Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF government has rolled out its draft IT policy aimed at making all public services digital in five years, offering stamp duty concession to IT infrastructure developers and giving opportunities to IT employees to invest in parks.
IT/ITES firms will be given stamp duty and registration fee concession on sale/ transfer/ lease of land at first transaction. IT firms, other than those in special economic zone, in Thiruvananthapuam and Ernakulam will get a standard investment subsidy of 30 percent of fixed capital investment, subject to maximum of Rs 15 lakh. For firms in other districts it will be 40 percent, subject to a maximum of Rs 25 lakh. Power traffic subsidies and exemption in entry tax for capital goods and construction materials.
The draft policy, which was tabled by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Assembly on Wednesday, comes with eight sub-policies on sectors such as electronic governance, industry facilitation, digital inclusion, free and open source software, innovation and entrepreneurship, digital capacity building, digital procurement and cyber security.
One more sub-policy on electronic manufacturing would be brought out soon. The policy would be finalised after month-long discussions with industry representatives and the public. It took 10 months for the government to announce the draft policy after vetting at political level, spawning confusion in the state IT sector.
As part of promoting digitalisation of public services, the draft IT policy seeks participation of IT firms in developing public IT solutions on a Swiss challenge model.
(As per the Swiss challenge approach, counter proposals will be invited on the basis of the original proposal submitted by an international builder. If any of the counter proposals is better that the original proposal the work will be awarded to the proponent of that counter proposal. Otherwise, the work will be given to the original proponent. The original proponent will be also given a chance to revise the proposal before taking a final decision on awarding the work. )
Draft policy also envisages government services delivery through mobile and supplying a basic mobile device to the underprivileged.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE POLICY
Annual or biannual Kerala IT Expo to exhibit state's IT potential
Renowned IT industrialist to be made Kerala ambassadors
Annul award for achievers in IT field
'Own your park' government-guaranteed investment scheme for IT employees in IT parks
All public service to be delivered electronically in 5 years
Basic mobile device for underprivileged to connect to government services
Single government portal for government services and interaction
E-services and m-services to be offered in Malayalam and other minority languages too
Akshaya centres to be made one-stop shop for all government services
Standard timeline to be set for delivery of services
All IT parks to be brought under one brand- 'Kerala IT Parks'
Companies to ensure women safety
E-procurement to be extended to more departments
Buyback scheme by manufacturers to be insisted
Support for people with disabilities at IT firms
Option for reduced working hours at reduced pay during post-pregnancy period.
