e - Jan Sampark Project

Chandigarh Administration is committed to bridge the digital divide by extending the application of IT
for the benefit of the common man. After the successful launch of the Sampark Centres and in the
second phase of the e-Governance initiative, the Administration has identified to provide the information
about services of various departments and also to provide information and facilitation to residents
regarding private services and other Government of India services from the 70 e-Jan Sampark kiosks
which are to be set up in each sector and each village of Chandigarh. The e-Jan Sampark project will
enable residents to access information and avail of services from the kiosks with ease, and without any
harassment. These Centres will also enable the citizen to submit their grievances at a common centre
and their quick redressal thereafter.

Jan Sampark project targets that the benefits of ICT should reach the masses, especially those who are
without IT connectivity by providing easy dissemination of Information Services to a citizen and to
deliver useful non transactional services e.g registration of grievances and applications seeking
information under RTI for all departments at a easily accessible common place.

Jan Sampark Vision

 Bring the administration closer to all the sections of the society especially under privileged.
 Provide a single, efficient information dissemination system to the citizen for availing government
services by minimising multiple interaction points for the citizen and hence reduce the wastage of
valuable time
 Provide for better turn around time in receipt, processing and issue of services
 Provide information services in a comfortable environment and make availing of the information
services a pleasant experience
 Registration of Grievances
 Giving substance to Right to Information Act

As the next logical step to Sampark Centres, the Administration has set up e-Jan-Sampark Centers, to
disseminate useful free information services to the citizens. Every Center supports multi service delivery
(information delivery and non-transactional services) which is a judicious mix of all the possible
government services and information and other localized services which are needed by a citizen.

This initiative targets that the benefits of ICT reach the people without PC and internet connectivity and
also saves their valuable time and money consumed in traveling to government offices.

The type of services provided include

Information Services

 All Procedures and Forms for all departments, which are frequently used by a common man e.g
How to apply for a birth/death certificate including procedure for late entry, how to lodge a FIR,
various forms and procedures concerning public offices such as RLA, Estate Office, DC Office,
Municipal Corporation, Engineering Wing etc.
 Education and Health related information services e.g daily updated information regarding
availability of blood in Blood Bank of Govt Medical Hospital, Exam Results, Information about
availability of educational and health related facilities in each sector etc.
  Transport and Tourism related inquiries e.g Bus Routes, information relating to tourism activities
etc
 Inquiries relating to Passport status; Railway booking status, Train timings etc
 Providing access to all Government websites.
 Other information like utility services available in each sector etc.

These services are provided free of cost except when the citizen needs any print out, the same is
available at a nominal cost per page of print out.

Grievances Redressal Services

The citizens will also be able to submit their grievances relating to any department at these Centres.
NIC has created a Grievance Monitoring System under which, whenever any grievance is received at the
Jan Sampark centre, the same will be scanned and forwarded via email immediately to the Nodal Officer
of every department who has been specially appointed for the Jan Sampark services. The hard copy of
the grievance submitted by the citizen will also be sent to the Nodal Officer of the concerned
Department. A time line would be given to the concerned Nodal Officer for the redressal of the
grievance and under this Grievance Monitoring System, the Head of Department would also be able to
monitor the redressal of grievances online.

Right To Information (RTI) Services

A provision has also been made for the submission of applications under the RTI at the Jan Sampark
Centres alongwith the statutory fee in the form of a Demand draft or Indian Postal Order. All such
applications will be received and the same will be delivered to the Central Public Information Officer of
the concerned Department the same day. The applications will be received at the Jan Sampark Centres
with the prescribed fee of Rs. 10/- per application in the form of DD or IPO in the name of the
concerned Department from which the information has been sought, and the application alongwith the
fee will be forwarded to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the concerned Department and
it will be his duty to reply directly to the citizen alongwith the desired information required by him, as
per the RTI Act. If any further amount needs to be paid by the applicant, it would be the duty of the
CPIO to request for additional fee (as per requirement) from the applicant directly and also the CPIO
would reply to the applicant directly apart from filing the Action Taken Report in the RTI Application
System created by NIC.

The Jan Sampark Centre would only be providing the facilitation services for the receipt of RTI
applications so that a common man does not need to visit each and every office. The responsibility of
submitting the information sought by the applicant will be of the CPIO of the concerned department
who will ensure that the information is supplied to the applicant as per the provisions of the RTI Act.

Appointment Module for GMSH Sector 16 & GMCH Sector 32

On the lines of other services at e-Jan Sampark Centres, Now patients can get appointments for
Government Multi Specialty Hospital Sector 16 & Government Medical Hospital, Sector 32 at e-Jan
Sampark and Gram Sampark centres of Chandigarh.

To start with, patients desirous of re-visiting GMSH-16 or GMCH-32 can seek a prior appointment, which
can be from a day to a fortnight, from the nearest e-Jan Sampark / e-Gram Sampark Centres and on
stipulated date & time they can visit the hospital and go to the doctor directly. Subsequently, the facility
would be extended to other hospitals, polyclinics, clinics, dispensaries, laboratories etc and with
additional facilities like getting prior appointments for lab tests, X-rays, new patients, bed availability,
blood availability etc.

Benefits Accrued

 Government Services closer to the citizen

 Giving substance to Right to Information Act
 Better information dissemination
 Transparency & efficiency in government-citizen interface
 Life simpler for the common man
 Financially self sustainable model for information delivery free of cost to the common man
  e - Jan Sampark Locations
 
 Sector 20 Operational
 All e-Sampark and Gram Sampark Centres are also being provided the Jan Sampark
Services.

1. Sector 7-C, Shopping Centre,Sector 8, Shopping Centre,Sector 11-D, Shopping

Centre,Sector 16, Shopping Centre
2. Sector 17, Shopping Centre,Sector 19-C, Shopping Centre,Sector 21, Shopping
Centre,Sector 22, Shopping Centre
3. Sector 24-D, Shopping Centre,Sector 26, Shopping Centre,Sector 27-D, Shopping
Centre,Sector 28-D, Shopping Centre
4. Sector 29-C, Shopping Centre,Sector 30, Shopping Centre,Sector 31-C, Shopping
Centre, 33-D, Shopping Centre
5. Sector 34-C, Shopping Centre, 35, Shopping Centre,Sector 36-D, Shopping
Centre,Sector 38-C, Shopping Centre,Sector 38 (West), Shopping Centre, Sector 41,
Shopping Centre
6. Sector 44, Shopping Centre,Sector 45, Shopping Centre,Sector 48, Shopping
Centre,Sector 49, Shopping Centre,Sector 51, Shopping Centre,Sector 61, Shopping
Centre, PGI, Panjab University
 
30 new Sites have been identified for setting up of e-Jan Sampark Centres are following :-

  e-Sampark Project                            (Click Here for e-Sampark Portal ) 

Project e-Sampark was initiated to bring together the services of all the departments under one single
umbrella and give citizens of Chandigarh a “multi-service” - “single-window” experience apart from
eradicating the undue harassment met by the citizens due to lack of transparency.

 Vision and Objectives

The vision for this project is to create a knowledge-based society through extensive use of I.T. as a
medium for effective interaction between the Administration and the public so that exchange of
information and access to government departments is speedy and easy, leading to a better quality of
life. The objectives of this project are :

 Provide hassle free one-stop solution to the citizen

 Minimize multiple interaction points for the citizen and hence reducing the wastage of their
valuable time
 Provide better turn around time in receipt, processing and issue of services
  Transparency in delivery of services

Project Sampark is a Department of IT (DIT) initiative for the development, integration and
maintenance of web-portal for various departments of the Administration for providing 'One-stop-shop'
for 23 G2C and 5 B2C services through 11 e-Sampark Centre. It not only provides the Online
Transaction Processing through its centres and web-enabled portal but also is a major source of
information dissemination.

Before this initiative the common man had to make multiple visits for a single transaction apart from
standing in long queues and wait for a few days to few weeks for the end result. At times he had to
face harassment due to lack of transparency.

After this initiative the Administration was successful in providing a one stop solution at the e-Sampark
Centres as various services, which were available earlier at independent islands and sometimes resulted
in duplication of work, are being delivered at these centres. The processing time has been minimized as
the efficiency of the service delivery system has been optimized by making it I.T. enabled thereby
regarding eradicating the long queues and waiting hours for the public.

  List of services

Sr. No. Department        Services

1. Excise & Taxation  Payment of taxes
 VAT/CST Collection

2. Chandigarh Transport Undertaking  Issue of Bus Passes

3. Social Welfare Department  Issue of Senior Citizen Card

 Issue of Disability Identity Card
 Disbursement of pension for old age
persons, widows and disabled persons.

4. Engineering Department  Payment of Electricity Bill

 Booking of Tubewell for irrigation in
Rural Area

5. Births & Deaths Registration  Issue of Birth & Death Certificates

Department
6. Municipal Corporation  Payment of Water & Sewerage Bills
 Open Space bookings
 Community Hall Bookings

7. Education  School Fee Collection of 20 GMSS

Schools

8. Health  Doctor's Appointment for patients to

GMSH & GMCH

9. Chandigarh Police  Tenant Registration

 Domestic Servants Registration
  General, Sticker and Postal Challan

10. Treasury  Sale of Stamp Papers

 Sale of Stamps and Special Adhesive
Stamps

11. Chandigarh Housing Board  Chandigarh Housing Board - Sale &

Receipt of Forms
 All deposits for dwelling Units of CHB

12. GOI Services  Passport Application Submission

  B2C Services  Telephone Bill Payment -

 BSNL - WLL, Landline
 HFCL- Connect
 Airtel - Mobile
 Airtel - Landline
 Spice - Mobile

  Sampark Locations

Sr. No. e-Sampark Centre Location

1. Sector 10 (Near Existing Electricity Bill 
Collection Centre)
 2. Sector 15 (Existing Electricity Bill  Collection
Centre)
3. Sector 17 (Central Treasury Office)
4. Sector 18 (Existing Electricity Bill  Collection
Centre)
5. Sector 23 --
6. Sector 40 --
7. Sector 43 (Existing Electricity Bill  Collection
Centre)
8. Sector 47 (Existing Electricity Bill  Collection
Centre)
9. Mani Majra (Existing Electricity Bill  Collection
Centre)
10. Industrial Area, Phase - I (Existing Electricity Bill  Collection
Centre)
11. PGI --
 Benefits Accrued

 One stop solution to citizen for multiple tasks, resulting in eradication of frustration to the
common man as he had to deal with many functionaries.
 Reduction of wastage of time of a citizen as multiple tasks are being performed at these Centres.
 Citizen Centric Centres having state of the art facilities, apart from central location
 8 am to 8 pm service on all days except Sundays
 Better turn around in receipt, processing and issue of services
 Transparency in delivery of services
 Easy maintenance of MIS leading to quick reconciliation of Treasury collections.

The project is so designed that any citizen centric service of any criticality can be provided through it.
The criteria for making new services available through the eSampark centres is based on the
requirement generated by citizens which is available through the feedback received and the citizen
satisfaction surveys conducted. Departmental initiative is also taken into account and then an interface
for the department is provided to initiate the services. It is given due publicity by way of audio
coverage, pamphlets and notices. Department is also given an access to the central database for
monitoring the progress and generate various MIS reports. From 11 services of 7 departments the
project has graduated to provide 20 services through 3 delivery channels apart from increasing the
number of counters from 3 Centres (12 counters) to 11 Centres (44 Counters). It can also be replicated
because of the robust nature of technology involved and wide array of services that it can provide.

 Current Status

 23 G2C and 5 B2C Services are being provided at 11 e-Sampark Centres spread across the City
and 13 Gram Sampark Centres in the villages of UT, Chandigarh.
 Since launch in Sept. 2004, INR 3889 Crore of Government revenue has been collected in 113 lac
transactions.
 Number of transactions have touched 2 Lac transactions per month
 INR 1102 Crore of revenue collected in eleven months (April '10 to February '11) of 2010-11
compared to INR 912 Crore for the same period in 2009-10.
 Select private services are also being launched to make the project self sustainable. Phone bills
of BSNL, Connect, Airtel and Spice are being collected and more similar services are under
 process of initiation.
 Sampark Services are also being extended to Gram Sampark Programme where 15 Gram
Sampark Centres are being constructed covering all the UT Villages.
 Jan Sampark Services from these Centres are also being provided for information and facilitation
services to the citizens including registration of grievances and applications under Right to
Information. 70 such Centres are being planned apart from extension of these services to 13
Gram Sampark Centres also.

  e-Governance e-Sampark Project 

e-Governance is the most significant aspect of the I.T. Policy of Chandigarh Administration. The vision
of the Administration is to create a knowledge based society, wherein every citizen of Chandigarh shall
be able to excess the benefits of IT by the year 2005. IT is to be used as a medium for effective
interaction between the Administration and the public so that exchange of information and access to
government departments is speedy and easy, leading to a better quality of life. 

As per the IT Policy, all departments of the Administration are to be computerized, with the Public
dealing departments to be taken up first. Accordingly, significant work has been done in the
Departments of Excise and Taxation, Licensing and Registering Authority, Transport, Registration of
Births and Deaths, and Police. Other Departments like Estate Office, Health, Education, and Food &
Supplies are currently being taken up for computerization. Relevant applications in all these
Departments are being identified and prioritized. The budget for all these projects is to be drawn from
the funds available with the Departments themselves. As per Government of India guidelines, 1 to 3 per
cent of each Department’s Budget is to be allocated for e-governance. 

The aim is to enable relevant information to be placed on a citizen’s portal which could be accessed
either through the internet or through a chain of Information Centres by the public, so that they are not
required to visit Government offices frequently. An Optic Fiber Network has also been set up in the
city by private companies at their own cost. Part of this Network is being utilized to connect
Government Offices and Information Centres.

 Wired City

Optic Fiber Cable Backbone Network in Chandigarh

Chandigarh Administration has taken a number of initiatives to create the necessary infrastructure
required for the promotion of the IT Industry. The main issue which faces IT companies and IT enabled
services is that of connectivity. This has been met by establishing a Fibre Optic Backbone Network,
which now covers the whole of Chandigarh. Chandigarh Administration’s Wired City Plan has been
implemented with the laying of 50 KMs of OFC ducts in the city by Spectra Net Limited approximately
80 Kms OFC ducts by HFCL, 40 Kms by Reliance and 20 Kms by Power Grid & 14 Kms by Bharti, at their
own cost. Permission has been given to various companies for laying of OFC in the city by the
Administration in accordance with the National Policy.

Chandigarh has already become the first city in the country to have Optic fiber connectivity with Delhi,
through the network of Power Grid India Limited. Every point in the city is within 1 Km of the OFC
Network, thereby enabling the companies to provide Internet services to consumers through the high
speed Broadband Network and they are in a position to do so, as per the National Policy. The Network
shall also enable the implementation of e-Governance projects of the Administration as sufficient
Bandwidth shall be available, through the OFC Network 
  Wired City Map 

  Next 

Introduction

The Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh (SPIC) has been set up under the aegis of
the Department of Information Technology, Chandigarh Administration for implementing
the various plans of the Administration to promote the IT industry in Chandigarh. The
Chairperson of the Society is the Adviser to the Administrator.

Objectives :

1. To promote application of Information Technology in the Union Territory of Chandigarh

in accordance with the IT Policy of Chandigarh Administration. 

2. To carry out all such activities that are commensurate with the IT vision of the
Chandigarh Administration as outlined in IT Policy. 

3. To promote e-Governance, Software Exports, create IT Infrastructure, generate jobs in

IT as outlined in the IT Mission of the Chandigarh Administration. 

4. To facilitate the establishment and functioning of data processing computer centres.

5. To provide consultancy services and impart training in various disciplines of Information

Technology. 

6. To facilitate the development of software packages as well as related items and

undertake turn key project / assignments in India and abroad in Information Technology
by public and private sector companies in the Union Territory of Chandigarh in order to
promote the application of Information Technology for the benefit of citizens of
Chandigarh. 

Governing Body of SPIC

The names and addresses and occupations of the first members of the Governing Body of
the Society (referred to in the rules and bye laws as the Governing Body to which by the
rules of the society the management of affairs is entrusted as required under section 2 of
the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as applicable to the Union Territory of Chandigarh are
as follows :-