Wi-Fi coming to Secretariat

Wi-Fi coming to Secretariat

Tuesday July 8 2008 11:44 IST Arjun Raghunath

The days of running around with your laptop to get internet access at the State Secretariat will soon be over, with the Government deciding to enable wireless internet (Wi-Fi) facility at the administrative nerve centre. Anyone will be able to access internet using a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or other devices like iPhone from anywhere on the Secretariat premises once the facility is enabled.

Besides Secretariat, the Institute of Management in Government (IMG) near Vikas Bhavan is also being made a Wi-Fi hotspot. The Kerala State IT Mission has started preliminary work on the project and the system is expected to be operational during this financial year itself.

``Depending upon the effectiveness and response to the system, it would be extended to more government offices,’’ IT Secretary Ajay Kumar told Expresso.

Offices that are frequently visited by public, like Collectorates, would be given preference in enabling Wi-Fi so that its benefit reaches more people, he said.

At present, if somebody wants to make a computer presentation at the Secretariat with the help of internet, he will have to get a cable connection or connection using mobile phone. Similarly, there would be instances where an officer wants to take some information from internet during a meeting. In such situations, a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop would serve the purpose at once, when the entire Secretariat is enabled with Wi-Fi connectivity, said Ajay Kumar.

In order to prevent misuse of the facility, measures like access-cards are being considered so that unauthorised access to the service could be prevented. Discussions on such technical aspects are being held with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which would be providing the connectivity, said assistant mission coordinator of IT Mission S. Sandhya, who is in charge of implementing the project.

Lots of people visit the Secretariat every day. Sometimes, they will have to wait for long hours. In such situations also, they could make use of the Wi-Fi facility if they have a laptop or any other Wi-Fi-enabled system with them. A good number of people now carry laptops, most of which are Wi-Fi-enabled.

Wi-Fi would be very useful to the scores of officials who attend training programmes at the IMG, which is situated near PMG junction, IT Department sources said. At present, many hotels and private institutions have Wi-Fi on their premises. Technopark has the facility at the Park Centre and in some of the companies.