JAIPUR, DEC 5: Following in the footsteps of his counterparts in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is taking personal interest in the development and adaptation to e-governance.The state government's Department of Information Technology (DIT), which has done commendable work in developing software that has been appreciated, approved and adopted by the Election Commision National Crime Records Bureau, has provided the requisite expertise to facilitate this.From this month, the Chief Minister and his secretariat can communicate with district collectors through the government's own intranet, named Raj-Swift. Built using Internet technology, this system would facilitate on-line data, text and e-mail communication between the CMO and all 32 district collectors on a one-to-one basis, thus bringing the chief executive of the state and the district administration close enough to be just a mouse-click away, according to the director of DIT, Rohit K Singh.Giving details,Singh said this communication model envisions using the Internet as the state's own wide area network (WAN), thus creating a wired state administration. Developed in-house by the DIT, the Raj-Swift is also expected to help in cutting down considerably the costs incurred in STD calls, faxes, postage and travelling.In the first phase, Raj-Swift would be used by the Chief Minister and his secretariat and collectors for sharing of information related to key areas like law and order, monitoring special schemes and programmes as also other developmental plans and critical administrative issues.All instructions of the Chief Minister would be passed to the collectors through this system. The collectors, in turn, would be able to update the status on a real-time basis. This is expected to enhance the effectiveness of monitoring by the Chief Minister's secretariat. The Chief Minister would also be able to communicate directly with the collectors at any time and from any place.In the second phase, all districtlevel offices of key government departments, panchayat samitis, educational institutions and other agencies would be able to use Raj-Swift for intra and inter departmental communication.
