Tamil Nadu has seen a significant rise in the overall score from last year, taking it to the #4 position from last years #8. What are the factors and projects that have contributed to the jump? Has the states decision to switch to open source also contributed to it?
Tamil Nadu is the first state to complete the State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN) project. The commercial operations under this project commenced from December 2007. This has ensured secure connectivity between the state, districts, taluks and blocks. The state has also set up a mini state data center, which is also due for operation from March 2008. With regard to the third pillar of the NeGP, namely the CSC program, the SCAs have been identified through a process of competitive bidding and LOIs are due to be issued by the end of Feb 2008.

DPRs for 14 Mission Mode Projects have been prepared and posed to the Government of India for consideration and funding. Three of these projects are under active scrutiny of the Government of India and would be sanctioned soon. Applications for the generic use of all departments are also under development.

Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA), an autonomous society, has been formed for an exclusive focus on e-governance and for building capacity among the government staff.

As far as citizen services go, some of the pain areas for the state are municipality services, agriculture, water utility, and land and property development. How do you plan to overcome this?
The following pilot projects have been taken up to consolidate the e-governance efforts of the state.

e-Services of Taluk Offices-Rs 4.97 crore

Services of the Registration Department-Rs 4.97 crore

Dr C Chandramouli, secretary, IT, Tamil Nadu governement

e-Services of the Transport Department-Rs 4.96 crore

e-Services of the Municipalities-Rs 4.96 crore

e-Services of the Civil Supplies Department-Rs. 4.92 crore

e-Services of the Collectorates-Rs 4.94 crore

More Departments are being considered during the coming year. These projects will ensure anytime, anywhere services to the public, thus enhancing citizen satisfaction.

The state has performed well when it came to enabling businesses. What are the specific initiatives that have contributed to this?
The state has emerged as the destination of choice for software, BPO as well as electronic hardware. All the top 10 IT companies are well established in the state, and are in the process of rapid expansion. The SME sector is also booming. The overall growth rate in exports was 46% in the last year. Apart from proactive support to the industry, the state has been taking active steps to sustain the momentum by undertaking efforts to improve the quantity and quality of manpower. These include soft skills training, setting up of an IT academy and finishing schools. The state is also setting up SEZs in tier-2 locations like Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Salem, Tirunelveli and Hosur, which are also proving to be attractive destinations for IT companies.

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