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CHhattisgarh Online information for CitizenEmpowerment (CHOiCE)

Introduction:

CHOiCE is a project undertaken by CHiPS (CHhattisgarh infotechand biotech Promotion Society) – the nodal agency for e-governance for theChhattisgarh State under Department of IT) on behalf of ChhattisgarhGovernment for improving the quality and reach of citizen services.CHOiCE stands for CHhattisgarh Online information for CitizenEmpowerment.

The main challenge for the state was to create a system through whichstate citizens may avail services from public offices with care, courtesy andutmost ease. CHOiCE kiosk centers are to provide a wide range of servicesincluding connectivity, information, IT education, e-governance and e-commerce. The project involves a complete 360-degree view of all CitizenGovernment interactions and offers Citizens choice amongst modes ofpayments, obtaining information of forms, submitting the same, trackingthem and getting delivery of the end service/ products in a variety of waysincluding in person, through authorized nominee, through phone, throughfax, through the web, through the post or through private franchisedintermediaries operating from street-corners. This mainly includesestablishing efficient centralized database to facilitate easy informationretrieval and eliminate data duplication.

CHOiCE is a One Stop Window and integrated with other governmentdepartments like Municipality, District Collectorate, Urban DevelopmentAuthority, Regional Transport Office, Panchayat, Rural DevelopmentDepartment & Social Welfare Department, Public welfare Department,Education Department, Health Department, Electricity Dept, and PoliceDepartment.

CHOiCE agents appointed by concern district collector work as notaryand extension of government office as per rules framed under IT Act 2000.Entire work flow involving citizen interaction with government has beendesign to flow electronically so that 24X7 availability of government isensured through these CHOiCE agents.

CHOiCE project has very high potential of offering cost-effective,improved and easy-to-access services to citizens, and improved processingof transactions both within the government and between the government andother agencies. The planning, implementation, and monitoring of

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government programs, projects, and activities can be significantlystrengthened by these applications. All stakeholders such as governmentofficials, legislators, regulatory agencies, citizens, voluntary organizations,technology consultants and vendors, academics, researchers, fundingagencies, and media.

Vision:

The State of Chhattisgarh recognizes the importance of Information andCommunication Technology as a key enabler in its economic developmentand improving the quality of life. Accordingly, the State has prepared its e-GOV policy with a vision of establishing an information society consistingof informed, active and therefore responsible citizens – the basic tenet of atrue democracy. It seeks to provide all citizens widespread and easy accessto government services, in the local language effectively addressing theexisting digital divide and promoting entrepreneurs. The State's PortalCHOiCE has been designed to achieve the Governments vision of creatingan ‘e’nabled Society effectively contributing to the Social and EconomicDevelopment of the State, where there are no islands of elitism or isolatedconclaves of wisdom. The state seeks to create a knowledge society whereaccess to information and knowledge would be symmetric amongst allseekers and users and every citizen must feel comfortable in accessinginformation through IT – directly or through public – private partnerships.

Mission Statement:

CHOiCE is mission to meet the present and future needs of thecitizens of Chhattisgarh in a fiscally responsible manner to ensure thehighest quality of life.

Objectives/Aims

The basic goals of implementing CHOiCE Project are:

1) To develop a robust system which can handle at least 30,000 namedusers and 3,000 concurrent users.

2) To establish electronic citizen service centers across ChhattisgarhState to deliver more than 131 e-governance services.

3) To ensure the stability, availability, and security of the service centerswith a strong Server end support.

4) To introduce a ‘single window’ experience for residents, enablingthem to pay tax, electricity, and water bills, search for property

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records, and apply for passports online.

5) To improve communication between government administrators andcitizens by building an interactive Web portal to disseminateinformation and submit grievances.

6) To adopt transparent, best-practice business guidelines, ensuring staffand residents track the progress of a payment or query, enhanceefficiency and productivity as a result of automating manualprocesses.

7) To lower the costs by adopting a centralized architecture, enabling theplatform to be administered and supported from one location.

8) To create a centralized database to store critical business data foraccurate and correct information since these applications have legalimplications and was to handle personal and private information of thecitizens.

9) This system is also destined to provide easy access to information byenabling senior managers and staff to access data across differentdepartments via a web-based interface.

10) This system also has one goal that data duplication by creatinga single data entry point is also achieved.

Services Provided Under CHOiCE Project

(i) Certificates: Creation and distribution of certificates for income,

domicile, caste, Birth, Death etc.

(ii) Public Distribution Services (PDS): Issue of Ration Card etc.

(iii) Grievance Handling: related to unfair prices, non-availability of

doctor. Online filing and receipt of Information relating to the Right to

Information Act.

(iv) Link with other e-government projects: Registration, Land Records,

Driving Licenses etc.

(v) Information Dissemination: Disseminating Information relating to

government schemes, entitlements etc.

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(vi) Utility Payment: Payments relating to electricity, water bills property

taxes etc.

Strategies adopted

The CHOiCE Project is based on the following business conceptof Management By Objectives (MBO) which is:

• Management strategy by which an organization ensures that itsprocesses, products and services contribute to the achievement ofdesired results (outputs, outcome & impact).

• It rests on clearly defined targets, accountability for results, andrequires monitoring and self assessment of progress towards results,and reporting on performance.

• It is a participatory and team-based approach to management.

• Designed to improve program and management effectiveness,efficiency and accountability.

• The performance data collected is analyzed on periodic basis.

• Analyzed and reported data yields important continuous informationabout the status of the pilot projects.

• To provide necessary decision support on various social issues.

Technology Used

The entire development of CHOiCE is on Open Source Technology which

is platform independent, based on n-tier architecture which supports

Linux environment;

Localization (Unicode) support;

Authentication framework through Smartcard and Biometric

(Fingerprint) devices;

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) along with smart card for Privacy,

Authenticity, Integrity & Non-repudiation;

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MVC (Module View Controller) Payment gateway Support for

Payment Services.

IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) implementation for Status

Inquiry etc.

ENS (Electronic Notification Server) for alert messaging.

NMS (Network Management System) for network monitoring.

The CHOiCE system utilizes an Oracle Database on the Sun Solaris

operating system and is integrated with the back-end applications of 10

government departments. Robust authentication features ensure the security

of confidential information. The system also supports interactive voice

response (IVR) capabilities and cell phone text messaging.

The application is also required to be portable enough on Thin Client on

Linux environment along with biometrics, PKI & smart card.

Period of the Project Initiative

The “CHOiCE” Project was formally inaugurated by the Hon’bleChief Minister of Chhattisgarh along with Hon'ble Minster(IT),Secretary(IT) and CEO (CHiPS). The project was formally inaugurated atRaipur at the Collectorate Office on 30th October 2004.

Project RolloutThe project has been successfully rolled out in the city of Raipur,Rajnandgaon, Durg/Bhilai, Bastar/Jagdalpur, Bilaspur, Surguja/Ambikapurand very soon it will be rolled out in the remaining parts of the State.

Positive Outcomes/Changes resulting from the project / Initiative

Digital workflow of documents from one office to another. The project is first of the sort in the country to use three level security

which includes bio-metric authentications and digital signatures. For the first time in the country, Private Citizens (CHOiCE Agents) have

been notified as Public Servants under IT Act thereby enabling them toprocess government document

Robust Application Software which has been tested for 3000 concurrentuser

The project is IT Act 2000 compliant and provides legal validity to itselectronic transactions.

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More than 5 lacs certificates already issued.

Sustainability

A major breakthrough of CHOiCE is the availability of 24x7 onlineGovernment Services for citizens.

CHOiCE Created employment opportunities for the citizens ofChhattisgarh State.

CHOiCE improved the efficiency and efficacy of GovernmentOfficers.

Capturing of data at CHOiCE Centers has enabled departments toallocate more CHOiCE time for efficient Service Delivery.

CHOiCE has drastically reduced the application processing time fromdays to minutes.

CHOiCE has curtailed the waiting time for certain documents from15-20 days to just 1-2 days.

CHOiCE has enabled instant MIS reports for planning, budgeting,monitoring & evaluation.

Instant identification of delay points has enabled promptadministrative action

Definite reduction in corruption through transparency in system. Increase in transparency and accountability of the government.

Applicant CHOiCE Community AgentCHOiCE Central Server

1 Application Registration Process at1 Application Registration Process at CHOiCECHOiCECommunity CentreCommunity Centre

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4- F o r w a r d in g o f f ic e s m a y v e r i f y t h ed ig it a l c o n t e n t , a t t a c h m e n t s a n ds a t is f y h im s e l f f o r t h e c o r r e c t n e s s o ft h e r e g is t r a t io n d a t a a n da p p l ic a t io n . M a y a ls o t a k e p r in t s f o rr e c o r d s p u r p o s e / r e f e r e n c e s .

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