Video conferencing aids Chhattisgarh in administration

The state of Chhattisgarh came into being on November 1, 2001. 57 lakh tribals constitute more than 32 percent of the state’s population. More than 95 percent of this population lives in the rural areas. The state has 16 districts in all. Considering that Chhattisgarh is a new tribal state with a low literacy rate, the steps taken by the state government to transfer the benefits of IT to the masses is noteworthy.

Most of the districts in Chhattisgarh state are situated in remote locations and constitute hilly areas and forests. Less than half of district headquarters are connected by the main train route from the state capital. And travelling by road to all other district headquarters located in remote locations is time-consuming and tedious. This proved to be the main hurdle for the administration in monitoring activities in all these districts and carrying out welfare activities in a reasonable time. Moreover, people have been hesitant to approach the administration with their grievances and suggestions for betterment of their living standards.

To bridge this gap between the people and the administration, the Chhattisgarh government decided to implement a cost- and time-effective solution. After evaluating different technologies, the state government decided to go in for video conferencing facility. In the first phase, the state government with the help of National Informatics Centre (NIC) installed video conferencing facilities at places like Raipur, Bilaspur, Bastar and Pendra. The success of this technology at these locations has forced the state government to think of extending this facility to other district headquarters. Apart from district headquarters, the government is also planning to extend this facility to remote locations of the state. It is in the process of procuring mobile video conferencing vans to connect remote locations.

People in this state have already started using this facility. Today, the General Administration Department (GAD) of the state government is conducting video conferencing with Bilaspur, Bastar and Pendra on a daily basis. Wide publicity has been given so that members of the public freely approach the video conferencing centres to lodge their complaints and explain their difficulties to the administration. The secretary, GAD, issues necessary online suggestions to the concerned officer at the districts regarding action to be taken within a time limit. The chief minister’s office also monitors the progress of the case. This arrangement is gaining popularity day-by-day, as people in remote areas are now able to contact the seniormost officers of the state with their grievances face-to-face on this facility.

On the other hand, the chief minister also interacts with people on a regular basis and gets feedback on the development work being carried out. Whenever somebody approaches the video conferencing facility, the chief minister depending on his availability responds immediately or in his absence, OSD (Officer on Special Duty) from the CM’s secretariat attends to the call and later informs the CM about the grievance.

This facility has also helped the state administration to easily monitor and control the activities of the district administration and ensure proper implementation of various development schemes. As commissioners and collectors’ conferences with the chief secretary are being frequently organised on video conferencing, the state government benefits by saving on cost and time.
Another beneficial application of this facility is in veterinary services. The Directorate of Veterinary Services contacts its district-level offices through video conferencing from Raipur and guides them on the control of various diseases, improving milk production in the state and training of staff to check adulteration of milk.

In the days to come, the state government has plans to organise video conferencing-based awareness programmes to aid rural and tribal farmers in improving crop yields. The scientists and professors of the Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur will take part in such seminars from the video conferencing centre at Raipur and will educate farmers on the latest techniques to be adopted, pest control methods and varieties of rice to be chosen for better yield. Similar initiatives will be organised for engineering and medical students from the state, wherein professors from Ravishankar University, Raipur Engineering College and Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College, Raipur will address participants.