1.87 lakh files scanned, work apace on remaining 62,000
Focus on other establishments, e-office in next phase
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 6: In a major development aimed at checking physical movement of files during the Darbar Move from Jammu to Srinagar and vice-versa, the Government is all set to complete digitization of entire record of Civil Secretariat by ending February next year as 1.87 lakh files have already been scanned and work is apace on remaining 62,000.
In the second phase, the Government will focus on switching over to e-office in the Civil Secretariat and digitization of record of other offices which also move during the bi-annual Darbar Move and this will go a long way in curtailing huge expenditure on transportation and obviate the chances of wear and tear.
In order to give practical shape to the plan of digitization of entire record of the Civil Secretariat, the Government in the month of October last year had sanctioned an amount of Rs 10 crore for the project and even issued explicit directions to all the departments to extend necessary cooperation to the Information Technology Department, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
The Jammu and Kashmir e-Governance Agency, which functions under the administrative control of Information Technology Department, was asked to implement the project in accordance with the norms fixed by the Government of India and furnish monthly progress report both financial as well as physical.
“A total of 1.87 lakh files containing 1.10 crore pages of 39 Administrative Departments have been scanned till date and work is apace on remaining 62,000 files and digitization will be completed in all respect by ending February 2021″, official sources told EXCELSIOR while disclosing that the progress is being monitored regularly at the highest level so that the plan which was chalked out several years back is taken to its logical conclusion within the fixed timeline.
The departments whose record is targeted to be digitized by ending February 2021 are General Administration, School Education, Revenue, Animal and Sheep Husbandry, Public Works, Director General Accounts and Treasury, Higher Education, Labour and Employment, Forest, Ecology and Environment, Home, Technical Education, Tourism, Horticulture, Jal Shakti, Industries and Commerce, Health and Medical Education, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture Production, Civil Aviation, Disaster Management, Information Technology, Social Welfare, Estates, Youth Services and Sports, Rural Development, Law, Finance, Power Development, Planning, Hospitality and Protocol, Transport, Tribal Affairs, Food-Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Science and Technology, Information, Culture, ARI and Trainings, Cooperative and Floriculture.
“The entire digitized data will be stored in the State Data Centre with sufficient security and safety features and hard copies will be retained by the concerned departments”, sources said, adding “moreover Data Recovery Centre will also be established outside the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in order to ensure proper back-up of the entire record”.
In the second phase the focus will be on switching over to e-office the preliminary work for which has already been conducted by the Information Technology Department. “While using e-office, the departments would be in a position to locate any file by just mentioning serial number or subject in the search engine”, sources informed.
Moreover, following completion of digitization of entire Civil Secretariat record by ending February the Information Technology Department will provide empanelled vendor for digitization to other offices which don’t functions in the Civil Secretariat but shifts record during the Darbar Move.
“During next Darbar Move the Government will be in a position to avoid physical movement of files but final decision in this regard would be taken only after completion of digitization exercise”, sources said, adding “the digitization will help the Government in avoiding heavy cost which is incurred in physical shifting of record of all the departments in the Civil Secretariat from Jammu to Srinagar and vice-versa. Moreover, this will obviate the chances of wear and tear of paper documents and loss”.
It is worthwhile to mention here that the necessity of digitization of record was felt following devastating fire in a portion of the Civil Secretariat at Srinagar in the month of July 2013 in which official record of six departments and service books of over 300 employees suffered extensive damage. Moreover, in September 2014 files of several departments suffered extensive damage due to flooding of Civil Secretariat at Srinagar.
It was only during the Governor and Lieutenant Governor’s Rule that this much-needed step received due attention.
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