In news
Recently, the PM-CARES has been given to the official gov.in domain on a request from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to the National Informatics Centre (NIC)
Background
In 1975, the Government of India strategically decided to take effective steps for the development of information systems and utilization of information resources and also for introducing computer based decision support system (informatics-led development) in government ministries and departments to facilitate planning and programme implementation to further the growth of economic and social development.
Following this, the Central Government nucleated a high priority plan project “National Informatics Centre (NIC)” in 1976, and later on with the financial assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to the tune of US$4.4 million
NIC was set up initially under the purview of Information, Planning and Analysis Group (IPAG) of the then Electronics Commission / the Department of Electronics (DOE).
In 1987, it was shifted to the Union Planning Commission and in October 1999, to the newly formed Central Ministry of Information Technology, which later became Department of Information Technology of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
About the National Informatics Centre (NIC)
- National Informatics Centre (NIC) was established in 1976, and has rich experience in providing ICT and eGovernance support to the Government for the last 4 decades and bridge the digital divide.
- NIC has emerged as a promoter of digital opportunities for sustainable development.
- It spearheaded “Informatics-Led-Development” by implementing ICT applications in social and public administration and facilitates electronic delivery of services to the government (G2G), business (G2B), citizen (G2C) and government employees (G2E).
- NIC, through its ICT Network, “NICNET”, has institutional linkages with all the Ministries /Departments of the Central Government, 37 State Governments/ Union Territories, and about 720+ District Administrations of India.
- It has been closely associated with the Government in different aspects of Governance besides establishing a Nationwide State-of-the-Art ICT Infrastructure, it has also built a large number of digital solutions to support the government at various levels, making the last-mile delivery of government services to the citizens a reality.
Major activities
The following major activities are being undertaken by NIC:
- Setting up of ICT Infrastructure
- Implementation of National and State Level e-Governance Projects/Products
- Consultancy to the Government departments
- Research & Development
- Capacity Building
