Delhiites get cyberworld at their threshold

NEW DELHI, NOV 5: The next time a couple wants to get married all they would need is to log in at the nearest computer. That would of cou...

NEW DELHI, NOV 5: The next time a couple wants to get married all they would need is to log in at the nearest computer. That would of course, take the fun out of standing in long queues outside the marriage magistrate8217;s office, haggling with touts and chasing a gazetted officer to sign the affidavit. But the marriage certificate will be available in a matter of minutes.

This is part of the Delhi Government8217;s Rs 100-crore plan to open a window to the cyberworld for the Capital8217;s citizens. The government is presently working on a dedicated satellite network with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited MTNL via which the Chief Minister or indeed any Delhiite can converse or even have a video conference anytime, anywhere. It would make Delhi the third city in the country to have the facility besides Hyderabad and Bangalore.

For the common man, this would bring about certain changes. Driving will remain a necessary nightmare but it will be easy to get a licence. 8220;We are planning to bring about a system whereeven getting learner8217;s driving licence, which is now a cumbersome process, would be done through computers,8221; Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit says. The sites will also help people get themselves heard by the administration more easily.8220;There is already a lot of information available on various departments, where the applications, formats and other such details are available on the Delhi Government website,8221; she says.

But have we not heard it all before? Someone called Chandrababu Nadiu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, doing something similar? 8220;We have our own ideas which are better,8221; Dikshit asserts. 8220;For instance, Connaught Place. I want to make it more pleasant for people to work, to shop. The idea is to decongest and develop areas which are around Delhi where better organisation is possible,8221; Dikshit says.

She gives the programme three years. That is understandable because it would include 8220;training8221; bureaucrats on how to use computers.

The government is also working on a packagefor inviting the Information Technology industry to Dwarka, the proposed 100-acre cybercity at Pappankalan. Officials of the Industry Department say bids for Delhi8217;s software and IT field will be open to firms from the world over. The government will also offer easy export facilities. Already an expressway is being built for the spot.

However, a senior Industry Department official points out 8220;there would have be to a reduction of the government share in the collaboration of the government in a foreign venture. In Andhra Pradesh, the land is free and that takes care of most of the needs of the foreign agencies.8221;

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8220;Also the Andhra Government8217;s equity participation is just 11 per cent as against the traditional 26 per cent in any multi-national company8217;s stakehold. This reduces the role of the officials in the functioning of the industry,8221; the official says.

Dikshit says she is open to suggestions like reduction of sales tax or service tax on the goods that the industry would manufacture or import.