E-Paper
But, LESA?s tech pal playing foul!
DILLYDALLYING BY CMC Ltd in handing over the source code is coming in the way of LESA?s being part of the e-Suvidha project scheduled to be launched on June 8.
DILLYDALLYING BY CMC Ltd in handing over the source code is coming in the way of LESA’s being part of the e-Suvidha project scheduled to be launched on June 8.
CMC is LESA’s technological partner.
The Department of IT and Electronics has taken a hard view of CMC’s delaying tactics and recommended that the firm be blacklisted.
At present CMC maintains LESA’s central data hub connecting 27 online billing centres. As per an agreement between the UPPCL/LESA and the State Government, all these existing online billings centres have to be transferred to the e-Suvidha.
The e-Suvidha builds the utility interface solution architecture by connecting the data centres of the individual participating departments through e-Suvidha citizen centres being set up in the city. The participating departments, like LESA, LDA, Jal Sansthan and BSNL will maintain their own databases and related hardware and software at their data centres. These centres will provide centralised services to the people who, for example, will be able to deposit their bills of various departments at one place.
E-Suvidha has accepted to take over LESA’s 27 existing billing centres and annual maintenance of their data centres with collection charges of Rs 5.35 per transaction. However, upset with CMC’s reluctance to hand over the password, Principal Secretary, Department of IT and Electronics, Zohara Chatterji has written a letter to Principal Secretary (Energy) and UPPCL Chairman Ashok Kumar Khurana, expressing concern CMC not disclosing the password and has recommended that the firm be blacklisted.
“CMC Ltd is posing problems and not complying with the decisions to hand over the source code. As such the necessary action for blacklisting this firm needs to be undertaken,” said Chatterji in her letter, suggesting further, “In case, if required, further upgradation of hardware and software at LESA’s existing data centre may be taken up, independently, by e-Suvidha at a later stage and be funded by LESA separately in case the source code is not forthcoming.”
She advised Khurana to direct CMC Ltd to hand over the required documents and latest running version of the source code of all the modules to e-Suvidha for smooth technology transfer.
“You will appreciate that e-Suvidha’s technological team stationed here since April 5 is losing time and cost for want of the source code,” Chatterji concluded in her letter dated May 1.
When contacted, Lucknow DISCOM MD, BB Singh admitted to CMC being unwilling to hand over the source code to e-Suvidha, earlier. But he claimed that the matter has been sorted out now.” The CMC has now agreed to hand over the password,” he claimed.
Significantly, earlier, Khurana too in his DO letter (dated 31-3-06) to the Principal Secretary, IT and Electronics, had admitted the issue of the source code was still unresolved. “If we are not able to resolve the issue of source code, LESA may have to pay an additional cost to CMC per year (12-15 lacks) till we are able to shift to the new software developed by e-Suvidha. As we have undertaken this shift mainly on the behest of e-Suvidha, it would be appropriate to cover this extra transitional cost by e-Suvidha,” pleaded Khurana in his letter.
