DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (2005-2006)

The Government of Sikkim has placed I.T. Enabled Services and E- Governance high on its agenda. The mission statement of the Department has been: Better governance through the use of information tools, income and employment generation through private sector participation and empowerment of rural communities. Keeping these objectives in mind, the Department had taken up various activities and projects for spreading the use of IT at both rural and urban areas since its inception. The specific areas in which the Department made concerted efforts and important events have been reflected below:

COMMUNITY INFORMATION CENTERS

          The department of Information Technology established Community Information Centers (CICs) all across the state as part of the Government of India funded project. The establishment of CICs across the state, even in areas as remote as Dzongo, has exposed a large section of population to the use of computers in daily life. This has greatly increased the government’s interface with the public and enhanced the quality of some state services. CIC will ultimately evolve into a single window delivery facility where citizen’s can pay their taxes, electricity bills, water bills and even get births and deaths can be registered online.

        Sikkim received the Skoch Challenger Award after being adjudged the best in the field of disseminating Information Technology concepts at the grass root level. CIC Temi was given highest rating amongst all CICs. A 10 minute film on Sikkim titled “Towards Progress” was also premiered highlighting CIC Temi. The award was received on 28th March 2006 by State’s Rajya Sabha MP, Shri O.T. Lepcha on behalf of Chief Minister, from Hon’ble Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Shri. Mani Shankar Aiyer at Annual Skoch Summit held in New Delhi.

COMPUTER TRAINING PROGRAMMES

         As a part of the NEC funded project, two multipurpose training centers were established at Gangtok & Namchi to impart training to Government Employees. Computers were introduced in the Government Departments with a view to increase the working capability and efficiency of the Government employees. The Department of Information Technology proposes to train all the state government employees in the use of computers, as it would help in improving the efficiency and boosting the productivity of the employees. For this purpose the IT Department had been conducting training courses for government employees, but due to lack of space and manpower, the training course had to be discontinued.

In the year 2005, the computer training programme for Government employees (All Groups) was reintroduced. Twenty-seven batches of training were conducted in the year 2005-2006 in which 277 government employees were trained in the use of computers.

         As part of Government of Sikkim’s decision of announcing the year 2005 as “The Youth Revolutionary Year”, the department of Information Technology has started a computer course free of cost at all CICs of Sikkim, to the youth of the state. The course commenced from last week of February 2005. 441 youths have been trained all over the state through this programme.

       A 2 months computer training course in Visual Basic and SQL Server for government employees was conducted from 19th April 2005. Training was imparted to 15 government employees.

       A 2 week training programme in website development and maintenance for government employees was conducted from last week June 2005 in which 9 employees were trained in this programme.

      Computer training programme for Government Employees (All Groups) has also been started at Namchi District Office from 5th December 2005 onwards in which 42 Government Employees were trained in the use of computers.

       Vocational training programme for students of various schools viz. Enchey Senior Secondary School, West Point Senior Secondary School, Ranipool Senior Secondary School, Lingdok Senior Secondary School and Tashi Namgyal Senior Secondary School was being conducted at the Multipurpose Training Center, above NIC. The training was conducted from 2nd December to 31st December 2005. The students were taught the use of HTML, Flash, Internet and Computer Hardware.

       The Department of Information Technology, Government of Sikkim in association with D.O.E.A.C.C., Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India started Call Center Training facility in Gangtok. The course is three months long where classes are conducted six days a week. The classes are conducted at Multipurpose Training Center, above NIC. 38 candidates were trained as Call Centre Agent out of which 28 got placement in call centre firms across the country.

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE

      Apart from the regular information that we have in our website, www.sikkim.gov.in, we have also added initiative information in the government website for the information of the general people. List of N.G.O’s in Sikkim have also been added. A new link to DoNER site has been given. Latest Seniority list of the government officials has been updated. Vision document has also been uploaded into the website.

      Workshop on Sikkim Dak message server was organized by the Department of Information Technology for the CIC Operators in September 2005. Via this message server, the people at the remote areas can send emails in the local languages of Sikkim, i.e. Nepali and Bhutia. The development of Lepcha font is underway. www.samdruptse.org, the website for one of the most happening tourist attraction Samdruptse, was developed and hosted in October 2005. The website was launched by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Sikkim at Samdruptse.

      The department of IT participated in Science exhibition organized by the department of Science & Technology on 28th February 2006. The exhibition was held at community hall and there were participations from many government departments as well as private firms. The official website of government of Sikkim which is maintained by IT department was showcased to the visitors.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE DISABLED

      The Department of Information Technology hopes to bring succor to the lives of physically challenged people. Keeping this in mind, a computer center for blind had been started in 2004. The center was equipped with 4 computers, 4 braille printers and one Juliet pro. The department had taken up projects that would make life easier for the handicapped. A computerized Braille system at the blind school at Namchi is being maintained by the department. To encourage physically challenged individuals and help them join the mainstream, the department of Information Technology has been imparting special training programmes for the disabled.

      50 Nos. of Voice Assisted Communication Devices (VOCA) are being developed by WEBEL, Kolkata in association with Information Technology Department. These devices with touch and voice facility, are specially for the use of persons with Cerebral Palsy and other disabilities. Icon based software is also being developed.

      At present, the Information Technology Department is working on conversion of Standard VI to XII CBSE Books into Braille. Along with Braille, IT Department is also working on conversion of these CBSE Books into Talking Books for the blind.

The Department of Information Technology has established a recording studio in the multimedia center of the department. The studio was completed in March 2006. It is equipped with a Computer, 8 track mixers, electronic keyboard and sound systems. With regards to this, three members of the department under CRTI was sent for 7 days training on Daisy Book.

      In December 2005 the Ministry of Information technology approved the implementation of the SWAN in Sikkim. The SWAN aims at providing broadband internet connectivity through Optical fibres and Wireless to all government units in the State.

      Draft report of E-Governance road map for the state was submitted by WIPRO Consultancy. The road map highlights the e-governance vision statement, e-governance mission, e-governance strategy, e-governance blue print and the Capacity Building requirements of the State.

MISCELLANEOUS

        Hardware support like computers, printers, LCD Projectors, P.A. System was provided to TNSS School, State Guest House and Circuit House during H.E. The President of India’s recent visit to Sikkim on 22nd -23rd September 2005.

          A multimedia presentation on “National Wealth and Development of Sikkim” was prepared by the Information Technology Department and shown to H.E. President of India during his visit to Sikkim on 22nd – 23rd September 2005.

ADMINISTRATION

LIST OF OFFICERS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

To facilitate computerization in other departments, the Department of Information technology has transferred the following Assistant Directors and Programmers to various key departments.

COMPUTER TRAINING PROGRAMMES CONDUCTED

Breakup of candidates for the year 2005-2006