Manipur, leading IT hub in NE India
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR

Imphal, January 02 2017: Though a small State, Manipur has made a drastic change in the field of Information Technology (IT) .

The Department of Information Technology (DIT), bifurcated from the erstwhile Department of Science and Technology in 2009, which is responsible for implementing various IT related projects, schemes and more importantly promoting e-governance in the State has made tremendous effort whereby enabling, empowering and transforming society.

Apart from DIT, Manipur State IT Society has been acting as the State designated agency for taking up National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) projects to make all the Government services accessible to the people of the State.

Prior to the inception of DIT, the Government of Manipur had started to boost the IT sector in the State with the publication of the Manipur IT Policy 2003 .

In 2004, Software Technology Parks of India, Imphal Centre was established with the objective to provide industry standard connectivity and incubation space to the IT firms of the State.

In pursuance of the flagship programme 'Digital India', the Department of Information Technology has established a State Data Centre (SDC) which aims to improve the core infrastructure of IT in the State and is responsible for hosting of websites, e-governance applications and data of the State Government.

The State Data Centre operates 24�7 and is presently hosting the application software of the Crime and Criminal Tracking System (CCTNS) .

Under NeGP, State Wide Area Network (SWAN) was established for connecting the State Headquarters to the district Headquarters (expect for Imphal West and Imphal East which are co-located with the State HQs) and 19 Block HQs where optical fibre connectivity of BSNL is available.

By expanding the SWAN connectivity, DIT strives to establish a robust and fast network to support Digital India initiatives by connecting all the Government offices of the State in one single network.

DIT has been successful in establishing 599 Common Service Centres (CSC) under NeGP in a geographical spread of 1 CSC for every 6 villages.

The CSCs would act as facilitation centres and the front end to all online Government services.

To fulfill the vision of providing Government services and digital literacy to the citizens in an easy and convenient manner through remote access through computer network or mobile services, DIT has commissioned a State portal, State Service Delivery Gateway and e-forms with online services and payment gateway.

The State Government is taking a pro-active role in formulating projects with an intention of creating awareness in IT Industry like, standardization, development and revamping of websites.

Thus, Government of Manipur has set up a 50 seater State of art e-governance training centre at State Academy of Training, Takyelpat.

Capacity building and training programmes on e-governance of various levels of Government functionaries of various departments are being carried out from time to time.

Another major activity of the Department of Information Technology is the completion of the e-district project that would provide online application and issue of certificates like birth and death certificates, OBC certificates, income certificate, domicile/permanent residential certificates etc.

The Department has introduced e-cabinet for a completely paper-free, automated, and digital form of Cabinet meetings.

The people of the State will get benefits of IT as the Government has set up an IT SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in February 2014 at Mantripukhri.

The Government of Manipur has also established Manipur IT SEZ Project Development Company, which will be the SPV for setting up and operating the Manipur IT SEZ.

Manipur IT SEZ would encourage exports oriented projects and products from reputed IT industries including their auxiliaries and start-up firms.

A total area of 1.4 lakh sq ft has been notified as IT SEZ and would employ about 2000 skilled IT personnel.

The Government has set up and commissioned an IT Park at Mantripukhri in July, 2015.Five IT firms are already operating.

Alongwith the IT Park, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Manipur was also established and the first academic session with BE in computer science and electronics and communication was commenced on July, 2015 .

The State Government, in response to the Government of India's flagship programme 'Digital India', Digital Manipur was formulated to promote e-governance in the State.

Under 'Digital Manipur', DIT acts as then Nodal Agency to facilitate and coordinate with all the State Departments for implementation of e-tender projects.

To have greater transparency and accountability in governance, the State Government has introduced three mobile applications � Louchapathap app, GPF Manipur app and Computerized Personal Information (CPIS) app which deal with land records, Jamabandhis and Dag Chitha, help State Government employees to check their GPF and other balance sheets and provide the details of all the State Government employees covering the entire period from joining to retirement including promotions.

Pensioners and vehicle registration related issues can also be availed through SMS services.

The State Government has invited big and small industries to be a partner with the State and witness the State turning to a vibrant IT hub.

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