History

In 1975, the Government of India strategically decided to take effective steps for the development of information systems and utilization of information resources and also for introducing computer based decision support system (informatics-led development) in government ministries and departments to facilitate planning and programme implementation to further the growth of economic and social development. Following this, the Central Government nucleated a high priority plan project "National Informatics Centre (NIC)" in 1976, and later on with the financial assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the tune of US$4.4 million

NIC was set up initially under the purview of Information, Planning and Analysis Group (IPAG) of the then Electronics Commission / the Department of Electronics (DOE). In 1987, it was shifted to the Union Planning Commission and in October 1999, to the newly formed Central Ministry of Information Technology, which later became Department of Information Technology of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

The Government of India's resolution on the NIC's mandate has been published in the Gazette of India dated 2 September 1995. Major thrust areas of projects are given below :

• NIC is permitted to utilize its services, expertise and infrastructure including NICNET for supporting, on a charging basis, promotional activities/projects/programmes of national importance.
• Informatics and Network support of NIC/NICNET can be made available to public and private organizations engaged in specified promotional activities/projects/programmes.
• The specified categories of access are permitted for giving access to the services, technologies, expertise and infrastructure of NIC/NICNET to specified organizations and promotional applications.
• NIC/NICNET is given the enabling facilities for supporting promotional activities/projects/programmes in the identified work-areas

Achievements

NIC has emerged as a "prime builder" of e-government / e-Governance applications in government sector (national, state and local districts) as well as promoter of digital opportunities for sustainable development, during more than a quarter century period. NIC has institutional linkages through its ICT Network "NICNET", with all the Departments/Ministries of the Central Government, 28 State Governments, 1 National Capital Territory of Delhi, 6 Union Territories, and about 600 District administrations of India. NIC has been instrumental in steering e-Government / e-Governance applications in Government Ministries/Departments at Centre, States, District and Blocks, facilitating improvement in government services, wider transparency, promoting decentralized planning and management, resulting in better efficiency and accountability to people.

NIC has been an active catalyst and facilitator in "informatics-led-development" programme of the government (could also be termed as an e- Government programme, an e-Governance Programme), enabling it to derive competitive advantage as well as to 'reach out into India' by implementing ICT applications in Social & public Administrations which are discernable from the following:

• Central Government Informatics Development Programme in the Fifth Plan Period (i.e.1972-77)
• "NICNET" a gateway for Internet/Intranet Access and Resources Sharing in Central Government Ministries and Departments during 1980s and 1990s;
• State Government Informatics Development Programme in the Seventh Plan Period (i.e.1985-1990);
• DISNIC A NICNET based District Government Informatics programme for District Administration;
• Reaching out into India during 1985-90, even before the arrival of "Internet" Technology, to all the districts of the Country with different types of terrain, Agro- climatic conditions varied Regional and Socio-economic developments.
• iNOC Integrated Network Operations Centre, equipped with the state-of-the-art technology for managing the NICNET operations.
• Integrated Data Centre A world class Data Centre with state-of-the art infrastructure having the capacity to house more than 1000 high-end servers, supporting a wide range of technologies.
• Establishment of Digital Certification Authority and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
• Establishment of Disaster Recovery Centre (DRC) at Hyderabad.

During the last 27 years, NIC has implemented many "network centric" applications software for Programme implementation in various ministries and departments, using state-of-the-art software tools. "Reaching-Out-Into" and "Reaching- the-Unreached" Concepts were experimented and made operational by NIC through its various ICT Diffusion Projects through its 600 NICNET nodes located in district headquarters, even before the INTERNET Technology was introduced in this Country. During 1980s and early part of 1990s, the policy thrust was on creating a "decision support system" for development planning and responsive administration in governments (i.e. an earlier version of the present day "e-Governance" / "e-Government"). NIC has vast core expertise and experience in the design, development and operationalisation of various e-Government projects in the areas of Public Administration and Governance viz., Agriculture & Food, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Forestry & Environment, Industry, Health, Education, Budget and Treasury, Fiscal Resources, Transport, Water Resources, Court Management, Rural Development, Land Records and Property registration, Culture & Tourism, Import & Exports facilitation, Social Welfare Services, Micro-level Planning etc.

Government of India Initiatives

After the war with China in 1962, the Government of India realised the importance and felt the need of a strong indigenous electronics base for security and national development and accordingly set up the Electronics Committee (also known as the Bhabha Committee) under the Chairmanship of the renowned nuclear scientist Dr. Homi J Bhabha. The Committee in its report in 1966 focused on computers as tools "to the development of a new outlook and a new scientific culture" and suggested the establishment of a National Computer Centre and five regional centres.

The Electronics Committee convened a National Conference on Electronics in 1968 wherein Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the then Chairman of the Committee, suggested the formation of National Informatics Organisation towards fulfilling the goal of a self-reliant electronics industry.

Recognising the need for rapid progress in this regard, the Government of India set up a separate Department of Electronics (DOE) with effect from 26th June 1970 with Professor M.G.K. Menon as the Secretary of the Department. The department functioned directly under Prime Minister as a scientific department. The Government constituted the Electronics Commission in February 1971 under the Chairmanship of Professor M.G.K. Menon.

For policy formulation and implementation through meaningful, effective and in-depth studies in the field of electronics including computer industry, an Information, Planning and Analysis Group (IPAG) of the Electronics Commission was constituted in October 1971 with Dr. N. Seshagiri as its Director.

The Headquarters of the Department of Electronics were at Delhi and those of the Electronics Commission at Mumbai (then Bombay). The IPAG as part of the Electronics Commission was centered at Mumbai.

GENESIS

The Electronics Commission and the DOE put forward a proposal to UNDP for assistance to set up a National Computer Centre in Delhi for building up national data bases, developing the methodologies for utilising these, and for defining the various options and paths in decision-making at the national level. A UNDP team visited Delhi in March 1975 to study the proposal. The UNDP agreed to fund the National Informatics Centre to the extent of US $4.4 million for the purchase of a large computer system (costing approximately US $3.3 million), other hardware, training, the services of experts, etc

The 1976-'77 Annual Report of the DOE noted:

'In view of this, action has been taken to proceed with the preliminary work relating to the National Informatics Centre so that when UNDP financial assistance becomes available and the major hardware is commissioned (in 1978 on the basis of current information), the Centre can get on with its work on an expeditious basis. NIC is a plan project administered by the Information, Planning and Analysis Group (IPAG) of the Electronics Commission in its initial stages'.

The Advisory Council set up for the NIC in 1976-1977 had the following composition

1.Prof. M. G. K. Menon, Chairman, Electronics Commission Chairman

2.Shri M. Satyapal, Advisor (I&M;), Planning Commission Member

3.Shri C.S. Swaminathan, Controller General of Accounts, Ministry of Finance Member

4.Prof. V. S. Rajamani, Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Member

5.Col. A. Balasubramanian, Officer on Special Duty, Department of Electronics Member

6.Dr. N. Seshagiri, Director (IPAG) and Executive Director (Protem), NIC Member

The long-term objective of the National Informatics Centre, as approved by the Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance and the Electronics Commission, is 'to establish the feasibility of a system for the provision of detailed information to government ministries and agencies to assist them in making decisions relating to the country's economic and social development planning and programme implementation'. (Annual Report of the Department of Electronics, Government of India, 1977-'78,p172.)

NIC was set up with the objective to promote economic, social, scientific and technological activities, and also for macro-economic adjustment programme of the Government, through the applications of IT.

As laid down in the Annual Reports of DOE 1976-'77 and 1977-'78, NIC was given the mandate to

• provide this informatics service to various user agencies in Government
• play a promotional role in creating appropriate information systems in Government
• act as a focal point for developing, managing and operating information system in Government
• act as a focal point for development of methodologies for designing and implementing national information systems and data management techniques
• act as a focal point for maintaining inventories of primary data and computer-based systems for data collection and dissemination
• train users in information systems, data management and computing techniques

Ten information systems were planned for development by NIC in the following sectors:

• Agriculture
• Construction and Transport
• Education and Manpower
• Energy
• Finance
• Industry
• Small-Scale Industries
• Socio-Economic Index
• Trade and Media
• Government Archival Information

With this, NIC embarked on a grandiose mission to develop various national data bases for use in planning and decision making by the government.

Starting as a small programme under an external stimulus by an UNDP project in early 1970s, NIC started functioning in 1977 and since then it has grown incrementally and later exponentially as one of India's major S&T; Organisations promoting Informatics-led Development, which has helped to usher in the required transformation to cope with the trends in the new millennium.