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:

- Government to Citizen Services
- Micro Savings
- Micro Insurance
- Micro Credit
- DTP, Photography and Internet Services
- Agri and Business Development Services
- Institutional Development Services
Community Relationship Building processes (At various level)
- First C.S.C. of Meghalaya has been inaugurated by the Hon’ able I.T. Minister Mr. Cornad Sangma on 2nd October 2008
- 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)
S.C.A. Name | Total C.S.Cs | Number of C.S.Cs Commissioned | B.S.N.L. | V-SAT | Others | Total Connected |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BASIX | 225 | 225 | 20 BSNL ( 6 BB, 14 WiMax) | 130 VSAT | 2 | 152 |
State | District | Commissioned CSC |
---|---|---|
Meghalaya | East Garo Hills | 8 |
East Jaintia Hills | 6 | |
East Khasi Hills | 72 | |
North Garo Hills | 9 | |
Ri Bhoi | 27 | |
South Garo Hills | 8 | |
South West Garo Hills | 5 | |
South West Khasi Hills | 14 | |
West Garo Hills | 25 | |
West Jaintia Hills | 26 | |
West Khasi Hills | 25 | |
Total | 225 |