Tripura - I.T. in Tripura

IT Policy '2000 :

Objectives of the Policy
Development of Human Resource for IT
Electronic Governance
Incentives for IT Industries

Objectives of this Policy :

The IT Policy has three broad missions:
1. Development of human resource for IT through adoption of IT education in educational institutions of Tripura.
2. Promotion of electronic governance for
1. Efficient and effective delivery of government services
2. Improved revenue collections
3. Improving financial management
4. Better dissemination of information on government functions, through setting up of IFCs and hosting of websites.
1. Positioning the state as an attractive location for investment by global and national companies through attractive packages. This will be with an objective to create employment potential in the state in IT industries.
It would be the objective of the government to limit its role in the development of IT industry as a facilitator - providing infrastructural support, interfacing with related institutions within India and outside and providing necessary incentives / concessions to encourage private initiative in the IT sector.
Development of Human-Resource for IT :

The goal of creating an IT - conscious and IT - driven government and society cannot be achieved without building competencies in human resource development. This is more required because of the existing levels of IT education in Tripura, especially in areas outside Agartala. The State government will therefore give top priority to the accomplishment of this objective of IT Policy and place emphasis on development of IT educational facilities in district HQs and sub-divisional towns.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following policy initiatives will be taken:-
1. Computer and Internet access would be provided to all Higher secondary and High Schools of the state.
2. A module on IT would be made integral to all degree courses of Tripura University and other institutions. The curriculum of existing computer courses would also be re-structured to suit the present day requirements of IT employers.
3. Bringing Tripura University, Tripura Engineering College and Tripura Polytechnic on the ERNET (education network) or RENIC (Research and Educational NIC network) so as to facilitate better communication between the educational institutions within Tripura and outside Tripura.
4. Encouragement to IT training institutions being set up privately in the State, with special emphasis on the district HQs and sub-divisional towns. Efforts will also be made to put into place a mechanism for these training institutions to check sub-standard institutes from proliferating.
5. Special IT Courses (with provision for stipends) will be started for backward classes of citizens.
6. The State Government would identify institutes of excellence as partner institutions and involve them in increasing use of IT in educational institutions.
7. As envisaged in National IT Action Plan, suitable floor space in government buildings, schools and colleges, which are not utilized during non-office hours, would be given to private IT training institutions in return for a proportionate number of nominations of government employees.
8. Private parties shall be encouraged to set up Internet cafes in colleges and University. Space may be provided free by the institution but computer hardware and software would have to be installed by the party concerned.
9. Educated youth will be encouraged to set up Public tele-information centres (PTICs) on the lines of PCOs and they may be provided assistance under existing Self - emplyment schemes, like PMRY. These PTICs will provide Internet access on payment to any person.
As envisaged in National IT Action Plan, the Government of India proposes to launch three schemes - Vidyarthi computer scheme, Shikshak computer Scheme and School computer scheme - to enable students, teachers and schools respectively to purchase computers under attractive financial packages. The State government will adopt this scheme and encourage its wide implementation.
Electronic Governance :

In the first phase of computerisation in Tripura, the effort was to computerise the basic clerical operations, like typing and reporting in various formats. The main objective was to create IT awareness among the officers and employees and also to encourage use of computers in day - to - day use. These efforts have been fairly successful and many departments have installed computers.

In order to further consolidate this progress, the following policy initiatives would be taken:-
1. Major departments shall prepare a 5 - year IT plan identifying the computerisation needs of the department and outlining various plans for computerisation. They will also identify as to which all sectors they will computerise and the agency they propose to use for meeting their computerisation needs.
2. All departments will earmark a portion of their budget for applying IT in the department. This investment will include not only the purchase of IT products, IT software but also for training and IT services.
3. Information and Facilitation centres (IFCs) may be set up for better dissemination of information on governmental functions. The departments may also launch their own Web sites for the same purpose.
4. The State government will develop a WAN (wide area network) for the state and all districts will be linked to the State capital through this WAN. Adequate bandwidth will be provided for the WAN so that the same communication medium can be used for tele - and video - conferencing also. The Government will also put all important Acts, government orders, circulars on the WAN.
5. The State government will endeavour to expeditiously implement the following major IT projects in the various departments of Government of Tripura:-
1. Computerisation of Treasuries
2. Computerisation of Sales Tax system
3. Computerisation of Motor Vehicles Registration.
4. Land Record Computerisation, including digitisation of revenue maps.
5. Geographical Information System (GIS) for the state.
6. Computerisation of State Group Insurance Scheme
7. Computerisation of Pension accounting systems
8. Computerisation of Crime Records.
9. Computerisation of registration (of deeds) offices in all sub-divisions and districts.
1. All departments will have a Personnel Information system developed for them and the payrolls computerised. The State Government would also make efforts to start computerised disbursement of salaries. For this, the NIC would be requested to prepare a standard package for use of all departments.
Special training packages will be designed with a view to attain universal computer literacy among the officers and staff of Government of Tripura. These training courses may range from courses on basic computer use to ones on proficiency in use of computer for office applications.
Incentives for IT Industries :

The Government of Tripura has already a package of incentives to set up any industry in Tripura. In addition to these incentives, the following incentives are proposed to be given to encourage young enterpreneurs to set up industry, especially for software development, in Tripura:-
1. The Government of Tripura will give the same status to the sector of IT-enabled services as is given to the sector of software development.
2. IT software industry will be exempted from locational regulations.
3. The IT Software industry will be exempt from the provisions of certain acts/ regulations, like Pollution Control Act, Factories Act and Contract Labour (Regulation) Act to facilitate easy setting up of software units.
4. Department of Industries & Commerce shall create a separate area for setting up the units for major IT companies. This area shall be designated as an IT Park. The State Govt. would provide basic infrastructural facilities at the Designated IT Park, including uninterrupted power supply. In case the unit wants to set up its own captive power generation, no permission would be required from any agency for DG sets up to 50 KVA. The land may be allotted in these areas at concessional rates for IT units, subject to their giving employment to a minimum of 20 persons from the State.
5. The State government will also set up a Software technology Park in Agartala with the help of STPI, a registered society under Department of Electronics (Ministry of Information Technology, Govt of India). In this park, provisions will be made for single - window clearance for software development units to be set up, as per the existing schemes of Government of India. The State government will administer the Software Technology Park through a designated agency / corporation.
For more information on Incentives for Industrial Units in Tripura please click here.