INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT

DEMAND No. 31

T. MANO THANGARAJ
Minister for Information Technology

©
Government of Tamil Nadu
2021
Printed by Govt. Central Press, Chennai - 600 001.
 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT

DEMAND No. – 31

POLICY NOTE – 2021-2022

INDEX

Page
Chapter Contents
No.

I INTRODUCTION 1-7

ELECTRONICS
CORPORATION OF
II 8-39
TAMIL NADU LIMITED
(ELCOT)

1 Introduction 8

2 Activities 8-39

IT Promotion and
2.1 8-12
Development

ELCOT Special Economic

2.2 13-26
Zones (ELCOSEZs)

i
 ELCOSEZ -
2.2.1 13-14
Sholinganallur, Chennai
ELCOSEZ - Vilankurichi,
2.2.2 15-16
Coimbatore
ELCOSEZ -
2.2.3 16-18
Ilandhaikulam, Madurai
ELCOSEZ – Vadapalanji,
2.2.4 18-20
Madurai
ELCOSEZ-Navalpattu,
2.2.5 20-22
Tiruchirappalli

ELCOSEZ-
2.2.6 Gangaikondan, 22-23
Tirunelveli

ELCOSEZ-
2.2.7 Jagirammapalayam, 23-25
Salem

ELCOSEZ-
2.2.8 25-26
Viswanathapuram, Hosur

2.3 Start-up Warehouse 26-27

FinBlue - Centre of
2.4 Excellence (CoE) in 27
FinTech

ii
 2.5 IT-Infrastructure 27-35

2.5.1 Connectivity Services 28-30

Tamil Nadu State Wide

2.5.1.1 28-29
Area Network (TNSWAN)

TNSWAN Phase 2
2.5.1.1.1 29
Extension

Other Connectivity
2.5.1.2 30
Services

2.5.1.2.1 MPLS VPN Connectivity 30

Internet Leased Line

2.5.1.2.2 30
Connectivity

2.5.1.2.3 VPNoBB Connectivity 30

Hosting and Allied

2.5.2 31-33
Services

Tamil Nadu State Data

2.5.2.1 31
Centre-1 (TNSDC-1)

Tamil Nadu State Data

2.5.2.2 32
Centre-2 (TNSDC-2)

iii
 Tamil Nadu Disaster
2.5.2.3 Recovery Centre 32-33
(TNDRC)

Thamizh Megam - TN
2.5.2.4 Cloud Computing 33
Services

2.5.3 e – Security 34-35

Security Architecture for

2.5.3.1 34
TNSDC

Cyber Security
2.5.3.2 Architecture for 34-35
Tamil Nadu (CSA-TN)

2.6 Open Government Data 35

Aadhaar Permanent
2.7 Enrolment Centres 35-36
(PECs)

2.8 Capacity Building 36-37

2.9 Network Services 37

2.10 Procurement Services 38-39

iv
 DIRECTORATE OF
e- GOVERNANCE AND
III TAMIL NADU 40-88
e-GOVERNANCE
AGENCY (TNeGA)

1 Introduction 40

2 Objectives 40-41

3 Technical Units 42-45

Information Technology
3.1 42
(IT) Cadre

State e-Mission Team

3.2 42
(SeMT)

Centre of Excellence in
3.3 Emerging Technologies 42-45
(CEET)

District e-Governance
3.4 45
Societies (DeGS)

4 Data Driven Governance 45-48

CM Decision Support
4.1 45-46
System

v
 State Family Database
4.2 46-47
(SFDB)

Tamil Nadu Geographical

4.3 Information System 47-48
(TNGIS)

Sustainable
5 Development Goals 48-49
(SDGs)

Government to Citizen
6 49-71
(G2C) services

Common Service Centres

6.1 49-69
(CSCs)

6.2 Aadhaar Permanent 69-71

Enrolment Centres

Ungal Thoguthiyil
7 Muthalamaichar (UTM) 71-72
and CM's Helpline (1100)

8 Proactive Governance 72-73

8.1 Proactive Service Delivery 72-73

9 Emerging Technologies 73-77

vi
 e-Paarvai : AI based
9.1 Cataract Detection 73
System

Face Recognition System

9.2 74-75
(FRS)

Tamil Nadu Blockchain

9.3 Backbone– 75-76
NambikkaiInaiyam

Digital Infrastructure for

9.4 76-77
Paperless e-Governance

e-Mail account for TN

9.4.1 76
Government Employees

9.4.2 e-Office 76-77

10 Capacity Building 77

11 Namadhu Arasu (MyGov) 77-78

Standardization of
12 78
Government Websites

13 Exam as a Service (EaaS) 78-79

vii
14 IT Security Audit 79

Software Applications for

15 80-88
Government Departments

TAMIL NADU ARASU

CABLE TV
IV 89-91
CORPORATION
LIMITED (TACTV)

1 Introduction 89

2 Objectives 89-90

3 Arasu e-Sevai Centres 90-91

Aadhaar Permanent
4 Enrolment Centres 91
(PECs)

TAMIL NADU
FIBRENET
V 92-95
CORPORATION
LIMITED (TANFINET)

1 BharatNet 93-94

2 TamilNet 94

viii
 Benefits of BharatNet
3 95
Project

TAMIL VIRTUAL
VI 96-105
ACADEMY (TVA)

1 Introduction 96

2 Objectives 96-97

3 Academic Programmes 97-99

4 Tamil Digital Library 99-100

Tamilar
5 100-101
Tagavalaatruppadai

6 e-Asiriyar Project 101

7 Tamil Computing 102

8 Tamil Unicode 102

9 Outreach Initiatives 103

9.1 Kani Tamil Peravai (KTP) 103

ix
 Translation of Khan
9.2 Academy’s Educational 103
Videos

10 Monthly Lecture Series 104

Conferences and
11 104-105
Webinars
Online Faculty
11.1 104
Development Programme
International Webinar on
11.2 Technologies in Tamil 105
Language

11.3 Elocution Competition 105

International Conference
11.4 105
in Tamil Computing

ICT ACADEMY OF
VII 106-112
TAMIL NADU (ICTACT)

1 Introduction 106-107

2 Activities of ICTACT 107-112

2.1 Faculty Development 107

x
2.2 Skill Development 107

Entrepreneurship
2.3 108
Development

2.4 Youth Empowerment 108-109

Research and
2.5 109-110
Publications

2.6 Digital Empowerment 110

2.7 Global Technology Forum 111

Sky Campus – Digital

2.8 Knowledge Webinar 112
Series for Educators

8 Conclusion 113-114

xi
 CHAPTER-I

1. INTRODUCTION

Tamil Nadu is rapidly emerging as a

power to reckon with in software industry. It
is already a leader in Software as a Service
(SaaS) and software exports due to its
inherent advantages. These include, a
vibrant academic eco-system, excellent
technical manpower, strategic location,
robust connectivity, besides a thriving
manufacturing eco-system. Large pool of
skilled manpower with lower attrition rates
coupled with cost advantage drive its
competitive edge. The process of digitization
of economy and adoption of digital
transactions has rapidly increased due to
constraints on physical movements on
account of COVID-19. These developments
present host of opportunities for the state.

1
 .

It means “to bring innovation from

countries in all four directions and work for
the growth of the Nation.”

Bharathiyar said this addressing

women, but this holds true even otherwise
as we need to conquer Emerging and Deep
Technologies for creating growth and jobs.
These include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data
Analytics, Natural Language Processing
(NLP), Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual
Reality (VR), Drone Technology, Blockchain,
5G/6G Networks, Cyber Security, Quantum
Computing, Autonomous Vehicles,
Cryptography, Internet of Things (IoT)

2
amongst others. These technologies will form
the basis of the growth of nation states in
the next decade, impart strategic advantage,
and create economic wealth and jobs.

The Government has already

established a center of excellence focusing
on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Data
Analytics and IoT. This is helping the
Government to adopt the technologies in
various verticals such as Healthcare,
Agriculture and Education. e-Paarvai, an AI
based cataract detection tool on mobile, has
recently won an award from NASSCOM for its
scalability. NambikkaiInaiyam, a
Blockchain based platform, is being
developed for the state to provide an
immutable and verifiable information
platform for critical Government applications.

3
 As Tamil Nadu economy matures
further, the services sector will also grow
rapidly driven by proliferation of new
products and services. This will primarily be
enabled by Information Technology.
Simultaneously, entrepreneurial eco-system
in Tamil Nadu is also growing rapidly across
sectors such as Healthcare, Tourism,
Education, Engineering, Communications,
Transportation, Banking and FinTech through
innovations, again enabled by Information
Technology.

The state is taking efforts to kick-start

the entrepreneurial activity focusing on
Emerging Technologies. This will promote a
socially inclusive and broad-based growth
and help us achieve leadership position in
the ICT industry in the country. Tamil Nadu
is a rich source of talented human capital.
Global Capability Centres (GCCs) that thrive

4
on human capital also present a great
opportunity for Tamil Nadu to improve its
strategic capability and move up the value
chain. Our state is well poised to capture
these opportunities and IT department shall
take all efforts to attract these companies to
Tamil Nadu.

The state is improving the digital

infrastructure through promotion of Data
Centres and digital connectivity to the last
mile. Chennai is emerging as a Data Centre
Hub, thanks to its locational advantage,
excellent connectivity, stable and surplus
power. The prestigious BharatNet project will
connect all 12,525 village panchayats of the
state with a minimum of 1 Gbps high-speed
bandwidth using Optical Fibre Cable (OFC)
and provide triple play services to rural areas
at affordable cost.

5
 Tamil Nadu has been a trendsetter in
Good Governance. Information Technology is
enabling Government to listen to its citizens
and respond to their needs. Integrated and
Inclusive Public Grievance CM Helpline
Management System (IIPGCMS) enables
citizens to register their petitions through
multiple channels. It has also helped in
resolving the grievances received under the
“Ungal Thoguthiyil Muthalamaichar (UTM)”
scheme.

Tamil Nadu aims to transform

governance to provide paperless, contactless
and transparent services to its citizens. The
eventual aim is to bring a paradigm change
from focus on achieving “Outputs” to
“Outcomes” and move from “Reactive” to
“Proactive” Governance.

6
 Technology is merely a means to an
end. Tamil Nadu will deploy Information
Technology to make the lives of citizens
better by providing SMART (Swift,
Monitorable, Accessible, Responsive and
Transparent) governance. The growth in IT
investments will propel economic growth and
prosperity.

7
 CHAPTER-II

ELECTRONICS CORPORATION OF
TAMIL NADU LIMITED (ELCOT)

1. INTRODUCTION

Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu

(ELCOT) Ltd., registered under Companies
Act, 1956 on 21.03.1977, is a wholly owned
Public Sector Undertaking of the Government
of Tamil Nadu constituted with the objective
of promoting electronics in the state. It has
also played a pioneering role in the
development of electronics sector, IT/ITeS
products / services and IT-Infrastructure in
the state.

2. ACTIVITIES

2.1 IT Promotion and Development

ELCOT has been playing a vital role to

make the state as destination of choice for

8
Information Technology (IT) and Information
Technology enabled Service (ITeS)
companies. This has led to investments in its
IT parks and sustained creation of the
Information Technology infrastructure. This
has accelerated the growth of IT and ITeS
sector in Tamil Nadu and this in turn had led
to creation of enormous employment
opportunities in Tamil Nadu.

ELCOT has a critical role in IT

Investment promotion, IT infrastructure
creation and skill development. ELCOT has
contributed to the development of IT sector
in several ways. Its activities include:

• Creation of 8 IT Special Economic Zones

(SEZs) in Chennai and in Tier-II Cities of
the state viz., Coimbatore, Madurai,
Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Tirunelveli and
Hosur.

9
• Creation of ELCOSEZs in 1588.16 acres
of land (1321.61 acres in SEZ and
266.55 acres in non-SEZ space) at an
investment of Rs.745 crore.

ELCOSEZs have enabled local firms to

integrate with global value chains and
have made significant contribution to
the overall growth of exports,
investment and employment generation
in IT/ITeS sector in the state. IT/ITeS
exports from ELCOSEZs are estimated
for the year 2020-21 at Rs.23,590 crore
and have generated direct employment
for approximately 90,000 persons.
ELCOT will also continue to strive to
promote electronic manufacturing
through EMC 2.0 (Electronics
Manufacturing Clusters) scheme.

10
• Promotional activities of Tamil Nadu as
the best investment destination for
IT/ITeS:

 Electronics Industries Association of

India (ELCINA) Source India –
Electronics Supply Chain event held
during 9th to 10th September 2020.

 Global “Yaathum Oorae” Conclave-

cum-Expo held during 29th to 31st
October 2020.

 TiE Global Summit – conference and

exhibition virtually conducted on 2nd
and 3rd September 2020 at USA.

 TiE Global Summit – Entrepreneurship

360° held during 8th to 10th
December 2020.

 CII Connect series held at Chennai

from 15th to 19th September 2020, at

11
 Hosur on 18th December 2020 and at
Tirunelveli on 22nd December 2020.

 National FinTech Event – FinTERACT

held during 27th to 29th January
2021.

 Indo-French Investment Conclave

Tamil Nadu -3rd edition organized by
Indo-French Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (IFCCI) held during
11th to 12th February 2021.

• Certification Authority under the ICT

Policy 2018 for the purpose of
development of IT parks and for
availing extra FSI from the
CMDA/DTCP.

• Follow up of investments that were

brought to Tamil Nadu in the Global
Investors Meet (GIM).

12
2.2 ELCOT Special Economic Zones
(ELCOSEZs)

2.2.1 ELCOSEZ- Sholinganallur, Chennai

In Sholinganallur, Chennai, it has

established an ELCOSEZ in an extent of
377.08 acres at an investment of Rs.228
crore. It has created necessary common
infrastructure and an administrative building
measuring 6,358 sq.ft.

In this ELCOSEZ, land has been leased

to the following companies:

S. Land
No. Company (in acres)

1 Wipro Ltd. 80

2 HCL Pvt. Ltd. 50

3 Tech Mahindra Pvt. Ltd. 50

4 Ford Motors Pvt. Ltd. 28

5 Cognizant Technology 20
Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

13
 6 Sutherland Global 15
Services Ltd.
7 Tamil Nadu Electricity
16
Board

These companies have established

facilities in a built-up space of
109.31 lakh sq.ft and have created
employment for approximately 67,000
persons. The private companies above are in
Software Development, Maintenance and
Testing, Consulting and Business Process
Outsourcing.

To meet the growing demand of quality

IT space for export oriented MSMEs and
other IT/ITeS companies in Chennai, the
construction of 2.33 lakh sq.ft Information
Technology tower at an estimated cost of
Rs.88.21 crore is in progress.

14
2.2.2 ELCOSEZ- Vilankurichi, Coimbatore

In Coimbatore at Vilankurichi, it has

established an ELCOSEZ in 62 acres of land
at an investment of Rs.167 crore. ELCOT has
created necessary common infrastructure
and constructed an administrative building
measuring 3,524 sq.ft.

In this ELCOSEZ, land has been leased

to the following companies:

Land
S.No Company
(in acres)

1 WIPRO Ltd. 9.5

Tidel Park
2 Coimbatore Ltd. 9.5

These Companies have created their

facilities by constructing 23 lakh sq.ft
IT building and provided employment for
13,200 persons.

15
 The construction of 2.66 lakh sq.ft
Information Technology Tower at an
estimated cost of Rs.114.16 crore is under
progress.

2.2.3 ELCOSEZ - Ilandhaikulam,

Madurai

In Madurai at Ilandhaikulam, it has

established an ELCOSEZ in 28.91 acres of
land at an investment of Rs.34 crore. ELCOT
has created necessary common
infrastructure and has constructed an
administrative-cum-IT building measuring
60,205 sq.ft.

In this ELCOSEZ, land has been leased

to the following companies:

Land
S.No Company
(in acres)
1 Honeywell
11.25
Technologies Ltd.

16
 2 HCL Info System Ltd. 6.75

3 Chella Software Pvt. Ltd. 2.25

4 Tamil Nadu Electricity

Board 0.58

In addition, 6000 sq.ft land has been

leased to Rebar Design & Detail Pvt. Ltd.

These private companies have created

their facilities by constructing 7.22 lakh sq.ft
IT space in this ELCOSEZ.

In the administrative-cum-IT building,

space has been allotted to the following
companies:

S. Space
Company
No. (in sq.ft.)

1 Galaxy Infotech 2,508

2 AMBC Technologies
3,277
Pvt. Ltd.

17
 3 Sai BPO Services Ltd. 15,181

Neeyamo Enterprises
4 30,103
Solutions Private Ltd.

5 CVIAC Consulting 9,136

These companies are into consulting,

application development, business process
outsourcing and digitization of data and are
providing employment to around 7,200
employees.

2.2.4 ELCOSEZ – Vadapalanji, Madurai

In Madurai at Vadapalanji, ELCOT has

established an ELCOSEZ in 245.17 acres of
land at an investment of Rs.70 crore. It has
completed the common infrastructure in this
ELCOSEZ, including a road over bridge. It
has also constructed an administrative-cum-
IT building measuring 70,139 sq.ft.

18
 In this ELCOSEZ, it has leased land to
the following companies:

Land
S.No Company
(in acres)

1 HCL 60

2 Chain-sys Software
Exports Pvt. Ltd. 20

Pinnacle Infotech
3 10
Solutions.

In the IT Building, 59,166 sq.ft space

has been allotted to the following companies:

S. Space
No. Company (in sq.ft.)

1 Neeyamo Enterprise
Solutions Pvt. Ltd 46,968

2 Neeyamo Works
Technologies Pvt. Ltd 11,543

3 Chain-sys Software
Exports Pvt. Ltd. 655

19
 These companies are into consulting,
payroll processing and digitization of data.

2.2.5 ELCOSEZ - Navalpattu,

Tiruchirappalli

In Tiruchirappalli at Navalpattu, it has

established an ELCOSEZ in 147.61 acres with
SEZ area of 123.23 acres at an investment of
Rs.60 crore. It has created necessary
common infrastructure and has constructed
an administrative-cum-IT building measuring
59,960 sq.ft.

In this ELCOSEZ, 2 acres of land has

been allotted to iLink Multitech Solutions Pvt.
Ltd.

In the IT building, 59,960 sq.ft space is

allotted to the following companies:

20
S. Space
No Company (in sq.ft)
1 iLink Systems Pvt. Ltd. 6,668

2 Scientific Publishing 30,250

Company
3 Vuram Technology 5,976
Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

4 Vdart Technologies 3,643

5 Disaster Recovery Centre 5,963

6 GI Tech Gaming Co. India 4,919

Pvt. Ltd.
7 VR Della IT Services Pvt. 2,541
Ltd.

These companies are into e-Publishing,

software development, business process
management services and solutions and
gaming software development and are
functioning with 1390 employees. The IT
space has been fully allotted.

21
 The construction of 1.16 lakh sq.ft
IT Tower is in progress at an estimated cost
of Rs.48.10 crore.

2.2.6 ELCOSEZ- Gangaikondan,

Tirunelveli

In Tirunelveli at Gangaikondan, ELCOT

has established an ELCOSEZ in 500 acres of
land with an extent of SEZ of 290 acres at an
investment of Rs.55 crore.

ELCOT has created necessary common

infrastructure and has constructed an
administrative-cum-IT building measuring
56,720 sq.ft. In the IT building, 5,994 sq.ft
space is allotted to Caliber Interconnect
Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

In this ELCOSEZ, 100 acres of land has

been allotted to Syntel International Pvt. Ltd.
It has constructed 2.60 lakh sq.ft

22
IT building and is operating with around 200
employees and providing software services.

2.2.7 ELCOSEZ - Jagirammapalayam,

Salem

In Salem at Jagirammapalayam,
ELCOT has established an ELCOSEZ at a total
extent of 53.33 acres at an investment of
Rs.44 crore.

It has created necessary common

infrastructure and has constructed an
administrative-cum-IT building measuring
62,174 sq.ft.

In this ELCOSEZ, 27.87 acres of land

has been leased to the following companies:

S. Land
No. Company (in acres)
1 Mahima Technologies 3
Pvt. Ltd.
2 Vee Technologies 9.49

23
 3 TANTRANSCO Ltd. 7.88

4 e-Mudhra Ltd. 2.5

5 Anmol Technologies Pvt. 1

Ltd.

6 FocusR Consultancy and 1

Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
7 Nuratech Consultancy 3
Services Pvt. Ltd.

In the ELCOT IT building, 37,958 sq.ft

space is allotted to the following companies :

S. Space
No. Company (in Sq.ft.)
1 e-Mudhra Ltd. 2,989

2 Reveille Technologies Pvt. 3,704

Ltd.
3 Nuratech Consultancy 3,704
Services Pvt. Ltd.

4 Dilogy Solutions LLP 1,000

24
 5 Knowledge Lens Pvt. Ltd. 1,000

6 StinSoft Technologies Pvt. 989

Ltd.
7 Vee Technologies Pvt. Ltd. 10,562

8 Vee Imaging Solutions 10,562

Pvt. Ltd.

9 Mahima Technology Pvt. 3,448

Ltd.

These companies are operating with

approximately 614 employees.

2.2.8 ELCOSEZ-Viswanathapuram,
Hosur

In Viswanathapuram at Hosur, an
ELCOSEZ has been established in
174.47 acres of land at an investment of
Rs.85 crore.

ELCOT has created necessary common

infrastructure and has constructed an

25
administrative-cum-IT building measuring
62,100 sq.ft.

In the IT building, 44,589 sq.ft space

has been allotted to the following companies:

S. Space
Company (in sq.ft.)
No
1 US Technology 21,100
International Pvt. Ltd.

2 Chandusoft Technologies 10,550

Pvt. Ltd.
3 Thendral Infotech 2,989

4 Eminentlabs Software 9,950

Pvt. Ltd.

2.3 Start-up Warehouse

ELCOT along with NASSCOM as its

knowledge partner has established a
Start-up Warehouse in 6,860 sq.ft with a
capacity of 90 seats at TIDEL Park Ltd.,

26
Chennai at a cost of Rs.3.53 crore. So far, 44
Start-ups have been incubated successfully.

2.4 FinBlue - Centre of Excellence (CoE)

in FinTech

A Centre of Excellence (CoE) in FinTech

called ‘‘FinBlue’’ has been set up at Software
Technology Parks of India (STPI), Chennai
with state Government’s contribution of
Rs.5.75 crore. Necessary support, mentoring
and guidance are being provided to the
Start-ups. FinBlue is acting as the nucleus of
FinTech activity in Tamil Nadu by
collaborating with national and international
FinTech regulatory organizations and will
promote investments into the state through
initiatives at FinBlue.

2.5 IT-Infrastructure

ELCOT is maintaining the state IT

infrastructure services, which is the

27
backbone for providing e-Governance
services to the citizens and connectivity to
the Government departments.

2.5.1 Connectivity Services

2.5.1.1 Tamil Nadu State Wide Area

Network (TNSWAN)

It is a scheme jointly started by the

central and state Governments under the
National e-Governance Plan (NeGP).

TNSWAN commenced its operations

with 708 Points of Presence (PoPs) that have
now increased to 829 PoPs. TNSWAN enables
state Government departments to access
their applications, services and servers
hosted in TNSDC in a secure manner. It is
being used by 3000+ offices of various
departments of the Government of
Tamil Nadu.

28
 TNSWAN provides voice, data and
video connectivity to all Government
departments, enables efficient workflow in
Government and enables delivery of services
to the citizens.

National Knowledge Network (NKN)

has been integrated with TNSWAN at district
PoPs as per the guidelines of Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology
(MeitY), Government of India.

2.5.1.1.1 TNSWAN Phase-2 Extension

Government of Tamil Nadu has

accorded approval to extend TNSWAN
Phase-2 operations for a period of 3 years up
to February 2022.

29
2.5.1.2 Other Connectivity Services

2.5.1.2.1 MPLS VPN Connectivity

Multi-Protocol Label Switching Virtual

Private Network (MPLS VPN) is being
provided as a redundant connection to
TNSWAN. ELCOT provides MPLS VPN
connectivity services to around 60 offices of
Tamil Nadu Government departments.

2.5.1.2.2 Internet Leased Line

Connectivity

Internet Leased Line connectivity is

being provided to 248 Government offices on
a dedicated basis.

2.5.1.2.3 VPNoBB Connectivity

Virtual Private Network over

Broadband (VPNoBB) is a cost effective
alternative for providing Intranet access at
lower bandwidth. ELCOT provides VPNoBB
connectivity to 273 Government offices.

30
2.5.2 Hosting and Allied Services

Tamil Nadu State Data Centre (TNSDC)

is a critical infrastructure that enables
delivery of secure e-services. State
Government departments and their agencies
can host their data, applications, services
and servers on a common, redundant,
secured and controlled infrastructure
providing ease of operation, integration and
efficiency.

2.5.2.1 Tamil Nadu State Data Centre-1

(TNSDC-1)

Government of Tamil Nadu has

implemented the first ISO certified State
Data Centre (TNSDC-1) in the country and is
operational from the year 2011 with a
capacity of about 65 racks at a budget of
Rs.138 crore for a period of 12 years.

31
2.5.2.2 Tamil Nadu State Data Centre-2
(TNSDC-2)

As TNSDC-1 has been almost

completely utilized, TNSDC–2, the second
phase of TNSDC was established and it is
operational from the year 2020 at a budget
of Rs.74.7 crore. The Data Centre can
accommodate 195 Racks. Its modular design
supports seamless scale up.

More than 231 applications/services

are currently hosted in TNSDC-1 and
TNSDC-2.

2.5.2.3 Tamil Nadu Disaster Recovery

Centre (TNDRC)

Disaster Recovery Centre (TNDRC) has

been established at ELCOSEZ, Tiruchirappalli
and is operational from the year 2018. This
provides business continuity for various
critical e-Governance applications hosted in

32
TNSDC, in the event of any breakdown or
disaster.

2.5.2.4 Thamizh Megam - TN Cloud

Computing Services

The state cloud infrastructure, trade

marked as “Thamizh Megam’’, enables
optimal sharing of system resources, with
minimal management. It is operational from
2016 at a cost of Rs.13.88 crore for a period
of 5 years.

At Thamizh Megam, Infrastructure-as-

a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service
(PaaS) are being offered and 116
applications/services are being hosted.

Enhancement of cloud infrastructure

and extension of Disaster Recovery facility is
being implemented at a budget of
Rs.9.98 crore.

33
2.5.3 e-Security

2.5.3.1 Security Architecture for TNSDC

To ensure data protection for

Government applications / services, following
high level Security Architecture Framework
has been put in place.

1. Security Information and Event

Management (SIEM) tool.

2. Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration

Testing (VAPT).

These help in preventing cyber attacks

and take mitigation measures in case of
attacks.

2.5.3.2 Cyber Security Architecture for

Tamil Nadu (CSA-TN)

Cyber Security Architecture for

Tamil Nadu (CSA-TN) has been established
to counter cyber-attacks in collaboration with

34
Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing (C-DAC), Chennai at a cost of
Rs.21.39 crore for a period of 3 years.

2.6 Open Government Data

The Open Government Data (OGD)

portal of Tamil Nadu publishes open data of
Government departments, organizations and
public sector undertakings for the use of
public at large.
The state instance for OGD, Tamil
Nadu has been created and is operational at
https://data.tn.gov.in/. Currently, 31,585
different datasets pertaining to 64
Government departments/agencies have
been published at the portal.

2.7 Aadhaar Permanent Enrolment

Centres (PECs)

ELCOT is an empanelled agency of the

Unique Identification Authority of India

35
(UIDAI) to carryout Aadhaar enrolment
activities in the state. It has established 227
PECs at 32 District Collectorates, 11
Municipal Corporation Headquarters, 45
Municipal Zonal Offices, 124 Municipalities,
2 Revenue Divisional Offices, 5 Town
Panchayats, 4 Block Development Offices
and 4 Provident Fund Offices.

The cumulative transactions at

Permanent Enrolment Centres (PECs) as on
31.08.2021 are 67,52,011.

2.8 Capacity Building

ELCOT plays an important role in

meeting the IT training needs of Government
departments. Training infrastructure facilities
have been created at ELCOT, Perungudi,
Chennai and in 12 Districts.

The training focuses on IT literacy,

developing requisite knowledge and skills for

36
rolling out of e-Governance projects. So far,
1,21,378 participants from various
Government departments across the state
have benefited.

2.9 Network Services

ELCOT also

• Facilitates events through video

conferencing for various
departments.

• Provides specialized network

equipment during the visit of VVIPs.

• Supplies and commissions video

conferencing system, public address
system, video walls, IVRS.

• Maintains Secretariat Network

(SECNET) 24x7.

37
2.10 Procurement Services

ELCOT is an optional procurement

agency for electronic hardware / software
products for all the Government
departments/public sector undertakings/
autonomous bodies.

ELCOT procures and supplies quality

electronic products to the departments. Even
during the COVID-19 Pandemic, ELCOT has
rendered procurement services to the
Government departments, particularly to the
Health and Family Welfare Department and
Police Department for their urgent needs.

The original equipment manufacturers

of desktop, laptop, printer and multifunction
devices have been responsive to ELCOT’s
tenders and offer competitive prices in view
of the large volumes in the rate contract
tenders. This has resulted in substantial cost

38
savings compared with the market value of
the products.

During the year 2020-21, ELCOT

procured IT products for a value of
Rs.245.15 crore and has a projected
procurement of Rs.300 crore for the year
2021-22.

39
 CHAPTER-III

DIRECTORATE OF e-GOVERNANCE AND

TAMIL NADU e-GOVERNANCE AGENCY
(TNeGA)

1. INTRODUCTION

The Directorate of e-Governance was

created in 2006 and Tamil Nadu
e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) was created
as an autonomous Society registered under
the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act,
1975 to implement the National
e-Governance Plan (NeGP).

2. OBJECTIVES

i) To provide quality ICT services and

promote innovation in emerging
technologies.

ii) To help create a state wide strategic

architecture for e-Governance.

40
iii) To support change management in
digital transformation projects.

iv) To improve competitiveness of the state

and make the state future ready.

v) To provide benefits of Information

Technology to the citizens, firms and the
Government.

vi) To set standards for data,

interoperability and security.

vii) To create an ecosystem of academic

institutions, research organizations,
start-ups, funding agencies and eminent
individuals.

viii) To support capacity building of

Government employees in Information
Technology.

41
3. TECHNICAL UNITS

3.1 Information Technology (IT) Cadre

An IT Cadre has been created to meet

the IT needs of Government departments for
implementing e-Governance projects.

3.2 State e-Mission Team (SeMT)

The State e-Mission Team (SeMT)

funded by Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology (MeitY) enhances
the internal professional capacity, supports
in programme management, technology,
enterprise architecture and in change
management.

3.3 Centre of Excellence for Emerging

Technologies (CEET)

Government of Tamil Nadu has

established a Centre of Excellence for
Emerging Technologies (CEET) to promote

42
and build competence in Emerging
Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence,
Blockchain, Data Analytics and IoT and adopt
these technologies in various Government
verticals such as Healthcare, Agriculture and
Education to improve governance and offer
enhanced services to citizens.

CEET acts as a catalyst for diffusion of

innovation in various ways:

i) Finds low-cost scalable solutions to

Government departments.

ii) Establishes and fosters partnership

with Government departments,
agencies, corporate entities, industry
bodies and academic institutions
working in Emerging Technologies.

iii) Defines and promotes best practices

and standards followed across the
globe in Emerging Technologies.

43
iv) Engages in capacity building, training
and orientation of Government officers
at various levels.

v) Reaches out to other organizations

offering similar, complementary or
supplementary technologies.

vi) Organizes development programmes,

training courses, conferences,
seminars, guest lectures and other
related activities.

vii) Conducts research and produce

working papers, industry papers for
publishing in peer reviewed journals
and in conferences.

viii) Takes up specific prototype or

development tasks in Emerging
Technologies based on the needs of
Government departments.

44
 ix) Evolves reuse software strategies for
asset creation and consumption by
Government departments.

3.4 District e-Governance Societies

(DeGS)

District e-Governance Societies have

been created for providing overall guidance
to e-Governance projects at the district level.
They are headed by the respective District
Collectors (except in Chennai, where the
Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation
is its head). DeGS gets a 5% revenue share
from the e-Sevai operations.

4. DATA DRIVEN GOVERNANCE

4.1 Chief Minister’s Decision Support

System

To monitor implementation of schemes

effectively, Chief Minister’s Decision Support
System is being designed to provide data
centric governance. It would display key

45
performance indicators of various
Department schemes/programs to help in
decision-making at strategic level. The
decision support system for departments
would utilize data at a much more granular
level and deploy comprehensive data
analytics to monitor, detect and solve
bottlenecks to improve efficacy of
department.

4.2 State Family Database (SFDB)

Information Technology Department is

creating the State Family Database (SFDB)
at a cost of Rs.47.5 crore.

State Family Database (SFDB) is

envisioned as a Data-Driven Decision
Support Infrastructure for improving
Governance. It will enable a single source of
truth for all beneficiaries of Government
schemes. It will complement the existing

46
Department infrastructure by enabling data
harmonization and synchronization among
various departments. It would also help in
seamless delivery of Government benefits
and services to citizens and would improve
inclusiveness of Government schemes.

4.3 Tamil Nadu Geographical

Information System (TNGIS)

Tamil Nadu State Spatial Data

Infrastructure (TNSSDI) and its TNGIS portal
(www.tngis.tn.gov.in) is a one-stop source
for all geospatial data for the state of
Tamil Nadu.

29 stakeholder departments and

agencies are already part of this project and
358 layers of GIS information of various
departments have already been hosted.

47
 A modern Web-GIS framework is being
developed with reusable components for
future use.

5. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

(SDGs)

Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) are a collection of 17 interlinked
goals designed to achieve a ‘better and more
sustainable future for all’.

An application has been developed by

TNeGA to capture the targets and associated
data of Sustainable Development Goals of all
departments.

48
Table 1: SDG achievements related to
the Information Technology
Department
S. 2020- 21
Indicators
No achievements
1 16.6.1: No. of 130
Government services
provided online to
citizens
2 16.6.1a: No. of 27
departments /
agencies integrated
for Mobile
governance
3 16.6.1b: No. of 41.3 crore
e-Transactions on
e-Taal
4 16.6.1c: No. of 10,818
operational Common
Service Centres

6. GOVERNMENT TO CITIZEN (G2C)

SERVICES

6.1 Common Service Centres (CSCs)

Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency

(TNeGA) provides electronic services to

49
public through Common Service Centres and
through Open Citizen Portal
(https://www.tnesevai.tn.gov.in/Citizen/Port
alLogin.aspx). The e-Sevai Centres are run
by Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation
Ltd. (TACTV), Primary Agricultural Co-
operative Credit Societies (PACCS), Village
Poverty Reduction Committees (VPRCs),
Magalir Thittam of Tamil Nadu Corporation
for Development of Women, Fisheries
Department, Village Level Entrepreneurs
(VLEs) and Cantonment Board with an aim to
deliver Government services to the citizens
near their homes.

As on 31.08.2021, there are 10,818

Common Service Centres operating in Tamil
Nadu under different agencies.

50
Table 2: List of agencies that run CSC

S. No. of
No Agencies
Centres

1 Primary Agricultural 4,225

Cooperative Credit Societies
(PACCS)
2 Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV 580
Corporation Ltd. (TACTV)
3 TACTV Franchise 1,553
4 Magalir Thittam – Tamil 2,386
Nadu Corporation for
Development of Women
5 Fisheries Department 153
6 Cantonment Board 3
7 Village Level Entrepreneurs 1,918
(VLEs)
TOTAL 10,818

51
Table 3: List of 130 Services offered
through Arasu e-Sevai Centres

Department Services Name

Income Certificate
Nativity Certificate
Residence Certificate
Community Certificate
First Graduate Certificate
Deserted Woman
Certificate
Revenue and
Income and Asset
Disaster
certificate to Economically
Management Weaker Section
Department (No. Family Migration
Certificate
of services – 40)
Unemployment Certificate

Widow Certificate
Agricultural Income
Certificate
Certificate for Loss of
educational records due
to disasters

52
No Male Child Certificate

Unmarried Certificate

Inter-caste Marriage
Certificate
Legal Heir Certificate

Solvency Certificate

License under Pawn

Broker’s Act
Money Lender’s license

Other Backward classes

(OBC) Certificate
Small/Marginal Farmer
Certificate
e-Adangal

Temporary Cracker
license
Issuance of Jain Minority
Certificate
Public Building license

Destitute Widow
Certificate

53
Indira Gandhi National
Old Age Pension Scheme
Indira Gandhi National
Widow Pension Scheme
Indira Gandhi National
Differently Abled Pension
Scheme
Differently abled Pension
Scheme

Destitute Deserted
Women Pension Scheme

Unmarried Women
Pension Scheme

Destitute Widow Pension

Scheme

Chief Minister’s Uzhavar

Paathukappu Thittam

Grievance Day Petition

Tamil Nilam - Full Field

Patta Transfer

54
 Tamil Nilam – Joint Patta
Transfer

Tamil Nilam – Sub-

division Patta Transfer

Tamil Nilam – Extract of

A-Register

Tamil Nilam – Extract of

Chitta

Annai Terasa Ninaivu

Orphan Girl Marriage
Assistance Scheme

Chief Minister’s Girl Child

Protection Scheme-I

Chief Minister’s Girl Child

Protection
Social Welfare Scheme – II
and Women
Dr. Dharmambal Ninaivu
Empowerment Widow Re-Marriage
Assistance Scheme

55
 Department Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy
(No. of services Ninaivu Intercaste
7) Marriage Assistance
Scheme

EVR Maniammaiyar
Ninaivu Widow Daughter
Marriage Assistance
Scheme

Moovalur Ramamirtham
Ammaiyar Ninaivu
Marriage Assistance
Scheme

CSR Status

FIR Status
Police
Online Complaint
Department (No.
Registration
of services – 9)
Status viewing

Vehicle Search

56
 View FIR

Download Accident Case

Document
Police Verification Service
Lost Document Report

Tamil Nadu Waqf Ulema Pension Scheme

Board (No. of
service -1)

Health and Pre-Registration of

Family Welfare Pregnancy (PICME)
Department (No.
of service – 1)

Registration of license
under Boilers Act
Directorate of
Renewal of license under
Boilers (No. of Boilers Act
services – 5) Application for Approval of
Manufacture/Erector of
Boilers

57
 Application for Renewal of
Manufacture / Erector of
Boilers

Steam Test for Boilers

Collection of Non-Tax

Collection of Professional
Tax
Commissionerate
Collection of Property Tax
of Municipal
Collection of Underground
Administration
Drainage Charge
(No. of services
– 5) Collection of Water
Charges

Chennai Water and Sewerage Tax

Metropolitan
Water Supply
and Sewerage
Board (No. of
service – 1)

58
 Printing of Birth
Certificate

Printing of Death
Certificate
Greater Chennai
Renewal of Trade license
Corporation (No.
Collection of Company
of services – 6)
Tax

Collection of Professional
Tax

Collection of Property Tax

NOC for MSB compliance

NOC for MSB Planning

Directorate of
Permission
Fire & Rescue
NOC for Non-MSB
Services (No. of
Planning Permission
services – 5)
MSB Fire license
Registration and Renewal

59
 Non-MSB Fire license
Registration and renewal

Tamil Nadu Electricity bill payment

Generation and Registration of new LT
Distribution connection
Corporation Ltd.
Payment for new LT
(TANGEDCO)
connection
(No. of services
– 3)

Printing of Registration ID

Application for renewal of

Directorate of registration

Employment & Application for profile

Training (No. of updation
services – 4)
Application for
registration

Directorate of Application for

Drug Control grant/renewal of license

60
(No. of services - for sale of allopathic
18) drugs

Application for
grant/renewal of license
for sale of homeopathic
medicines

Application for
grant/renewal of license
for sale of restricted
allopathic drugs

Application for grant/

renewal of license for sale
of Schedule X drugs

Application for issue of

duplicate License for sales

Grant / Renewal of license

for manufacture of Drugs
for Allopathy

61
Approval of additional
categories of products

Grant of Test license

Change of Technical
Person

Grant/Renewal of loan
license for manufacture of
drugs – Allopathy

Grant/Renewal of
repackaging license for
allopathic drugs

Grant/Renewal of license
for manufacture of drugs
– Homeopathy

Retention of license for

sale of Allopathic Drugs

Retention of license for

sale of Restricted
allopathic drugs

62
 Retention of license for
sale of Schedule X drugs

Retention of license for

Manufacture of Allopathic
Drugs

Retention of Loan License

for Manufacture of
Allopathic Drugs

Retention of License for

Repackaging of Allopathic
Drugs

Issuance of drawing
Energy
approval
Department (No.
Issuance of safety
of services -2)
certificate

Greater Chennai e-challan payment

Traffic Police
(GCTP) (No. of
service – 1)

63
 Relief assistance to
marine fishermen families
during fishing ban period

Special allowance to
marine fishermen families
during fishing lean period

National fishermen

Fisheries and savings cum Relief

Fishermen scheme

Welfare (No. of National Fisherwomen

service – 6) Savings cum Relief
Scheme

Renewal of relief
assistance to marine
fishermen families during
ban period

Renewal of special
allowance to marine

64
 fishermen during fishing
lean Period

Application for loan

Welfare of assistance scheme

Differently Abled Marriage assistance

Persons scheme
Department (No. Maintenance allowance for
of services – 3) differently abled person

Awarding scholarships
under Dr. MGR Handloom
Weavers Welfare Trust

Tamil Nadu
Directorate of Co-operative Handloom
Handlooms (No. Weavers Savings and
of services – 6) Security Scheme

Tamil Nadu
Co-operative Handloom
Weavers old age pension
scheme

65
 Tamil Nadu
Co-operative Handloom
Weavers family pension
scheme

Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar

Bima Yojana

Shiksha Sahayog Yojan

Scheme under Mahatma
Gandhi Bunkar Bima
Yojana

Housing and Tamil Nadu Regulations of

Urban Rights and
Development Responsibilities of
Department (No. Landlords and Tenants
of service – 1) Act

Transport e-Challan payment

Department (No.
of service – 1)

66
Commercial Issuance of encumbrance
Taxes and Certificate
Registration Issuance of Certified
Department Copies
(No. of services
– 2)

Directorate of CRS – Death Registration

Public Health Birth Certificate
and Preventive
Death Certificate
Medicine

(No. of services -
3)

Total 130

67
Figure 1: Top 10 Transaction count of
e-Sevai Services

Table 4: Year wise transactions count

Jan 2016 - Aug 2021

Year e-Sevai
e-Sevai
(Jan - (Citizen Total
(CSC)
Dec) portal)

2016 1,02,91,198 - 1,02,91,198

2017 1,12,62,238 - 1,12,62,238

2018 1,04,11,812 1,83,304 1,05,95,116

2019 97,63,563 9,49,460 1,07,13,023

2020* 75,86,335 14,00,513 89,86,848

2021*
41,41,553 15,31,242 56,72,795
(Jan - Aug)
Total 5,34,56,699 40,64,519 5,75,21,218

*Period covered by COVID-19

68
 Initially people had to physically visit
the Common Service Centres for availing
e-Services. In 2018, Open Citizen Portal was
launched which enabled citizens to obtain
e-Sevai services anywhere, anytime. There
has been a steady increase in the number of
transactions on the Open Citizen Portal since
then. In 2018, only 2% of the e-Sevai
transactions were delivered over Open
Citizen Portal and that number has increased
to more than 20% in 2021. This is only
expected to grow further.

6.2 Aadhaar Permanent Enrolment

Centres

Directorate of e-Governance/
Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) is
the State Registrar for Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI) to carryout
Aadhaar enrolment through Permanent
Enrolment Centres across Tamil Nadu.

69
Aadhaar enrolment is done free of cost for
the public.

Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu

(ELCOT) and Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV
Corporation (TACTV) were in turn appointed
as enrolment agencies of Tamil Nadu
e-Governance Agency. Permanent Enrolment
Centres (PEC) are being operated at
Secretariat, Ezhilagam, all Taluk offices,
Head Quarters and Zonal Offices of Greater
Chennai Corporation by Tamil Nadu Arasu
Cable TV Corporation (TACTV). Electronics
Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) is
operating the Permanent Enrolment Centres
at all the Collectorates, Municipalities/
Corporation head offices (other than
Chennai).

70
Table 5: Aadhaar Enrolment and
Aadhaar Generated for
FY 2020-2021

No. of Aadhaar
Enrolment No. of
Enrolments Generated
Agency Centres
(in lakh) (in lakh)

TACTV 318 10.4 9.7

ELCOT 227 5.9 4.3

Total 545 16.3 14

7. UNGAL THOGUTHIYIL
MUTHALAMAICHAR (UTM) AND
CHIEF MINISTER’S HELPLINE (1100)

Chief Minister’s Helpline or ‘Integrated

and Inclusive Public Grievance Chief Minister
Helpline Management System (IIPGCMS)’ is
an integrated system that allows citizens to
register their petitions through multiple
channels such as helpline (1100), web
portal, mobile application, e-mail, social
media or physical submission.

71
Chief Minister’s Helpline is the unified
grievance handling mechanism platform for
the state and brings all grievance handling
under one umbrella.

This system has effectively handled the

“Ungal Thoguthiyil Muthalamaichar (UTM)”
public petitions. The system assigns these
applications to various field officers, tracks
the applications and notifies the citizens
about the outcome. This system also
provides reports and dashboard to District
Collectors, Head of Departments and
Secretaries to monitor the disposal of
grievances.

8. PROACTIVE GOVERNANCE

8.1 Proactive Services Delivery

Proactive services delivery is a unique

concept to transform the Government
services delivery mechanism by proactively

72
delivering the services to the citizens as and
when they become eligible.

A proof of concept will be designed by

connecting existing IT systems and
applications with SFDB at the base.

9. EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

9.1 e-Paarvai: AI based Cataract

Detection System

Cataract is one of the main reasons of

blindness in India and its detection in its
initial stages can help save the vision. TNeGA
has developed an AI based mobile
application to provide quick screening of
cataract. The pilot was done in three districts
namely Madurai, Nagapattinam and Vellore
and subsequently it has been rolled out in 14
districts. This application secured the
NASSCOM “Exemplary” award recently.

73
9.2 Face Recognition System (FRS)

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) based

Face Recognition System has been
developed. It is in use for day-to-day
attendance in TNeGA from November 2020.
This system is being deployed at TANGEDCO
office and it is planned to roll out in other
offices also.

Some of the other applications

developed using AI are as follows:

I. Chatbot - TNeGA in collaboration

with Anna University has developed
Chatbot which provides conversational
assistance in Tamil and English to citizens
in availing various services from the
Government in e-Sevai website
(https://www.tnesevai.tn.gov.in).

II. Pest and Disease Identification– AI

based pest identification model developed

74
 by TNeGA diagnoses the pest in paddy
and disease in maize and suggests
remedial measures when farmers upload
the photo of the crop using Uzhavan app.

9.3 Tamil Nadu Blockchain Backbone –

NambikkaiInaiyam

The Blockchain Backbone (Nambikkai

Inaiyam) will enable departments of
Government of Tamil Nadu to use the
Blockchain infrastructure in a plug-n-play
model. The data captured on the Blockchain
backbone network can be trusted by all the
departments and can be used as single
source of truth without any further
verification. For example, NambikkaiInaiyam
can be used to develop applications for
securing the documents and records of
HR&CE, land records and its mutations,
education certificates, marksheets,
certificates and licenses issued through

75
e-Sevai platform, seed certification and
handicraft certification.

9.4 Digital Infrastructure for Paperless

e-Governance

9.4.1 e-Mail account for Tamil Nadu

Government Employees

Secure e-Mail services are being

provided to employees of Government of
Tamil Nadu for use in official communication.
With the help of NIC, 19,000 e-Mail accounts
were created during the year 2020-2021.
Work is in progress to upgrade the existing
e-Mail service and create over 50,000 users
to provide state-wide coverage.

9.4.2 e-Office

e-Office is the application suite that

allows automation of routine tasks and
processes in the Government offices. It helps
to save paper, allows speedy disposal of files
and improves governance. The audit and

76
history features add to the transparency of
the decision making process.

So far, 10,000 users from 61 offices

are using this application. The state-wide
rollout will be done in phases with
Secretariat departments to be taken up in
the first phase.

10. CAPACITY BUILDING

TNeGA has setup the infrastructure to

conduct training programs. This
infrastructure would be used for capacity
building of the state Government officials
during e-Office roll out.

11. NAMADHU ARASU (MyGov)

‘Namadhu Arasu’ portal provides a

unique platform for people to participate in
Governance and to share ideas and

77
suggestions with Government in areas
related to policies, programs and schemes.

12. STANDARDIZATION OF
GOVERNMENT WEBSITES

To improve the usability and

accessibility of information and services on
Government websites, TNeGA is taking up
standardization of District websites and
enabled accessibility for persons with
disabilities as per guidelines for Indian
Government Websites (GIGW) for designing,
developing and maintaining websites.

13. EXAM AS A SERVICE (EaaS)

To help recruit people quickly through

an online exam, departments can use the
service provided by TNeGA. It is quick and
easy for departments to setup an exam in a
secure manner. So far, 4 departments
namely, Environment and Forests

78
Department, Teacher’s Recruitment Board
(TRB), Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board
(TNPCB) and Tamil Nadu Ex-servicemen’s
Corporation Ltd. (TEXCO) have used the
system successfully and completed the
recruitment process for 7,229 vacancies in a
secure manner. Around 13.5 lakh candidates
have appeared in the exams.

14. IT SECURITY AUDIT

TNeGA helps in conducting security

audit of Government websites and
applications by auditors empanelled with
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERT-In).

In the year 2020-2021, 72

Government websites / applications have
undergone security audit.

79
15. SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS FOR
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS

TNeGA enables development of software

required by various departments of
Government of Tamil Nadu as follows :

S. Name of Project Website

No Department Name address

1. Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu https://

State State tnsdma.tn.
Disaster Disaster gov.in/
Management Management
Agency Agency
(TNSDMA) (TNSDMA)
Website
Development

2. Labour and Legal https://tn

Employment Metrology legalmetrolo
Department Complaint gy.in/
Tracking
System
(LMCTS)

80
3. Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu https://
Archives and Digi digi
Historical Archives Web archives.tn.
Research Portal gov.in/
Department

4. Chennai Development https://

Metropolitan of online
Development Web Enabled ppacmda.
Authority Single tn.gov.
(CMDA) Window in/
System for
On-line
Submission,
Processing and
Disposal of
Planning
Permission
Applications,
Building
Permission
Applications,
Completion
Certificate and
Occupancy
Certificate.

81
5. Environment Development https://www
and Forests of Software .forests.
Department Application for tn.gov.in/
Conducting pages/view/
Online tn-
Examination forestnews
for TNFUSRC
6. Employment Virtual https://
and Training Learning Portal tamilnaducar
Department and eerservices.
e-Learning tn.gov.in/
Platform with
Analytics
Dashboard.

7. All electronics https://

Government Transaction etaal.gov.in
Departments Aggregation
and
Analysis Layer
(e-Taal)

8. Commission Chief Minister’s https://

erate of Uzhavar oap.tn.gov.
Land Paathukappu in/cmupt/
Reforms Thittam
(CMUPT)

82
9. State End to End https://
Institute of Computerization crdpr.
Rural tn.gov.in
Development
(SIRD)
10. Tamil Nadu Board Rental https://
Housing Management tnhb.tn.
Board System gov.in/

11. Periyar Online http://pride.

University admission Periyar
Software for university.
Distance ac.in
education

12. State Sustainable https://

Planning Development tnsdg.
Commission Goals tn.gov.in
Monitoring
Platform

83
13. Tamil Nadu Biz Buddy https://
Guidance portal www.
Bureau bizbuddy.tn.
gov.in

14. Chennai Online https://

Metropolitan application for cmwssbindust
Water new water .in/
Supply and connection for WaterNew
Sewerage companies
Board
(CMWSSB)

15. State Web https://pnd

Planning Monitoring schemes.
Commission System for tn.gov.in
State
Planning
Commission

16. Labour and Development https://

Employment of web portal labour.
Department for Labour tn.gov.in/
Department

84
17. Tamil Nadu Cloud – based https://ams.
e-Governance Asset tnegov.in
Agency Management
System

18. Tamil Nadu e-District https://

e-Governance Project tnesevai.
Agency Phase I & tn.gov.in
II (e-Sevai)

19. Tamil Nadu State Portal http://

e-Governance www.
Agency tn.gov.in/

20. Tamil Nadu Permanent https://

e-Governance Enrolment uidai.gov.
Agency Centres in/aadhaar_
(Aadhaar dashboard/
Enrolment for
above 5 years
category)

21. Tamil Nadu SMS based https://

e-Governance Tracking services.
Agency System mgov.gov.in

85
22. Tamil Nadu Online Patta https://
e-Governance Transfer tamilnilam.
Agency tn.gov.in/

CSC
https://
tamilnilam.
tn.gov. in/
Revenue/
login.html
23. Tamil Nadu Tiny URL https://
e-Governance tnegov.in/
Agency login

24. Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu https://

e-Governance Geographical tngis.
Agency Information tn.gov.in
System

25. Indian State Licensing https://

Medicine and Authority for www.
Homeopathy Indian tnslaim.tn.
Medicine- gov.in/
website

86
26. Tamil Nadu Integrated https://
Unorganized Application tnuwwb.
Workers Software for tn.gov.in/
Welfare Unorganized
Board Workers
Welfare Board

27. Tamil Nadu Website https://

Mediation Development tnmcc.
and tn.gov.in
Conciliation
Centre
28. Law Web https://
Department Application for tnnotary.
Online Notary tn.gov.in/
Appointment /
Renewal of
Practice

29. TNeGA TNeGA Web https://

portal tnega.tn.
gov.in/

87
30. Entrepreneur Academic https://
ship Innovation and editn.in/
Development Entrepreneur
Institute of ship
India (EDII) Development
Department) Programme
(AIEDP) Portal

31. Employment Employment http://www.

and Training Engagement & tnprivatejobs.
Department Tracking tn.gov.in/
Module

88
 CHAPTER-IV

TAMIL NADU ARASU CABLE TV

CORPORATION LIMITED (TACTV)

1. INTRODUCTION

Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd., was

formed under the Companies Act, 1956 on
04.10.2007 with the objective to provide
high quality Cable TV service at an affordable
cost to the public. It was renamed as “Tamil
Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd.”
(TACTV) on 26.08.2011.

2. OBJECTIVES

Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation

is a State Government Undertaking in the
Cable TV Industry having the Digital
Addressable System (DAS) License for
providing Digital Cable TV Service. TACTV
started the Digital Cable TV Service and
distribution of free Standard Definition (SD)

89
Set-top boxes on 01.09.2017. The High
Definition Cable TV service was started on
02.07.2018 at 5 locations, viz., Chennai,
Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli and
Madurai.

TACTV is providing Digital Cable

Service at the subscription fee of Rs.140/-
+GST per month with 201 channels (140
Free to Air (FTA) channels + 61 Pay
channels).

3. ARASU e-SEVAI CENTRES

TACTV has established Arasu e-Sevai

Centres to provide Government to Citizen
Services (G2C) in the year 2014. At present,
TACTV is operating with 580 Arasu
e-Sevai Centres across the State in urban
areas and providing 130 citizen centric
services. In addition to the above, the
following services are provided:

90
 1. Uploading the certificates of shortlisted
candidates for Tamil Nadu Public
Service Commission (TNPSC)

2. Printing of replacement Electoral Photo

Identity Card (EPIC)

3. Online registration of textbooks being

sold by Tamil Nadu Textbook
Corporation and Education services

As on date, 1800 franchisees have been

empanelled.

4. AADHAAR PERMANENT ENROLMENT

CENTERS (PECs)

TACTV has established 318 Aadhaar

Permanent Enrolment Centres across the
State. Besides these, one “Mobile Aadhaar
Enrolment Unit” is functioning in Greater
Chennai Corporation for senior citizens and
persons with disability.

91
 CHAPTER-V

TAMIL NADU FIBRENET CORPORATION

LIMITED (TANFINET)

Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Ltd.,

(TANFINET) is a Public Sector Undertaking of
the state Government incorporated on
08.06.2018 under the Companies Act, 2013,
to digitally empower every citizen in Tamil
Nadu by harnessing the power of Information
Technology. This will be achieved by
connecting Village Panchayats, Town
Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations
of Tamil Nadu with high-speed bandwidth
using Optic Fibre Cable (OFC), under the
BharatNet and TamilNet projects.

92
1. BHARATNET

BharatNet is a project of the

Government of India that envisages
connecting all Village Panchayats of the
country with high-speed bandwidth using
Optical Fibre Cable (OFC). Government of
India has approved the project at an
estimated cost of Rs.1815.31 crore. Under
this project, all the 12,525 Village
Panchayats of the state will be provided with
a minimum scalable bandwidth of 1 Gbps.

This project is expected to be

completed within one year from the date of
issue of work order. The implementation of
the project has been divided into four
packages as follows:

93
 OFC OFC
No. No. Route Route
Package Aerial UG
of of
Name Length Length
Blocks GPs (in
(in Km)
Km)
A 75 3,095 11,906 1,591

B 94 3,001 9,615 1,570

C 110 3,326 11,335 1,486

D 109 3,103 10,148 1,849

Total 388 12,525 43,004 6,496

2. TAMILNET

In addition to the BharatNet project,

TamilNet is planned to connect all the Town
Panchayats, Municipalities, Corporations and
District Head Quarters of the state through
Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) and provide full
benefit of optical fibre connectivity to all
parts of state.

94
3. BENEFITS OF BHARATNET PROJECT

The BharatNet infrastructure will allow

provision of Digital Services viz.,
e-Education, Tele-Medicine, Triple Play
Services (Telephone, Television & Internet
Connection) to the villages at an affordable
cost. It will also allow Government offices,
public institutions, schools, colleges and
industries to use high-speed bandwidth to
deliver citizen centric services at village
level. The project will improve the socio-
economic conditions of the state by creating
jobs and delivering services in rural areas.

95
 CHAPTER-VI

TAMIL VIRTUAL ACADEMY (TVA)

1. INTRODUCTION

Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) was

established as Tamil Virtual University (TVU)
as per the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration
Act, 1975. TVU was renamed as Tamil Virtual
Academy (TVA) on 16th July 2010. TVA aims
to provide Tamil education through internet
for the Tamil Diaspora and promote Tamil
computing.

2. OBJECTIVES

 To promote Tamil computing

 To disseminate information about

Tamil culture, civilization to Tamil
Diaspora and others across the globe

96
  To conduct certificate, higher
certificate, diploma and degree courses
in Tamil

 To maintain Tamil Digital Library and

Digital Cultural Repository

 To enable access to its content through

www.tamilvu.org

3. ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

TVA offers Primary Course, Certificate

Course, Higher Certificate Course, Diploma,
Higher Diploma and Degree (B.A.
Tamilology) Courses.

Primary Course is designed for kindergarten

students.

Certificate Courses are offered at three levels

as below:

• Basic Level(equivalent to classes 1 and 2)

97
 • Intermediate Level (equivalent to classes
3 and 4)

• Advanced Level (equivalent to classes 5

and 6)

So far, 9,015 students have passed in the

above courses.

Higher Certificate Courses are offered at

three levels as below:

• Grade 1 (equivalent to classes 7 and 8)

• Grade 2 (equivalent to classes 9 and 10)

• Grade 3 (equivalent to classes 11

and 12)

So far, 876 students have passed in the

above courses.

B.A. (Tamilology) Degree programme is a

modular course comprising of Diploma,
Higher Diploma and Degree courses.

98
 The details of the students who have
passed so far is as follows:

 Diploma – 1,591

 Higher Diploma -1,107

 Degree – 773

The above programs are delivered

through 110 contact centres located in 22
countries.

4. TAMIL DIGITAL LIBRARY

The Government has sanctioned

Rs.1.00 crore for creation of Digital Library
which has been utilized. Further, Rs.1.05
crore for digitization and cataloguing of
palm-leaf manuscripts in Dr.U.Ve.Sa Library,
Directorate of Indian Medicine &
Homeopathy and the International Institute

99
of Tamil Studies. This work is under
progress.

Tamil Digital Library

(www.tamildigitallibrary.in) provides online
access to rare books, periodicals and
palm-leaf manuscripts of various subjects
like literature, religion, history, medicine and
science from 16th century onwards. This is
the largest digital library in South Asian
languages, consisting of 35,629 books/
periodicals and 7,68,097 palm-leaf
manuscript pages. The library has been used
by 1,45,06,345 users.

5. TAMILAR TAGAVALAATRUPPADAI

TVA has developed “Tamilar

Tagavalaatruppadai”
(https://www.tagavalaatruppadai.in) which
consists of images of archaeological and

100
historical monuments and cultural remains in
Tamil Nadu.

This cultural repository provides

information/photographs about sculptures,
inscriptions, temples, coins, excavations and
copper plates.

So far, this website has been visited by

11,12,087 visitors.

6. e-ASIRIYAR PROJECT

TVA imparts Tamil education through

web to people living all over the world. This
project is being modernized by developing an
integrated learning platform using current
technologies such as 3D-Animation, Virtual
Board, Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial
Intelligence (AI).

101
7. TAMIL COMPUTING

Tamil computing enables computer to

understand the Tamil language. TVA is
working on image processing, optical
character recognition, computational
linguistics, use cases and tool development.
Projects on sentence pattern, structures,
rules in Tamil, Tamil grammar checker and
speech processing tool are under progress.

8. TAMIL UNICODE

TVA is an institutional member of the

Unicode Consortium, USA. This enables TVA
to include all the Tamil alphabets, old Tamil
fractions and symbols, Tamil vattezhuthukkal
into the database of Unicode Consortium.

102
9. OUTREACH INITIATIVES

9.1 Kani Tamil Peravai (KTP)

KTP is a programme to create

awareness among students about Tamil
Computing. Accordingly, KTP has been
initiated in Universities/Colleges in Tamil
Nadu and around 200 centres have been
started so far.

9.2 Translation of Khan Academy’s

Educational videos

“Khan Academy” has created

educational videos in English relating to
subjects such as Mathematics, Science,
History, Arts, Humanities, Economics and
Finance. TVA is translating them into Tamil
for wider use. So far, around 4,000
videos have been translated into Tamil with
voice-over and subtitles.

103
10. MONTHLY LECTURE SERIES

In order to promote Tamil heritage, art

and culture, TVA organizes monthly lecture
series by renowned scholars. This includes
scholars such as Dr.Avvai Natarajan,
Dr.Mylsamy Annadurai, Dr.R.Balakrishnan
IAS (Rtd.), Dr. Nagasamy, Thiru. Tiruppur
Krishnan and other experts. So far, 56
lectures have been organized.

11. CONFERENCES AND WEBINARS

11.1 Online Faculty Development

Programme

As a pioneering effort, TVA hosted a

seven day international online faculty
development programme titled “Modern
Development in Tamil Computing and its
New Techniques” during August 2020 with
nearly 800 participants.

104
11.2 International webinar on
Technologies in Tamil Language

A one week international level webinar

on technologies in Tamil Language was
organized during October 2020. More such
seminars will be conducted.

11.3 Elocution competition

To encourage and enrich the Tamil
knowledge of foreign students, Tamil Virtual
Academy conducts elocution competitions.
The last one was conducted in December
2020 in which 31 students from various
countries participated.

11.4 International Conference in Tamil

Computing
A two day International Conference on
“Development and Challenges of Tamil
Computing” was held in March 2021 to
promote interest of students in Tamil
Computing.

105
 CHAPTER-VII

ICT ACADEMY OF TAMIL NADU (ICTACT)

1. INTRODUCTION

Information and Communication

Technology Academy of Tamil Nadu
(ICTACT) is a not-for-profit Organization,
started by the Government of Tamil Nadu in
the year 2009, as a Public Private
Partnership. The objective of ICTACT is to
train the higher education teachers and
students especially in Tier II and Tier III
towns in various ICT areas.

ICTACT follows a seven pillar approach

namely, faculty development, student skill
development, entrepreneurship
development, youth empowerment, digital
empowerment, industry-institute interaction
and research / publications. ICTACT is
governed by an autonomous board of
106
governors with representatives from the
Government of Tamil Nadu and the leading
companies in the ICT industry.

2. ACTIVITIES OF ICTACT

The activities and achievements of

ICTACT for the year 2020-21 are:

2.1 Faculty Development

2,239 faculty members have been

trained through 91 faculty development
programs in various ICT areas in the state.

2.2 Skill Development

ICTACT has trained and certified 7,578

graduating students from rural colleges in
the state to improve their employability.

107
2.3 Entrepreneurship Development

It has conducted 568 entrepreneurship

awareness seminars benefiting 76,733
students from 243 colleges across the state.

2.4 Youth Empowerment

 Organizing Learnathons – the “New India

Learnathon 2020” was organized for
college students to inculcate the habit of
self-learning. 1,25,818 students
participated and completed 2,84,881
online courses.

 Conducted “SkillEdge” initiative

exclusively for the first-year college
students, in which 19,534 students
participated.

 In the context of COVID-19 lockdown

and closure of colleges, organized “GET
SET GO” initiative for the students to

108
 make up for the lost in-class experience
by interacting with the industry experts.
59,873 first year college students
benefited from this program.

2.5 Research and Publications

ICTACT publishes 6 peer reviewed

International Research Journals on quarterly
basis. During the year 2020-21, 188
research papers were published. These are
indexed in various international databases.

 ICTACT Journal on Communication

Technology(IJCT)

 ICTACT Journal on Image and Video

Processing (IJIVP)

 ICTACT Journal on Soft Computing (IJSC)

 ICTACT Journal on Micro Electronics

(IJME)

109
 ICTACT Journal on Management Studies
(IJMS)

In view of the importance of Data

Science and Machine Learning, ICTACT has
launched a new Journal in 2020, named
“ICTACT Journal on Data Science and
Machine Learning (IJDSML)”.

2.6 Digital Empowerment

ICTACT is an assessment and

certification agency for Pradhan Mantri
Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan
(PMGDISHA), a program of Government of
India. 14,79,812 candidates have been
assessed and certified for Digital Literacy
during 2020-21.

110
2.7 Global Technology Forum

ICTACT organizes Global Technology

Forum every year along with Information
Technology Department, Government of
Tamil Nadu. The forum aims to promote
research activities on Innovation and
Technology. It features paper presentations,
keynote sessions, tutorial sessions by global
experts.

‘Global Technology Forum – 2020’ was

hosted for 5 days in which 51 keynote
speakers and 21 international speakers
participated. 10 deep dive technical tutorials
were conducted, 300+ technical research
papers in emerging technologies were
presented.

111
2.8 Sky Campus – Digital Knowledge
Webinar Series for Educators

Responding to the challenges posed by

COVID-19, ICTACT has launched its webinar
knowledge series through its Sky Campus
Platform with an objective of providing
industry expert sessions on various topics
relevant to the teachers. It has conducted
8 seasons comprising of 51 sessions.
1,91,023 educators have benefited from 86
eminent speakers.

112
 CHAPTER-VIII

CONCLUSION

Hon’ble Chief Minister’s vision is to

provide clean governance to the people and
to make the state as number one destination
in Information and Emerging Technologies.
We promise to deliver on these aspirations
by deploying data centric governance, enable
participative governance and ensure swift
delivery of services to the people. Our
departments’ strategy will be shaped by
expert advice of the “Advisory Council for
Future” under the overall guidance of the
Hon’ble Chief Minister. The core strengths of
Tamil Nadu will be leveraged to attract
investment from leading IT and Emerging
Technology companies. This will enable Tamil
Nadu to gain strategic advantage, achieve

113
sustained economic growth and create high
quality jobs for the youth of Tamil Nadu.

T. MANO THANGARAJ
Minister for Information Technology

114
Ford Motors, Sholinganallur

Wipro, Sholinganallur

I
CTS, Sholinganallur

HCL, Sholinganallur

II
Tech Mahindra, Sholinganallur

TPCL, Coimbatore

III
 Wipro, Coimbatore

ELCOSEZ – Ilandhaikulam, Madurai

IV
 ELCOSEZ – Vadapalanji, Madurai

ELCOSEZ-Navalpattu, Tiruchirappalli

V
ELCOSEZ- Gangaikondan, Tirunelveli

ELCOSEZ- Gangaikondan, Tirunelveli

VI
ELCOSEZ- Jagirammapalayam, Salem

ELCOSEZ-Viswanathapuram, Hosur

VII
 Health workers using e- Paarvai app for Cataract
screening

Applying for a Community Certificate using Chatbot

VIII
The picture of the diseased plant uploaded on Uzhavan app
and the recommendation of the AI model is reviewed by an
expert

IX
Farmer receives a SMS advising the remedial
measures

X
XI
The Academic Programmes are provided
through 110 Contact Centres in 22 countries
Tamilar Tagavalaatruppadai Website Page
View

Data as per Google Analytics

XII
 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT

DEMAND No. 31

T. MANO THANGARAJ
Minister for Information Technology

©
Government of Tamil Nadu
2021
Printed by Govt. Central Press, Chennai - 600 001.