Gujarat goes for e-budget

Proposals for Gujarat's forthcoming budget 2007-2008 are, for the first time, being prepared online. Though the government had this software since October 2005, it started using it only from December 1, 2006.

The state government had tied up with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which had developed this software and handed it over to the government on October 7, 2005. Various departments are preparing budget proposals for FY 2007-08 using this software.

The decision support software called Integrated Workflow and Document Management System (IWDMS), prepared by TCS's Gandhinagar facility is a one-stop solution for creating database for various government departments and secretariat as well as file disposal and file approval procedure. The software can be used in reviewing as well as formation of various government policies. Another use of this software is online preparation of budget proposals.

Tanmoy Chakrabarty, vice-president and head of Global Government Industry Group, TCS, while talking to Business Standard, said, "The software can drastically reduce the time of budget proposal preparation procedure. The procedure if done manually can take months but on this software this period can be reduced to weeks. The software is helpful in consolidating various department's functioning. The budget planning can be also done through this software since the system has functions like creation of data base, file disposal and file approval."

However, the government could have used the software last year too.

A senior official of TCS Gandhinagar said, "We had handed over the software to the state government on October 7, 2005. However, the actual usage of the software began from December 1, 2006." He added that the software was ready to be used when it was handed over to the government and they could have utilised it to prepare e-budget 2006-07 in 2005 itself.

A recent circular by the finance department has asked various departments to file their proposals online. The circular also mentions various computerised forms for different purposes.

According to government sources, there are more than 12 various computerised forms through which the proposals and budget estimates are being prepared at the moment.

The project of setting up this software in the 26 different state government departments was taken up during December 2004 and was completed in October 2005. Gujarat is the second state in the country, after Andhra Pradesh, to develop such a system for effective functioning of its secretariat.

The system's many functions, besides e-budget, include creating an office management system for building a knowledge repository, providing inter-departmental interface, developing a security system, a document management system and database system for government departments.