Intranet to connect Goa from Dec.

| 25 October 2002 23:38 IST

Statewide Intranet for the state administration and lease line along with donated computers for the students are the two major milestones Goa plans to achieve, using Internet technology, shortly.

While completing two-year term in the office (including Assembly polls held in May), chief minister Manohar Parrikar said the state would take a major leap forward in e-governance. The IT policy is expected to be finalised in three months.

Taking benefit of the tiny size of the tourist state with hardly 1.3 million population and 3702 sq kms, the BJP government is planning to set up Intranet facility through Internet, for the whole state by the year end.

"It will begin with networking the state secretariat, housing the ministers and secretaries, next month", states Parrikar.

Following two district-level IT kiosks, he now plans to set up 30 more such kiosks in 11 talukas, linking the remotest area with the state secretariat and department headquarters.

The kiosks will facilitate the people to get several relevant forms, death and birth registration records as well as other relevant documents like land records etc on-line. "Besides saving time and energy, it will also bring transparency and controlling corruption", states Parrikar.

On the educational front, he has already announced a scheme for all the XI standard students to take a computer home by paying a meagre fee of Rs 1000. Beginning it with science students this year, the scheme will cover all streams from the next academic year.

In addition, Parrikar is presently negotiating with several private Internet service providers as well as the BSNL to provide lease line Internet connection along with this computer, at a reasonable price, besides providing them important educational CDs.

"Imagine what revolution it would create when over 30,000 families even from the remotest part of Goa will be connected through the Internet in two years and each house will have a computer for the whole family", he states.

While providing computers, the government has also planned nutritious tiffin to all the primary students, who come hungry to the school. As the centrally-provided rice for such a scheme is not worth eating, the state has designed its own meal by spending Rs 10 crore annually, while taking the central assistance of Rs one crore.

With the annual revenue graph rising from Rs 826 crore in 2001 to Rs 1400 crore during this financial year, Parrikar claims he is planning to achieve 200 per cent rise in four years, making enough funds available for developmental works, including infrastructure.

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