It is the endeavor of Government of Nagaland to provide to all citizens, integrated services, by utilizing the modern tools of Information Technology in order to ensure reliable, efficient and transparent system of governance. In order to achieve these objectives, it has been decided by Government of Nagaland to implement an e Governance project called e Modop on the lines of similar projects implemented elsewhere in the country. The vision of the e Modop project is "to provide to the citizens of Nagaland all G2C services and information with regard to schemes and programs of departments and agencies of Central, State and Local Governments in an efficient, reliable, transparent and integrated manner through easy access to Integrated Citizen Service Centers, kiosks, mobile phones and the internet". The mission statement of the e Modop project is "to provide service 2 citizens that is reliable and always available". Such an ambitious project, which aims to redefine delivery of services of the Government, will be implemented in a phased manner. The pilot project is being implemented in Mokokchung district and delivery of services will be through CIC centers and Internet kiosks. E Modop services are being offered through website and also through a call centre where users can call anytime and register their public grievances. This facility is operational 24 hours and 7 days a week. In the next phase of the project, it can be rolled out to all the eleven districts and services will be available through mobile phones also in addition to Citizen Service Centers and kiosks. The number of services offered will be fifteen of seven Government Departments, in the first phase and will gradually be increased to 20 basic services.

At present these services are being offered through CIC centres at the block headquarters. In order to extend the reach of the services to all the villages, it is proposed to establish Information Technology infrastructure in all the villages of Mokokchung by providing VSAT connectivity and computers and other necessary hardware. These centers will be run by trained youth belonging to the village and they will be equipped to offer all services in the village itself. The services that will be introduced will be information on all Government schemes, Issue of Birth and Death certificates, Issue of ST / Indigenous certificates, Passport Forms, Payment of Utility Bills like Power, Water Tax, House Tax, Telephone Bills etc. It is envisaged that villagers will save money and time spent in traveling to district headquarters for small works. This facility can also be used for monitoring of various Government Schemes for Rural Development, Education, Health and Welfare departments. In particular, it can also be utilized for monitoring the issue of job cards for NREGA schemes and also to ensure that all Government schemes are properly implemented. Farmers also will benefit as they can find the price of agricultural products in the village itself and decide on where to sell and when to sell. Students can use the facility for access to libraries and journals from everywhere and can get connected to the Information Super Highway.

Mokokchung has 75 Village Councils with 6 Community Development Blocks and 3 Sub Divisions with a total population of around 230, 000. The literacy rate is around 98 % and the population is in general young, English speaking and progressive. There are very limited job industries as there are hardly any industries and agriculture does not attract the youth as the yield in the hilly terrain is limited and agriculture can not gainfully employ the entire population. In view of this it is felt that if connectivity is provided, IT industry will help the youth to find jobs with their creative ideas. Further in the IT world, the remoteness problem of the district can be addressed. Along with using the infrastructure created for providing services, jobs can also be created for the youth.

The Centers will be established in each of the Villages in Mokokchung District. Overall control and supervision of the project in the District will be done by the Deputy Commissioner with technical support from NIC District Unit. At the block level, the custodian of the project will be the Area Administrative Officer (ADC/SDO/EAC) and technical support will be provided by the CIC. At the village level, the project will be under the control of Village Council, which will form a Village Technical Committee to oversee the running of the services. The site for the Village center will be provided by the Village Council and the Village Technical Committee will appoint an operator for the center as also fix the rates for various services being offered. The Centers will be run by the Village Technical Committee on the Communitisation Principle and the maintenance of the center will be the responsibility of Village Technical Committee with help from CIC and NIC. The villages will be free to use the centers for providing computer education to Government and Private schools under their jurisdiction and realize revenue for the same. Each center will be equipped with VSAT, Computer Systems, Digital Cameras, laser printers, networking equipment and furniture. The centers will also be allowed to function as Photo Studios for generating revenue and providing services to the citizens. The centers will also be allowed to provide basic services to citizens like printing of programmes etc. With this model, it is expected that centers will be self sustaining and will be able to generate revenues for its implementation.

Written by Mr Abhishek Singh IAS, Secretary I.T & T.E (Former DC, Mokokchung)