'Movement of files in govt depts to be done digitally by June-end'

New Delhi: The movement of most of the files of various Delhi government departments is likely to shift to a digital platform from the end of this month with the implementation of the e-office initiative, officials said on Thursday.

Earlier this month, the Delhi government had instructed all its departments and agencies to set up the infrastructure for e-office and switch over to it by June 30.

"We have been preparing for the e-office modalities for long and as instructed also by the chief secretary, most files will stop moving physically and all the work, including notings on the files by the officers, will be carried out digitally by the end of the month," a senior Delhi government officer said.

E-office is a paperless mode of official documentation and procedures related to various functions of the city government.

Preparing for the initiative, the information technology (IT) department of the Delhi government had issued a circular saying the departments were needed to set up a central record unit, equipped with high-speed scanners, computers and internet connectivity, for scanning records to upload on e-office.

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) was entrusted with carrying out the work to upgrade e-office between June 17 and June 19, officials said.

The Delhi government had approved the implementation of e-office in all its departments, autonomous and local bodies in 2015. Some departments had implemented it but the system was incomplete with many others lagging behind.

E-office also involves digitisation of records such as orders and circulars, and uploading those on the digital platform.

Every department has to notify a nodal officer, not below the rank of a deputy secretary, for the project. The IT department shall conduct a half-a-day training programme through video-conferencing for all the nodal officers.

The officials said despite e-office, the movement of "sensitive" files will continue to take place physically. Also, physical copies of documents will be maintained despite the digital functioning, they said.

The older version of e-office being in use partially at present has been upgraded with various new features, the officials said.

"Apart from the user name, password and the digital signature, officials will be able to use biometrics to work on the e-office system," an official said.