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BRIEF NOTE ON AGRISNET
1.BACKGROUND:
1.1 The Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has already started
implementing e-Governance through various ICT initiatives as given below:-
·
ICT
Infrastructure for Headquarters (http://intradac.nic.in)
·
Networking of
Directorates and Field Units (http://dacnet.nic.in)
·
Development of
Agricultural Informatics and Communications (DAIC) and
·
Agricultural
Resources Information System (AgRIS) in eight pilot
districts. Initially the scheme will be implemented in two districts.
·
Agricultural
Marketing Information Network (http://agmarknet.nic.in)
·
Agricultural
Census (http://agcensus.nic.in)
·
Registration of
Pesticides (http://cibrc.nic.in)
1.2 Government of
2. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY:
The AGRISNET Project will be implemented in a projectised mode, i.e.,
funds under AGRISNET will be provided to the State/ UT governments or to
autonomous bodies identified by the
State/Union Territory Governments on
the basis of specific project proposals submitted
for the prupose.
2.2
The project proposals for funding under AGRISNET will clearly specify the
following:
Services
and services goals
a)
Outputs and deliverables
b)
Number of farmers/beneficiaries to be benefited by the improved services
c)
Road map and Timeliness, including intermediate milestones
d)
Positioning of Empowered Committees
e)
Positioning of
f)
Implementation arrangements and Positioning of Implementation team
g)
Arrangements for monitoring and evaluation, including independent
evaluation, of the project.
h)
Success criteria for assessing project impact
i)
Total funds required for the project
j)
Funds to be provided by the State government, if any
k)
Funds requested from the DAC
l)
In-kind contribution to be made by the State government
m)
Elaborate mechanism for regular data updation on real time basis
n)
Details of existing ICT infrastructure available in the State, which
should be fully integrated with the proposal.
2.3
The State Governments shall propose a road map indicating delivery of G2C
services and these should also be explicitly stated in the project proposal.
2.4 The
State Governments should indicate as to how they intend to deliver the services
to the farmers. The delivery points
should be identified and indicated in the proposals.
2.5
The improvement of services to the farming community through the use of
ICT, and not the services per se, would be considered for funding under AGRISNET.
2.6
The items / activities eligible for funding under AGRISNET
will include :
a)
Hardware and system software
b)
Application software
c)
Data entry
d)
Networking
e)
Training of stakeholders (officials of State Agriculture Department,
State Cooperative Department, District Agricultural Officers and Extension
workers)
f)
Other specific activities.
g)
Essential miscellaneous costs (not to exceed 10% of the total project
cost)
2.7
Data Centre capabilities will be considered at the state levels.
The total number of data centres below the state level shall not exceed
the total number of districts in the state.
2.8
The cost of ‘delivery point’ infrastructure will not be considered
under this project, since, the Department of IT has a programme to set up
100,000 Community Service Centres by 2007.
2.9
The hardware and software should be so designed that, if needed, it can
be extended up to the block level.
2.10 The
following hardware/software, avoiding duplication with other existing
infrastructure or with other schemes, would be eligible for funding for setting
up of data centers at State/District levels:
(i)
State
AGRISNET Centre
Hardware/Networking
Component
- High Availability Database Server (lower end) +OS (3)
(Data base Server, Application Server, Patch/Anti-virus Server)
- Multi-media Client (P-IV) System + OS (3)
- Printer (3)
- LAN infrastructure along with Networking interface
- Scanner (1)
- UPS (1 for servers and 3 for clients) with 30 minutes battery backup
Software
Tools
- Operating System for Server-(3)/ Operating System for client (3)
media + Firewall
- Database Software and other access software tools including data
security
- Office Productivity Tools with multi-lingual support
- Development Kit
(ii)
District AGRISNET Node
Hardware/Networking
Component
- High Availability Database Server (lower end) + OS (2)
(Database
server and application server)
- Multi-media PC Client System + OS (2)
(one for Dist. Agri. Dept. and two line depts. Including cooperation
office.)
- Printer (2)
- LAN infrastructure along with network interface
- Scanner (1)
- UPS (1 for servers + 2 for clients) (with 30 minutes battery backup)
Software
Tools
- Operating System for Server (2)/ Operating System for Client (2)
media + Firewall
- Database Software and other access software tools including data
security
- Office Productivity Tools and Multilingual Support (2)
(iii)
The PCs and related hardware/software shall be for
the use of officers and staff directly connected with the services being covered
under the Project and the states shall assess the realistic requirement of the
same at state/district level giving details of such officers and staff.
2.11 Prior
to completion of SRS, only the following will be eligible under different
heads:-
- One PC for offices between State and District levels which are
directly involved in services being provided under the project.
- Ceiling for training would be calculated on the basis of average 5
trainees per PC (other than those linked to servers), the average cost of
training being Rs. 3,000 per trainee.
- Cost of data entry will not exceed the amount calculated at the rate
of Rs. 1 lakh per district.
- At State level, maximum 10 PCs in addition to those provided with
Servers, for use by officials directly involved in services being provided
under the project.
- Maximum two PCs for District Agriculture Officers in addition to
those provided with Servers for use by officials directly involved in
services being provided under the project.
- Maximum one PC for other District level offices (e.g. of other
Departments) directly involved in services being provided under the project.
2.12 The
State government shall provide physical site for the project and bear the
initial and recurring cost for the physical (civil) infrastructure such as
premises, site preparation, furniture, etc. The State government shall also
provide manpower and utilities for implementing the project.
2.13 The
states shall commit to maintaining the infrastructure created under the project
with their own funds after the initial warranty period is over.
Initial warranty for the hardware shall be for a maximum period of three
year. Infrastructure for this purpose would include hardware, software, data
created and other content developed. Any
upgradation of the infrastructure will have to be done by the State government
at its own cost.
2.14 The
state government will commit to integrate other national / state level
agriculture portals / applications with AGRISNET project.
2.15 The
project proposal shall also indicate State’s participation in terms of sharing
of costs and any other commitments proposed to be made by the State government.
2.16
The proposal will make a clear commitment that no project fund will be
utilized for creation of posts or towards meeting salary / wages of staff.
2.17 The
States/UTs would be free to choose any agency – public, private, NGO etc. for
implementation of AGRISNET projects. The
agency implementing the projects shall follow the procedures for procurement of
hardware / software applicable to it, which in respect of Government Departments
will mean following the GFRs.
However, the order placed by the procuring agency shall necessarily
specify the time period within which the selected vendor shall have to supply
hardware. This time period shall not
exceed three months. After the expiry of the specified period, the order placed
with the vendor shall automatically stand cancelled and the procurement process
shall start afresh. The tender
documents shall suitably include this condition.
The tender document shall also include the condition
that prices to be paid for
hardware would be that prevailing at the time of delivery of supplies and not at
the time orders were placed, in case
there has been decline in prices since placement of the order.
2.18 IT
Division would evolve suitable mechanism to have regular monitoring and
independent evaluation of AGRISNET Project.
3.
NETWORKING STRATEGY:
3.1
The network connectivity required for the project from the Centre to the
NIC Units in the States will be provided by the NIC at its own cost.
Similarly, the network connectivity from the State NIC Units to the
District NIC units will also be provided by the NIC at its own cost.
Also, since AGRISNET projects are to be integrated with SWAN, the cost of
vertical connectivity such as from state to district level or district level to
below district level will not be eligible under AGRISNET.
3.2
For the present, networking cost would not be considered for funding,
pending further elaboration of these Guidelines.
33 AGRISNET
will be closed user Group on NICNET/SWAN. The
project shall be integrated with SWAN. The duplication with SWAN shall be
avoided. DIT will prioritize SWAN
projects in various states and will line them up before the implementation of
AGRISNET to facilitate this integration.
3.4
The State Department of Agriculture are required to have AGRISNET
proposals vetted by the State Department of IT before the same are submitted to
the DAC for consideration.
4.
GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING PROJECT PROPOSALS:
4.1
To implement the projectised approach, a Committee has been set up in the
DAC to develop the guidelines for preparation and subsequent approval of
projects. The constitution of this
Committee is as given below:-
(i)
Additional Secretary
-
Chairperson
(ii)
Joint Secretary (IT)
- Member
(iii) Director
(Finance), DAC
- Member
(iv) A
Representative from the
Deptt. of IT not below the level
-
Member
of Director
(v)
A representative of DG, NIC
not below the rank of DDG -
Member
(vi) Director
(IT)
- Member
Secretary
5.
Joint secretary (IT Division), Department of
Agriculture & Cooperation in the Ministry of Agriculture has been designated
as Mission Leader for AGRISNET Project in the Department.
6. PROJECT
OUTLAY:-
6.1 The
total approved allocation for the Project for the duration of Tenth Plan is Rs.
49.47 crore which would be given to the States as grants-in-aid in the year
2005-06 and 2006-07. Financial assistance will also be provided to States for
preparation of project proposal for funding under AGRISNET. However, such
assistance will be limited to maximum Rs. 5.00 lakh per State/ UT.
6.2 The
AGRISNET project would be considered on first come first served basis.
6.3 The project funds would be released in two annual
installments subject to fulfillment of the prescribed procedure.
6.4 The States/UTs will be required to submit monthly
physical and financial progress reports to Government of India regarding
implementation of the projects.
