ICTA’s Lanka Gate e-services project:

For better public service

Public service is poised to get a shot in the arm making it greatly people-friendly soon due to a project initiated by the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) recently, as one of the latest phases of the e-Services initiative ‘the Lanka Gate e-Services Project’ of ICTA, aims at better public service by developing selected online services at several government institutions.

“The main objective of the project is to deliver e-Services to the public through a common portal via service portlets, adopting a Virtual Business Transformational approach” ICTA Re-engineering Government Programme Director Wasantha Deshapriya said.

“The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka which facilitates this project was established to develop and enrich the economy of Sri Lanka through information and communication technologies. Over the years, ICTA, through the pioneering e-Sri Lanka Project, has spearheaded many initiatives to enhance the ICT sector in Sri Lanka,” Deshapriya said.

The initial phase of this e-Services project will consist in the enabling of e-Services for institutions including the Labour Department, the Motor Traffic Department and the National Transport Medical Institute as well as for Immigration and Emigration Department, Examinations Department, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board and the Foreign Employment Bureau, the Railways Department, the Wildlife Department, the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board and the Tea Small Holding Development Authority. Among other institutions lined up for commencing enabling of e-services under this project are the Urban Development Authority, the Election Secretariat and the Sri Lanka Standards Institution.

The Labour Department intends to make available comprehensive citizen services related to EPF providing the working public with easy around-the-clock access to EPF related information such as account balance details and refund status details.

The services to be provided by the Motor Traffic Department will assist the public to view vehicle information available in the Certificate of Registration (CR) often referred to as the ‘vehicle book’ and reserve a vehicle number (within three series ahead) of their choice online eliminating the need to wait in long queues. Most of these services include secure online payment as well.

The National Transport Medical Institute, the authoring body for issuing medical certificates for heavy vehicle drivers will provide online facilities to applicants enabling them to register online for medical checkups at a time convenient to them. This service is simple, easy and rids the heavy vehicle driver of the hassle of spending long hours at the institute premises for proceeding with his application for obtaining the medical certificate.