The Junagadh town is located at the foothills of the sacred hill of Girnar and occupies a special place in the history of Gujarat. In Gujarati "Junagadh" literally means ancient fort. Key tourist attractions of Junagadh includes Somnath temple, Gir Lion Sanctuary and the Girnar Mountains.

A Start to Technology

Since its inception in 1989 NIC is being recognised as an important arm of the Junagadh district office and a proactive supporter to district administration. Some of the prominent activities of the District Centre in its early days included Computer awareness training programmes, Support during Parliament Elections, Implementation of DISNIC Packages, Transmission of information regarding Fodder transportation through NICMail during Scarcity, Processing of 20,000 applications for LPG Connection etc.

A Landmark Era

Land Record Computerisation programme was initiated in 1997. Bhesan taluka in the district is the first to get online in the State, thus demonstrating success and roadmap for statewide plan. The Project was inaugurated by the then Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri. Keshubhai Patel in May 2001. Land details of all 868 villages in all 14 taluka has been verified and thus was perceived as model for e-DHARA project replication. The target set by Hon. Chief Minister Shri. Narendra Modi to make all taluka of the State to go online with land records could also be met in all 14 talukas. This resulted in selection of Junagadh as the first to go for complete elimination of manual records and a grant from Dept of IT, Government of India has been sanctioned for the project in the district.

Jewels in the Crown

• Fisheries:- This system designed for marine fisheries has been implemented as pilot for Veraval & Porbandar fishing centres. This encompasses information on Fish Production, Boat Details, Diesel Subsidy, and Port Surveys etc.

• Geo-Mine:- This package has been developed to handle mineral related activities for Dept. of Geology & Mining. It aims to facilitate Mineral Administration to generate information and effective monitoring pertaining to mineral statistics.

Other Projects

Museum Information System; Computerised Recruitment system for the District Primary Education Department and LPG Card Holder’s Information System (which is widely implemented to target the actual beneficiaries for Kerosene) ; Support activity to Village, Taluka Panchayat & District Panchayat Elections; District Co-Operative Societies, Irrigation, Forest and Animal Husbandry Departments.

Other Activities

• Regular trainings for District Administration Officers

• "Online Time Management System" for Girnar Climbers, an annual event, to calculate effective time and delivery of results, a guide useful for sport coaches and participants.

• Total support in cases of emergencies and disaster including Flood, Cyclone, Earthquake etc.

• Deployment of polling staff during Assembly & Parliament election by using randomisation techniques and related activities like detailed posting orders, Vouchers and Result publications on timely and accurate basis.

• Duty allocation to Flood Control Room staff and posting management to other district offices during monsoon.

Many other Applications which have been implemented by the NIC District Centre include Citizen Charter and Registry, District Planning Work Monitoring System, Personnel Information System, Arms Licensing, Old Age Pension Scheme, Kerosene Distribution System, Payroll & Provident Fund, Accounting System, Small Savings Scheme etc. Besides, important applications include Stamp Duty and Valuation data, Rainfall System, Mid-Day-Meal System, SWAGAT - Grievances Monitoring & Reporting to Hon’ble C.M.

Future Outlook

Civic centers for services like Record of Right, Ration card, One-Day Governance and Citizen Charter are on the anvil with each taluka mamlatdar centers being tuned to provide timely citizen services.

Core Hub facility

Apart from NIC VSATs the district is connected to State capital through 2 mbps line of GSWAN (Gujarat State Wide Area Network). All Taluka are connected with District & State using 64 kbps Leased line. Video Conference from district to Secretariat at Gandhinagar is also through GSWAN. Other offices like Dist. Panchayat, Treasury, Police and Civil Hospitals are also connected.