head.gif (4280 bytes)

   
Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Chief Minister of of MadhyaPradesh)    
                                    IT Policy of Madhya Pradesh

1. Vision
The broad vision of the State in the Information  Technology sector is summarised as follows:

"Madhya Pradesh will use Information Technology to achieve the following:
* Improve the life of common man leveraging the strength of e-Governance
* Attracting investment in the sector so that the educated youth is able to contribute to the
   development of the State.

* Create a pool of highly skilled professionals who are at par with the best in the country.
* Transforming Resource Based Economy to knowledge based Economy.

2. Background
Foreseeing the opportunity to growth in the Information Technology sector, Madhya Pradesh government developed its IT policy way back in 1999. The policy ushered the state into the 21st century. The policy is in the 6th year of its existence and stock taking has become necessary.

3. Salient Features of 1999 IT Policy
Government of Madhyapradesh constituted a state Task Force on Information Technology under the Chairmanship of Prof. Yashpal. The focus of the policy was to change the Government functioning from both inside and outside and would create seamless society with global opportunity.

The Following were the salient features of the policy

a.The State would aim for employment opportunities for Four Hundred Thousand to One Million people
   in IT/ITES related activities.
b.Providing information access to all citizens at an affordable cost and for achieving IT literacy in all 
   the High Schools and Colleges by the year 2003 and aims to do so in all the schools by the year
   2008.

c.Computerization in Government departments and agencies must be the engine of growth of IT/ITES
   in Madhyapradesh, in the initial period.

d. A targeted share of 10% of the national IT output by the time frame indicated earlier, i.e. the year
    2008 would be in the region of approx. Rs.42000/- crore and would require a direct private sector
    investment of the order of Rs.4500/- crore approx.

e. The State goal of achieving a 10% share in the national output would translate to roughly one-third
    of the State Domestic Product (SDP) being contributed by IT.


4. Stock taking the IT Policy-1999

a.
STRENGHTS:
    i.   
Adequate development of Telecommunication infrastructure in the state.
    ii.   Increase in number of IT and computer science graduate engineers.
    iii.  Increased penetration of computer in the government offices.
    iv.  Implemented a few major IT projects such as Issue of smart card based driving licences &
          registration certificates, computerization of Mandi Board, Treasuries, Commercial taxes


b. WEAKNESSES.
     i.    Failed to attract IT Industry to the state.
     ii.   Other than above 4 major initiatives, GoMP could not do much for other major/important
           departments.
     iii.  Could not create common infrastructure such as SWAN, Data centre and interoperability
           standards.
     iv.  Government services in electronic from could not reach to common man in spite of being a
           pioneer in initiatives such as Gyandoot.
      v.  Substantial investment in e-governance evaded attention of the State's finances.

      vi. Inadequate growth in employment opportunities and revenue from the business in this sector.

5. Strategies: The four pillars on which the foundation of the State's Information Technology shall
     rest, are as follows:-
a. E-Governance With increasing literacy, citizens demand better services from the government,
    in the shortest time, at the place of their choice and in a transparent and non-discriminatory
    manner. The different steps in achieving this objective are as follows:-

i. Web Sites and Contents:- Barring a few all major web sites of the state are in English. Few of 
   those that are in Hindi are in fonts that make them difficult to view without passing through the
   hassles of font installation. The contents of the site do not serve the interest and information
   requirement of the citizen. Hence " all the websites of the state will be in both English as well as
   Hindi, in Unicode Fonts, common look and feel and with content relevant to the user group the site is
   intended for". The following shall be the actionable points:
1. Department of Information Technology will develop a common template for websites within one 
    month of the promulgation of the policy.
2. All Departments, using the templates and suggestion of Department of IT should reconstruct their
    sites in English and Hindi with content relevant for the user groups. Departments shall be 
    responsible for updation of their site and will appoint Webmaster for this purpose.
3. A committee under the chairmanship of the Chief secretary shall review the progress in six months.

ii. E-Governance Projects:- The Central Government is funding 10 mission mode projects of the state
    that pertains to the following departments; Land Records, Transport, Municipalities, Gram
    Panchayat, Commercial Taxex. The Departments that are not in this list shall be computerised by
    State's own resources. E-Governance projects shall be funded as follows:

1. These projects will be long term (10 to 15 years). joint Venture of CMM level 5 companies and
    Empanelled Vendors of the State will be allowed to bid for the projects. Madhya Pradesh State
    Electronics Development Corporation and MAP_IT will empanel the Vendors of the State. after the
    approval of a committee headed by the Chief Secretary. department of Information Technology will
    provide consultants for preparing Request for Proposal (RPF) and Detailed Project Report (DPR).
    The concerned Department will follow transparent procedure for selecting System Integrator (SI). 
    The SI will provide hardware, software, proprietary software, manpower, customised software and
     maintenance.

a. Projects where user charges can be levied will be funded under the public private partnership
    principles. Projects such as Lumbering Operation MIS of the Forest Department, e-Procurement/
    e-Tendering and computeisation of the collectors office are good examples.
b. Adequate funds will be provided for computerisation of those departments submitting project
    proposal. The proposal must include provision for improving systems. processes and procedures.

2. Some Departments are getting funds through externally aided projects or from the central line
    ministries (Water Resources, Urban Local Bodies, Police etc.) These departments will get their
    projects sanctioned from the respective Agency.
3. Departments will actively discourage the use of pirated software. Department of IT will enter into
    select agreement with major software companies so that lowest prices can be negotiated.
4. All the Departments in one month from the date the policy is promulgated will undertake the 
    exercise of identifying funding sources. The high power committee under the chairmanship of the
    chief Secretary will review the progress.
5. Evaluation of IT Projects will be based on a two stage evaluation process. the first stage will be
    prequalification in which the quality of the bidding companies will be assessed. price bids of only
    those companies shall be opened who are approved in the prequalification stage.

b .Attracting IT Industry:-The industry grew in tier I cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad,
     Chennai and Delhi. Due to congestion and infrastructural problems it has started looking at tier II
     cities such as PUNe, Chandigarh, Bhubneshwar and Nagpur for expanding operation and reducing
     cost. The State can capitalise on this development and promote investment in Indore, Gwalior,
     bhopal and Jabalpur. to attract IT industry and development of Private IT parks following will be the
     course of action.
i. Software, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Information Technology Enabled  Services (ITES)
   and Computer Hardware (as described in the notification number F-16-8-eleven-D-99 dated
   28-01-2000 of the Industries Department) will qualify as Information Technology Industry.

ii.
Large chunks of land (Preferably more than 100 acres) near the Airports of the above 4 cities 
    will be earmarked by the State for Information Technology investment area. Composite township 
    with food courts, hospital, shopping mall, residential complex, schools, five star hotel, and other
    entertainment facilities for the software professionals will be allowed in these areas. Land
    earmarked for this purpose will not be diverted for any other purpose without the consent of the
    high power committee under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary.

iii.
The State Government or its agencies will not undertake construction on their own in the IT
     investment area. Suitable private sector infrastructure development agencies will be identified who
     will undertake the development, marketing and management of the IT investment area. The State
     or its agency will only be a facilitator or a minority partner partner in the Special Purpose Vehicle.


iv. The Government will facilitate acquisition of private land in accordance with land acquisition act for
     development of IT investment area by leading and reputed private sector companies who posses
     experience of making sizable investment in this sector.

v. Proposed incentives by Government of Madhya Pradesh:
    1. All incentives provided under the Industrial Policy shall be applicable to the IT Industries
       established on Government allotted land / Private Land with a provision of single window
       processing/clearances for all government formalities.

    2. The Government shall reimburse prospectively, 30% of the cost incurred by an IT Company
        operating in the State and employing more than 100 people, on securing quality certification of
        Capability Maturity Model (CMM/CMMi) Peoples Capability Maturity Model (PCMM) level 3 and
        above, subject to a maximum ceiling of 4 lakhs. This incentive will be available only once to the
        applicant company.

     3. Exemptions up-to twice the existing FAR for entire IT investment area.

     4. Stamp duty payable by IT companies on mortgage / hypothecation with banks/financial
         institutions in IT investment area will be exempted provided the new unit is certified to be an IT
         outfit by a designated agency.

     5. Stamp duty and registration fee exemption will be applicable on-sale/lease by Financial
         Institution / Government Agencies/ Pvt. sector who acquire space/ premises in IT investment
         area for subsequent lease to IT units provided the new unit is certified to be an IT outfit by a
         designated agency.

     6. Rate of Property tax in the IT investment area will be at par with residential premises.

     7. No prior permission will be required for installation of captive power plant.

     8. Rebate in cost of Land is being included as one of the major incentives for attracting
         investments in the state. IT Companies establishing the facilities can avail in the cost of land
         linked to employment. The terms for allotting land and the procedure for availing the rebate is
         defined below:
                a)  Rebate shall be applicable only on Government lands and land belonging to 
                     development Authorities/ Government owned Corporation.
                 b)  Rebate shall be restricted to rs.25,000/- per job created in the unit.
                 c) Minimum Number of employees hired by a company in order to avail the concession
                    shall be 100.
                 d) Company taking concession will have to continue operation for two years
                 e) Companies providing employment to more than 500 persons will be provided further
                     concession on rate of land. The cabinet Committee formed for implementation of this
                     policy shall take decision in this regards.
                  f) Land will be allotted for 33 years on lease with provision further renewal. A minimum
                     60% of the total of the IT investment area will be used for IT operations and the
                     balance 40% can be used for ancillary use and support services. the area so developed
                     should have facility to create at least 350 jobs per acre.

        9. It Industry shall be provided power through a dedicated feeder.

       10. Exemption from factories act. maternity act, contract labour act, payment of wages act,
             minimum wages act, ESI act.

       11. Exemption free electricity duty tax, entry tax and work contract tax.

       12. IT units in IT investment area will be exempted from payment of Octroi, Entry Tax  and Local
            Bodies tax for all capital goods and raw material purchased by them.

       13. All incentives will be for 5 years from the date of the IT unit becomes operational.

       14. Companies establishing IT industries in the state shall be entitled to Special Economic
             Zone  (SEZ) status under the Central Government provisions.

       15. Companies providing employment to more than 250 people in the state will get preference of
            10% marks in the prequalification stage of the bidding process of IT procurement.


c. IT EDUCATION Madhya Pradesh has been able to produce large number of graduate engineers in IT and Computer Sciences. Presently the state is having more than 60 engineering college. These graduates are not able to fulfill the needs of the industry. There is a need to upgrade their skills and make the manpower compatible with the industry requirement. The present government schooling system is not producing manpower, which can fulfill the requirement of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology Enabled services {ITES}. NASSCOM> in consultation with leading IT consultant, KPMG has published a report that predicts pattern of IT manpower requirement in the next five years. It is indicated that these two sectors will be requiring 2.1 Million people. this sector requires Key Board skills, Internet Browsing skills; ability to work on office packages, data entry and knowledge of the laws of the client country and their procedures In view of the description given above, the following is proposed to be undertaken during the policy implementation period:-

       i. Selected 500 government schools will be provided modern computing hardware, software and
          Internet connectivity. These centres will produce students equipped for taking jobs in the BPO/
          ITES sectors. Department of School Education in consultation with IT Department, IT industry,
          other concerned department and other concerned groups will prepare course curriculum to be
          taught in these schools. The School Education Department will promote teaching computers
          and technology in these schools.

      ii. To improve the standard of IT education in the Engineering College and Government Collages
          to make our graduates employable, centres of excellence will be established in all Government
          Engineering Colleges and selected Government Colleges. the State would invite large reputed
          companies to teach technology and provide their certification in these centres.

      iii. English language teaching will be promoted in school education.

      iv. A Centre for E-governance will be established in Bhopal, which will allow engineering graduates
          from the IT field to work on live E-governance projects. These centres will be based on a
          spectrum of technologies that would include proprietary as well as open source. Some noted IT
          professionals would man these centres. Department of IT will submit a Detailed Project Report
          (DPR) within six months from the announcement of the Policy.

d. Common Infrastructure: Common infrastructure such as State Wide Area Network
     [SWAN], Natural Resource management [GIS based], Data Centre, Disaster Recovery sites and
     Inter Operability standards are required so that all the departments are able to utilize these
     services without bothering about the maintenance of these complex facilities. In this regard, the
     following action will be taken:-

                   i. SWAN is being built by funding support from the Government of india. it shall be
                      operational by june 2006. The bandwidth cost of maintaining this infrastructure has to
                      be borne by the state government. All departments will be encouraged to shift from
                      their existing networks to the SWAN and development of any new SWAN will not be
                      allowed in future.

                  ii. GIS based Natural Resource Management System (NRMS): MAP_IT will develop a
                      state of the art GIS lab for departments that use maps for managing natural
                      resources. Officers brought on deputation to MAP_IT will man this lab. After this lab
                      is established Departments will not incur expenditure on GIS. the facility will be
                      web-enabled and the IT Department will be provided budget for the maintenance
                      of the lab.

                 iii. Data centre and Disaster Recovery: Govt. of Madhya Pradesh is actively evaluating the
                     possibility of hosting all departmental IT infrastructure at a central professionally
                     managed data centre. this Data Centre is likely to be setup in Bhopal. the disaster
                     Recovery site is being planned in Gwalior. funds will be mobilished from the Mission
                     Mode projects, e-governance projects and externally aided projects. The funds will be
                     transferred to the Madhya Pradesh state Electronics development corporation 
                    [MPSEDC] which will manage the facility on behalf of the State Government.

                iv. Inter Operability standards will be developed by MAP_IT with inputs from Ministry of
                    Information Technology Government of India. global best practices and  leading
                    technology consultants. all the departments will compulsorily adhere to these 
                   standards.

e. Administrative Measures:- A cabinet committee will be created for ensuring successful implementation of the policy. The Cabinet Committee will form its own rules and procedures for 
carrying out its business. It will meet every 3 months.
                          ( This Page Under Construction)







                             

Home | Chat Channel | Free E-mail | E-greetings | Todayindia Poll