'Asom to set up 4000 common service centres'

Guwahati, May 30: In a bid to boost the growth of Information Technology in Asom, the state government will set up 4000 common service centres in the coming year.

In his opening address of the 12th Asom Assembly session, Governor Lt Gen Ajai Singh said kiosks would be opened to provide e-services to the citizens. People would get caste certificate, land records, income certificates, birth and death certificate through these proposed kiosks.

Once implemented, the rural landscape of the state would change, he said.

The Governor further informed the house that creating adequate IT infrastructure is essential to provide decentralized e-services to the people.

''A major scheme is under implementation for setting up Asom State Wide Area Network (ASWAN), which would connect the state headquarters with the district headquarters, block headquarters and village level common service centres,'' the governor said.

He said, ''The IT sector has been identified as an important sector to attract investments, which would provide productive employment to the youth.'' To woo investments, the Asom Electronic Development Corporation (AMTRON) is talking to various companies in this regard.

Currently 219 Community Information Centres have been set up in the state which are manned by trained local youth for providing e-governance services to the citizen.

He said the improved financial position of the state is reflected in the size of the state plan, which has more than doubled during the last five years and stands at Rs 3,507 crores during the current annual plan.

The growth rate of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in the state during the first three years of the Tenth plan increased to 5.40 percent as compared to 2.84 per cent and 3.04 per cent growth rate of the Eighth and the Ninth Five year plans. As per advance estimates, this growth rate of GSDP has raised to 6.13 per cent in 2005-2006.

Regarding agriculture production, he said that after successful compilation of ARIASP, a new World Bank assistated programme called the 'Asom Agricultural Competitiveness project'(AACP) has been taken up for a period of five years from 2004-2005.

Under this programme 60,000 shallow tube wells and 20,000 low lift pumps, at 30 per cent subsidy, would be installed.

Under the farm mechanisation programme, multiple cropping would be encouraged through well organized Agro-Service groups by distributing 750 tractors and 1,500 power tillers at 30 per cent subsidy.

UNI