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| Financial Commissioner warned Revenue Deptt about pirated software | | Digitization Of Land Records | | Early Times Report
srinagar, Mar 26: The probe conducted by the State Vigilance Organization into the digitization of land records in 1997 has revealed that the then Financial Commissioner had prepared a confidential note stating that the software company (owned by a son of a separatist) had provided a pirated software to the Revenue department.
The Vigilance report in possession of Early Times states: 'The company passed on the software in Urdu without technology transfer for the use of the same. Delving deeper into the matter has revealed that the software is probably pirated or its just a conglomeration for various components."
The probe report reveals that two experts of the computer wing Planning department after evaluating the software and hardware had mentioned in their report that the "software is apparently hotchpotch of numerous systems like Dos, Windows etc due to which it made captive to the typical key board."
The then Financial Commissioner had stated in the note that "The behaviour of the company's representative does not comport with professional ethics. Installing this software has proved to be a big setback for government's computerization programme. If this company is not stopped here it would encourage the monopolistic trends."
"All our efforts to seek suitable solution in the interest of state government have failed because of the hard posture adopted by the firm (owned by a son of a separatist) to palm of their own hardware," the note states.
"As such we are left with no alternative but to appro ch the Vigilance Department to conduct a discreet enquiry for ascertaining the genuiness of the software and the source to stop the company from duping other people," it states. "We have to delate against the firm because their approach is a complete negation of the basic tenets of professionalism and professional decency."
It may be recalled that Early Times in its ongoing series about the computerization of land records has reported that son of a separatist had bagged the project worth Rs 2 crore to digitize the land records in mid-nineties.
"The Revenue officials without inviting any global tenders had given the contract to the company of the son of the separatist. All the norms were flouted to appease the separatist," sources said.
After the scam came to fore the then J&K government ordered a Vigilance probe into the matter. "Soon after GoI came to know that the son of the separatist, close to Pakistan, had compiled the land records, questions were raised. The biggest question was from where did he acquire the software? And why did the Revenue department handpick the son of the separatist for the project?"
They said, "The Hurriyat lobby at that point of time was so strong that it got the probe scuttled and the questions which were raised at that point of time are still unanswered. But many people believe that land records of entire J&K are in possession of Pakistan and the software used for the compilation of these records was pirated from the neighbouring country as the records were compiled in Urdu language." |
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