Goa keen to know about Bengal’s Kanyashree & e-governance schemes

Goa keen to know about Bengal’s Kanyashree & e-governance schemes

Posted on December 14, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday highlighted the state’s achievement in electronic payments.

“Our unique initiatives in Bengal continue to show way to other states. Media reports that Goa is keen to know about our ‘Kanyashree’ and our e-governance in revenue management. In fact, Reserve Bank of India has appreciated our achievement of doubling tax revenue, and our use of electronic payment that can be a role model for other states,” the Chief Minister said on her Facebook page.

The Chief Minister further mentioned, “West Bengal is the first state to use the e-Kuber platform of RBI for electronic payment. More than 31 lakh transactions involving more than Rs 6000 crore was processed electronically in just October alone, giving huge pace to financial management work.”

“Bengal is ahead and striving to do even better,” the Chief Minister’s Facebook post said.

E-governance a reality by 2020: Amit Mitra

Posted on December 7, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

In a bid to come out ahead in the digital revolution race, the state government plans to put in place an e-governance structure by 2020.

Speaking at INFOCOM on Saturday, state finance, IT, commerce & industries minister Dr Amit Mitra said that as the first step, the state government is rolling out the optical fibre network under the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project.

He said that the target was to connect all the 3.354 gram panchayats in Bengal through the broadband network so as to spread e-governance to the last yard.

“All the district headquarters are already connected through the network and video conferencing between the district magistrates and Nabanna is a reality now. Mamata Banerjee wants the digital revolution to be spread to the grassroots,” he added.

According to Dr Mitra, 244 out of the total 247 registration offices in the state have already been connected through broadband. Besides, 341 blocks too have been connected through broadband and more than 7,000km of optical fibre line has already been laid in 565 gram panchayats.

Commenting on the telecom revolution in the state, Mitra said that the teledensity in West Bengal is now tou ching 75%. The urban teledensity in the state is 135.77% while that of rural Bengal is 49.8%. The mobile subscriber base in the state has crossed the 79 million mark out of 93 million people.

“What is most interesting is the internet connection in the state. There are 19.20 million internet subscribers in the state, out of which 7.03 million are rural individuals. This implies that rural Bengal is gradually becoming tech savvy,” the minister said.

Dr Mitra also stressed on the need to give major push to animation and startups.

“Bengal was always known for innovation, so I think we could do well in ani mation. I know Bengalies doing extremely well in this profession overseas,” he added.

Commenting on startups, he added that in the US, startups are the largest employment generator. He said he feels that this can happen here as well.

“We have already come out with a venture capital fund for MSME, which includes startups as well. A reality show on startups is being and we have already received around 1,500 applications from potential entrepreneurs,” Dr Mitra added.

Bengal shines at SKOCH Awards for smart governance

Posted on September 24, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Fair Price Medicine Shops and CCU in districts of West Bengal have been ranked best project in the country in the health sector and were honoured with the prestigious SKOCH Award of Excellence.

Also, Bengal is on the top spot nationally in Finance and amongst the top three states in Agriculture and Rural Development and Governance.

Kanyashree, e-Governance project of KMC, web-based integrated monitoring system of panchayat bodies and GRIPS of the Directorate of Commercial Taxes are also among the winners.

Overall, the award authorities have adjudged Bengal as the state with maximum improvement in performance during last one year.

Reacting to the honour for Bengal in various sectors, West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee wrote on her social media pages: “Hearty congratulations and best wishes to my entire ‘Paschimbanga Paribar’.”

e-Governance, tech-savvyness rules WB CM’s 100th admin review meet

Posted on July 16, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The 100th administrative meeting at Burdwan on Wednesday , was more of a corporate boardroom than a traditional government review meeting, where files were replaced with PowerPoint presentations and scribbled notes made way for pie-charts and Excel sheets.

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee’s administration showcased its tech-savvyness as much as its get-it done attitude. Ministers and bureaucrats alike were ready with PPTs and data sheers on their laptops.

The power-packed 150 minutes at Sanskriti Lok Mancha at Burdwan was a reflection of the e-Governance the administration has been boasting of. The Burdwan DM sat with a laptop loaded with PowerPoint presentations of every wing of the administration. Coloured bar charts showed the trends of every scheme in the district.

The West Bengal Chief Minister, who addressed almost half of the district office bearers by name, could point out achievements and trouble areas in every block. She picked five of the 49 police stations as sensitive. “I alerted police officials at Ketugram and Khandaghosh, which have a history of communal tension. I know where it is pinching the administration,“ she said.

All 200 district officials, who have a stock-taking meeting every month and the reports are either in the form of PDF or Excel sheets, had come prepared to face any question. Every official, even at the gram panchayat level, is now equipped with updated progress reports. They normally have video-conferencing twice a week. Moreover, all BDOs, SDO and higher up officials are connected over WhatsApp. So every detail is known to each official of the district

The West Bengal Chief Minister focused more on details of the progress. When officials said 100% girls’ schools now have toilets, she asked them to cross-check the figures “My information says that it is not entirely done and you have 1% left,“ she said. She had separate questions for every MLA. All through, the West Bengal Chief Minister conveyed the message that she means business. “I know there are cases of illegal mining in Asansol. Have we been able to tackle them?“ she asked the SP .

The AITC Digital Team was proactive during the 100th meet with live updates in the form of pictures and news.

WB Govt to launch Android app ‘Mati Katha’ for the benefit of farmers

Posted on June 24, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government is providing tablet PCs to officials of the State Agricultural department so that they can pass on the weather report and other valuable information to the farmers in the districts, state Agriculture Minister Purnendu Bose said.

There are 194 agricultural farms in the State and about 145 of them have already implemented this. Keeping in mind, the latest whether condition, focus will be on farming different varieties of paddy such as Tulaipanji, Gobindabhog and Kalo Munia.

West Bengal Government is also introducing an Android application that will link farmers with agricultural experts to provide solutions to their crop cultivation issues. Special agri-tech workers will relay the problems faced by farmers via an app to specialists who will aid in trouble-shooting.

The app ‘Mati Katha‘ has been created with the help of a team of agricultural experts and the state information technology agency WEBEL. 127 workers, who were recruited by the state government as part of the Krishi Proyukti Sahayak (KPS) or agri-tech assistants, will act as the inter-phase between the farmers and the specialists in six districts.

Kolkata emerges as national model in providing e-services

Posted on June 10, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Kolkata has emerged as a national model in providing e-services to citizens, Mayor of Kolkata, Sovan Chatterjee today informed via Twitter.

He added that Union Ministry of Urban Development has written to Kolkata Municipal Corporation to share the best practices model for other cities to emulate.

Bengal shows the way

This is not the first time, Bengal has emerged as a national model. From countering left-wing extremism in Jangalmahal to the fair price medicine shops, Bengal has always showed the way.

Incidentally, a recent survey by a Bangalore based organisation adjudged Kolkata as the best city to live in India. India Today magazine termed Kolkata as the safest city in India. Kolkata also emerged in the list of fastest growing cities in the world in AT Kearney’s Global Cities Index.

WB first in country to make online payment mandatory for Treasuries

Posted on April 7, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal is the first state in the country to make online payment mandatory for Treasuries, West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee said. “I am happy to share with all of you that West Bengal has become the first state in the country to make all payments mandatorily by the State Treasuries through online system under the e-governance platform,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said.

The West Bengal Chief Minister said henceforth, all employees, pensioners, beneficiaries of government schemes, recipients of scholarships, suppliers to the government, contractors, service providers would receive payments directly in their bank accounts from 88 Treasuries spread across the state through the IT network.

A dedicated team of about 7,000 officers were engaged to ensure the project runs smoothly, she said. “SMS alert automatically goes to the recipient the moment the Treasury clears the bill and instructs RBI for payment through the e-Kuber portal. West Bengal is again the first state to use this portal for this purpose,” the West Bengal Chief Minister added.

Bengal bags awards for e-governance and Kanyashree

Posted on January 21, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Actions speak louder than words. West Bengal has shown the way again. West Bengal Government has bagged prestigious National Awards for “Excellence in Government Process Reengineering” and “Outstanding Service in Citizen-Centric Service.” Bengal won Silver awards in both the categories, given away by the Central Government.

E-initiatives in Commercial Taxes:

The Finance Department of West Bengal has been awarded Silver Medal for the e-taxation project under the category of “Excellence in Government Process Reengineering”. The Finance Minister, Amit Mitra welcomed the decision. “The cutting edge use of e-taxation has revolutionized the ease of doing business and doubled tax collections here”, he added.

West Bengal’s tax revenues have gone up from Rs 21,000 crore in 2010-11, to about Rs 40,000 crore, which is historic.

Kanyashree Prakalpo:

The Department of Woman Development and Social Welfare, Government of West Bengal has been awarded Silver Medal for the “Kanyasshree Prakalpo” in the Category of “Outstanding Service in Citizen-Centric Service.”

The Chief Minister opened the Kanyashree Prakalpo, which consists of an annual stipend of Rs 500 for girls aged between 13 to 18, studying in school and providing one time grant of Rs 25,000 to unmarried girl between the age to 18 and 19 and who are undergoing study or training. About 11 lakh girls have already been enlisted and another 8 lakh sanctioned.