The e-office project to be implemented by the Department of Administrative Reforms & PG (DARPG) appears to have been lost in the bureaucratic maze. 

The project was designed to improve efficiency of the government by automating the internal processes and achieving a paperless government office. It aimed at creating e-file system, online record management, knowledge management and collaborative tools for intra-government communication. 

As per the plan submitted by the National Informatic Centre (NIC), a pilot project was to be implemented by December last year. But money was sanctioned late. A sum of Rs 1.81 crore is now available and the plan is to implement the pilot project at three locations, viz, DARPG, e-Governance Division of Department of Information Technology and Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT). But it is not yet clear when the project would start.

Earlier in Jan’2008, DARPG took services of Hyderabad based National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) and global consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to work out scope of the project at a cost of Rs 51 lakh. NISG has then chosen Central Information Commission (CIC), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), DARPG and DIT as the pilot sites for the project.

By awarding the project to NIC after the conclusion of study by NISG, the department appears to have taken a different approach towards implementation of the project which may have nationwide impact on how government works.

Few years ago the same department attempted another pilot project e-Disha with participation of Newgen, Adobe, DSR and IBM which apparently did not succeed.