Jaya questions Umashankar’s suspension, says he is being victimised

Jaya questions Umashankar’s suspension, says he is being victimised

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

ACTION ON DALIT OFFICER SMACKS OF VENDETTA: JAYA

ACTION ON DALIT OFFICER SMACKS OF VENDETTA: JAYA

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

Umashankar’s suspension smacks of victimisation:: JAYA

“Umashankar’s suspension smacks of victimisation”
Special Correspondent News » States » Tamil Nadu
CHENNAI, August 5, 2010
 
AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa has alleged that suspension of IAS officer C. Umashankar smacked of victimisation by the DMK government.
In a statement here on Wednesday, Ms. Jayalalithaa questioned the powers of the State government to place an IAS officer under suspension on the pretext that he had entered the Civil Services using a bogus community certificate.
“All civil service appointments in the country are done by the Union Public Service Commission. It is the responsibility of the UPSC to vet the antecedents of every recruit and verify their certificates,” she said.
She said the DMK government’s claim that Mr. Umashankar, belonging to Dalit community, had entered the service using a forged community certificate had given room for speculation on the reasons behind this.
Ms. Jayalalithaa recalled the government’s decision to launch Arasu Cable Corporation and the appointment of Mr. Umashankar as its Managing Director, and said the real motive behind it was to pose a challenge to the Maran brothers’ Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV).
Scapegoat
Ms. Jayalalithaa said after an agreement was suddenly reached between the warring cousins of Mr. Karunanidhi’s family, the IAS officer was made the scapegoat and shunted out.
She alleged that though Mr. Umashankar was appointed as the MD of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), he was removed from the post because he questioned the disappearance of ETL Infrastructure Ltd., a subsidiary of ELCOT, along with Rs. 700 crore assets.
Explanation sought
Demanding an explanation from Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on what happened to ETL and the fate of the Rs. 400 crore invested in Arasu Cable Corporation, she wanted to know why was a Dalit officer in government service being victimised.
 
Keywords: C. Umashankar, AIADMK, DMK
 
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article551957.ece

[NIC says]’We influence lives of millions of Indians’-[For what? CORRUPTION]

NIC says ::  ‘We influence lives of millions of Indians’ –

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 

____________________________________________________

eProcurement Case Background

1. October 2000
Information Technology Act 2000 was passed. Use of 128 Bit SSL & Digital
Certificate made mandatory for ecommerce activities. As per IT ACT 2000 for
any electronic document to be legally valid, it should be digitally signed by
Digital Certificate issued by any Liscensed Certifyign Agency (CA) approve by
Controller of Certifying Agency (CCA).

2. September 2001
Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) Core implementation committee was
formed to implement eProcurement and PWC (Price water house coopers was
appointed as consultant). They were paid Rs. 1.75 Cr for 5 projects, approx Rs. 35Lakh/Project as consultancy fee. Ref. pwc hired as consultant.pdf.

3. Feb 2002
CCA granted license to Safescrypt on 5th February, 2002, India’s first CA.
SAFESCRYPT Ltd, a Satyam Infoway company affiliated with VeriSign Inc,
issued the country’s first digital signature certificate to the Minister for
Communications and IT & Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Pramod Mahajan, at an
official ceremony here on Wednesday.
SafeScrypt is the first Indian company to get a certifying authority licence for
digital signature from the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA). The
company received this licence earlier this week.

4. In Feb 2002,
Department of Public Relation, Madhya Pradesh floated a tender for eTendering,
eProcurement which categorically specified that IT ACT 2000 needs to be
complied and Digital Certificate/SSL/PKI should be used to ensure secrecy of
price bid. No MNC consultant appointed to draft tender document. 5 Companies
participate in the same including Applitech Tenercity.com I Pvt. Ltd (Tendercity),
NexTenders, ITI/Antares, CNet, etc.

5. May 2002
Sometime in May 2002, GoAP floated a Tender for eProcurement software more
specifically eTendering and Reverse Auction engine by Govt. of AP. No mention
of PKI/SSL/Digital Certificate � what was Rs. 35 Lakh paid to then to PWC?

6. Mid 2002
Out of many bidders who had submitted the tender a consortium comprising of
C1 India Pvt. Ltd., Microsoft & Antares System Ltd & Compaq had submitted the
bid. Other bidders included companies like Wipro and consortium of Boradvision
and TCS. Consortium head by C1 India Pvt. Ltd (C1) won the tender. GoAP
approves rate of Rs.4500/Tender (GoAP Pays) & 0.24% of the Tender Value
(winning bidder pays to C1 India Directly)

7. In June 2002,
GoAP enters into a secret agreement with C1 India to do a pilot project and not
the consortium which had won the contract? WHY?

8. On 29 th Jan 2003,
www.eprocurement.gov.in launched without compliance to IT ACT 2000, Digital
Certificate, PKI. GoAP gives lame excuse that since Digital Certificates are not
available, hence the same was not integrated in spite of the fact that first Digital
Certificate was issued to Shri. Promod Mahajan as early as Feb 2002.
What started as a Pilot Project for nine months, gets extended for another 9
month unilaterally in spite of the fact that system did not comply to IT ACT
2000.

9. Jan 2003
C1 India gets a 128 bit SSL Certificate from Verisign for
www.eprocurement.gov.in domain? WHY?
1.) .gov.in domain belongs to only government organizations, how come the same was issued to a private company.
2.) 128 Bit SSL was procured from a US Company, whereas IT Act mandates that it should be procured only from liscensed CA. Why was the same not procured from TCS, Safescrypt.
3.) TCS, Safescrypt would have never issued a 128 Bit SSL certificate to C1 India Pvt. Ltd, as .gov.in domain belongs to only Govt. departments. A US company issued the same without any verification, because they were interested in dollars.

10. March 2003
PWD, Chhattisgarh floats a tender for eTendering with Department of Public
Relations, Madhya Pradesh specifications.
Tendercity, C1 India, Wipro, Antares/ITI, Nex Tener & other 3 companies
participated in the tender. Tender gets awarded to NexTender, a mumbai based
company in spite of Tendercity Being the lowest Bidder.

11. April 2003
C1 quotes to PWD, Chhattisgarh Rs. 1000/Tender as fix service charge
irrespective of Tender Value & No fee to be paid by PWD, Chhattisgarh?
Tendercity shares the same information with GoAP. GoAP calls for a steering
committee and yet no action is taken to revise fee being paid to C1 India i.e.
Rs. 4500/Tender (GoAP pays) & 0.24% of Tender Value (winning bidder pays)

12. July 2003
The first lawsuit under Indian cyber law, Antares Systems Ltd, the Bangalore–
based IT firm, has filed a case against an e-governance project in the Delhi High
Court for alleged infringement of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and unfair
competition. The case has been filed against C1 India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of
Nasdaq-listed CommerceOne. The Government of Andhra Pradesh and Principal
Secretary, Department of IT and Communications, AP have been arraigned as
parties.
Antares has urged the Delhi HC that C1 India and the AP Government be
restrained from infringing its copyright in its e-tendering software product
Tenderwizard and from relying upon, in any manner whatsoever, the features of
Tenderwizard, said the company’s Senior Vice-President, Mr R. Kamath.

13. July 2003
India’s First Digitally Singed eTender was enabled by Tendercity for Madhya
Pradesh Poorva Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company Ltd, Madhya Pradesh Electrictiy
Board, MP (MPPKVVCL, MPSEB,MP). 10 Digital Certificates (TCS) were
issued to contractors across India.

14. December, 2003
Northern Railway floats a Tender for eTendering. C1 India, Wipro/NexTender,
Antares, HCL, Tendercity Participated in the tender. Tender awarded to
HCL/Boradvision Consortium. Rate approved Less than Rs.1500/Tender. GoAP
takes no action and does not revise the service fee it pays to C1 India.

15. Feb 2004
Tendercity writes letter to IT Secretary, GoAP, and Principle Secretary GoAP and bring to their notice that PKI compliance is not there on eprocurement.gov.in and that the eTendering services available at a very competitive rates in open market. No Action taken by the GoAP Officers.

16. Mid 2004
On PWC recommendations, JV option was dropped (JV between eTendering
service provider and Government of AP) and eProcurement services was
continued to be used in ASP model
Why did PWD suggested not to go ahead with JV option? probably because in
case of JV Government of AP would have made a lot of money? Total fee
reimbursed by GoAP & Various Bidder to C1 India in last 3 years is in tune of
Crores of Rupees. If GoAP had procured the software, it would have costed
Rs. 0, because that what C1/PWC quoted to NIC, in December 2004 for
eTendering Software.

17. July 2004
GoAP steering committee meets in October, 2004. Price bid revised to as follows w.e.f. 1 st April 2004 as follows
– GoAP pays nothing � i.e. Rs. 4,500/Tender waived off
– For Tender<50 Cr � each participating bidder pays 0.04% of Tender value or
Rs.10,000/Tender as processing fee, which ever is higher.
– For Tender>50 Cr � each participating bidder pays 0.04% of Tender value or
Rs.25,000/Tender as processing fee, which ever is higher.
– Still the same is very very high compared to open market rates. GoAP Continues with C1 India, when the contract though an illegal contract.
– GoAP accepts non compliance of IT ACT 2002 and yet gives C1 India 6 month
period to make their product PKI enabled, by March 2005. Why, was the project
not scrapped in then and then itself till the PKI compliance was not complete.

18. December 2004
PWC Partners with C1 India for NIC tender for eTendering.
Having played a instrumental role in causing great exchequer loss of GoAP, by
recommending ASP Mode, C1 India reward PWC with partnership for NIC
Tender. C1 ditched PWC (presumably) by quoting Rs.0 as software price to
NIC.

19. 1st April 2005
Digital certificates made mandatory from April 2005. Digital certificate are used
only of Authentication purpose at time of Login. Only price bids are digitally
signed and leaving room for service provider to tamper with technical bids,
document uploaded, etc.

20. Mid 2005
Tendercity alleges of eProcurement scam in one of the reply it filed in Delhi
High Court. The same document is shared with various AP departments, but no
action is taken.

21. 24 thNovember 2005,
Tendercity demonstrate to IT Secretary Shri Narsing Roa, the loopholes and
security defects in www.eprocuremnet.gov.in in person in his chamber. IT
Secretary assures that proper action will be taken against the culprits.
Tendercity gets an invitation from HUDA for demonstration of security loopholes
in the system but the same is postponed by CE after a brief 5 minute meeting.
Reason for postponement not specified. Subsequent meeting doe not take place.

22. 3rdDecember, 2005
Tendercity demonstrates to Principle Secretary & MD APTS the security
loopholes in www.eprocuremnet.gov.in and ideal security features that should be
enabled. Principle Secretary IT&C promise to take the appropriate action.

23. 5th December, 2005
GoAP accepts vide their email dated 5 th December, 2005 that
1.) www.eprocurement.gov.in is property of GoAP
2.) GoAP sees no harm if a 128 Bit SSL Certificate has be procured from USA
instead from a licensed CA as per CCA norms and that too by C1 India. In
layman terms it means a private company owns www.eprocurement.gov.in
3.) GoAP accepts that till December 2005, price bid submitted by 10,000 of
contractors 9800 eTender enabled so far reached the server in readable fashion
without any encryption, but that OK. It’s public money and it can go down the
drain.
4.) GoAP accepts that only C1 India can access the Price bid of contractors, as
they are the system administrator and super Admin of the website. Since no
government office has access to database, and generally they are corrupt the
system is secure. As per GoAP, private company which has been given the
custody of Rs.32,000 Cr. worth of eTender price bid security are trustworthy and
walking gods.
5.) GoAP states that C1 India does not access the readable price bid of all
contractors that is there in Database, and which can be accessed by C1 India
anytime from anywhere. GoAP goes on record that since not a single case of
tampering has been raised, there is nothing wrong with present system and they
have full faith on C1 India. They have full faith on PWC, so what if they partner
with C1 India for other government departments.
6.) GoAP does not care about Antares software being illegally used, since the
matter is sub-judice.
7.) GoAP has accepted that the system was so insecure, that had they told the
contactors and public at large about the security loopholes, no contractor would
have submitted the bid and hence all contractors, public, government officers
were kept in dark about the security loophole.
8.) GoAP has accepted that Detached Signature and Server Side encryption are
international practice as per their MNC consultant PWC, so what if C1 India get
the privilege to access the price bid of each and every contractors.

24. 10 th December, 2005
To cover things up, IT Secretary gives a clean chit to Service provider � C1 India
by means of issuing unsigned certificate making a claim that there is nothing
wrong with the system.
__________________________________

Please read this article.

The E-governance Muddle http://www.dqindia.com/content/search/showarticle.asp?artid=74532

What was expected to bring transparency in government transactions has got mired in a slew of allegations. Dataquest probes the charges made by an IAS officer against his own clan� Shubhendu Parth Friday, September 02, 2005

_________________________________

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.

3. Further STQC experts also informed that the prequalification criteria is wrong.

4. Without listening to the STQC and ITI, NIC went ahead and executed the tender for eProcurement.

5. Interestingly (??) the consortium of PWC and C1 bagged the order form NIC.

6. How beautiful and professional this entire transaction is:

– The PWC who is the consultant to GOAP is the Prime bidder of Consortium.

– The C1 which bagged the project from GOAP through the recommendations of PWC is the consortium partner.

– Though the pre-qulaification criteria was wrong and ITI as well as STQC have submitted the note to this effect, NIC went ahead and awarded the tender to PWC & C1 consortium.

– Now the NIC along with PWC and C1 can go to any state/central/ PSU and deploy eProcurement project to enhance transparency (??). however there is no transparency in the NIC’s Procement itself?

Now my questions are:

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?</ SPAN> 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#)

5. How to put an end to such nonsenses ?

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”?
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ____

NIC nexus with C1 INDIA, PWC, -Is there TRANSPARENCY in NIC activities ?

NIC nexus with C1 INDIA, PWC,

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.

3. Further STQC experts also informed that the prequalification criteria is wrong.

4. Without listening to the STQC and ITI, NIC went ahead and executed the tender for eProcurement.

5. Interestingly (??) the consortium of PWC and C1 INDIA bagged the order form NIC.

6. How beautiful and professional this entire transaction is:

– The PWC who is the consultant to GOAP is the Prime bidder of Consortium.

– The C1 INDIA which bagged the project from GOAP through the recommendations of PWC is the consortium partner.

– Though the pre-qulaification criteria was wrong and ITI as well as STQC have submitted the note to this effect, NIC went ahead and awarded the tender to PWC & C1 consortium.

– Now the NIC along with PWC and C1 INDIA can go to any state/central/ PSU and deploy eProcurement project to enhance transparency (??). however there is no transparency in the NIC’s Procement itself?

Now questions to NIC are:

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#)

5. How to put an end to such nonsenses ?

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”?
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ____

Security Checks to be maintained in e-Procurement as recommended by Indian IT Act 2000

Security Checks to be maintained in e-Procurement as recommended by Indian IT Act 2000

Dear eGovINDIA Group Members,

Please find below an academic detail as how Online Bidding should be secure and Transparent:-

(Andhra Pradesh to be investigated if e-Procurement is fulfilling these Security Features for Rs. 15000/- Crore of e-Procurement done)

An ideal eTendering/eProcurement application should comply with Information Technology Act 2000 in totality. To ensure that you existing eTendering/eProcurement application meets the above requirement, please check if it fulfills the security features checklist mentioned below.

1.      Simple Login ID & Password based Login

eTendering website should have dual authentication process i.e.

Login ID and Password based authentication &
Digital Certificate based authentication.

It is very easy for the service provider to retrieve Login ID & Password of any user form the database, if the same is not stored as it format as explained in point no. 2.

The existing application you are using does not have Digital Certificate based login, which means the service provider could log in any time as any bidder/buyer and view/modify/delete/ any data as he liked. Why has Digital Certificate based login system not been adopted on www.eprocurement.gov.in?

2.      MD5 Hash of password are stored in Database and not actual password

If password are stored in database in plain text format in database, then it is very easy for the service provider to know the Login ID & Password of any user. Storing the message digest of a password instead of the plain text password in the database is a universally accepted security best practice.

Message Digest/hash is basically a digital fingerprint of password generated using Hash Algorithm. For eg. Message Digest of a password like Apple is 9f6290f4436e5a2351f12e03b6433c

3c.

The beauty of Hash algorithm is that every time Apple with capital A is typed from anywhere in the world, it will result in same Message Digest/Hash. Also Message Digest/Hash is irreversible i.e. from 9f6290f4436e5a2351f12e03b6433c3c no one can know that the original password i.e. Apple. The only person on the world to know the actual password is the person who specifies at time of Login ID creation.

Are passwords converted to message digest before being stored in your eTendering site? If not, why? This technology is a more than a decade old and is so secure that it has not been cracked so far.

3.      Digitally Signed Bids

As per IT ACT 2000, all Bids submitted by bidders should be digitally signed.  Please check if the bid that are submitted by your bidders are digitally signed and submitted on you eTendering website.

A Bid that is not digitally signed can be easily viewed and tampered with by the service provider. If the bidder whose bid has been tampered puts any allegation on the service provider, there is no way it can be proved that service provider had not tampered the bid. If the bids are digitally signed, and if the same are tampered, it can be detected easily.

IT ACT 2000 was in place since 2000, Digital Certificate were publicly available since 2002 and first digitally signed eTender was enabled in July 2003 in India. Why did your service provider not integrate Digital Certificates till March 2005. Why did the most IT savvy state of Andhra Pradesh not integrated Digital Certificates for eTendering as mandated in IT ACT 2000.

Why did the government of AP allow a service provider who didn’t have PKI enabled (Digital Certificate enabled) eTendering application to offer eTendering services to various government departments?

4.      Access to price bid before Tender due date.

Ideally the bid submitted by Bidders should be first digitally signed and encrypted before it is submitted on the eTendering website. Bid encryption (data enveloping) should be as per IT ACT 2000. In this process the Bid are digitally signed and encrypted using digital certificate.

The benefits of Digital Certificate based encryption is that it cannot be deciphered by service provider. Only the individual whose Digital Certificate is used for encryption, can decipher it.

In case of Andhra Pradesh as till March 2005 Digital Certificate were not used, why?

How were price bids being encrypted? By using which technology? Did that technology have legal credibility?

If encryption was done using some proprietary tool, then the existing service provider  could very well decipher and know the bids of all bidders even before due date and time of opening.

So far Rs. 15,000 cr. worth of eTendering that has been done enabled on www. eprocurement.gov.in, what is the assurance that there was no malpractise like viewing price bids before due date and time, as well as modifying price bids after due date and time?

5.      Biometric Based Authentication

To ensure that Buyer was present at time of Tender Opening, biometric based authentication is very crucial. As eTendering is a web based technology, privilege users like administrator can access any content. The biometric device restricts this access to the authorised persons from the buyer side to access the website.

6.      128 Bit SSL

The data that is exchanged between Bidders (client) and Website (sever) should happen over a secure network such that hackers cannot hack the data in transit and read/tamper the data.  For the same, as per IT ACT, 128 SSL certificate should be used.

To detect whether any malpractice took place, as well as to take effective steps to ensure that further malpractices are not possible, we suggest that you take proactive steps to institute an internal inquiry as well as undertake a comprehensive security audit of the eTendering system you have been using.  Taking such a step will protect your interests.  If you require, we can undertake this audit for you, free of cost.  We will check if the security features are in place, including 25 security checks as per the IT Act 2000.  It is also in your interests to refrain from using the current eTendering system till either it is given a clean chit or the security issues identified are corrected.

NIC Come Forward to ensure Public Fund Trusteeship, investigate on current e-Tendering

Dear egovINDIA Group Members,

It is a very serious concern on our serious efforts towards bringing in e-Governance to its Best Form in India. Bangalore One and a lot others, the main Culprit is being our Tendering Procedure, let us first investigate if our e-Governance initiative in its first stage of e-Procurement is appropriate or If We are Plinthing the Curruption Tower by way of e-Governance (e-Tendering).

“Does E-tendering is to fool the state, rob the people and go scot free.”

The functioning of the state is based on a strong process of checks and balances. This ensures that the state never makes prejudiced decisions.  This also ensures that the dealings of the state are always free, fair and transparent.

One process of the state is procurement.  The state is rarely subject to economic cycles of recession.  Even when the rest of the economy is reeling under recession, the state is still buying.  The procurement activity of the state is strictly guided by procedures such as tendering.  The process of tendering ensures that the state gets the best deal at the same time as allowing all qualified businesses to bid.

In the process of becoming all pervasive, information technology did not take long to come up with an eprocurement application.  The eprocurement applications targetted to the states procurement requirements are also known as eTendering applications.

Leveraging information technology for the states procurement process is a good thing.  It results in all the well known benefits of arising from application of information technology, lowered costs, increased efficiency, faster decision cycles, paperless, and so on.

But there are two important clauses of the tendering process.  All bids must be submitted in sealed envelopes, which are opened in presence of the participating bidders.  The wisdom of this is obvious.  The state cannot favour any particular bidder.  All the pages on the bids must be signed.  Again, the wisdom is obvious.  A page with a signature at the bottom gives essential legal sanctity to the document, and ties the signer with the statements on that page.

These were the hurdle seen by honest people, both in the government and in the solution provider space, in introducing information technology in the tendering process.  With efforts of these people, the parliament passed the Information Technology Act, 2000 on 9th June 2000.

In words of the Controller of Certifying Authorities (http://cca.gov.in):

Creating trust in electronic environment involves assuring the transacting parties about the integrity and confidentiality of the content of documents along with authentication of the sending and receiving parties in a manner that ensures that both the parties cannot repudiate the transaction. The paper based concepts of identification, declaration and proof are carried through the use of digital signatures in electronic environment. Digital signatures, a form of electronic signatures, are created and verified using Public Key Cryptography that is based on the concept of a key pair generated by a mathematical algorithm, the public and private keys.

The Information Technology Act, 2000 provides the required legal sanctity to the digital signatures based on asymmetric cryptosystems. The digital signatures are now accepted at par with handwritten signatures and the electronic documents that have been digitally signed are treated at par with paper documents.

With the passage of the IT Act, 2000, etendering could become a reality in this country.  Since the provisions of the act could be applied to the two important clauses of tendering.  The electronic bids could now be signed as well as sealed.

In absence of these measures, the following things could happen:

The bids submitted by a bidder could be viewed, by anyone who has access to the system where the bids are stored.  This is more incriminating the service provider rather than the state.  The service provider could have a nexus with a bidder to ensure that the bidder could get a report on who submitted which bid.
The bids submitted by a bidder could be modified.  This also incriminates the service provider more that it does the state.  The service provider could change the bid of a bidder.
A bidder can claim that the bid he submitted is not the bid being viewed, meaning that his bid was tampered with afte he submitted it.  This allegation, whether real or not, would jeopardise the careers of many honest state employees at the same time create ripples in the political arena.

If we look at the scale of procurement by the state, we will see figures like Rs. 15,000 crores in about 2 years.    Calculate, if you can, 1% of 15,000 crores.  Now all those who feel that the services providers of etendering applications not using digital certificates, and all their employees, were completely ethical at all times, raise your hands.

We need to get a full scale investigation and audit on all the tenders processed through all the etendering application which did not use digital certificates.

The state was definitely fooled, but if the people were robbed, the robbers should not get away scot free.

Please also refer my earlier postings on the same subject and be transparent to comment, i`m ready to rectify me if shared more lights on the subject, but it is of very serious concern to our Nation and Growth ( Just by purifying our Public Procurement System we can graduate to 4 times of our current Growth pattern ).

Shocking to know that NIC can also leverage to play with Public Fund in name of deployment of e-Governance & e-Procurement

I Invite eGovINDIA Group attention on implementing the Basic step towards e-Governance is to

1. Publish all Tendering Procedures at least initially in space of e-Governance.

2. There was a Tender from DOIT&C, Rajashthan for requirement of e-Procurement application Software for entire state. They had published the draft RFP and invited suggestion from all concerns for one month later they concluded and finalized it with a rock bottom price of The Best e-Procurement Application software with source code, Time will speak. We should appreciate the DOIT&C style of working, DOIT&C has got a professional style of working and you will find their dedication and hardworking attitude to bring in Transparency, We need several contributor like them for our e-Governance initiative. NIC should take a lesson out of it towards Transparency.

3. NIC had also invited a Tender far earlier compared to DOIT&C but appears to be working like NISG or in line of Bangalore One.

4. If you visit www.eprocurement.gov.in you will find that Andhra Pradesh is to implement ver2 of e-Procurement software and now it will be PKI enabled and will use Digital Signature and hence comply by Indian IT Act 2000. This Act is in existent since when e-Procurement in Andhra Pradesh was started, why this violation of security Breach and an open space to play around and conduct misappropriation with Public Fund (Rs. 15000/- Crore). Is their CVC, Act implementors, Technology experts like NISG, APTS, Deptt of IT, A.P. is not aware. A very serious concern of Public Fund utilization. Should it not be investigated and why the open Violation of IT Act is being egnored. In turn another Service Provider in India had enabled first e-Tender using Digital Signature in July 2003 (ensuring that technology was available)

5. I`m attaching few write ups for your attention and few documents for your ready refrence

6. I`m writing this to consider your concern and great expectation from NIC so as by us also, me do have very high regards and respect for NIC and its contribution in bringing us at par with any developed countries in space of ICT, but with this we should not loose our Grip and Accountability towards our Nation in Building Robust.

7. A brief on the Tendering Procedure for the same e-Procurement software invited by NIC for your reveiew. This award appears to be at a very exorbitant price, as we have already had a lot discussion in our group about the misuse of Public Fund in Andhra Pradesh, and also to remind you it is evident that NISG appears to be Mentor to C1 (Wellknown fact), i pray if NIC should not be, the following points will clarify:

Shocking to know that NIC can also leverage to play with Public Fund in name of deployment of e-Governance & e-Procurement

This is in reference to the article published on the website:

http://sify.com/news/thethursdayinterview/fullstory.php?id=13723365

stating that NIC is all set to go for an eProcurement system. We were actually waiting a good and transparent initiative from NIC to minimize the unfair practices in Public Procurement System and thus help Central Vigilence Commission who depends on NIC for ICT initiatives. The Tendering process of NIC for awarding the e-Procurement Application Software work order itself does not fulfil transparency and due diligence in finalizing a very sensitive IT application which can play around with much suffered and much needed Public Fund for over all Growth of our Nation.

Few points to be highlighted about the said procedure, check the same and set up a review commiittee and avoid doing a sin with Public Fund.

1. On what grounds, parameters proposed Vendors were shortlisted and Qualified or disqualified?

2. It was evidence that The Technical Reveiew Committee comprising of 7-8 members were not present during the Technical presentations? only 2-3 were present of the core committee members only and rest could have managed to get the signature on minutes of meeting later? This shows seriousness and concern of an Organization like NIC about the belief in Transparent Public Procurement System

3. The Technical Committee members visited Onsite places like Assam & Andhra Pradesh to review the existing system of the Vendors proposed e-Procurement application but not with all other qualified vendors during Technical evaluation? Why?

4. As per the News C1 was selected as awarded is very much schocking for one single reason, in the Tender Requirement, Security aspects were mandatory as per Indian IT Act 2000, and at that point of time in Andhra Pradesh the use of Digital Signature was not in place (It is to be effected from 1st march 2005 onwards, see www.eprocurement.gov.in) , had the Technical Committee members dream out about its availability(Obvious as they could be sleeping). A serious concern, this mockery with Indian IT Act 2000 is a issue before Government of Andhra Pradesh and our honourable court to notice if openly Acts could be taken for ride even on the concern of serious misapproapriation with Public Fund.

5. The other partner PWC alongwith C1 had its bad name in practicising unethical and non-Transparent practices for Public Procurement System as the case is pending in court about “Transmission Right of Cricket Match, tender invited by BCCI)

6. It is evident first by selecting a very expensive application to profit service provider is again a misappropriation with Public Fund, second compromising on Security aspect is to Lead abundant misappropriation with Public Fund in future and top of the same with duly certified by NIC. (We suggest NIC as being qualified and working since 1976 in favor of nation should first do a Security Audit for about Rs. 15000/- crore worth of Procurement done in Andhra Pradesh and also take cognizence as why An Indian Act (IT Act 2000) was Violated and then decide who is been chosen to trigger the National Growth.

7. Can i ask NIC to publish the detailed Tendering Procedure?

8. Similar case again had happened with DGS&D for selecting C1 to be the e-Procurement service provider, If DGS&D can publish details about selection procedure?

9. MCD had recently invited a Tender for e-Procurement on ASP basis and can you believe the final order is at what price, schoking price of Rs. 500/- per Tender and that is too from a respectful company ie; Wipro, so it is evident that e-Procurement is available at bottom price, so should it not be misaprropriation with the Public Fund.

10. I invite eGovINDIA Group attention in these lines so as of Dr N Vijayaditya

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 ???

NIC has joined hands with C 1 INDIA in eProcurement Scandle of the COUNTRY along with NISG, DIT and Govt. of INDIA !!

READ THE following more to come on this eProcurement issue of INDIA:

NIC eProcurement project irregularities in INDIA ???

Is NIC promoting this eProcurement Scandle ? I

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.

https://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/\n

This is with regard to the NIC tender for Supply, Installation, Testing,Training and Customization of eProcurement system (No.4(29)/2004-PS (T)) Published by JointDirector, (Purchase Section Technical), National Informatics Center, Ministry of Communications\nand Information Technology, Department of information Technology, A Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,New Delhi 110 003, Phone 011-2436-1605.

eGovINDIA Group want to\ninform you all the following:

1. In the prequalification criteria Page no.2, item no 2 (VI) NICsaid 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 whichhas”,

This is with regard to the NIC tender for Supply, Installation, Testing, Training and Customization of eProcurement system (No.4(29)/2004-PS (T)) Published by Joint Director, (Purchase Section Technical), National Informatics Center, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Department of information Technology, A Block, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110 003, Phone 011-2436-1605.

eGovINDIA Group want to inform you all the following:

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.

3. Further STQC experts also informed that the prequalification criteria is wrong.

4. Without listening to the STQC and ITI, NIC went ahead and executed the tender for eProcurement.

5. Interestingly (??) the consortium of PWC and C1 bagged the order form NIC.

6. How beautiful and professional this entire transaction is:

The PWC who is the consultant to GOAP is the Prime bidder of Consortium.

– The C1 which bagged the project from GOAP through the recommendations of PWC is the consortium partner.

– Though the pre-qulaification criteria was wrong and ITI as well as STQC have submitted the note to this effect, NIC went ahead and awarded the tender to PWC & C1 consortium.

– Now the NIC along with PWC and C1 can go to any state/central/PSU and deploy eProcurement project to enhance transparency (??). however there is no transparency in the NIC’s Procement itself?

Now eGovINDIA Group questions are:

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?<SPAN> 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 “,1] ); been refused by NIC orally.

3. Further STQC experts also informed that the prequalification criteria is wrong.

4. Without listening to the STQC and ITI, NIC went ahead and executed the tender for eProcurement.

5. Interestingly (??) the consortium of PWC and C1 bagged the order form NIC.

6. How beautiful and professional this entire transaction is:

– The PWC who is the consultant to GOAP is the Prime bidder of Consortium.

– The C1 which bagged the project from GOAP through the recommendations of PWC is the consortium partner.

– Though the pre-qulaification criteria was wrong and ITI as well as STQC have submitted the note to this effect, NIC went ahead and awarded the tender to PWC & C1 consortium.

– Now the NIC along with PWC and C1 can go to any state/central/PSU and deploy eProcurement project to enhance transparency (??). however there is no transparency in the NIC’s Procement itself?

Now eGovINDIA Group questions are:

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?</ SPAN> 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:// http://www.c1india.com/partners/partners.html#)

5. How to put an end to such nonsenses?

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

We\n have couriered the NIC tender document, ITI letters and other\ndocuments related to this tender to an attorney.
_____________________________________________________________________

RTI act 2005 is revealing more information.

Follow up on the above eProcurement Scandle by NIC, NISG, C 1 INDIA, MIT and Govt. of INDIA

1. ITI has taken up the issue with NIC’s project evaluation authority. However ITI is not ready to fight with NIC as ITI needs to keep themselves in good books of NIC.

2. The project has already been awarded to PWC & C1 Consortium for a high value.

3. Apparently STQC has also stated that the prequalification criteria is wrong.  This has been done through the request of NIC only.

4. eGovINDIA Group has seen the high handedness of “DELHI’S BAG MAN” Mr.Suresh Nanda in this entire transaction. Mr.Suresh Nanda is the Chairman of C1 who has involed in Scams like Bofors, but now talks transparency in public procurement.

5. ITI and STQC cannot do much as again they are government organisations and dependent on NIC for business.

6. eGovINDIA Group can write to respective authorities and prevent such violations as a part of our mission for the future.

This needs to be exposed now!!!!!”,1] ); http:// www.c1india.com/partners/partners.html#)

5. How to put an end to these nonsenses ?

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”?

We have couriered the NIC tender document, ITI letters and other documents related to this tender to an attorney.
_______________________________________________________________________________

RTI act 2005 is revealing more information.

Follow up on the above eProcurement Scandle by NIC, NISG, C 1 INDIA, MIT and Govt. of INDIA

1. ITI has taken up the issue with NIC’s project evaluation authority. However ITI is not ready to fight with NIC as ITI needs to keep themselves in good books of NIC.

2. The project has already been awarded to PWC & C1 Consortium for a high value.

3. Apparently STQC has also stated that the prequalification criteria is wrong. This has been done through the request of NIC only.

4. eGovINDIA Group has seen the high handedness of “DELHI’S BAG MAN” Mr.Suresh Nanda in this entire transaction. Mr.Suresh Nanda is the Chairman of C1 who has involed in Scams like Bofors, but now talks transparency in public procurement.

5. ITI and STQC cannot do much as again they are government organisations and dependent on NIC for business.

6. eGovINDIA Group can write to respective authorities and prevent such violations as a part of our mission for the future. This needs to be exposed now!!!!!

_______________________

About eGovINDIA

This is Mr. V. M. Kumaraswamy, MBA. in business since 1971. Founder and Moderator of India’s largest e-governance Yahoogroup under the title eGovINDIA. You can reach this group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eGovINDIA

INDIA RTI has taken up issues related Right to Information for all in INDIA. Right to Information in INDIA discussion group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/INDIARTI

\neGovINDIA, INDIA WBA, EKAVI and INDIA RTI\nhas taken up several matters and issues in their forum to discuss and\nto bring into national level and attention of CVC, CAG, CBI, CBEC,\nSupreme Court, High Courts, State Officials and Highest officials in INDIA. All News Papers will be included for wider circulation.

INDIA WBA has taken up the issues of WHISTLEBLOWERS in INDIA.

India WhistleBlower Act:The Action Group;http://groups.yahoo.com/group/INDIA_WBA

eGovINDIA is a group dedicated to promoting true e-governance in India,\nconsisting of members from all walks of life from within INDIA and the World over. Many State Ministers and senior bureaucrats of India are members of this group. We do have lawyers, social activists, freelance writers and journalists in the group. The group is meant for serious activists only. Casual members are not allowed to join the group. The group is also moderated by an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer. As on date, the group has more than 3100 members. “,

eGovINDIA, INDIA WBA, EKAVI and INDIA RTI has taken up several matters and issues in their forum to discuss and to bring into national level and attention of CVC, CAG, CBI, CBEC, Supreme Court, High Courts, State Officials and Highest officials in INDIA. All News Papers will be included for wider circulation.

INDIA WBA has taken up the issues of WHISTLEBLOWERS in INDIA.
India WhistleBlower Act:The Action Group;http://groups.yahoo.com/group/INDIA_WBA

eGovINDIA is a group dedicated to promoting true e-governance in India, consisting of members from all walks of life from within INDIA and the World over. Many State Ministers and senior bureaucrats of India are members of this group. We do have lawyers, social activists, freelance writers and journalists in the group. The group is meant for serious activists only. Casual members are not allowed to join the group. The group is also moderated by an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer. As on date, the group has more than 3100 members. The\nfocus of this group is true e-governance and use of open source\ntechnology in e-governance. The members of this forum have a passion to\nsee a truly e-governed India, resulting in transparency and easy access\nto government services by the common man, notably the depressed class\npeople (so called untouchables), women and people living in far flung\nand difficult areas of India.

Corruption is a stark reality in India. The recent reports put India in the worst category in corruption index. For the group members, e-governance means less corruption too. The least we expect out of e-governance is transparency.

The Driving Motivation

The essence of good governance is based on the premise that the laws and procedures are transparent, clearly defined & understood by those governed and the implementation is both quick and smooth. To this effect, the governance in a developing country is a challenge, because a majority of the governed (citizens) are educationally & socio-economically challenged. More so, in developing countries, where the governments are formed through democratic means, the challenge of governance is much larger as the governors themselves are at times not very clear on various rules and procedures as ‘Governance‘ per say is a dynamic process, that cannot be handled through static rules and procedures. Further, at times, the rules and procedures, though explicitly defined in the constitution or statutes, by themselves become hindrances in the path of governance due to lack of transparency and procedural clarities. “,

The focus of this group is true e-governance and use of open source technology in e-governance. The members of this forum have a passion to see a truly e-governed India, resulting in transparency and easy access to government services by the common man, notably the depressed class people (so called untouchables), women and people living in far flung and difficult areas of India.

Corruption is a stark reality in India. The recent reports put India in the worst category in corruption index. For the group members, e-governance means less corruption too. The least we expect out of e-governance is transparency.

The Driving Motivation

The essence of good governance is based on the premise that the laws and procedures are transparent, clearly defined & understood by those governed and the implementation is both quick and smooth. To this effect, the governance in a developing country is a challenge, because a majority of the governed (citizens) are educationally & socio-economically challenged. More so, in developing countries, where the governments are formed through democratic means, the challenge of governance is much larger as the governors themselves are at times not very clear on various rules and procedures as ‘Governance‘ per say is a dynamic process, that cannot be handled through static rules and procedures. Further, at times, the rules and procedures, though explicitly defined in the constitution or statutes, by themselves become hindrances in the path of governance due to lack of transparency and procedural clarities.

Hence, the solution to the foresaid lies in providing a mechanism that is quick, interactive and provides a clear repository of rules and regulations, which extend help in decision making for both the governors and the governed.

The mechanism can be easily defined as e- governance, that has the benefit of providing clear cut, transparent, interactive, easy to implement and just solutions (in dynamic mode) in the quickest possible time frame.

However, it is easier said than done, because in a developing country the access to basic amenities as food, water, clothing , shelter , basic education and health take the immediate planning priorities of the governors, that always move from ‘one crisis to another – Emergency Hospital Room situations‘ without having time to plan strategies to link the issues in a holistic perspective and address the root cause of the problems .

TheGovernors (policy & decision makers) need to be made aware on possibilities that are presented now with the advancement of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) that can collect, collate and analyze data from various sources among different sectors to view the economy holistically and support decision making processes in a transparent way.“,

Hence, the solution to the foresaid lies in providing a mechanism that is quick, interactive and provides a clear repository of rules and regulations, which extend help in decision making for both the governors and the governed.

The mechanism can be easily defined as e- governance, that has the benefit of providing clear cut, transparent, interactive, easy to implement and just solutions (in dynamic mode) in the quickest possible time frame.

However, it is easier said than done, because in a developing country the access to basic amenities as food, water, clothing , shelter , basic education and health take the immediate planning priorities of the governors, that always move from ‘one crisis to another – Emergency Hospital Room situations‘ without having time to plan strategies to link the issues in a holistic perspective and address the root cause of the problems .

The Governors (policy & decision makers) need to be made aware on possibilities that are presented now with the advancement of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) that can collect, collate and analyze data from various sources among different sectors to view the economy holistically and support decision making processes in a transparent way.

The Mission

The overarching mission of The eGovINDIA Consortium is that e-Governance can happen, provided the capacity building of both the governors and the governed take place on utilizing ICTs to the optimum capabilities. ICTs can facilitate the process of governance, provided at the grass root levels, the data are collected & collated in the standardized structural formats (Automated data collection & Collation Systems), converted into tangible Management Information Systems (MIS) from which the Decision Support Systems (DSS) can evolve.

DSS can help in supporting sustainable development across developing countries, as it would clearly differentiate between the solutions that are required by the unserved and the underserved and the affluent class. More so, the digital divide can be closed, provided a clear understanding of the needs for an e-Governance mechanism & infrastructure is understood. This would include a detailed understanding of the governance issues and processes at various levels of economy in different economic sectors across many classes.

The Mission

The overarching mission of The eGovINDIA Consortium is that e-Governance can happen, provided the capacity building of both the governors and the governed take place on utilizing ICTs to the optimum capabilities. ICTs can facilitate the process of governance, provided at the grass root levels, the data are collected & collated in the standardized structural formats (Automated data collection & Collation Systems), converted into tangible Management Information Systems (MIS) from which the Decision Support Systems (DSS) can evolve.

DSS can help in supporting sustainable development across developing countries, as it would clearly differentiate between the solutions that are required by the unserved and the underserved and the affluent class. More so, the digital divide can be closed, provided a clear understanding of the needs for an e-Governance mechanism & infrastructure is understood. This would include a detailed understanding of the governance issues and processes at various levels of economy in different economic sectors across many classes.

Once, a clear understanding of the e-Governance infrastructure need & process is established, Tool Kits suiting the requirements of various stakeholders (Urban and Rural) can be developed that can include the various Modules to advance public sector reforms and facilitate the planning processes. The Knowledge Maps and e-Government Toolkits of Urban and Rural stakeholders should\nthus be planned and prepared in two distinct and separate but possibly overlapping Modules.

Some of the issues that The eGovINDIA Consortium are advocating for include, but not limited to:

`Right to Information Act will empower common people’. An inalienable right conferred on citizens.  The eGovINDIA Consortium strongly advocate that ALL Governance in INDIA needs NRTI Act 2005 implemented effectively and properly to follow RTIA which means Responsibility, Transparency, Integrity and Accountability.

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.

Once, a clear understanding of the e-Governance infrastructure need & process is established, Tool Kits suiting the requirements of various stakeholders (Urban and Rural) can be developed that can include the various Modules to advance public sector reforms and facilitate the planning processes. The Knowledge Maps and e-Government Toolkits of Urban and Rural stakeholders should thus be planned and prepared in two distinct and separate but possibly overlapping Modules.

Some of the issues that The eGovINDIA Consortium are advocating for include, but not limited to:

`Right to Information Act will empower common people’. An inalienable right conferred on citizens. The eGovINDIA Consortium strongly advocate that ALL Governance in INDIA needs NRTI Act 2005 implemented effectively and properly to follow RTIA which means Responsibility, Transparency, Integrity and Accountability.

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”.

Localization of Languages which is a MUST for EFFECTIVE Implementation of eGovernance, RTI Act and all other Acts of INDIA. There are 20 to 22 official languages in INDIA. All ACTS of INDIA needs to be TRANSLATED into these official Langauges.

Only 5 % in INDIA speak English. Only 20 to 25 % in INDIA knows Hindi. 85% to 90 % of people speak there own STATE LANGAUGE. We need to CATER to these people. This should happen in INDIA. GOI needs to think about this for it’s future. Real RTI Activists who are in the field knows about this problems.

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”.

Localization of Languages which is a MUST for EFFECTIVE Implementation of eGovernance, RTI Act and all other Acts of INDIA. There are 20 to 22 official languages in INDIA. All ACTS of INDIA needs to be TRANSLATED into these official Langauges.

Only 5 % in INDIA speak English. Only 20 to 25 % in INDIA knows Hindi. 85 % to 90 % of people speak there own STATE LANGAUGE. We need to CATER to these people. This should happen in INDIA. GOI needs to think about this for it’s future. Real RTI Activists who are in the field knows about this problems.

Right to Info Act hits language barrier

http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID\u003d9593

Minister Dayanidhi Maran Says Only FIVE percent speak ENGLISH in INDIA. SO 95% of population needs to know RTI rules and regulations in different Languages of INDIA.

_________________

DARPG Guidelines:

Right to Info Act hits language barrier

http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=9593

Minister Dayanidhi Maran Says Only FIVE percent speak ENGLISH in INDIA. SO 95% of population needs to know RTI rules and regulations in different Languages of INDIA.

_________________

DARPG Guidelines:

E-mail is an efficient and timely communication tool used to carry out departmental activities and to conduct business within the Government of India, with business partners and with citizens. E-mail has become\nan important component of any office automation system. It expedites\nexchange of information, speeds up the decision making process and\nreduces paperwork, resulting in increased productivity, reduced costs and better delivery of services and programme’s.

http://darpg.nic.in/Content/Guidelines-emailDec04.doc

__________________________________________

 E-mail is an efficient and timely communication tool used to carry out departmental activities and to conduct business within the Government of India, with business partners and with citizens. E-mail has become an important component of any office automation system. It expedites exchange of information, speeds up the decision making process and reduces paperwork, resulting in increased productivity, reduced costs and better delivery of services and programme’s.

http://darpg.nic.in/Content/Guidelines-emailDec04.doc

__________________________________________

Right to information and obligations of public authorities

Subject to the provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have the right to information. 

Every public authority shall

(a) maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerized are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerized and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated;”,

Right to information and obligations of public authorities

3 Subject to the provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have the right to information.

4 (1) Every public authority shall—

(a) maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerized are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerized and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated;

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The eGovINDIA Consortium TEAM

The eGovINDIA Consortium consists of institutions and individuals of national and international repute having considerable experience and track record in the areas required for eGovernance. The key Consortium members understand Indian context, on going reforms in India and in other countries such as South Africa, etc, and worked with infoDev.org and other international development agencies.

The eGovINDIA Consortium have thoughtfully designed the team to include practitioners, technical people, administrators in the government (Indian Administrative Service (IAS)) and the private sector, researchers and trainers and reform champions of repute to meet the objectives of any work in the area eGovernance. The eGovINDIA Consortium team consists of individuals with experience in ICTs and e-governance in both Urban and Rural areas.

___________

The eGovINDIA Consortium TEAM

The eGovINDIA Consortium consists of institutions and individuals of national and international repute having considerable experience and track record in the areas required for eGovernance. The key Consortium members understand Indian context, on going reforms in India and in other countries such as South Africa, etc, and worked with infoDev.org and other international development agencies.

The eGovINDIA Consortium have thoughtfully designed the team to include practitioners, technical people, administrators in the government (Indian Administrative Service (IAS)) and the private sector, researchers and trainers and reform champions of repute to meet the objectives of any work in the area eGovernance. The eGovINDIA Consortium team consists of individuals with experience in ICTs and e-governance in both Urban and Rural areas.

Awards of Excellence for NIC e-Governance Projects

Awards of Excellence for NIC e-Governance Projects
	Anshu Rohatgi, NIC UP (with inputs from Ashesh Agarwal, NIC UP and Swarup Dutta, NIC HQ)
	Proud NICians and other dignitaries at the ‘Oracle Excellence in e-Governance Awards’ function Twenty Indian e-Government projects, implemented by National Informatics Centre were felicitated with the Oracle Excellence in e-Governance awards at the Oracle Open World held in Mumbai during January this year. The underlying theme of the awards was ‘Enabling Citizen Service Delivery and Innovations’. The awards were given in nine different categories including IT for efficiency, IT for Service Delivery, IT for Revenue, Capacity Building and IT for Globalising India. The projects were assessed by a renowned assessment agency, Skoch Consultancy Services, which in its presentation at the award ceremony, stated that NIC is the biggest provider of e-Governance solutions across the the country controlling over 22% market directly and another 40% of the market will use NIC applications or services in the coming years. Sh. Derek Williams, Executive Vice President, Oracle Asia-Pacific praising the efforts of NIC said, “Our awards recognise the e-government projects which are not only exemplary for their effectiveness in India but they also meet global standards of government work-flow automation and citizen services delivery”. The award for ‘Leading the Change’ was conferred to Dr. N Vijayaditya for his vision, leadership and the role he has played in computerizing various sectors like Treasuries, Customs, Passport, Judiciary, Transport, etc across the country, and for initiating projects that have touched the lives of millions of people, such as ASHA in Assam, e-Kosh in Chattisgarh, VICTORY in Bihar, CARD in Andhra Pradesh, Rural e-Seva in West Godavari District and many more. Dr. N Vijayaditya, DG NIC receiving award from Sh. Derek Williams, Exec. VP, Oracle Asia-Pacific Various NIC projects that won awards are: e-Panchayat – NIC Andhra Pradesh e-AWAS – Government Accommodation Management System, NIC HQ Computerization of Directorate of Pension, PF and Group  Insurance – NIC West Bengal CARD – Computer Aided Administration of Registration Department – NIC Andhra Pradesh Vahan and Sarathi – NIC Jharkhand LRMIS – Land Records Management Information System – NIC Andhra Pradesh e-Kosh – Online Treasury Computerisation – NIC Chhattisgarh Treasury Computerization System – NIC Rajasthan ITSANIC– Integrated Treasury System Application of NIC – NIC Uttar Pradesh IMPACT – Information Management and Promotion of Administration in Commercial Taxes – NIC West Bengal DC-CMS – District Courts Case Management System – COURTNIC, NIC HQ. Rural e-Seva – NIC Andhra Pradesh ICES – Indian Customs EDI System – NIC HQ. PLI & RPLI – Postal Life Insurance, Rural Postal Life Insurance – NIC HQ. Computerization of PAY & ACCOUNTS OFFICE – NIC Gujarat FAIS – Integrated Financial Accounting System – NIC Kerala ASHA – Assam Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium – NIC Assam VICTORY – VAT Information Computerization to Optimise Revenue Yields – NIC, Bihar ICS – Immigration Control System – NIC HQ. PCIS – Passport Control and Issuance System – NIC HQ. The projects were judged, on the basis of parameters such as Effectiveness, Innovation, Relevance, Significance and Replicability by a panel of judges including Dr. D B Phatak, IIT Mumbai and Dr. Gulshan Rai, ED, ERNET. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. N Vijayaditya, DG NIC said, ‘Consumption of ICT has unique challenges in the Government domain. Our challenge is to make a change, embedding our applications in the user community’. NIC e-Governance Projects were also in the limelight at the National e-Governance Awards function held in Kochi (Kerala) during the 9th National e-Governance Conference in February 2006. NIC Projects bagged four Gold, two Silver and three Bronze Icon Awards in the four different categories – Process Re-engineering, Service Delivery, Innovative Practices, and ICT Achievement of the year. Sh. M K Muneer, Hon’ble Minister for Public Works, Govt. of Kerala, distributed the awards, which have been constituted by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances and Department of Information Technology, and are given for exemplary initiatives in the field of e-Governance. The nominees were judged by a panel of experts on various parameters such as Strategic Planning and Implementation, Information and Analysis, Human Resource Focus, Process Management, Performance and Results. In the ‘Professional Excellence for Process Re-Engineering’ category following projects were awarded: HIMRIS – Himachal Registration Information System – Golden Icon Koshvani – Maharashtra – Silver Icon Dharitree – Assam – Bronze Icon HALRIS – Haryana – Bronze Icon In ‘Exemplary Leadership and ICT Achievement of the Year’ category, ASHA (Assam) won the Golden Icon award. ‘Outstanding Performance in Service delivery’ awards were conferred to: Lokvani – Uttar Pradesh – Golden Icon Vahan – Jharkhand – Silver Icon Awards in the category ‘Innovative Operations and Best Practices’ were given to: e-Pension – Himachal Pradesh – Golden Icon Result through Binocular – Haryana – Bronze icon NIC teams from different states that participated in the awards ceremony State Government & NIC team from Assam receiving awards for ASHA and Dharitree Haryana NIC team receiving the Bronze Icon award for HALRIS The Himachal team received two Golden Icons for HIMRIS as well as e-Pension NIC team from Uttar Pradesh received the Golden Icon award for Lokvani Dataquest e-Gov Champion Award 2006 Sh. S B Singh, STD & SIO, NIC UP State Unit, Lucknow was honoured with the ‘Dataquest e-Governance Champion Award 2006’ for the northern region. The Award is the first of its kind in India to recognise individuals for championing the cause of e-Governance in the country. It comes in addition to the Transformation Leadership Samman 2005 received by Sh. S B Singh from Lucknow Management Association in November 2005. Sh. R Chandrashekhar, AS & Coordinator e-Gov, DIT, Ministry of C&IT, Govt. of India presenting the award to Sh. S B Singh A jury comprising of industry experts, senior government officials, academicians and civil society selected Sh. Singh as the e-Gov Champion for developing and executing models that suit the needs of the industry, government and the citizens as well as for driving a highly motivated team of more than 200 IT professionals in Uttar Pradesh. These initiatives have helped in achieving ‘Good Governance’ in the state through ICT implementation. As per Dataqest, the aim and purpose of organising the ‘e-Gov Champion Award’ is to recognise, encourage and further disseminate novel e-Governance practices and delivery. The award recognises innovative e-gov solutions that break the traditional mode of public delivery mechanisms in day-to-day governance. It is part of a nation building exercise for driving high societal impact in bridging the digital divide, information gap and bringing in transparency in the governance process thereby enabling the country to meet the Millennium Development Goal of ‘Good Governance’. For more information, contact anshu.rohatgi@nic.in