Bhubaneswar: Principal Secretary of Excise Department, Nikunja Bihari Dhal, launched eOffice of the Excise Directorate & the District Offices and the Odisha State Beverage Corporation Limited at the Energy Department’s Conference Hall in Kharavela Bhawan on Friday.
eOffice is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Programme of the Government. It is developed by National Informatics Centre and implemented by Centre for Modernizing Government Initiative (CMGI) in Odisha with an objective to usher in more efficient, effective, and transparent inter-government and intra-government transactions and processes. It is built as a single reusable system by bringing together independent functions and systems under a single framework to enhance transparency, increase accountability and transform the government work culture and ethics.
eOffice software is designed with the objective to abolish the movement of hard copies within an organization and integrate various unrelated activities within an organization. The software is based on open technologies and web-based platforms and is user-friendly and easy to use. The user can access the system using standard Internet browsers such as Internet Explorer or Netscape after necessary authentication. The complete system works with a centralized back-end database to store the necessary structured information, keyed in by the user. In Odisha e-Office has been implemented in 836 Government offices, to operate office functions remotely. e-Office is being implemented under the 5Ts initiative of the General Administration & Public Grievances Department.
In his welcome address, Excise Commissioner Ashish Kumar Singh told “Online processing of files is one of the key elements of bringing efficiency and transparency in the business process of government. The government of Odisha is one of the front runners in the country in the use of digital technology for file processing through the successful implementation of OSWAS. However, it will not be possible for OSWAS to reach each and every Office of the State in a short time. Considering the need for digitization of file processing of the Offices not covered under OSWAS, the State Government decided to implement the e-Office developed by NIC. CMGI was designated by the State Government to take up the task of implementing e-Office in all such Offices including State Universities, Autonomous Bodies, and PSUs. E-Office is designed with the objective to do away with the practice of movement of hard files within an organization and integrate various unrelated activities within an organization. E-Office software is user-friendly and easy to use. The user can access the system using standard internet browsers. The complete system works with a centralized back-end database to store the necessary structured information, keyed in by the user. In Odisha e-Office has been implemented in 836 Government offices, to operate office functions remotely. e-Office will be implemented in all the District & Subdistrict level Excise Offices under the 5Ts Initiative of the Excise Department. I assert to mention that some Government offices are successfully doing intra-office file transactions through e-Office. In order to ensure transparency, accountability and data security & integrity e-Office plays an important role”
After the formal launching of the eOffice of Excise Directorate & the District Offices and the Odisha State Beverage Corporation Ltd. by the Principal Secretary, Excise Department, online files were processed by Shri Prasanna Kumar Sarangi Managing Director, OSBCL & Shri Ramachandra Palata, Addl. Commissioner, Excise Department, Government of Odisha of their concerned offices. Bibhu Prasad Mishra, Senior Technical Director, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Bhubaneswar, apprised that with much fewer human resources, this is a record to implement eOffice in 840 offices.
Appreciating the efforts of the Centre for Modernizing Government Initiative (CMGI), Dhal told, “I am glad that CMGI, the administrative reforms wing of the General Administration and Public Grievance department has been instrumental in this endeavor. It has improved service delivery and governance by way of moulding knowledge and technology in the perspective of procedural requirements. The Center has done commendable jobs in developing the e-governance modules for timely and transparent delivery of G2C and G2B services online, quick resolution of public grievances through e-grievance system, effective management of human resources in Government establishments, automation of public offices, seamless transaction between the Directorate and the Secretariat, online training modules for Government officers, and creation of platforms for virtual meetings”
Executive Director of CMGI, Satyapriya Rath, in his vote of thanks, told, “CMGI is taking utmost care to implement e-Office in the Government offices. E-Office aims at transforming the government work culture and ethics in order to promote greater collaboration in the workplace thereby enhancing the efficiency & effectiveness of the organization. Within a very meagre source and resource, CMGI could implement e-Office in 840 Government Offices. There are more than 100 offices in the pipeline for implementation of e-Office at present. The acceptance of e-Offices in the Government office is quite encouraging.”
Dy Commissioner of Excise, Ramachandra Mishra, along with senior officials of OSBCL, Excise Department and CMGI were present. Pinaki Mohanty, Project Coordinator, ORTPSA & eOffice along with their team members Kabita Rout, Deepak Mallick, and Amit Mohanty of CMGI were coordinating the programme.
