This Article is From May 05, 2011

South Goa to go paperless

Goa:

The third phase of e-governance of theSouth Goa district administration that had been stalled for quite a while now, is showing signs of resuscitation. Sources in the know confirmed that the third phase would be launched by mid-May.

The third phase comprises linking of the 72 talathi offices with the digital network, thus completing thee-governance project that is expected to usher in a paperless administration. As all the talathis of the 72 sazas (revenue villages) of the South Goa district administration have been provided with notebook computers, the launching of the "village suite", as the software is labeled, is just a matter of time, sources said.

Mamlatdar in charge of e-governance Ashutosh Apte, when contacted, said that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) that is developing the software was already working on the final phase of the project.

"The availability of notebook computers with talathis will enable them to conduct spot panchanamas in assessing losses during natural calamities and send the reports to the higher authorities instantly. This will save considerable time in disbursing compensation to the affected farmers, " a senior official of the district administration stated.

The South Goa district administration has already networked the deputy collectors` offices in all talukas with the citizens` facilitation centre (CFC) at the Margao collectorate. The third phase of the project is expected to bring the district administration within reach of its larger goal, that of paperless administration. The networking of the talathi-level offices with the CFC at the headquarters will enable any applicant from any remote place to obtain required official documents by just visiting his village panchayat office, it was said.

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