Srinagar, Oct 06 (KNO): Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the functioning of the Information Technology (IT) Department and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), J&K. The meeting was attended by Secretary, IT, Dr. Piyush Singla; CEO, JaKeGA, Mahima Madan; State Informatics Officer, NIC, J.S. Modi; and other senior officers of both IT-related establishments.
At the outset, the Chief Secretary underscored the critical importance of cyber security, calling for its strengthening right from the tehsil and block levels. He directed the IT Department to ensure the seamless expansion of the e-Office network to all tehsil and block offices across Jammu and Kashmir following its successful rollout in district-level offices. He also asked for a detailed status report identifying the offices still outside the e-Office ambit.
The Chief Secretary further instructed the Department to expedite the upgradation of the State Data Centre (SDC) and the establishment of a Mini Security Operations Centre (SoC) in J&K. Stressing the need for capacity-building initiatives, he emphasized the creation of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Information Technology to nurture skilled manpower aligned with future industry requirements.
He also called for the formulation of a comprehensive proposal for the establishment of a futuristic IT Park in the UT aimed at generating high-end employment opportunities for youth trained in advanced IT domains.
During the meeting, Secretary, IT, Dr. Piyush Singla gave a detailed overview of the Department’s functioning and achievements. He informed that the number of active websites audited by Third-Party Auditors (TPA) had risen from 110 to 206 in the past three months, with over 210 government websites and applications currently accessible to the public.
He also revealed that the State Data Centre (SDC) is in the process of obtaining ISO 27001 and ISO 20001 certifications, underscoring the government’s commitment to international standards of information security and service management.
On this occasion the CEO, JaKeGA, Mahima Madan, presented a detailed account of the projects being implemented by the agency. She informed that a CERT-IN empanelled TPA had successfully conducted audits of departmental websites hosted in J&K, and these would soon be migrated to IPv6 for enhanced security, performance, and scalability.
Providing details of the e-Office 2.0 rollout, she stated that 4,056 offices and 21,774 users have been onboarded under the second phase, extending operations to tehsil and block levels. The State Wide Area Network (SWAN) has been expanded to all districts and 167 blocks, ensuring robust connectivity for smooth e-office operations.
She further informed that 127 citizen services, including 15 newly added ones, have been integrated with Digi Locker, making over 8.06 crore records available online. The platform currently has 30.4 lakh registered users in J&K.
Highlighting JaKeGA’s ongoing and upcoming initiatives, she mentioned projects such as digitization of government records, software development for multiple departments, Digital Village Centres in 44 panchayats equipped with video-conferencing facilities, Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance systems, and plans for disaster recovery setups, digital signage solutions, and capacity-building programmes.
Speaking in the meeting State Informatics Officer, NIC J.S. Modi, informed that the Centre continues to serve as the technological partner of the Government of J&K, providing technical consultancy, support in system design, and guidance in emerging technologies. NIC’s infrastructure extends across J&K offering services such as video conferencing, NIC/NKN connectivity, Network Operations Centre management, cyber security initiatives, website and application hosting, and email services for government departments and the J&K Police.
He further divulged that the NIC also supports various public-facing digital platforms including the Shri Amarnathji Yatra online services, Pension Suvidha Portal, BoPEE services, and Service Plus (JanSugam). Upcoming initiatives include the implementation of NeVA (National e-Vidhan Application), Next Gene Hospital, and online sanctioning of social welfare applications, among others.
Earlier during the meeting, the Chief Secretary launched the E-SAM (Electronic System of Asset Management) Portal, a comprehensive lifecycle management platform designed to optimize asset performance and minimize costs and risks.
The system streamlines operations through workflow management, vendor integration, inventory control, disposal tracking, compliance monitoring, and efficiency enhancement, thereby improving governance and accountability—(KNO)