Common Services Centres (C.S.C)

Common Services Centres (C.S.C)

Background

The Governments around the world are leveraging advances in Information and Communication Technologies (I.C.T.) to enhance their service-delivery mechanism to improve citizen satisfaction towards Government and gain competitive advantage over the nations to attract investments. Government of India (GOI) has also approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) with the vision of providing all Government services in an integrated manner at citizen’s doorstep and at an affordable cost. It seeks to lay the foundation for the long term growth of e-Governance in the country. NeGP is aimed at improving the quality, accessibility and effectiveness of Government services to citizens and businesses with the help of ICT. It is structured on the philosophy of a centralized initiative with decentralized implementation.

One of the main infrastructure pillars that has been identified for successful implementation of NeGP is Common Services Centres (C.S.C.).

An important dimension of good governance is the anytime, anywhere delivery of Government services. One of the visions of the Government of Meghalaya has been the need to collaborate and integrate information across different departments in the state which will help in delivering prompt services to the citizens, businesses and other Government departments, in a manner that simplifies Government processes and aggregates different inter-related services amongst various departments.

Governments all over the world are striving to achieve good governance so that the benefits accrued as a result of advancement in Information Technology reach the disadvantaged sections of the society, especially the rural poor. Government of Meghalaya has also laid a lot of emphasis on good Governance, adoption of best practices and integrated delivery of information and services, using the network of the Common Service Centres (CSCs).

The CSCs are setup as the front-end delivery points for Government, private and social sector services to rural citizens of India, in an integrated manner. The objective is " To develop a platform that can enable Government, private and social sector organizations to align their social and commercial goals for the benefit of the rural population in the remotest corners of the country through a combination of IT-based as well as non-IT-based services".

Thus, the CSCs are more than service delivery points in rural India. It is positioned as a Change Agent which would promote Rural Entrepreneurship, build rural capacities and livelihoods, enable community participation and collective action for social change through a bottom-up model focused on the rural population. Citizens can visit these centers and avail a number of Governments to Citizen (G2C) Services made available through the state portal. The reach of the Government in providing efficient and quick delivery of services to the rural poor is enhanced through the State Portal and the Common Service Centers (CSCs).

The various IT and non-IT services that will be offered includes Government to Citizens (G2C), Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B). However, primary focus is on G2C services like birth and death certificates, land registration, utility bill payments (electricity, telephone, mobile, etc) form downloads, etc. Apart from these, CSCs also act as a medium for providing information or services on informal education, e-learning, licenses, permits, crop insurance and more. They thus enhance the accountability, transparency, and responsibility of the Government towards the needs of the citizens. CSCs offers and monitor all types of training and extension programs, thereby giving a platform to the rural sector to access regional, national and international markets. Creating primary data collection centers and data warehouse serves will be the source of authentic statistical data used for various analytical and decision support purposes.

Rainbow C.S.C.

The Meghalaya C.S.Cs are called Rainbow CSCs due to a variety of reasons which are enlisted below”

Meghalaya is the 'abode of clouds'

Rainbow- the most spectacular spectrum of light on earth

Symbolizes Positive Energy

Represents also 7 Districts of the State

7 Colors represent the 7 Thematic Services offered

The menu card of the services offered looks like below:

1. Government to Citizen Services
2. Micro Savings
3. Micro Insurance
4. Micro Credit
5. DTP, Photography and Internet Services
6. Agri and Business Development Services
7. Institutional Development Services

Community Relationship Building processes (At various level)

1. First C.S.C. of Meghalaya has been inaugurated  by the Hon’ able I.T. Minister Mr. Cornad Sangma on 2nd October 2008
2. Mr. Minister inaugurated first  CSC of the Garo Hills too, on 3rd December 2008

Service Centre Agency for Meghalaya: BASIX

Government of Meghalaya intends to synergize its e-government endeavours by dovetailing the same within the overall framework of the Central Government’s proposed C.S.C. Scheme to reach out to the citizens. Based on a comprehensive service analysis that is done in the State for various services delivered to the citizens by all the departments, the Meghalaya Government, in conjunction with its line departments, IT department and other concerned agencies, has identified the e-Government services to be included in the scheme. 

Current Status

 List of Common Service Centers rolled out in Meghalaya till April, 2013.

CSCs Rolled-out (31st March 2013)

e-Government services

Financials – Village Level Entrepreneur of C.S.C.

Current Status – C.S.C.