Latest news with #MahaIT
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Maharashtra IT department emerges as primary cloud service provider for govt departments
Pune: Maharashtra's Information Technology Corporation Ltd (MahaIT) has become the main cloud service provider for govt departments. Senior state IT officials confirmed that several departments have already began migrating their data to MahaIT's cloud platform, marking a strategic shift in the state's data management approach. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "It is a win-win situation — departments gain peace of mind regarding data safety and security, while we strengthen our capabilities in cloud services," said an official. The move has come in the aftermath of a major controversy earlier this year when MahaIT filed a criminal complaint against a private cloud vendor and its directors over alleged extortion and threats to delete sensitive govt data. The FIR accused the firm of breaching contract terms and blocking access to services for eight departments after invoicing for undelivered services. The matter escalated to Bombay High Court, which directed affected departments to transfer their data to MahaIT's cloud. Launched under Maharashtra's 2018 public cloud policy — the first of its kind in India — the state mandated all govt departments to store data on cloud platforms, opening a Rs 200 crore opportunity for cloud service providers. However, concerns over security and vendor reliability have since prompted a greater push for in-house cloud solutions. Currently, MahaIT is in discussion with multiple departments to broaden cloud adoption on its platform, aiming to consolidate govt data under a single, secure service provider. Many departments, such as the state registration department, the agriculture department, and many others, have shifted to cloud. "There are several departments that are already using cloud services. We will reach out to all departments and put across our services,'' an IT official added.
United News of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- United News of India
Maha: Govt aims to provide 1,027 notified services through single portal from August 15
West Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, May 27 (UNI) The Maharashtra government is providing 1,027 notified services online and is trying to provide all these services through a single portal from August 15, informed an official of Maha IT on Tuesday. Addressing a meeting of the Aapla Seva Kendra operators here, Maha IT managing director Sanjay Katkar said that the government is trying to bring these services provided by the government under the Services Act on a single platform and 138 services will be integrated by May 31, out of which 92 services have been integrated. While 306 services are provided offline, efforts are being made to make them online, he said and informed that in this way, it is planned that all 1,027 services can be provided to the citizens by August 15. He said that information is being collected to know the problems of service centre operators while providing these services, to provide five logins where there is more work, to provide geo-centric services. There are 1,094 service centres in the district and improvements are being made to display the rates of services at these service centres, to be able to file complaints on QR codes. Katkar also said that the chatbot facility will be made available on WhatsApp in near future so that people can get information about these services. UNI VKB SS
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
MahaIT sets Aug 15 deadline for all govt services under RTS to go online
Nashik: Sanjay Katkar, managing director of Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation Limited ( MahaIT ), has set an Aug 15 deadline for all govt departments to provide online access to services notified under the Right To Service . Katkar, the first MahaIT MD to visit Nashik since its inception in 2017, reviewed local offices and urged officials to expedite digital service delivery . "He visited Savargaon village in Peth taluka and the taluka headquarters to review the Bharat Net programme, which aims to provide broadband to govt offices," a senior district officer said. In a meeting with government departments, Katkar emphasized the need to move services online. Currently, agencies like Municipal Corporations, the Tribal Development Department, the Regional Transport Office, and the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation operate their own portals. "The govt is working to integrate all services into a single platform, a task assigned to MahaIT," the officer added. Katkar also met village-level staff from Aaple Sarkar Seva Kendra and aadhaar centres to understand challenges in application processing and payments. He assured them of timely resolution. At the Smart City Corporation, Katkar directed officials to accelerate system interlinking efforts and scheduled a follow-up meeting for updates. With student admission season underway, Katkar urged officials to ensure timely issuance of certificates. He warned against exploitation of applicants, "Any persons found charging exorbitantly should be dealt with strongly."
Hindustan Times
25-04-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Farm loan waiver derailed by data disaster, 656K still waiting
MUMBAI: Eight years after being promised farm loan waivers, around 656,000 farmers in Maharashtra are still waiting, all because a portal switch caused their data to get corrupted. The state cooperation department, responsible for implementing the scheme, has admitted to what they are calling a 'technical failure'. Minister Babasaheb Patil, who heads the department, claims they are still working to resolve the issue. In a double whammy, these farmers, whose loan waivers have been pending since 2017, were rendered ineligible for a waiver under the successive MVA government, two years later, as their applications were pending under the earlier scheme, a government official revealed. The loan waiver was unveiled by the first Devendra Fadnavis government, on June 24, 2017, after a hunger strike by agriculturists. Named the 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana' (CSMSSY), the ₹34,022-crore scheme was expected to cover 8.9 million farmers who were struggling with rising debt due to crop failure, drought, among other reasons. Under the scheme, each farmer family was to receive a maximum benefit of ₹1.5 lakh. Agriculturists who were repaying loans on a regular basis were also promised a cash-back incentive of up to ₹25,000. A total of 5.1 million farmers were found eligible. In the interests of transparency and to guard against corruption, the farmers were told to file their applications online – and that's where the problem began. What actually happened The state government started accepting the applications through its online portal — Mahaonline. Around 5.1 million farmers were found eligible, applications were processed and the waiver was granted to 4.44 million eligible farmers. However, in September 2019, the election code of conduct for the state assembly elections was announced, temporarily suspending the scheme. Its implementation resumed after the assembly elections but, soon, the state government shut the Mahaonline portal in favour of another portal to be set up by the Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation Limited (MahaIT), which was providing expert resources to all the government's departments. Currently, MahaIT also handles websites such as Aaple Sarkar, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Mahanet (Bharatnet), Aadhar Enrolment Agency, Single Window Approval System for Film Shooting, among others. To keep the farm waiver rolling, the government instructed MahaIT to port the farmers' data so that the cooperation department could resume implementation of the scheme. Who is responsible? Here's where the process broke down. MahaIT was unable to transfer the data from Mahaonline as it got corrupt, sources in the government disclosed. The state cooperation department has been following up but is yet to make any headway. 'We have written several letters to MahaIT but are yet to receive a positive response. The last one was sent in January,' said a senior official. Confirming this, state cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil told Hindustan Times, 'The data from Mahaonline could not be retrieved. This is the reason the farmers have yet not received the benefit of the loan waiver scheme. The state government is prepared to fulfill its promise and the waiver will be issued as soon as the data is recovered.' State information technology (IT) secretary Parrag Jain Nainutia, who is also chairman of MahaIT, tossed the issue back to the cooperation department, saying the latter is primarily responsible for implementing the waiver. 'We are in a supporting role in this matter. The state cooperation department is best placed to shed light on what is going on,' Nainutia told HT. Officials from the state cooperation department said they had distributed over ₹18,500 crore to 4.44 million farmers under the CSMSSY, so far – 87% of the farmers found eligible. To provide loan waiver assistance to the 656,000 pending applications, the department will require an additional ₹5,975 crore. 'In contrast, under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Shetkari Karzmukti Yojana (MJPSKY), another farm loan waiver scheme under the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in December 2019, the benefits were given to 3.22 million farmers. That works out to 99.53% of the total 3.24 million farmers eligible under the scheme,' the official said. In March last year, then chief secretary Nitin Kareer directed MahaIT to retrieve and collate the data of the eligible farmers but that is yet to happen. As various government agencies and departments pass the buck, farmers' groups are furious at the 'government apathy'. 'The farmers have been running from pillar to post for the waiver, for years. They were also not eligible for another waiver scheme under the Uddhav Thackeray government, and unwittingly fell into the clutches of private money lenders,' said Raju Shetti, who heads the Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana, a farmers' organisation. 'The government cannot shrug off its responsibility. They must find a way out,' said Shetti, a former member of Parliament. This is the second loan waiver scheme that has hit farmers hard. Recently, the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government reneged on its promise to waive crop loans taken by farmers. The waiver was a major election promise made by the BJP-led Mahayuti government late last year. So, when deputy chief minister and state finance minister Ajit Pawar asked farmers to pay up, stating that every election promise need not translate into action, farmers were both angry and dismayed.
