In a bid to promote e-Governance policy of Maharashtra Government, all the departments have been asked to spend half per cent of their budgetary provision on computerisation and providing online services to citizens.

"We have issued a resolution making it mandatory to all the departments in Mantralaya to spend their budgetary provision upto half per cent for computerisation of the department as part of e-Governance policy of the Government," Principal Secretary of Information Technology Department, Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI.

The idea is that the Government wants the citizens should receive the services faster and cheaper with the help of the e-Governance, Pandey said, who has also suggested such efforts to Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in a vision document.

Learning from the past experience, the resolution has said that the departments should buy software along with hardware otherwise the machines lay unused.

The IT department has also proposed a 'Maharashtra Mandatory Electronic Delivery of Public Service Act 2010' to encourage e-services.

With the proposal, if implemented, the people might soon do away with long queue and receive birth certificates, land documents and other important papers online as the government would provide various services via internet.

"This will be the first such Act being formulated in the country and would provide government services online to the public," Pandey said. .

The IT department has asked all other departments to set up time frame in which they can make the service available for the people online. They are also expected to come up with suggestions and objections, the secretary said.

The proposal would come up before the state cabinet for approval and would be tabled in the winter session of state Legislature.