CHENNAI: In 1997, Anna University launched the single-window counselling system for admissions to engineering courses. This was much before IRCTC launched its ‘e-ticketing’ system for rail travel, through which tickets could be booked online and physically mailed to the passengers, in 2002.
When digitisation was still new to the country, the university was one of the first institutions to come up with software that centralised the admission process for engineering colleges in the state, making it student-friendly and transparent. In the years that followed, several other states adopted aspects of the model into their admission processes.
During the tenure of M Anandakrishnan as vice-chancellor (V-C), the single window system (SWS) of admissions was introduced and continued till 2018 when the current admission process of online choice filling came into being.
This was after the DMK government constituted a committee headed by Anandakrishnan in 1997, to examine the possibility of centralised counselling for professional courses.
Prior to the SWS, the students had to apply to each college separately and were allotted seats by the college management. Under the new system, the students were called to the university in Chennai for counselling based on their cut-off scores and given the option to select seats in their preferred streams and colleges, based on the availability and the reservation policies.
“The entire software was developed in-house by our faculty members. It was quite similar to the way people are now booking railway tickets online,” said former V-C of Anna University, E Balagurusamy.
Explaining the system, Balagurusamy said as soon as the student selected the college and seat, the seat was immediately blocked by the system and on a real-time basis the data were floated in the server and reflected on the LED screens, allowing students to decide on the stream and college they wanted to opt for.
“An experienced team of faculty members was handling over 30 computers, blocking seats, uploading data in the server and the entire process was smooth. Teams from many states visited the university during my tenure to learn about our SWS model as they wanted to replicate it,” added Balagurusamy.
The single-window-based admissions were decentralised in 2002 in Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchy, in addition to Chennai, to enable students and parents to avoid the inconvenience and additional expenses of travelling to the state capital.
“The SWS model was commendable. Along with immensely helping the students, the system reflected how TN was much ahead of other states in the country in terms of digitisation and a forerunner in higher education,” said Nedunchezhian D, career guidance expert.
The state continued being a front-runner as far as e-governance is concerned, already having implemented e-governance projects in land records, registration and transport departments before the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was formulated by the centre in 2006.
However, a dedicated state nodal agency, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency, was set up in the year 2007. In its present form, the TneGA coordinates with all state government departments to improve service delivery of welfare schemes apart from other roles.
For instance, in the state government’s flagship Tamil Pudhalvan and Pudhumai Penn schemes, the agency has helped cover almost every eligible student, said senior officials. In coordination with the social welfare department, the Tamil Pudhalvan and Pudhumai Penn schemes are being implemented through an integrated portal, leveraging existing information in the University Management Information System (UMIS) and Education Management Information System (EMIS).
The Pudhumai Penn scheme for female students who studied in government schools covers 4,05,545 students while the Tamil Pudhalvan scheme for boys covers 3,79,702 students, according to government data.
Through the school-level data in EMIS, TNeGA ran a predictive analysis of the students who would become eligible for the scheme once they complete schooling, based on the criteria already established by the state. With this, even before students applied for the scheme, their names and other details automatically populated a preliminary list that is part of UMIS. Access was granted to the specific students, apart from the nodal officers of the institutes and the respective heads of departments. The students only had to confirm their details and opt for the scholarship, which entails receiving Rs 1,000 a month until the completion of their undergraduate programme.
“What the government does here is use e-governance in a way that it actively looks out for possible beneficiaries in order to cover all eligible students and not just wait until they apply themselves,” said a senior official from TNeGA. In rare cases where students are marked ineligible with the available information, students can raise an appeal.
In the health sector, much of the administration had to be done manually—the health reports were manual with no way of monitoring disease outbreaks at a larger level, recognising patterns or reliably keeping track of patient history.
The state got its first Health Management Information System (HMIS), part of the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project (TNHSP) in 2008. The system had outpatient registration modules which stored patient details and could be pulled out with a PIN (Patient Identification Number) or an outpatient number during every visit. Doctors could access records and update consultation details and prescriptions after each consultation. This became a lifetime medical record as patients no longer needed to carry their prescriptions for every visit.
A TNHSP documentation from 2011 noted that after the implementation of the system, one of the key measurable outcomes is that approximately 80% of the registered patients brought back the PIN during their subsequent visits. Patients were mostly relieved since they did not have to carry multiple prescriptions or case files.
According to TNHSP, there have been attempts to implement IT solutions in state-sponsored healthcare management in other states but one of the main reasons they failed not long after the implementation, was due to external dependence. In Tamil Nadu, the system was created in a way that primary stakeholders were also those who were using the system which meant that they were invested in the system’s success, it stated.
The Directorate of Medical Education has now launched the Health Management Information System (HMIS 3.0) or e-Sushrut, an upgraded module which integrates a computerised clinical information system for improved hospital administration and patient health care, on a pilot basis in two government medical colleges at Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital and Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, 13 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and two district taluk hospitals in Avadi and Poonamallee.
Official sources told TNIE that the system is now set to be expanded across the state. Since the implementation of Health Management Information System 3.0 at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital from March 2024 up to December, 4,19,648 lakh out patients were registered in the web-based information system and given unique registration IDs which are used for cross-consultation of patients among different doctors within the country.
The web-based information monitoring system was introduced by the Union Health Ministry to monitor the National Health Mission and other health programmes.
The HMIS 3.0 is implemented through the National Health Mission-Tamil Nadu, in the state.
The Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has also been using the Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation (PICME) portal, where more than 10 lakh antenatal mothers are being tracked annually across the state. Around 10,000 officials handle the portal covering antenatal care, delivery and postnatal services. The same portal is also used for disbursal under the Dr Muthulakshmi Maternity Benefit Scheme (MRMBS) and Pradhan Mandri Madru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) maternity benefit scheme, said Dr T S Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
Dedicated to disease surveillance, the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP), having 4,000 institutions reporting on it daily, helps officials closely monitor disease outbreaks at localised levels. The public is also able to report suspected outbreaks through the portal.
With technology at its core, Tamil Nadu continues to set benchmarks in e-governance, making public services more efficient and accessible. As digital systems evolve, the state’s proactive approach ensures seamless and inclusive governance for all.