30 Jan :The Information Technology Department of Government of India has selected the Fire Alert and Messaging System of the forest department of Madhya Pradesh for silver medal under National E-Governance. The award would be presented at the 12th National Conference on E-Governance to be held at Goa on February 12.
Forest management is being modernised at national level using Information Technology Informing this the Minister of State for Forests, Biodiversity and Biotechnology (independent charge) Shri Rajendra Shukla said that under the guidance of the Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan the forest management is being modernised using Information Technology. The initiatives of Madhya Pradesh government in this regard have been lauded at national level. The leading computer and I.T. magazine Dataquest has conferred the E-Governed Champion Award on the forest department of Madhya Pradesh.
The Information Technology Department of Government of India has announced the awards in seven different categories for this year. The forest department of Madhya Pradesh has been selected for silver medal for innovative use of technology in e-governance for Fire Alert and Messaging System. The Sujala Watershed Project of Karnataka has won the silver and Non-conventional Energy Development Agency of Jharkhand has bagged the bronze medal.
Shri Shukla said that the departmental officers have been directed to make villagers aware through information management system. The system is being used for conservation and protection of forests in the state, he added.
It may be mentioned here that the forest department of Madhya Pradesh has all territorial and wildlife branches of the state have been linked to 460 ranges through Internet at the Data Centre. As many as 52 centres have been set up in remote areas with the help of Edusat system of ISRO for providing training in I.T. to the staff and officers of the department. Entire forest land, which is one third of state’s total geographical area, has been digitized.