Shimla: The Hyderabad based Tera Software and GNG Group have been issued a letter of intent for rolling out the government to citizen (G2C) services for the Shimla and Mandi division of the state.
An Information Technology department official disclosed that after signing of a master service agreement (MSA) with the bid winning consortium, the company would be given 12 months to set up 2070 common service centers (CSCs) in the central and south zones. No decision for rolling out the service in the Kangra division has been taken.
Where as the capital expenditure for rolling out of the project was to be borne by the entrepreneur, the state government assisted by the central government had proposed to provide revenue support for the service as it was considered to be unprofitable during the initial years.
However interestingly, the winning consortium made a negative bid and offered to pay the government at Rs 10 and Rs 14, in Shimla and Mandi respectively, for each service rendered to the rural population. The company would have to set up 2070 CSCs.
For the Kangra division, Zoom Developers has put in a bid to set up each CSC that would need Rs 1190 support from the government for the initial years. The project will last 5 years after signing of the MSA, said the IT department official.
The central government has provided a Rs 53.3 crore outlay for theses front end delivery points that can be used by government, private and social sector service providers to the rural population in an integrated manner.
Under the project one CSC is to be set up in all the 3366 panchayats of the state which would offer services like rural banking, e-commerce, education services, agricultural services, entertainment, vehicle registrations, license applications, certifications, billing, land records and a host of other services.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
