The candidates appearing or preparing for competitive examinations (HAS, IAS and others) in Himachal Pradesh would soon be able to access entire information online as the State Public Service Commission (PSC) is all set to launch e-Governance Project to start paperless functioning, making it the first PSC of the country to do so.

Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) Chairman K S Tomar on Sunday informed the e-Governance Project would be launched within a week as the Commission has got nod for the same from Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEIT) of Union Communications and IT Ministry.

“Rs.5.24 Crore World Bank funded e-Governance Project under Good Governance and Best Practices in India would lay foundation for online examination (Paperless Exams). The Project will be implemented in three years and would be replicated in all state Public Service Commissions (PSCs) in India,” he said.

The Pilot Project would focus on providing online services to applicants, conducting online study material, speedy disposal of departmental promotions Committees cases, establishment of facilitation and database centres, use of cloud technology etc.

“The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology, (NICSI) which had prepared the Detailed Project report (DPR), would help the Commission in implementing the project,” Tomar said.

He said the HPPSC would create its name in history as other PSCs would follow Himachal modules which would be laced with ‘Cloud Enabled configurable Multi Tenant System’ to improve functioning and efficiency of the commissions.

“A delegation had visited Kerala PSC recently to study the online examination system which needs to be implemented on mandatory basis by all PSCs. Otherwise, all of them would lag behind keeping in view the pace advancement of the 21st century”, Chairman added.

Under the project, the HPPSC would visualizes total work flow based functioning in its various branches with web based interfaces to share the information with the client organisations.

“For the benefit of aspiring candidates, the commission would set up a facilitation centre as well as database of examination held, syllabus prescribed for various examinations, sample question papers and in some cases, wherever possible, shareable database of material for exercises by the candidates in their places,” he added.