eGovWatch: AP tops in e-transactions, e-pragati developed with Wipro for e-goverance
With ePragati, Andhra Pradesh becomes the first state in India to conceive and execute state-wide enterprise architecture.
By Sreenivas Janyala
With Andhra Pradesh already topping the country in e-transactions, the Government of Andhra Pradesh is now rechristening the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA) as ‘e-Pragati.’ ePragati, developed in association with tech giant Wipro in a span of eight months, is a comprehensive framework for implementing e-Governance and provides e-services to citizens of Andhra Pradesh.
With ePragati, Andhra Pradesh becomes the first state in India to conceive and execute state-wide enterprise architecture. “This will become a model in Government Enterprise Architecture in India,” Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, adding that countries like South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand have all embraced this type of architectural approach to e-governance.
e-Pragati extends to 33 Secretariat departments and over 300 government agencies in AP. It seeks to provide a bouquet of 745 services in the government to customer (G2C), government to business (G2B), government to enterprise (G2E) and government to government (G2G) areas. It consists of 72 projects grouped into 14 packages whose estimated outlay is Rs 2,358 crores, which will be funded and implemented over a three-year period. Of this, the government will invest Rs 1528 crore and balance the rest of the amount through PPP mode.
The major components of e-Pragati revolve around 7 missions, 5 grids and 5 campaigns which include, AP Fibre Grid (to all gram panchayats), AP State Data Centre (to host all the data and applications), e-Highway (to seamlessly connect all the departments digitally), People Hub (to house all the socio-economic data of the citizens of the state which will be used to implement welfare schemes and development programs), Lab Hub (that contains details of all types of land parcels in the state), Dial AP (a unified contact/call centre that the citizens can use to access a wide range of services), e-Learning platform (that provides learning and online material/education aid to enhance quality of education), Social benefits management system (that includes all benefits schemes), APcan (comprehensive system for management of cancer), mSeva (a platform for providing a wide range of citizen services on mobile), e-AgriMarket (a platform that enables farmers to sell their produce online to get the best price) and e-Panchayat (enhances efficienct of Panchayat Raj institutions). “ePragati aims focuses on achieving a unified and connected government with citizen-centricity at its core. Implementation of ePragati will lead to free-flow of information among departments, paving the way for an integrated, outcome-driven and accountable government,” CM Naidu said.
Meanwhile, the main Opposition party, YSR Congress Party has accused CM Naidu of being obsessed with Singapore which has recently submitted master plans on new capital city Amaravathi. YSRCP has demanded the State Government to revoke its decision to acquire large tracts of land for infrastructure development to benefit foreign companies, more so those in Singapore, and has ridiculed the Loan Waiver Success Yatras of the CM. “The cabinet decision to allot large tracts of land for development of ports and acquiring land for the purpose to benefit Singapore based company is highly objectionable and it shows that the Chief Minister, who is believed to have commercial interests in that country, is very much obsessed with Singapore,” party spokesperson K Parthasarathi said. “The land acquisition, using the Ordinance which the Centre has totally discarded fearing backlash from the Opposition, is only to appease the corporate and we demand the State to revoke its decision,’’ he said.
The Victory Yatra on loan waiver is ridiculous as no loan was waived in full after TDP has taken over the reins and its assurance of providing 12 hours power supply to farmers has come down to 9 hrs and further receded to 7 hours, with no guarantee of the uninterrupted supply during day time,’’ he said.
