According to the legend, district Jalandhar is said to have derived its name from the vernacular term ‘Jalandhar’ meaning ‘area inside water’, ie. tract lying between the two rivers Satluj and Beas. Jalandhar is located on the intensively irrigated plain between the Beas and Sutlej rivers. The city is a market for agricultural products. Manufactures include textiles, leather goods, wood products, and sporting goods. Jalandhar was the capital of Punjab since India’s independence until Chandigarh was built in 1953.

NIC’s Journey

Ever since its inception in 1988, the NIC Jalandhar District Centre has made its presence felt by making tremendous strides towards empowering the District Administration with IT tools, training Government officials. Implementation of e-governance programmes has further strengthened the role of NIC in the district.

Some of the projects executed by NIC Jalandhar have been discussed below:

• Video Conferencing Facility: Video Conferencing (VC) facility was installed for District Administration, Jalandhar on September 30, 2004.
• DOEACC CCC-CAPES Examination: NIC Jalandhar was among the districts to conduct first All India online examination for DOEACC’s CCC (CAPES).
• District Website: The official website of Jalandhar District, developed by NIC district centre with the support of NIC Punjab State Centre, gives complete information about the district, administration, maps, public utility contact numbers, public utility forms such as birth/death certificate, driving license etc. It also gives information on elections results, information on educational institutions, hotels, banks, media etc. The site can be viewed at http://jalandhar.nic.in
• Networking Plan: The district centre network is interoperable and capable of handling Linux/Unix based servers, dumb terminals and windows machines.

• SUWIDHA: This single-point citizen interface for receipt of applications and delivery of services called Single User-friendly WIndow Disposal & Helpline for Applicants (SUWIDHA) provides services like issuance of arms licenses, learning licenses etc.
• Sub-Registrar Office: PRISM (Property Registration Information System Module)software has been developed by NIC Punjab State Centre, with the objective of bringing transparency in registration system.
• District Treasury Office: Treasury Information System has been implemented at District Treasury Office. The system regularly transfers data to the State finance department.
• District Social Security Office: Social Security Information System (SSIS) facilitates monitoring and disbursement of pensions to more than 70,000 pensioners.
• Office of Commissioner: Software like payroll, GPF maintenance, cause-list generation and personal information system of the Naib Tehsildars have been implemented in the office of Commissioner, Jalandhar division.
• Personnel Information Management System for Patwaries (PIMS) was implemented in 1992. This software is used to generate seniority list of Kanungos/Patwaries and annual confidential report performa.
• GPF Account Maintenance for ministerial, revenue and class IV staff of DC’s office is in progress to generate individual/annual/monthly statements.
• Monthly Revenue Statement: CRO wise monthly statements are generated for monthly revenue meetings.
• District & Sessions Courts: Payroll and GPF package is successfully implemented in the district courts which has complete database of officers and thus generates pay-slips and other schedules like GPF statements, GIS, house rent recovery, income tax etc.
• NICNET: NICNET Email/Internet connectivity has been provided to various Govt. departments in Jalandhar like Press Information Bureau, Customs and Central Excise, FCI, National Fertilizer Ltd, MILKFED etc.

NIC Jalandhar has also implemented ICT applications in various other departemnts such as Passport office, Education survey etc. Weekly/monthly progress reports are being generated for Literacy Mission, Agriculture Development Office, Market News Service. NIC Jalandhar officials have also focused on their own skill enhancement, which helps them in performing their duties more effectively.