Guntur railway division first to implement e-office

GUNTUR: In a rare feat, Guntur railway division has become the first in Indian railways to completely move official correspondence on to electronic platform.

Every official transaction in the division is being done through e-office mode. “We are the first division to have transformed into e-office mode in the Indian railways,” said V G Bhooma, divisional railway manager (DRM).

The railway board has signed an MoU with National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Railtel to implement the e-office project across the Indian railways about six months ago. While NIC has been entrusted to develop the software required for the railways, Railtel has been tasked with the implementation. After NIC readyed the software, the Railtel jumped into the job and sought preparedness of different divisions across the country.

Although South Central Railway (SCR) top brass wanted to start the e-office project from Secunderabad division, Guntur DRM Bhooma prevailed upon the senior officials by readying the entire data within no time and bagged the first opportunity. “We have successfully implemented the project within a record period of two months,” said Bhooma.

The division has a strength of nearly 4,000 staff spread over Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool and Nalgonda districts. All the officials, from the senior level to the lowest rung officers have been trained to handle the e-office. Every official has to now route their correspondence, including leave letters, only through the electronic mode. The official correspondence such as discussion regarding new projects, progress of ongoing projects and requirements for calling tenders for a particular work should also be routed to senior officers through e-office project.

“The e-office not only avoids delay in correspondence but also brings in transparency,” senior divisional engineer (coordination) Prasada Rao said.

He said they were proud to be the first in the country to implement the project thanks to the dynamism of their DRM Bhooma. He said the DRM has transformed the division into a model division in Indian railways within a short span of two years.