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

UNDP-APDIP Releases Publication on Open Standards

e-Primer on Free/Open Source Software: Open Standards 

Author: Nah Soo Hoe 
With a foreword by Peter J. Quinn
(c) UNDP-APDIP, Elsevier, 2006, 62 pages 
ISBN-13: 978-81-312-0538-9 
ISBN-10: 81-312-0538-X 

Find out more at: http://www.apdip.net/news/openstdsprimer 

========================================================================== 

In this age of information and communications technology, many 
governments
are moving towards open standards and frameworks.

Open standards ensure that products and services can inter-operate and 
work
together, even though they may be from different parties or entities. 
Open
standards ensure that the next purchase is not dictated by the last
purchase, thus, increasing users’ choices, access to products, 
information
and services, and opportunities for sharing and collaboration.

In addition to the advantage of increased competition for acquisition 
and
the ongoing operational expense, governments, businesses and other 
entities
can benefit from each others' efforts and share applications that each 
have
built.

This e-primer, with a foreword by Peter J. Quinn, introduces readers to 
what
open standards are and why they are important. It explains the
standard-setting processes and provides examples of open standards 
policies,
initiatives and formats. It also addresses the challenges faced in
implementing open standards.

This publication is part of the International Open Source Network’s
Free/Open Source Software e-Primer Series. Other titles include:

- A General Introduction 
- Education 
- Government and Policy 
- Localization 

Online versions of all FOSS e-Primers are available at
http://www.iosn.net/foss-primers.

Upcoming titles are focused on licensing, network security and
infrastructure, and open content.

The FOSS e-Primer series is produced by the International Open Source
Network <http://www.iosn.net>, an initiative of UNDP's Asia-Pacific
Development Information Programme <http://www.apdip.net> and supported 
by
the International Development Research Center <http://www.idrc.ca>, 
Canada.

Nasscom predicts 5 lakh jobs shortage by 2010

Nasscom predicts 5 lakh jobs shortage by 2010

Freedom of academia stressed for increasing ’employability’

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

CHENNAI: Nasscom today predicted that the IT sector would face a shortage of five lakh professionals by 2010, and expressed grave concern over the non-availability of qualified manpower for the industry.<br> Delivering his key note address at the Nasscom HR Summit in Chennai, the industry body’s President, Kiran Karnik, said that the shortage would not mean lack of manpower, but the ’employability’ of those people who would be passing out by 2010, ‘which is not too far.’

“The IT and ITeS companied require not only people with technical skills but also soft skills. For solving this problem, there needs to be an interaction between the Industry and the academia, which has already been initiated,” he said.

Stating that though the country had embarked upon economic reforms, thought was not given to “drastic educational reforms”, leading to the present situation, he said, stressing on the fact that, academia should be reformed completely.

“Universities should be removed from “all clutches” and be given full autonomy in framing curriculum, paying for best faculties and charging the fees also,” he said blaming the ‘Indian educational bureaucracy’ for the present scenario.

“It is ridiculous that the universities should get the permission of University Grants Commission in New Delhi to start new courses. This attitude should be removed,” he said further.

Karnik said that innovation and creativity would be the key leaders in driving the business in the coming years and they should also be the key for the research and development.

“Liberate the universities and give them freedom and autonomy. This will also bring foreign exchange to the tune of 3 billion dollars,” he said.

Karnik was also critical of the present education system. Only a few educational institutions are producing quality students, he said.

Expressing concern over the non-availability of quality teachers in the universities and colleges, he said the best of the students went to serve the industry. The industry should come out with innovative ideas to retain talent in the teaching profession, which alone could be an answer to the problems, he said.

“Centers of Excellence should be created in several parts of the country, where the students from abroad could pursue education. This would bring in lot of foreign exchange,” he said adding right from the 1950s there were only 6 IIMs and 8 IITs for such a big country such as India.

Talking on the occasion, Tamil Nadu government IT secretary C Chandramouli said the state would soon come out with a new IT and ITeS policy.

“The industry should give inputs to the government for ‘actionable plans’ and incorporation in the new policy,” he said, adding that unless it is done there was no point of talking about Chennai being made on the sidelines of the Silicon Valley.

© CyberMedia Newshttp://www.ciol.com/content/news/2006/106071808.asp

How can NASSCOM do this, When NASSCOM is supporting NONACCOUNTABILITY and being a partner with NISG ?

Nasscom to make India ‘Fort Knox’ of IT sector

[ How this can be done by NASSCOM when NASSCOM is MAJORITY partner in NISG ?}

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=13&articleid=71420062247148437142006224520437

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Aims to get 70 pc workforce listed in a centralised database; in touch with engg colleges for the same

Sanjiv Kumar

New Delhi: The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) is bullish on its National Skills Registry (NSR) initiative and is targeting 25 IT majors for this drive in the next two months. The aim is to improve recruitment in the IT-ITeS sector which is suffering from ever-increasing incidents of frauds and fake CVs.

Since its launch in January, about 18 IT firms – including Mphasis, TCS, Genpact, NIIT, Cognizant and ICICI OneSource – have already come forward to join the NSR. “The target for the next two-three months is to get all the top 25 companies, which account for 70 per cent of the workforce within the IT-ITeS sector, to enrol for the NSR,” Nasscom President Kiran Karnik told Mumbai Mirror.

What is the NSR?

The NSR is an initiative undertaken by the apex industry body to create, operate and maintain a national database of employees working in the IT-BPO industry in India.

It contains third-party verified personnel, their qualifications and basic career information of IT professionals.

According to Karnik, the inclusion of big IT-BPO players in the NSR, which is an employee-friendly measure to minimise any misuse of employee identity, will inspire small firms to join the novel league.

“We aim to make India the Fort Knox of security, positioning ourselves as the ‘gold’ standard for security as we already are in quality,” he added.

It won’t be easy!

In an industry that employs over 4,00,000 persons and sees a churn of nearly 4,000 agents every week, maintaining and updating a database like the NSR is an uphill task, according to some industry experts.

Admitting that the NSR will take some more time to be operational, Karnik still felt that the NSR was the need of the hour to ensure smooth development of the domestic IT industry which could be threatened by the slightest problem with physical security and governance.

After all, these issues, if not properly handled, could derail growth and hopes of the IT industry. According to a joint Nasscom-McKinsey study, the IT-BPO exports are expected to reach $60 billion in 2010, from just over $17 billion last year.

Engineering students welcome too

Besides IT and BPO firms, Nasscom is also in touch with engineering graduates to sign up for the NSR. “Letters have already been sent by Nasscom to heads of institutions like IITs, NITs and several private engineering colleges with NSR details and an outline of the advantages it offers,” Karnik stated. Nasscom has also urged these institutions to share the information among the Final Year students.

The association plans to hold roadshows in major cities on the issue. Such shows have already been held in metros.

Why NASSCOM alone should partner with NISG ? Why not MAIT ? FICCI ? CII ? UNDP ? DFID ? World Bank ? Infodev ? CIDA ? or any other agency who are ready to pump in more money for Public Private partnership.

Why NASSCOM alone should partner with NISG ? Why not MAIT ? FICCI ? CII ? UNDP ? DFID ? World Bank ? Infodev ? CIDA ? or any other agency who are ready to pump in more money for Public Private partnership.

All These emails are WRITTEN by SAMEER SACHDEV

Who currently an employee of NISG.

When he wrote these emails he was not an employee of NISG. 

NISG hired him so that he does not write against NISG.

NISG is PRIVATE NOT-FOR-PROFIT Company owned by 51% by NASSCOM and 49% by Govt. of INDIA.
________________________________________________________

— In India-egov@yahoogroups.com, "Sameer Sachdeva"
<sachdeva_sameer@y…> wrote:
>
>
> Thursday, March 24, 2005
> Cabinet
>
>
> EQUITY PARTICIPATION IN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SMART
GOVERNMENT
> ——————————————————————–
>
> 16:36 IST

The Union Cabinet today approved the establishment of the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) as a Section 25 not-for- profit Company with equity of 49 per cent by government and 51 per cent by the private sector.

> The Cabinet also approved the Contribution of Equity of Rs. One crore each by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances and the Department of Information Technology. Thus, the total Central Government Equity would be of Rs.2 crore.
________________________________________________________________

From: "Sameer Sachdeva" <sachdeva_sameer@…>
Date: Thu Mar 24, 2005  7:06 am
Subject: NISG share pattern

Dear Umashankarji,

The Share-holding pattern of NISG as obtained from NISG website (MOA)
is as under:
http://www.nisg.org/corpinfo.htm

1. Ajay Kumar Agarwal, S/o Shri Krishna Murari Lal Agarwal,
Secretary,
For and on behalf of President of India, Ministry of Personnel,
Public Grievances and Pensions
Government of India, North Block, New Delhi – 110 001
160 Equity Shares of Rs.100/- each (One Hundred and Sixty only)
Total Amount : Rs 16000

2. Rajeeva Ratna Shah, S/o Shri Janardhan Das Shah, Secretary
For and on behalf of President of India, Department of Information
Technology, Government of India
Electronic Niketan, 6 CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
160 Equity Shares of Rs.100/- each (One Hundred and Sixty only)
Total Amount : Rs 16000

3. Kiran Karnik, S/o Shri Sharadchandra Karnik, President
For and On behalf of National Association of Software and Services
Companies, International Youth Centre, Teen Murti Marg, Chanikya
Puri, New Delhi – 110 021
520 Equity Shares of Rs. 100/- each (Five Hundred and Twenty Only)
Total Amount: Rs 52000

4 Rentala Chandrashekhar, S/o Shri Rentala Ramachandra Rao,
Officer on Special Duty (NISG)
For and On behalf of President of India Government of India, 4007,
Electronics Niketan, 6, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
160 Equity Shares of Rs.100/- each (One Hundred and Sixty only)
Total Amount : 16000

Ministry of Personnel : 16000
Ministry of IT : 16000
Ministry of IT: 16000
NASSCOM : 52000

GOI share value 48000
NASSCOM share value 52000

Current Shareholder pattern 48 % and 52 %

For just Rs52000 one can hold majority stake in NISG which is going to decide GOI investment of Crores of rupees ?

Is it PPP ?

Regards,

Sameer
_________________________________________________________________________

From: "Sameer Sachdeva" <sachdeva_sameer@…>
Date: Thu Mar 24, 2005  7:14 am
Subject: Authorized and paid up share capital

Share Capital

(4) The Authorised Share Capital of the Company shall be Rupees
Twenty Five crores and be divided into Twenty Five Lakh shares of
Rupees One Hundred each will power to increase or reduce such capital.

(5) The paid up share capital shall be owned by the following
Government and non-Government entities. It is clearly understood
that the percentage of holding mentioned against each entity
hereunder shall not ordinarily exceed the specific percentage against
their respective names and in any case shall not exceed twenty four
(24) percent. However, it shall be open for such entities to take
lesser percentage, if they so wish.

Name of entities Percentage of
paid capital
Not exceeding

Group – A

Government of India
Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances 10

Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology 10

State Govt. of Andhra Pradesh 10
Other States 9
Other Central Govt. Ministries/Department/
Agencies/Organisations 5
Local Bodies 5

Group – B

NASSCOM 10

Industry Associations 10

Civil Society 10

Financial Institutions 10

Others 11
Total 100

Further, at any point of time, the total shareholding of Entities /
Institutions / Organisations, Central and State Government as
included in Group – A, would not in any case exceed Forty Nine (49)
percent of overall paid up capital of the company.

———————————————————————————————————————–

From: "Sameer Sachdeva" <sachdeva_sameer@…>
Date: Thu Mar 24, 2005  6:30 am
Subject: Re: Sh. Umashankar Concerns for NISG (india-egov effect)

Dear Umashankarji,

Please find a status note available on the website of DARPG

http://darpg.nic.in/Content/onlinedoc29.asp?slno=32

It clearly indicates the partnership of each stakeholder and reasons why it had been reduced.

This is the truth of Public Private Partnership across the country.

NISG is an example where a 50 Crore / 50 Crore partnership reduces to 1 crore each.

In such circumstances why NASSCOM alone should partner ?

Why not MAIT ? FICCI ? CII ? UNDP ? DFID ? World Bank ? Infodev ? CIDA ? or any other agency who are ready to pump in more money for Public Private partnership.

And it is therefore that I always suggest that let NIC take initiative.

Let e-Governance like Governance remain with Government.

When the foundation is weak the building will fall. Looking for your feedback.

regards,

Sameer

Online Documents
National institute of SMART Government Back
STATUS REPORT

Setting up of the National Institute of Smart Government was one of
the 108 recommendations made by the National Task Force on
Information Technology and Software development. Out of these 108
recommendations, Ministry of Personnel was required to process 8
recommendations and Recommendation No 97 related to the proposal for
setting up of the National Institute of Smart Government. A reference
was also received from Govt of Andhra Pradesh that they are also
working on giving shape to the concept of precisely such an institute.

Government of India provided support to the Government of Andhra
Pradesh for preparation of a project report on the feasibility of
setting up the institute. This feasibility report on NISG, prepared
by a consultant Dr. N Janardhan engaged by the Government of Andhra
Pradesh was received in January 2000. The Feasibility report
envisaged an investment in excess of Rs 145 crores. In absolute terms
the suggestion inter alia implied an investment of Rs 50 crores by
the Departments of Government of India, Rs 10 crores by the
Government of Andhra Pradesh and Rs 50 crores by the NASSCOM as
permanent promoters. However in the discussions that followed, it
came to light that NASSCOM would not be in a position to make
investments to the tune of Rs 50 crores.

A meeting was taken by the Secretary to the Prime Minister on 10th
February, 2000 to discuss issues relating to setting up of the
institute. It was decided to examine the possibility of setting up
the proposed institution as part of an existing Institute in
collaboration with the private sector. Accordingly, NASSCOM was
approached to prepare the project proposal. NASSSCOM had submitted a
Concept Paper on 14th March 2001.

The matter was placed before the High Powered Committee chaired by
the Cabinet Secretary in its meeting on 12th April 2001. The High
Powered Committee, decided that the Executive Committee should go
into the basic issues of the setting up of the National Institute of
e-Governance in the light of proposal received from NASSCOM,
recommendations made by the Expert Group on the Government Portal
headed by Sh Subas Pani, and the views of the Ministry of Information
Technology.

The Executive Committee in its meeting held on 18th April 2001
decided that the matter needed discussion with key stakeholders.
A meeting of the stakeholders was accordingly convened on 12th
June2001. It generally endorsed the Concept Paper received from
NASSCOM and also recommended that, taking various factors into
account, Hyderabad may be the preferred location of the NISG.
Subsequently, a Business Plan was also received from NASSCOM.

A meeting of the stakeholders was convened in the Prime Minister's
Office on September 12, 2001 and again on January 18, 2002. Based
on the decision of the High powered Committee in its meeting held on
January 11, 2002 and subsequent discussions held in PMO on January
18, 2002 following action has so far been taken:

i. Orders appointing Shri R. Chandrasekar, Joint Secretary, DIT as
OSD for the project have been issued.
ii. An O.M. constituting the Search Committee for CEO of NISG has
also been issued.
iii. Action for registration of NISG as a Company under Section 25 of
the Companies Act, 1956 is being taken by DIT through NASSCOM.
iv. The preparation of EFC proposal has been initiated.

It is envisaged that the Institute will have Rs.10 Crores equity with
49:51 ratio of Government and non-government share. NASSCOM has
tentatively agreed to invest Rs 1 Crore. Provision of Rs.10 crores
have been made for NISG under the Xth Five Ytear Plan of the
Department of AR&PG. This amount is proposed to be disbursed to the
NISG by way of equity, grant and corpus fund. The Department of
Information technology proposes to provide a matching grant of Rs.10
crores in the same proportion. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has
agreed to provide Rs.1 crore towards equity and land to the tune of 4
acres.

In the meeting of the HPC held on March 26, 2002, a presentation
was made by Shri R.Chandrashekar about the detailed road map for NISG.

All actions necessary for the setting up of NISG are currently
underway. Name availability of "National Institute of SMART
Government" has been confirmed. Memorandum and Articles of
Association of the Company as private section 25 not-for-profit
company have been prepared and signed by the initial promoters,
namely, Department of IT, Department of Administrative Reforms & PG,
Government of India and NASSCOM. The formal application for
registration of company at Hyderabad has been filed with the Regional
Director, Companies at Chennai and the Registrar of Companies (ROC),
Hyderabad on 13 and 14 May 2002, respectively. The necessary action
for selection of Chief Executive Officer for the Institute is also
underway. Department of Information Technology has released Rs 1.0
Crore to NASSCOM towards their share of equity and for pre-operative
expenses. Action has also been initiated with the Government of Andra
Pradesh for release of their contribution towards the equity of NISG
and for formal handing over of the Officer space at IIIT Hyderabad to
NISG.

Secretary Personnel has been nominated as one of the promoter
Directors

— In India-egov@yahoogroups.com, "Sameer Sachdeva"
<sachdeva_sameer@y…> wrote:
>
>
> Thursday, March 24, 2005
> Cabinet
>
>
> EQUITY PARTICIPATION IN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SMART
GOVERNMENT
> ——————————————————————–
>
> 16:36 IST

The Union Cabinet today approved the establishment of the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) as a Section 25 not-for- profit Company with equity of 49 per cent by government and 51 per cent by the private sector.

> The Cabinet also approved the Contribution of Equity of Rs. One crore each by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances and the Department of Information Technology. Thus, the total Central Government Equity would be of Rs.2 crore.
________________________________________________________________

UNDP Funds Invested in NISG, a private limited company which does not come under Indian Parliament control procedures and NISG’s non transparent Activities, raising serious concerns about the credibility of the UNDP in India.

UNDP Funds Invested in NISG, a private limited company which does not come under Indian Parliament control procedures and NISG's non transparent Activities, raising serious concerns about the credibility of the UNDP in India.

—————–
Forwarded Message:

Subj: UNDP Funds Invested in NISG, a private limited company which does not come under Indian Parliament control procedures and NISG's non transparent Activities, raising serious concerns about the credibility of the UNDP in India.

 

Date:

11/9/2005 9:43:21 A.M. Pacific Standard Time

Mr. Kemal Dervis 

Administrator

United Nations Development Programme
One United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 USA
Telephone: (212) 906 5317
Fax: (212) 906 5364

kemal.dervis@undp.org

Dear Mr. Kemal Dervis,

Ref: UNDP Funds Invested in NISG, a private limited company which does not come under Indian Parliament control procedures and NISG's non transparent Activities, raising serious concerns about the credibility of the UNDP in India.

I am V. M. Kumaraswamy, a non resident Indian living in USA for the past 30 years.  I am located in California, USA. I moderate India's largest e-governance yahoo-group  under the title eGovINDIA. You can reach this group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eGovINDIA

 eGovINDIA is a discussion 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 moderated by an Indian Administrative Service  (IAS) Officer apart from me.  As  on date,  the group has nearly 2200 members.

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.

UNDP had come forward to promote e-governance in India in a large way. We are thankful to the UNDP's  gesture. We are aware that UNDP had committed for the e-governance of India to the tune of $30 millions in the next three –four years. From the funds already provided by UNDP, a private limited company named National Institute of Smart Government (NISG) had been formed in a place called Hyderabad (nearly 1700 k.ms from Delhi). Under a Memorandum of Understanding between UNDP and the Government of India, the NISG had been formed. As per NISG's constitution, the company can never be a Government company. It would always remain a private limited company, away from the Controls of the Government.

So far, whatever money that had been used by NISG had come from UNDP only. No private partner had come forward to invest in it. NASSCOM, which is the largest private partner in NISG had not invested any amount in NISG, save for some software contribution which is unnecessary as open source software is available totally free of cost. UNDP had committed its $30 million to be spent only through the NISG. In short NISG means UNDP.

You must be aware that a private limited company in India cannot be supervised by the Indian parliament. For any Government sector company, the Indian Parliament has supervisory powers through its powerful Parliament Committees, such as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).  The Parliament's writ does not cover any Private limited company in India. Similarly any Government owned company comes under the supervision of Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (Federal Police). CBI is a powerful anti corruption police at the disposal of the Federal Government of India. But neither of these organizations has any role to play with regard to a private company such as NISG.

The Higher Judiciary, notably the High Courts and Supreme Court of India have writ jurisdictions in the case of State's roles. These are extra ordinary powers to check unlawful and corrupt activities where State's funds are involved. The higher judiciary's writ jurisdiction does not extend to the private companies.

In short NISG which had been formed under the auspicious of UNDP had been left free of any control mechanism in India to be handled by three – four bureaucrats in India.

Our concern with regard to NISG which is solely funded by UNDP goes beyond this.

True e-governance comes only through process automation based governance which calls for total involvement of the government machinery.

NISG had skirted this issue completely and has been championing the so called private public partnership (PPP). The PPP model promoted by NISG has been found to be a bill collection event so far, where the private partner collects the utility bills which does not involve any e-governance. This is tantamount to corruption in  a sense as the funds meant for good governance / e-governance are being diverted for other purposes.

The PPP model goes against the egalitarian principle as this can never work in rural areas of India where 75% of India's population resides.

NISG had not commenced any effort so far in the last one year, involving process automation based e-governance which is the actual e-governance.

This is just one of our concerns and there are much more serious concerns pointing to corrupt activities involving  NISG.

NISG is chaired by Mr.J.Satyanarayana, an IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh who had been found to be corrupt by an independent media – DATAQUEST.

Dataquest is one of the largest circulated IT magazines in India. This reputed magazine had found out that Mr.J.Satyanarayana had favoured only one company in majority of his decisions. The story goes back to his earlier days when he served as Secretary to Government in Andhra Pradesh. As Secretary to Government of Andhra Pradesh, Mr.J.Satyanarayana had cooperated in a scandal called e-seva. The Comptroller and Auditor General had adversely commented about this project stating that the selection procedure was not transparent. Records indicate that Mr.J.Satyanarayana has been promoting the same company (M/s Ram Infotech / CMS consortium) in other states. Notable among them is the Bangalore One project for which Mr.J.Satyanarayana and his NISG acted as Project Managers. For Bangalore One Project Mr.J.Satyanarayana had selected the very same consortium by fabricating the tender documents. These are serious allegations which may bring disrepute to UNDP in the days to come unless immediate and impartial action is taken to do course correction.

I also wish to bring to your notice about the funding made by NISG from out of UNDP funds during July, last year (2004). NISG had failed to host the details of the funding in its website. For that matter NISG has been revealing very little about what it does with its funding. Good governance through such implementing partners cannot be obtained by UNDP.

 In the absence of the voluntary information from NISG we get information that the entire funding  or the major portion had been given  to nondescript NGOs for promotion of "good governance". No one knows the outcome of such funding. India needs such funds for true e-governance activities. But NISG under Mr.J.Satyanarayana does not seem to be interested in true e-governance.

There is a valid doubt that Mr.J.Satyanarayana might have chosen the agencies which are either related to him or just friends.

There are substantiated allegations (through Dataquest report) that NISG under the leadership of Mr.J.Satyanarayana had rigged the tenders using UNDP's funds. The authors of this scam had no reply when Dataquest had sought their response quoting specific details. It had also been confirmed through this report that Mr.J.Satyanarayana has been promoting a company called Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) in all his dealings, ignoring canons of justice and fair play.

More details are available in the Dataquest website itself:

http://www.dqindia.com/content/DQTop20_05/BestEmployers2005/2005/105090203.asp

NISG has been promoting yet another company under the leadership of  Mr.J.Satyanarayana. The name of the company is C1 India Limited. This company bagged a contract for E-PROCUREMENT through Mr.J.Satyanarayana when he was Secretary to Government, IT Department in Government of Andhra Pradesh. The tender was finalized by PWC on limited tender basis which is illegal. Commerce One India which subsequently became C1 India Limited was hand picked by Mr.J.Satyanarayana and the entire tender procedure was an eye wash. There are allegations that PWC, the pet partner of Mr.J.Satyanarayana conducted the tender evaluation for this project in its Mumbai office without any representation from Government of Andhra Pradesh which is a gross impropriety. The ultimate case of deceit can be found from the fact that the very same consultant – PWC, after choosing C1 India as the implementing company had joined them in the execution of the project in Andhra Pradesh itself. Consultant cannot join the implementing partner at all. This is barred in any international scheme of things. This is not permissible in India too.

As on date, C1 India and PWC jointly bid for the e-procurement contracts with various state governments all over India.

NISG has started promoting C1 India Limited along with PWC in other States in the area of e-procurement. Our latest information is that NISG has been persuading the Government of Karnataka to accept this duo for implementing e-procurement system in that State.

As all of us in India knew that NISG means UNDP. Any bad reputation accrued to NISG is directly attributed to UNDP.

Does UNDP want to earn the tag "Corrupt" through NISG?

This is a serious question to be addressed by you when you are in India.

Failure to promote open source software but very proactive in promoting Microsoft's proprietary technology:

Unlike the rest of the world and against the proclamation of UNDP that it would promote open source software in governments and public services, NISG has been consciously promoting Microsoft products only at a huge cost. To our knowledge, as on date, NISG had not taken up even  a single open source software project. This is matter for your inquiry.

I am sure you would see the scheme behind formation of NISG by the bureaucrats who are in the helm of affairs of NISG today both at Hyderabad and in New Delhi. The Joint Secretary of Ministry of IT and e-governance in Government of India who is in the governing body of NISG is Mr.Chandrasekhar IAS.,

Mr.Chandrasekhar IAS., was a predecessor of Mr.J.Satyanarayana in Andhra Pradesh Government in the same department.

The two of them control the NISG fully. The two of them have configured the NISG as a totally control free private limited company.

We are all aware that Mr.Chandrasekhar has the final say in permitting or not permitting UNDP to invest in developmental activities in India.

What are the reasons behind creating NISG in this way is a question that has to be looked into by you during your stay in India.

To part with,  I wish to bring to your notice that the Government of India's budget for e-governance spending in the next five years is expected to  be Rs.25,000 crores ( one billion dollars). The world bank had already committed US $ 500 millions recently. Right now it is expected that NISG would play a major role in spending this money!

Whose money is it anyway?

It is the public money that is proposed to be routed through NISG which is out of the controls of Government of India, save for the supervision of two or three bureaucrats whose integrity is grossly suspect.

So far, the officials of UNDP in Delhi had failed to look into the long term implications of these corrupt deviations in terms of the credibility of UNDP.

The very fact that the claim of the officials of NISG that they had looked into the complaints  against them and found them to be unsubstantiated shows that things are not happening the way UNDP would like it to happen.

UNDP cannot be a mute  spectator anymore.

UNDP has to seek withdrawal of its association from NISG. It would be just and proper for UNDP to realign with a Government of India organization such as National Informatics Centre (NIC) which is fully under the control and supervision of the Indian parliament.

This would save the name of the UNDP for the time being and in the long run too.

I hope I have made things clear for you to do the follow up.

Thanks.

V.M.Kumaraswamy, MBA

949-857-8578 and 714-357-0206

USEFUL LINKS for UNDP.

NISG has been incorporated as a not-for-profit Company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, at Hyderabad on the 28th of May 2002.

The following is the important corporate information.

Memorandum of Association ( Click here to download )   http://www.nisg.org/docs_pdfs_ppts/docs/MOA.docArticles of Association ( Click here to download)   http://www.nisg.org/docs_pdfs_ppts/docs/AOA.docAuthorized share capital of NISG : Rupees Twenty Five Crores

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