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Thursday, 28.03.2024
eGovernment Forschung seit 2001 | eGovernment Research since 2001
Bihar may be amongst the most backward states but when it comes to empowering its people through the Right to Information Act, it is way ahead of the so-called ‘forward’ states. Here’s wishing Bihar all success in its future endeavours!.

Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have won the National Awards for E-Governance 2008-09. The economically backward state of Bihar bagged the award for ‘Jankari’, a government-run project to empower people with information under the Right to Information Act (RTI). The information can be accessed over telephone. The hilly state of Himachal Pradesh won the award for its electronic gazette (e-gazette) project and the Himachal Police Web Portal (HIMPOL). HIMPOL also bagged an award under the ‘outstanding performance in citizen-centric service delivery’ category.

The National Award will be presented by the central government’s Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in the Ministry of Personnel, New Delhi jointly with the Department of Information Technology. The award will be presented on February 12, 2009, at the inaugural session of the 12th National Conference on E-Governance 2008-09, in Goa.

Amir Subhani, Principal Secretary, Personnel, Bihar government, broke this news to media persons on Thursday (January 29). Subhani said, “The award will be given to the state government’s unique project, ‘The Jankari Call Centre under Right to Information Act (RTI)’, on February 12 this year, at the National Conference on E-Governance in Goa.”

Elaborating, he said Bihar was the first state to initiate the Jankari project, a brainchild of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which enabled people living in remote areas of the state to make applications under RTI through the telephone. The operator receiving the call in various call centres would draft the application under RTI and forward it to the department concerned for providing appropriate information to applicants.

The Jankari programme also enabled one to file the first appeal and the second appeal before the Appellate Authority and the State Information Commission through the telephone if the information sought was not provided to the applicants. During the two years it had been in force, the call centre received 22,600 calls, of which 7,070 were for submitting applications under RTI, 3,016 were for filing the first appeal and 1,400 were for filing the second appeal before the State Information Commission. The Bihar government made a PowerPoint presentation of the Jankari Project in Delhi on January 19, 2009, before a jury, which appreciated the state government’s efforts.

Winning the national award is really a matter of joy for the Bihar government, since the state is considered as one of the most backward states of the country. Hopefully, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar will take more such positive steps to take the state on to the path of development. Meanwhile, for the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh, known worldwide as a place of tourist interest, the award is a feather in its cap.

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Autor(en)/Author(s): Md Mudassir Alam

Quelle/Source: Merinews, 01.02.2009

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