The proposal to create a separate cadre for IT professionals in Haryana has been welcomed by the industry.

“This is a visionary step by the government of Haryana. Setting up a separate cadre for IT professionals recognises the need for specialists to provide much needed impetus to e-Governance initiatives under way and planned for and also ensures greater accountability” said Manoj Chugh, president (India and SAARC) of EMC Corporation.

“For several new national IT initiatives like the UID to be truly beneficial to the common man, strong e-governance initiatives at the state level will be imperative. We truly hope that other states also consider a similar initiative. We would be happy to support the government in such initiatives.”  Chugh added.

Haryana Finance Minister Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav in his budget speech earlier this month announced that the state will form a separate cadre of IT professionals in the state for smooth implementation and sustenance of e-Governance initiatives in the state.

Ankur Gupta, special secretary (IT), Haryana has told Governance Now that the state government will recruit IT professionals and these professionals will be placed in various departments to assist the domain specialists in implementation of IT and e-governance initiatives. The modalities of the scheme are being worked out and these officers will be placed in these departments within three-four months.

However, an e-governance expert, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that the proposal to add another layer of bureaucracy may not yield dividends and may add to the corruption. Citing examples from PWD, the expert added that the maximum corruption is reported from the engineering departments and creating a separate cadre for IT professionals may add to this corruption. PPP or outsourcing is the best way to implement the e-Governance projects, the expert said.