged community certificate gives room for speculation on the reasons behind this,” she said in a statement.

Jayalalithaa said Umashankar was appointed as managing director of Arasu Cable Corporation (ACC), which was launched in 2007 following a rift in Karunanidhi’s family. More than Rs 400 crore was invested in ACC for sophisticated electronic receivers and fibre-optic cable networking. However, once there was a reconciliation between Karunanidhi’s close family members and his grand-nephews, the Maran brothers, he was shunted out of ACC, she charged.

Earlier, in 2006, when Umashankar was MD of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), it floated a joint venture company with New Era Technologies Ltd called ELNET, she said and added that ELNET, in turn, launched a subsidiary company called ETL Infrastructure Ltd. “This company purchased 25 acres of land at Pallikaranai near Chennai and constructed an IT park of 17 lakh square feet. It also got IT special economic zone status from the Centre by projecting itself as a subsidiary of the state-owned ELCOT. But later, ETL became a wholly privately-owned company,” the AIADMK chief said. She alleged that the officer was shunted out from ELCOT after he raised questions about the disappearance of it subsidiary from records along with its Rs 700 crore assets.

Umashankar had fallen foul of the Jayalalithaa regime of 1991-96 too. He first came into prominence when he detected irregularities in construction of cremation sheds when he was an official in Madurai district. Later, a CBI investigation was ordered into the scam and the trial is still going on.

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/6258486.cms

Chennai,

AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa accused the DMK government on Wednesday of victimising IAS officer C Umashankar, and alleged that the Dalit officer had been “targeted for expos ing or questioning the wrong-doings” of the family members of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
 
It “smacks of vendetta,” she said in a statement here, referring to the suspension of Umashankar, a 1990-batch IAS officer, on the “pretext” that he had entered the Civil Services using a bogus community certificate.
 
Jayalalithaa wondered why the government suddenly claimed that Umashankar had forged his community certificate when it was the UPSC that had appointed him after verifying his credentials and certificates. She recalled that Umashankar had taken action against Sumangali Cable Vision (of the DMK’s Sun TV Group) when he was MD of Arasu Cable Corporation. Also, he had raised certain questions as MD of the ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu).
 
http://epaper.newindpress.com/NE/NE/2010/08/05/ArticleHtmls/05_08_2010_002_027.shtml?Mode=1

CHENNAI: Suspended IAS officer C Umashankar has moved the National Commission for SC/ST in New Delhi, to protect him from the illegal harassment by the Tamil Nadu government, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s family and the powerful Maran brothers, who are closely related to the CM.
In his complaint against the State government, Umashankar, who was suspended last week while holding the post of Commssioner, Small Savings, alleged that he was subjected to frequent transfers as he was honest and sincere in his duties and worked bearing in mind the public interest.
 
 
He said the TN government was free to institute any disciplinary proceedings against him in accordance with the provisions of the All India Service Act, Public Servant Enquiries Act, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure. But the government was not competent to conduct any enquiry against him on the allegation that he had produced a false community certificate. The CM was insisting on the police to register an FIR against him. “The State government, headed by the present CM, is intolerant and vindictive against me because I recommended penal action against the Maran brothers and made public the scam in ETL Infrastructure, where the hand of MK Alagiri, (CM’s son) and a central minister of the DMK is involved. Thus, the State power is being misused against me,’’ Umashankar contended in his complaint.
 
 
He also urged the Commission to ensure that enquiry, if any, regarding his caste certificate was conducted by the Central Vigilance Commission or the Central Bureau of Investigation or any other central agency not under the control of the TN government. Appropriate action might also be initiated to allow him to work under the central government or any of the agency of the central government not under the control of the TN government, the complaint said and also requested the Commission to ensure proper security to him and his family members through the central security force.
 
 
http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/suspended-ias-officer-in-tn-alleges-harassment/193176.html

for WHAT ???

CORRUPTION in INDIA ???

NIC has joined hands with NISG, eGov Secretary, eGov Jt. Secretary, Addl. eGovernance Secretary to spread CORRUPTION in eGovernance of INDIA.

By T AshishThursday, 21 April , 2005, 12:54

National Informatics Centre (NIC), an organisation of the Department of Information Technology (DIT) under the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT), is all set to go for an “e-procurement system” for handling tenders for goods, services and engineering contracts.
Being a premier organisation in the field of informatics services and IT applications, NIC has been instrumental in steering ICT applications in government departments at central and states, improving decentralised planning and management. NIC has already established a nationwide ICT network � NICNET known as the Government Network � with gateway nodes at all central government departments, covering all 602 district collectorates for IT services.
The driving force behind the NIC is none other than Dr N Vijayaditya, Director-General, who has recently been honoured with the Skoch Challenger-2005 Award for ICT Man of the Year by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, for his contribution and exemplary efforts made in various areas including e-governance and ICT applications. Excerpts from an interview:
NIC has been instrumental in steering ICT applications in the government. What are its objectives?
Since its inception in 1977, NIC has been instrumental in steering ICT applications in the government at Central and State level. Following the directions from the Prime Minister’s Office, the organisation expanded its nationwide ICT network to North East and Jammu & Kashmir, increasing its network to all districts in the country.
The long-term objective of the NIC, as approved by the Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance and the Electronics Commission, is to establish the feasibility of a system for the provision of detailed information to government ministries and agencies to assist them in making decisions relating to the country�s economic and social development planning and program implementation. Missed last week’s Thursday Interview? Click here

The NIC was set up with the objective to promote economic, social scientific and technological activities, and also for macro-economic adjustment program of the Government, through the applications of IT.
Can you share some of NIC�s national project and state-level projects?
NIC has conceptualised, developed and implemented a very large number of projects for various central and state government ministries, department and organisations.
Many of these projects are continuing projects being carried out by various divisions of NIC across the country, touching upon all spheres of e-governance and thereby influencing the lives of millions of citizens of India.
Some prestigious projects include: Agricultural Marketing Information Network (AgmarkNet), Central Passport System (CPS), Community Information Centres (CICs), Computerised Rural Information System Project (CRISP), Court Information System (COURTIS), Department of Agriculture Network (DACNET), Land Records Information System, Land Records Information System (LRIS), Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (PGRAMS). The NIC has undertaken several e-government projects, including online secretariat in Karnataka.
What are your focus areas for this year?
NIC is focusing on a few areas, including e-procurement, GIS, and security. After initial process, the organisation has finalised an e-procurement solution from C1 India. We will soon deploy the solution in our existing system. We are also giving equal importance to GIS and security.

You have been selected for the ICT Man of the Year Award. Can you share your views on this?
I am happy to receive the award from Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission. Skoch is a multinational Strategy and Management Consultancy Company working towards ICT led competitive advantage India possesses across segments.
Every year, Skoch confers the Challenger Awards to people, projects, organisations & technologies that went the extra mile and made an impact in India’s ICT led competitive advantage.
The award recognises and acknowledges excellence and exemplary efforts made by individuals and organisations for their contribution in key areas such as e-governance, BFSI, academic excellence, ICT penetration, affordable computing & innovation.
Every year hundreds of �best-in-class� contenders compete for recognition at the Challenger Awards.
________________________________

WHAT ACTIONS NIC has taken in DGS&D – C1 eProcurement ?
What role NIC has played in the eProcurement
____________________________________

Re: [eGovINDIA] DGS&D – C1 eProcurement contracts under investigation /

[eGovINDIA] DGS&D – C1 eProcurement contracts under investigation

“E. Verwalten” <everwalten@gmail.com> wrote:

Indian Express Investigation 30th March 2008
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/290086.html

Indian Express Investigation 8th April 2008
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/293851.html

_______________________________________________

Pls read this artlicle about C1 india chief Mr.Suresh Nanda!!!!

http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/20010316/ian16051.html

Nanda is the name of the game

________________________________

The following article was published in the below mentioned URL, please
go through the same.

http://www.business-standard.com/search/storypage_new.php?leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&autono=185604

More interesting articles......!!!!

... According to Jain, Suresh Nanda of the Crown Corporation paid them
 Rs.one crore
for the help in getting the order of 250 Armored Recovery Vehicles for
 a ... 

www.ganashakti.com/old/2001/010326/nation1.htm 

...........As soon as he became the defence minister, after six or
 seven months� TEHELKA:
Okay. RK JAIN: Suresh Nanda approached me for armoured recovery
 vehicle. ...
www.tehelka.com/home/20041009/operation/investigation21.htm 

... NEW DELHI, March 10: A city court today granted two weeks to police
 to file reply
to an application of Suresh Nanda, father of the main accused Sanjeev
 Nanda ...
www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19990311/ige11025.html 

... The chargesheet says that Sanjiv Nanda, son of arms dealer Suresh
 Nanda was accompanied by Manik Kapoor when the former's BMW car killed
 six persons including ...
www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19990409/ige09182.html

____________________________________________________

_________________________________

LOOK at this what NIC has done !!!!!

NIC nexus with C1 INDIA, PWC,

1. In the prequalification criteria Page no.2, item no 2 (VI) NIC said that �the vendor or the prime bidder in the case of consortium should be CMM level 4 or ISO 9000-3 certified�.  (Please note that there is no certification called ISO 9000-3 in this world and it is only the guidelines for software companies.  Through this ITI which has deployed more than 20 eProcurement projects across the country has been prevented from participating in the tender) .
2. Apparently ITI Limited a PSU under MCIT has made a representation to NIC stating that the prequalification criteria is wrong and ITI should be allowed to participate in the tender which has been refused by NIC orally.

6. Whether NIC is obligated to reply ITI letter or not? NIC can neglet the letter of ITI just like that? Is the legal battle is only the remedy? Is there any authority who can parade these officials on open road puting a necklace of “corrupt officer”?
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ____

DGSD is adopted a stand by allowing C1 India to collect annual subscription charges from bidders for using their e-procurement portal which has not been decided through open tender.

TCS, DGSD … the list grows : how to deprieve India in the name of technology? Re: [eGovINDIA] EGov – eBusiness Strategies For Government

This write up is purely in the interest of the nation and it speaks about technology. The intention is not to cricitcise Government but to tell them that they should look at the technology which is cost effective. They should also learn to look through the cost pushing design of the IT companies/PPP Partners

Government of India’s MCA (Ministry of Company Affairs) e-governance system which is  implemented by  TCS at a huge cost has built in digital signature tool which does  not work on Mozilla Firefox or linux.
TCS is unable to provide linux/Mozilla firefox support for the past 6 months.

As Director of 2-3 companies, I am unable to use the digital signature supplied by NIC (service provided by TCS) for the past 6 months.
ELCOT, as a matter of policy does not use any hardware that does not support linux.
The next thing is to issue notice to TCS under MRTP.
This is one side of the story.

The other side is the VSNL (TCS owned) supported REGINET software of Tamil Nadu which had a similar electronic signature provision. They wanted me to approve for extension of  79 such electonic signatures for the next one year. When I looked at the software design, it was meant to be used only by the intranet users and it had nothing to do with external users. But this system had been imposed by the vendors to sell over 500 such e-signatures at a cost of Rs.900 per e-sign every year. I was under pressure to approve the expenditure as the services came down after the expiry date.

ELCOT put a team to study the system design. Within two hours they got over the issue. The same e-signature dongles work for a different design. No need to pay TCS or anyone else. The beauty is that it can work forever, without payment to anyone.

__________________________

DGS&D – C1 eProcurement contracts under investigation

“E. Verwalten” <everwalten@gmail.com> wrote:

Indian Express Investigation 30th March 2008
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/290086.html

Indian Express Investigation 8th April 2008
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/293851.html

_______________________

Just because some American company wanted to sell its product we are blindly looking at e-signature for everything and thus end up pushing up the cost. Companies such as TCS look for pushing up the cost of e-governnace which is patriotic to the least.

TCS does not have any knowledge about platform independent technology, more so OSS technology and thus its costing is on the high side. Unfortunately the States as well as the central government do not have people who have hands on experience and hence e-gov solutions end up providing just revenues to the software companies without any tangible benefits to the citizens.

In the case of DCA, the users can simply do with user id and password. But they were forced to buy the digital signature from TCS. To use the digital signaturethe the companies have to buy Windows OS! After all these, the user is not able to get any great service from them. Every year, the companies have to shell out user charges to TCS for the digital signature. For every director on the Board the amount is collected. With over 400000 registered companies in India employing roughly 4 million directors, TCS is happily collecting Rs.10000 for one time charge and Rs.6000 per director every year! As the money does not go from the exchequer, there is no question from the CAG/AG/Audit teams. But this is a leakage of citizens money which is to be prevented.

A similar deprievation is on through VISA card system when India could have its own payment gateway for credit card / debit card payments. Everytime a VISA card is used a minimum of 1.6% of the collection goes to USA!
Japan has prevented it by not allowing credit cards in its shopping operations. But India, as usual has been sleeping by allowing the rampant use of VISA cards. It should go for its own credit card gateway or encourage cash purchase following the Japan pattern.

LOOK at this what NIC has done !!!!!

NIC nexus with C1 INDIA, PWC,

1. In the prequalification criteria Page no.2, item no 2 (VI) NIC said that �the vendor or the prime bidder in the case of consortium should be CMM level 4 or ISO 9000-3 certified�.  (Please note that there is no certification called ISO 9000-3 in this world and it is only the guidelines for software companies.  Through this ITI which has deployed more than 20 eProcurement projects across the country has been prevented from participating in the tender) .
2. Apparently ITI Limited a PSU under MCIT has made a representation to NIC stating that the prequalification criteria is wrong and ITI should be allowed to participate in the tender which has been refused by NIC orally.

Can NIC Put a wrong Qualification criteria to prevent their own sister concern ITI Limited and do not respond to the representation made by ITI Limited?

Can a consultant (PWC) become the supplier (PWC & C1 consortium)?

When a consultant (PWC) recommends some company (C1 ) for the award (in GOAP), can the consultant (PWC) join with the same company (PWC) for another project (NIC) as supplier.

Interstingly PWC (Consultant of GOAP project) is also a deployment partner of the C1 (Visit http:// www.c1india. com/partners/ partners. html#)

6. Whether NIC is obligated to reply ITI letter or not? NIC can neglet the letter of ITI just like that?

Is the legal battle is only the remedy?

Is there any authority who can parade these officials on open road puting a necklace of “corrupt officer”?
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ____

News is that Mr. Ashok Jhunjhunwala resigned from n-Logue Directorship ?

What is going to happen to all the FRANCHISEES ?

What happened to all the funds that were funded?

What happened to money given by Franchisees ??

Any one knows about this ??

What is the status of n-Logue now ?

Mr. Ashok Jhunjhunwla associated with MSSRF ??

M.S. Swaminathan
Research Foundation
3rd Cross Street, Institutional Area
Taramani, Chennai – 600 113, INDIA
Tel: +91-44-2254 1229, 2254 1698
Fax: +91-44-2254 1319
executivedirector@mssrf.res.in
www.nva-mssrf.org, www.mssrf.org

___________________________________

________________________________________

[PDF]

Mission 2007

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – View as HTML
Information Village project of MSSRF, ITC’s e-choupal, Drishtee’s Info Kiosks, n-Logue’s ….. (Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala,. Faculty IIT, Chennai) …
www.gkpeventsonthefuture.org/marketofopportunities/common/index.cfm?fuseaction=download&documentid=268

`This year 24 Indian cities will deploy CorDECT’

But Mr Ashok Jhunjhunwala, the father of CorDECT Wirelss in Local Loop (WLL), … Recently, the TeNeT Group has participated in the formation of n-Logue, …
www.financialexpress.com/old/fe/daily/20010205/fco05007.html – 21k -

Project floated to provide Net, voice connectivity to villages

… will be formally launched on January 25, said Mr Ashok Jhunjhunwala, professor, IIT Madras. Meanwhile, n-Logue Communications, a company, which has been …
www.financialexpress.com/old/fe/daily/20010116/efe16006.html –

Let us show the all BUREAUCRATS that Citizens of INDIA means Business.

IT’S OUR RIGHT. An inalienable right has been conferred on citizens.

`Right to Information Act will empower common people’

The legislative intent is clear; we are entitled to know how our money is spent. The onus is on us to make the Act work.

In effect, therefore, the right conferred on the citizen is an exhaustive one. It allows him to assess and examine every government decision, to study the reasons recorded by the government for taking a particular step, and to utilise information so gathered to ensure that government acts in a transparent and just manner.

Indeed, the preamble to the Act puts it well when it says, “democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information” and adds these “are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed”.

SMS message to send is:

SIC KKM sir,
“Your Malafides proved in amending RTI rules — We demand your resignation to ensure Supremacy of Democracy”

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________

Karnataka State Information Commissioner for Right to Information Act is   Mr. K. K. Mishra.

The mobile numbers for KKM are:

1.   9448291111 ,
2.    9844491100

Please SMS the above message to SIC KKM.

Please tell your friends to do the same. Send this to as many as possible. So that we can put presurre on SIC  KKM.

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ __________

THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS for this ” SMS CAMPAIGN- RULE 14 “

Please go through the following Statements:

A. On March 15th 2008, In Raichur, SIC K K Mishra as per Hindu article,

______________________________

“E. Verwalten” <everwalten@gmail.com> wrote:
Indian Express Investigation 30th March 2008

Indian Express Investigation 8th April 2008

_________________

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Venkatappa Kumaraswamy <vmkumaraswamy@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Subject: [eGovINDIA] DGS&D – C1 eProcurement contracts under investigation // Re: NIC joined hands with C 1 INDIA in eProcurement Scandle along with NISG, DIT and Govt. of INDIA !! READ THIS:: NIC eProcurement project irregularities in INDIA ???
To: dg@nic.in, ksdir@hub.nic.in, moni@hub.nic.in, mohan@tn.nic.in, lalitha@hub.nic.in, pspillai@hub.nic.in, kashinath@hub.nic.in, bkg@hub.nic.in, yks@nic.in, rpsaxena@hub.nic.in, bose@hub.nic.in, rkg@hub.nic.in, takhan@ub.delhi.nic.in, vsrk@hub.nic.in, sdgupta@hub.nic.in, dash@hub.nic.in, narao@hub.nic.in, shubhag@nic.in, rama@alpha.nic.in, amita@hub.nic.in, ambreesh@hub.nic.in, rgupta@hub.nic.in, anjana@hub.nic.in, padmavati@hub.nic.in, clmr@hub.nic.in, dcmisra@hub.nic.in, andaman@hub.nic.in, sio-ngl@hub.nic.in, sio@ap.nic.in, sio@hp.nic.in, sio-arn@hub.nic.in, sio@jk.nic.in, sio@pondy.pon.nic.in, sio-asm@hub.nic.in, sio-jhr@hub.nic.in, punjab@chd.nic.in, sio-.bih@hub.nic.in, sio@mail.kar.nic.in, sio@raj.nic.in, sio@chdut.nic.in, sio@kerala.nic.in, sio-sik@hub.nic.in, sio-cg@hub.nic.in, sio-laks@hub.nic.in, sio@tn.nic.in, sio-dadra@hub.nic.in, sio@mp.nic.in, sio-trpr@hub.nic.in, daman@guj.nic.in, siomsu@hub.nic.in, upstate@up.nic.in, skapoor@hub.nic.in, sio-man@hub.nic.in, manipur@msu.man.nic.in, utrnchal@up.nic.in, sio@goa.nic.in, sio-megh@hub.nic.in, sio@shillong.meg.nic.in, sio@wbsu.wb.nic.in, sio@guj.nic.in, sio-mizo@hub.nic.in, pratik@hub.nic.in, sastry@hub.nic.in, anshul@hub.nic.in, zsingh@hub.nic.in, mohan@hub.nic.in, cjairath@hub.nic.in, nagesh@hub.nic.in, vvsm@hub.nic.in, sbanerjee@hub.nic.in, harsh@hub.nic.in, rajput@hub.nic.in, gahlout@envfor.delhi.nic.in, shetty@cad.delhi.nic.in, opgoel@hub.nic.in, spr@hub.nic.in, ranjna@hub.nic.in, amishra@hub.nic.in, subodh@hub.nic.in, skr@hub.nic.in, hrn@hub.nic.in, srajiv@nic.in, bali@hub.nic.in, rverma@alpha.nic.in, shukla@hub.nic.in, krishan@nic.in, Miurmila@hub.nic.in, rpkapoor@hub.nic.in, msrao@hub.nic.in, nautiyal@hub.nic.in, pandey@sansad.nic.in, drjdass@hub.nic.in, rakesh@alpha.nic.in, vsharma@hub.nic.in, sksinha@hub.nic.in, rsingh@hub.nic.in, hps@ub.nic.in, Traiyks@nic.in, jkghosh@hub.nic.in, mchandra@alpha.nic.in, rgera@alpha.nic.in, kkumar@hub.nic.in, neeta@hub.nic.in, hpsharma@hub.nic.in, kalra@sb.nic.in
Cc: VMK <vmkumaraswamy@gmail.com>, minister@mit.gov.in, mos@mit.gov.in, secretary@mit.gov.in, srinath@mit.gov.in, rgilani@mit.gov.in, ekavi VEMAKU <ekavikumaraswamy@gmail.com>, “E. Verwalten” <everwalten@gmail.com>, egovindia <egovindia@yahoogroups.com>, ellakavi@yahoogroups.com

[eGovINDIA] DGS&D – C1 eProcurement contracts under investigation

“E. Verwalten” <everwalten@gmail.com> wrote:

Indian Express Investigation 30th March 2008

Indian Express Investigation 8th April 2008

On Thu, Jan 18, 2007 at 7:16 PM, Venkatappa Kumaraswamy <vmkumaraswamy@gmail.com> wrote:

NIC joined hands with C 1 INDIA in eProcurement Scandle along with NISG, DIT and Govt. of INDIA !! READ THIS:: NIC eProcurement project irregularities in INDIA ???

http://egovindia.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/nic-joined-hands-with-c-1-india-in-eprocurement-scandle-along-with-nisg-dit-and-govt-of-india-read-this-nic-eprocurement-project-irregularities-in-india/

Does Prime Minister of INDIA want to LEGITAMIZE eProcurement scandle ? – IT Secretary RAO of AP writes: You are absolutely right on this one. We gave totally misleading figures.

http://egovindia.wordpress.com/2007/01/16/does-prime-minister-of-india-want-to-legitamize-eprocurement-scandle-it-secretary-rao-of-ap-writes-you-are-absolutely-right-on-this-one-we-gave-totally-misleading-figures/

What NIC is doing now ??

NIC needs to answer to the NATION !!

THIS IS WHAT eGovINDIA Group has written about NIC !!
Still NIC needs to answer to the eProcurement Scandle of INDIA !

Why NIC and NICSI sidelined ? Why NISG formed ? Derailing of eGovernance of INDIA by forming NISG by then Jt. Secretary of eGovernance NOW Add’l Secretary of eGovernance at DIT/MIT and CEO of NISG.

Proper eGovernance is the need of future !!

Bureaucracy of IAS Officers in eGovernance.

For effective implementation of RTI Act 2005 INDIA needs proper eGovernace in INDIA.

HUMILIATION / VICTIMISATION / MARGINALISATION OF IT SCIENTISTS OF NIC BY BUREAUCRACY OF IAS OFFICERS.

Subject:- Information Technology (IT) Scientist of National Informatics Centre (NIC) of Dept. of IT are being denied rightful promotion under Flexible Complimentary Scheme (FCS) of Fifth Pay Commission and , thus, they are being Victimized, marginalized and even targeted of elimination from government by IAS Bureaucracy

Dear Sirs/ Madam

It is tribute to dynamic and visionary  leadership of honorable  Sh. Rajiv  Gandhi  who had been architect behind the establishment of National Informatics Centre (NIC)  during late Eighties to make India becoming the first country in the world to achieve E-governance. It was one of the many scientific Institutes  he had established to see India prosper and developed through embarking on a  high level Knowledge society in India.

Some of the following subsequent actions taken particularly by your present government was great discouragement and humiliation for the IT scientist in particular :

The result of the Reviewed NIC  IT scientist-G  ( JS equivalent) under FCS ( Flexible Complimentary Scheme under central government of India) has been kept in abeyance for last one year and their calm, quiet and dedicated patience has been misused by new bureaucratic officials in Cabinet Secretariat to make the IT scientist suffer and get domoralised even though IT scientist of NIC are the main stake holder in Department of IT justifying the significance of DIT.

It is understood that IAS bureaucracy is trying to discontinue the Flexible Complimentary scheme (FCS) which has been formulated by  His excellency Shri Rajiv Gandhi ex-prime minister of India for promotion of scientific bodies  for building scientific knowledge society in India. In view of this  all the recommendations for promotion to Scientist-G ( Joint secy. Equivalent)  from the scientific ministries  including NIC, DIT and DST etc. are kept in abeyance in cabinet secretaries and DOPT for last one year.

1. Scientific Contribution made to govt. sector by NIC IT Scientist.

NIC scientist have done many firsts/ second in the world in IT sector in govt. of  India during end 1980 when many countries including USA Govt. had not done in govt. sector.

1. Indian govt. is the first in the world to have such nodal computerization agency NIC for developing ICT applications for achieving e-governance in govt. sector.

2. NIC Scientist have established the 1^st widespread VSAT based  Wide Area (WAN) named NICNET of Indian govt. Network in the World covering all Districts/State/Central governments of Indian Union. (that time USA has the first V-Sat based Network but is was in some of its states not wide spread up to grass root level like in India)

3. They have made  Indian govt. the 1^st in the world in establishing computer center and LAN in all district/ state/central govt. offices including Leh and Andaman Nicober, Lakskhwadeep and Daman Diu.

4. They have made Indian govt. the 1^st in the world to have Video Conference facility even at the remotest district/ state/central govt. level

5. They have made India 1^st in the world during 1980s by declaring Indian Election result Live through VSAT communications up to district level

6. NIC IT scientist has established more than 700 computer centers, LAN and VSATs at district/state/ central govt. departments including research and public sector organizations of Government of India for providing E-mail/ internet connectivity and application software solutions. They have been effectively maintaining the services in all govt. sectors in India and adapting to new IT advancements.

7. They have been providing hands on computer training to all govt. staff and officers at district/state/central govt. offices for imparting computer cultures in India.

8. During mid eighties ( when there was almost no IT Pvt. Sector in India) NIC IT  professionals have developed/ implemented various e-governance software at district/state/central govt. offices after studying, analyzing and designing databases in accordance to the requirement of govt. officials at various levels.

9. NIC IT Scientists have been designing/developing/ maintaining more than 1000 web sites of various districts/state/central govt. offices and research and public sector organizations for providing better citizen services.

10. NIC has the state of the art advanced ICT infrastructures and IT specialization in various application areas.

The spectrum of services provided by NIC encompasses various dimensions of the Information Technology Arena .

II. How they do it and with what resources.

1. 3,500 strong young IT professionals enrolled in end-1980s with having strong educational background of Ph.D., M.Tech, MCA from reputed Universities and national institutes like IIT are the main motivator who have been working at grass root level of district/state/central govt. offices to provide sustainable computer culture in India.

1. They prepare/manage the computer center, install hardware, install software, maintain day – to – day computer up keeping, provide individual attention of each and every user staff, understand their requirement and understand their priority and slowly and steadily bring computer culture in the govt. offices all over India. Whatever is achieved till date in govt. computerization it is due to devotion and perseverance of each and every NIC official.

1. NIC has been provided with annual budget  around  Rs. 200 crores for provision of salary of its employees and for providing hardware, software, LAN, WAN and their maintenance of more than 700 computer centers. This also includes the expenditure of hiring of internet bandwidth. If we consider the annual budget of any important research institute of ICAR, IIT, ICMR and CSIR it would range from 500 to 600 crores. NIC annual budget of Rs. 200 crores in comparison to this is meager amount and the gamut of IT services provided by NIC for the govt. sector will well be worth of more than thousand crores per annum in IT market of India.

1. The maximum amount of salary of a Director level scientist of NIC is Rs.35,000 which is much less than even the salary of junior most IT professional ( Rs. 50,000) in Indian IT market. Maximum of NIC IT Scientist ( who have been working in govt. sector for various of their personal reasons and national interest) worth even more capable in IT efficiency and proficiency than the their counter part in IT industry in India.

III. Humiliation, marginalisation and attempt of elimination of IT Scientist by Bureaucracy ( IAS officials) –Political Nexus

1. IAS officers and NIC IT scientists are the only central govt. officials who have been working in grass root level at district/state/ central govt. offices. Mostly, IAS officials being autocratic and having absolute administrative and financial powers they do not have any specific agenda for e-governance and try to define what suits their personal interest undermining the role of NIC officials and the IT infrastructure available to them.

2. The growing popularity of N IC officials among local and regular staffs of the govt. at district/state/central govt. offices for achieving transparency in govt. functions is misconstrued as threat to the supremacy of IAS official, therefore they try to marginalize and humiliate the NIC officials in order to make the govt. functions according to their whims without any goal and desire to make govt. functions  transparent for providing better citizen services.

3. In consequence of above, NIC was brought into bureaucratic control by merging with Department of Information and Technology (DIT) five years back. Since then, slowly and steadily, bureaucratic (IAS) officials through minister are attempting to eliminate the NIC officials by stopping promotion on Flexible Complimentary Scheme (FCS) so that they would loose motivation and ultimately theses motivated young and highly educated govt. IT professionals could be made dead-horse by the bureaucrat making them easy for its elimination from govt. In similar fashion, they have almost killed Indian Statistical Service (ISS) and Indian Economic Service (IES) which have been created by great planner Dr. Mahalonobis to bring effective planning at grass root and national level. They have been continuously marginalizing other 21 services of Govt. of India.

4. Being very close to Politicians/Ministers right from their service at cadre level, the IAS officials could misguide and give wrong impression about functioning of NIC and other services to the former for achieving their goal of supremacy over any other govt. services.

5. During the last five years IAS officers have created more than 25 IT Secretaries in State Govt. and more than 50 JS(IT) in Central Govt. These IT secretaries and JS(IT)s hardly have any IT experience and in spite of that they used to have IT manager tenure ranging from six months to the maximum of two years during which some of the corrupt officers outsource the procurement of IT products and system analysis, design, development of web sites and various other systems ignoring the advice and presence of NIC official. It may be mentioned that IT related activities outsourced by various departments and state govt. either are fractured or abandoned midway after huge amount of govt. money being spent by bureaucrat. Thus undisputed administrative and financial power of IAS officers at various level is the hindrance of any effective e-governance system in govt. sector in India.

IV. NIC has been considered as threat/ stumbling block for corrupt politicians/ bureaucracy/ Pvt. IT Vendors, therefore, it is being fragmented/isolated

1. Since last 25 years NIC has been following sound and fair track record of procurement of hardware, software, networking and consultancy services in competitive prices through a transparent and standard evaluation process. In view of this, many central and state govt. organizations used to procure IT products through NIC services Inc NICSI.  Politicians – bureaucrat nexus could not favour the IT vendor for corrupt practices, therefore, Chairmanship of NICSI has been changed now from DG(NIC) to an IAS officer. The fate of NICSI will happen as it has happened to many sick PSUs.

2. Govt. e-governance systems are basically open ended in nature. NIC officials have  been steadily developing the system after understanding the requirement analysis and the capability of the users to adopt and adapt to new systems by actively involving themselves in the process of development and implementation. Our govt. systems are very complex and these systems are evolutionary in nature and therefore have to be evolved by taking along with varied level of efficient and proficient staff so that there would be no antipathy to introduction of e-governance software. There is no short cut for sustainable implementation of E-governance software in govt. sector. Since IAS officer has short tenure and he wants to get it done immediately by outsourcing to Pvt vendors   in his biased way in very short span of time lot of govt. money and unplanned efforts gets wasted without any achievement in this direction.

In spite of that, during the last three years IAS officer have created more than 25 IT secretaries in state govt. and more that 50 JS(IT) in central govt. These IT secretaries and JS(IT)s hardly have any IT experience and in spite of that they used to have IT manager tenure ranging from six months to the maximum of two years during which some of the corrupt officers out sources the procurement of IT products and system analysis, design, development of web sites and various other system ignoring the advice and presence of NIC official. It may be mentioned that IT related activities outsourced by various departments and state govt. either are fractured or abandoned midway after huge amount of govt. money being spend by bureaucrat. Thus undisputed administrative and financial power of IAS officers at various level is the hindrance of any effective e-governance system in govt. sector in India.

3. Bureaucracy and e-governance/transparency in govt. can never go hand by hand. Bureaucrats will never allow e-governance and transparency in govt. be achieved in real sense. They are only enjoying the fruit of IT revolution world wide through traveling more and more countries in the pretext of attending training, conferences and carrying out bilateral projects and so on so forth. They do themselves IT savvy by associating themselves with important IT industries in India and abroad.

4. Because of NICs 20 years of govt. informatics development and its appreciation by all staffs and local officials of state and central govt.,  many unscrupulous IT industries are trying to defame NIC in political and ministerial levels to gain IT business in govt. sector. NIC has been thus squeezed from all sections and its achievement have been sidelined. Many of the MNC-IT industries whose head offices are located in developed countries they provide mostly free IT services to their respective govt. but their profit making commercial centers established in developing countries like India are only meant for generation of profit from developing countries. In view of this, none of IT industries in India have developed any meaningful e-governance software for govt. sector even after being paid heavily by the govt.

V. Bureaucrats have established  National Institute of SMART  Government (NISG)  at Hyderabad to  counter the scientific organization like NIC and NISCI

National Institute of SMART Government(NISG) has been established by bureaucratic lobby to  counter Scientific body like NIC and NICSI  so that  bureaucrats can have honeymoon with Private companies for institutionalizing the corruption and favoritisms for reaping the personal benefit.  NISG is basically a company under government like NICSI.  No projects should be financially approved to NISG without going for open tender. However, it is observed that some of the projects even awarded  by DOPT finance  to NISG breaking all rules of financial rule so that bureaucrats in NISG could take up the project with private vendors.

V. Suggestion

1. IT scientist of NIC should be rightfully promoted under FCS ( Flexible Complimentary Scheme of fifth pay Commission) as has been in the case of Ministry of Science, Department of Spare, CSIR, ICAR and other national Institutes.

IT scientist, like other scientists of above organizations, have been deprived of promotion and are resorted to humiliation and have been paying price of being put under the control of IAS officials who would finish and wipe out the emerging IT Scientist who have been working tirelessly to bring transparency through E-governance for citizens of the country by making IAS official answerable to the autocratic and corruptive actions at all levels.

2. The pending file regarding promotion of IT scientist ( reviewed in 2004) lying with Ministries during last one year should be cleared as early as possible so that next review of eligible IT scientist under FCS should be completedsoon. Unless it is done, whatever has been achieved during last 20 years will be hampered and it would give opportunity to  IAS bureaucrat to finish the NIC to make E-governance a mockery in their hands by playing with Pvt. Vendors.

3. As earlier, NIC should be brought under the Planning Commission which could play an effective/ pivotal role in implementing E-governance in state and central govt. by encouraging IT scientist and making the bureaucracy answerable for their autocratic attitude for playing the bottleneck to the achievement of E-governance. Since last 50 years, even though a cadre service, IAS bureaucracy has always been victimizing and paralising the scientists, subject matter specialist of all scientific/ technical and policy making bodies in central govt. sector of India to suit their hegemony, corruptive practice and bureaucratic autocracy.

4. Planning Commission being a nodal body in policy making and allocating of funds by effective monitoring of different schemes to central and state governments It should be strengthened by bringing NIC in its fold to play vital role in promoting E-governance in state and central government and to play a watch dog against IAS bureaucracy who play hindrance to E-governance and transparency.

5. It may be mentioned that since last five years IAS bureaucrat have been making mockery of E-governance by organizing national conference/IT managers Conference through D/o AR & PG where at the most 4 to 5 state IT secretaries/IT managers hardly present in these conferences. More importantly, there is no meaningful agenda in all these conferences without having any fruitful recommendations. These conferences are only meant for IAS officials for site seeing and enjoying the hospitality of MNC IT vendors in five star hotels.

6. The need of NISG should be questioned. Since NIC and NICSI have already been established to cater to the requirement of govt and pvt interface for achieving the E-governance the duplication of activities of NISG is questionable and is considered as  counter offensive of bureaucrats to scientific agencies like NIC and NICSI. The   establishment of  NISG should be discouraged. E-Governance is basically an attempt to free the citizens from bureaucratic control and hegemony. In case bureaucratic organization like NISG is encouraged  it would  encourage them to have more control  on the administration to have their choice and whims on transperancy

7. India has huge potential in government IT  manpower like nodal IT agency  like NIC and NICSI  whose  presence at center state and district administration   is considered unique in comparison to other developed countries. IT scientist in all level of administration have gained lot of experience in providing IT supports. But irony  is that because of lack of initiative of IAS officials at these center, state and district level  E-governance application developed  by NIC is not being implemented. The lack of initiative  is because  of the  fear of loosing their control on administration  due to transparency offered by E-government.

8. What we need at present in Govt. of India is to outsource the management work

( rather than Software application already developed by NIC) being handled presently by bureaucrats to the MBAs  of  reputed  IIMS for effective implementation of E-Governance software already developed by NIC rather that E-governance software applications to MNCs.  E-government Software application have already been developed  by NIC with its 15 years experience on govt sector what they need is these software should be effectively implemented by  good management support of the  government administration. Implementation  requires 85 % management supports whereas Software support constitutes 15 %. NIC  could not implement vast number of the software  developed by it because of lack of administrative and management support in government.

9. In view of these, in order to effectively implement the e-Governance the Planning Commission should be strengthened by bringing NIC in its fold which can enforce e-Governance in state and central govt. by the way of monitoring the e-governance projects through provision of funds and evaluation / implementation through NIC.

E-governance is national agenda therefore it should be part of the national coordinating agency like Planning Commission rather than it should be restricted to any bureaucratic department.

Department of IT may be responsible for regulating hardware, IT Infrastructure, IT manpower policies and regulation etc. However, e-Governance being a national agenda cutting across the state/ central govt. organizations NIC should be brought back under Planning Commission.

Whatever NIC had achieved in e-Governance while it was in Planning Commission during 1988-2000 its achievement has been reversed by bureaucrat during last two years by hobnobbing with many private vendors only to satisfy their personal interests. We can never achieve e-Governance through the IAS bureaucrats who have been traditionally non-transparent, corruptive and autocratic.

Unless we give NIC its right place we will re-wind the progress of E-governance in each succeeding year.

I request and pray to all concerned not to deprive the NIC-IT scientists their rightful timely promotion, under FCS of fifth pay commission, which not only give them encouragement but also make them feel confident to fight for achieving e-governance in spite of humiliation by IAS bureaucrat at all levels up to district/central/ state government level.

This is one of the social responsibility of all concerned to realize that the scientific organizations which have been contributing significantly for the developmental work for citizen friendly govt. should not be eliminated by bureaucratic and political nexus. It may be brought to the notice of Minister ( Communication and IT), PM, President of India and Dy. Chairman of Planning Commission, Leader of the Opposition etc. for their kind perusal.

With regards

Supporters of the Govt. of India

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