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worldwide but also Microsoft in India". He, however, could not immediately say in which countries Microsoft has had the experience of computerizing governments. When pointed out that Tata-IBM, Big Blue's joint venture in the country, is actively targeting the government computerization business and has also got an Institute of Electronic Governance to back its claims to expertise in the field, Krishnan said "Competition is inevitable in any large business. But we have breadth of technology to our advantage. We have a better understanding of governments as we always work with them."
Tata-IBM Managing Director Ravi Marwah, when contacted, was not aware of the development. He said he would comment only after seeing the Gates letter. When Krishnan was asked to comment on the speculation that Microsoft's offer to help Andhra Pradesh with computerization may be conditional to Microsoft setting up its first overseas development centre in the state, he denied it outright. "No final decision has been taken on the matter. It is too early to talk of it."
PROFILE OF Mr. N. CHANDRABABU NAIDU,
CHIEF MINISTER OF ANDHRA PRADESH.
Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, was born in Naravaripally village of Chittoor district on April 20, 1950. His late father Sri N.K. Naidu was an agriculturist and his mother Smt. Ammanamma is a housewife. Mr. Naidu had his school education in Chandragiri and his college education at the Sri
Venkateswara Arts College, Tirupati. He did his Masters in Economics from the Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. He was doing research for a
Ph.D. degree at the same university, when he took to politics.
Mr. Naidu has been active in politics since his student days. He held various positions in his college and organized a number of social activities. Following the 1977 cyclone, which devastated Diviseema taluk of Krishna district, he actively organized donations and relief material from Chittoor district for the cyclone victims. Mr. Naidu has been evincing keen interest in rural development activities in general and, the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden sections of society in particular.
Mr.Naidu was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1978 from Chandragiri constituency in Chittoor district. He served as a Director of the A.P. Small Scale Industries Development Corporation for some time. He subsequently became a Minister and held the portfolios of Archives, Cinematography, Technical
Education, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Public libraries and Minor Irrigation between 1980 and 1983. He also served as the Chairman of the State Karshak Parishad, constituted for the first time to look after the welfare of the farming community.
Mr. Naidu was the General Secretary of Telugu Desam Party since 1985, in which capacity he was
instrumental in building up an effective party organization from the grass roots. He was the moving force for designing and organizing large scale multifaceted training programmes for party functionaries.
He was elected again to the State Legislature from Kuppam constituency of Chittoor district in 1989. He served as Coordinator of the Telugu Desam Party, in which capacity he effectively handled the party’s role of main opposition in the assembly which won him wide appreciation from both the party and the public. His role during this phase both inside the legislative assembly and outside was a critical factor for the subsequent
success of the party at the hustings.
In 1994 he was reelected to the Assembly from Kuppam constituency with a large majority of 57,000 votes and held the important portfolios of Revenue and Finance. During this tenure Mr. Naidu systematically introduced transparency in Government, thus breaking the tradition of inordinate secrecy in the Finance department.
The mantle of leadership fell on the shoulders of Mr. Naidu at a most critical juncture in the state’s politics. Following a popular upsurge in the party Mr. Naidu, was unanimously elected as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on 1st September 1995.
The Chief Minister has a modern outlook to administration. His style of functioning is more akin to that of a CEO as compared to a traditional politician. The Chief Minister has a firm conviction that modern technology should be used in the service of the common man. Consequently, he has been laying great emphasis on the use of modern information technology in Government. He would like the State to be run professionally as an efficient organization rather than as a bureaucracy riddled with red-tape.
The Chief Minister’s vision for the future includes multidimensional development of all citizens of the state. He is keen to develop the full potential of all citizens based on a strong moral foundation. The Chief Minister has been propagating a return to ethical and value based precepts in day to day life. In keeping with this commitment, he has launched new initiatives, like the Janmabhoomi programme which aims at achieving excellence in all walks of life and focuses on community building through team work.
In order to achieve greater involvement of the people in the implementation of Government programmes, the Chief Minister has been encouraging the concept of social audit, which involves making information available to all citizens about the works being taken up with public funds in their area. The Chief Minister has also taken
the initiative for setting up self help groups like Water users’ associations, for involving farmers in the management of irrigation systems. Other self help groups like Watershed Development Committees, Womens’ groups, Youth groups, Village Education Committees and Village Health Committees are also being set up.
The Chief Minister has initiated an exercise to define the Vision 2020 for the state. According to the Chief Minister, "Our vision of Andhra Pradesh is a State where poverty is totally eradicated; where every man, woman and child has access to not just the basic minimum needs, but to all the opportunities for leading a happy and fulfilling life; a knowledge and learning society built on the values of hard work, honesty, discipline and a collective sense of purpose." This vision reflects the Chief Minister’s forward looking perspective on the state’s development, and the details of the vision will be further concretized after public discussion.
In line with his style of functioning, the Chief Minister’s programme for the year was released as early as in December 1997 indicating the schedule for 1998 in terms of meetings with different departments, schedule for the ‘Janmabhoomi’ programme and various other activities. This was done in order to sensitize all government functionaries about the need to have proper planning and time management, as also impart a degree of urgency in the discharge of their official responsibilities.
The Chief Minister is undertaking administrative reforms in right earnest and would like to emphasise as much on processes of ‘transformating’ as on ‘informating’ within Government. As part of the Administrative Reforms, the Chief Minister would like to use Information Technology for providing better quality of governance for the common man.
At the Chief Minister’s initiative, a State Wide Area Network is being set up and the Government of India has agreed to the allocation of 2 Mbps of bandwidth over Optical Fibre cable for providing connectivity between Hyderabad and the districts. A Campus Area network has already been implemented in the Secretariat. Video conferencing links between the state headquarters and the districts are also being set up.
An Executive Information System for monitoring the progress of various governmental programmes has been set up in the Chief Minister’s Office. The information is now being fine-tuned and expanded to cover more details and a large number of subject areas. Geographical Information System (GIS) applications for the road network in the State, the Irrigation and Drainage System, Forestry and Wasteland development are also under implementation.
The Chief Minister is keen to set up distributed data warehouses in different government departments as part of a Governmental Intranet. The Chief Minister feels that the Internet technology holds immense potential for the future and should be used to provide high quality service to the citizen. It is therefore contemplated that all
information relevant to the citizen should be made available on electronic networks. Such information can be conveniently accessed from electronic kiosks. This will ensure ‘one-stop’ ‘non-stop’ information to all citizens. As part of his vision for Information Technology the Government of Andhra Pradesh is planning to start moving towards the concept of paper-less offices using workflow concepts and enterprise wide computing. The
Government of Andhra Pradesh is in the process of setting up value added network services in association with Singapore network services. The value added network services will provide greater convenience to the public to transact business with Government. Removal of a face-to-face contact for most Government services is also expected to reduce the levels of corruption prevailing for delivery of such services.
Recently, at the Chief Minister’s behest, the computerisation of the registration department covering 212 sub-registrars offices was completed. This computerisation will enable citizens to access services in a convenient manner in a fraction of the time previously taken. For example, registration of a land sale that previously used to take one week, can now be accomplished in less than one hour.
In recognition to the Chief Minister's leadership and vision in the field of Information technology, Mr.Naidu was designated as the Co-chairperson of the National Task Force on Information technology set up by the Government of India to prepare the IT road map for the future. The Chief Minister in his capacity as the Co-chairperson of the National Task Force, has taken a number of initiatives for dismantling the monopoly in the telecommunications sector and for promoting the use of Information technology for common citizens. At his instance, a programme for linking India's premier universities and specialised institutions, with high bandwidth connectivity has been launched in collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon University, as part of the IUNet India initiative. The stellar role played by the Chief Minister in promoting Information technology in the
country has been widely recognised, both within and outside the country.
Recently, the President of the World Bank, while addressing the Governors of the bank made a mention of the initiatives taken up by the Chief Minister. The President stated, "In Andhra Pradesh in India, a state of 70 million people, the Chief Minister has a programme for 2020. A programme for literacy, for improved access to health care, for livelihoods, empowering women, developing backward areas, creating safety nets -- a
programme with clearly monitorable targets that can be regularly checked". (Oct 6, 1998).
When the Chief Minister took over in 1995, the State’s finances were in very poor shape. Following the initiatives launched by the Chief Minister there has been a remarkable improvement in the State’s economic performance. Recently, the credit rating agency, CRISIL, improved Andhra Pradesh’s rating from A(-) to A. While improving Andhra Pradesh’s rating the credit rating agency stated, "The rating change reflects a significant improvement in Government of Andhra Pradesh’s fiscal parameters like revenue and fiscal deficits,
a positive outlook on Government of Andhra Pradesh’s finances and Andhra Pradesh's economy as a result of progressive policies and sustained structural reforms on both the fiscal and the administrative front."
The Chief Minister is a firm believer in accountability of the Government and has taken steps to systematically incorporate accountability as an intrinsic feature of Government’s functioning.
The Chief Minister would like to achieve tangible results in a short time frame. His working hours extend from 6.30 in the morning to late into night. During this period, the Chief Minister devotes a significant portion of his time for meeting a large number of common citizens and addressing their problems and concerns. A grievance cell has been set up in the Chief Minister’s Office for monitoring the redressal of public grievances. The Chief
Minister’s itinerary also includes surprise visits to the districts which are aimed at keeping administration on its toes. These visits are directed at curbing administrative corruption and lethargy. |
