MMRDA’s e-off still in mess even after spending Rs 33 lakh: RTI

Mumbai: A RTI query has revealed that the MMRDA, which is headed by the chief minister, lacks a proper e-office.

Activist Anil Galgali found that the project to set up an e-office had been underway for the past 15 months, for which MMRDA had incurred expenses to the tune of Rs 33.34 lakh.

An e-office is an integrated file records’ management system that allows employees to manage content, search for data internally, and collaborate.

When contacted, the MMRDA official in charge of the project, Shankar Deshpande, told The Asian Age, “The project needed all the computers in the office to have single connectivity. Old computers were not connected, hence new ones were purchased. A huge task has been completed till now. Two hundred employees have been trained to operate the e-office, while 80 lakh pages have already been submitted.”

Mr Galgali had sought information from MMRDA about the e-office at its headquarters.

The MMRDA's information and technology cell informed Galgali that it had received a proposal for the e-office from NICSI (National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated) and the IT cell had started working towards the same on July 4, 2016.

Mr Deshpande added, “The testing has been started by NIC, where one department is tested every month. Thus in six months, the e-office will be made operational.”