Sukhbir badal initiates talks with Tata Consultancy Service to create Punjab online

Mumbai, October 22, 2013: Punjab Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today initiated talks with software giant Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) to take all citizen services to the doorsteps of the people through a unique “Punjab Online” programme which will cover each and every village panchayat in the State.
During a visit to the TCS campus here, the company vice president Tanmoy Chakrabarty and his team gave a presentation on the proposed Punjab Online programme which will capture the entire services needed by a citizen from life to death and provide the same at the village level in rural areas and at the ward level in towns and cities.
Giving details of the programme, Chakrabarty said the programme would result in creation of jobs at the village and ward levels with TCS proposing to create franchisees which will manage the small kiosks. More than 25,000 people are likely to get employment besides removing congestion in government offices once people start going from “lines” to “online” to avail government services at a nominal cost. The services offered will include birth and death certificates, school admission forms, examination results, vehicle registration, passport verification, marriage certificate, utility services and provision of land records.
Appreciating the efforts made by TCS in providing citizen services through various schemes in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the Deputy chief minister asked TCS to study a model whereby the company could integrate the working of the government’s “Sanjh” and “Suvidha” centres. The TCS vice president affirmed it could do so in case it was chosen for the project. He also committed that TCS would submit a detailed proposal in this regard within two weeks.
Sukhbir Badal on his part announced the establishment of a task force headed by chief secretary Rakesh Singh and other senior officers including financial commissioner (development) Suresh Kumar to evaluate the proposal and take a quick decision on the same.
TCS on its part also proposed that it could effectively manage a health care scheme on turnkey basis and offer services including keeping an inventory of medical records, online update of bed capacity, online claims/payments and a variety of control systems which would bring in efficiency in healthcare management. The Deputy CM briefed the TCS management that the government had already finalized a scheme to provide medical treatment facilities worth Rs 30,000 annually to poorer sections and Rs 1.5 lakh medical insurance cover to 31 lakh socially backward sections of society. He said the government was open to partnering with TCS to make the health care system more efficient and responsive to the needs of the people.
CYRUS MISTRY AFFIRMS TATA REMAINS COMMITTED TO ACT ON DISCUSSIONS – The Deputy CM also called on Tata Sons Chairman Mr Cyrus Mistry at the Bombay House during the course of which Mistry assured him that his company was committed to act on the broad range of discussions being held with the Punjab government for investment in various sectors.
Sukhbir Badal on his part invited TCS to invest in the IT Park in Mohali and the Tata Sons Chairman reciprocated by saying he would ask his team to visit the State and consider the proposal. The Deputy CM said his government was not looking at profits but rather wanted to create assets which would have a trickledown effect on the State’s economy. “It is with this desire that I have come to invite you to invest in the IT and other sectors in the State”, he told Mistry.
The Tata Sons Chairman said his company had finalized the project to establish a Skill Training Institute and Training Centre at Ropar and that five ITIs would be attached to it. A formal mou in this regard will be signed during the Investment Summit being held in Mohali on December 9-10.
The Deputy CM was accompanied by Industries Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, chief parliamentary secretary N K Sharma and a number of senior State government officials. www.cityairnews.com