Widening E-Goveranance Canvas

Widening e-Governance Canvas
Selected e-Governance Initiatives in India
A selection of major e-Governance initiatives at State, District, Department and Projects level including those of Central Government, which competed for coveted CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards for the year 2010-11.The Awards were presented during 46th Annual Convention of Computer Society of India by Special Interest group (SIG) on e-Governance at Ahmedabad on 2nd December 2011.
Editors
About CSI
The Computer Society of India (CSI) is the largest association of information technology professionals in India, with over 70,000 members comprising software developers, scientists, academicians, project managers, CIOs, CTOs and IT vendors, among others. The society has 69 chapters spread across the length and breadth of the country. Being closely associated with students, the Society has developed a well-established network of nearly 381 student branches. The purposes of the Society are scientific and educational, directed towards the advancement of the theory and practice of Computer Science & IT. For more information, please visit www.csi-india.org Special Interest Group on e-Governance (CSI-SIGeGov) has been set up within CSI to focus on e-Governance activities in the country. SIG activities include Knowledge sharing with all stakeholders through holding conferences, Knowledge sharing summits and recognizing efforts/ contributions of Central/State level Government entities by way of e-Governance Awards (www.csinihilentegovernanceawards.org) For more Details Visit http://www.csi-sigegov.org
About Nihilent
Nihilent is a global consulting and solutions integration company using a holistic and systems appoach to problem solving. Headquartered in Pune, India, Nihilent has extensive experience in international consulting, IT outsourcing and IT services. Nihilents operations span North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Nihilent's mission Change for Performance encapsulates its commitment to make change happen systemically in terms of people, process, technology and knowledge for achieving sustained performance for its clients. For more information you may visit www.nihilent.com.

Edited by
Surendra Kapoor Prabhu Gollamudi Nityesh Bhatt
The Icfai University Press

Editors: Surendra Kapoor, Prabhu Gollamudi and Nityesh Bhatt
Copyright: Surendra Kapoor, Prabhu Gollamudi, Nityesh Bhatt and Chairman, CSI-SIG e-Gov. All rights reserved.
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About Editors
Shri Surendra Kapoor is a Freelance IT Consultant and Convener CSI-Nihilent eGov Awards 2010-11, He had a long 23 years journey with CMC Ltd, a PSU during the period, holding various positions. He was trained on Digital machine in US , He was involved in setting up RCC Chandigarh and Roorkee Dec Machine and provided training to local Faculty and Students .He then moved to CMC Hyderabad and became Software Advisor to Project INTERACT a UNFSST collaborative International project. Under his guidance, the projects Real-Time Systems for Power Utilities, Online Transaction Processing Systems for Railways Freight operations and Image Processing Systems for Meteorological Applications were developed in close cooperation with participating National level user organizations namely APSEB, SCR, NRSA and their counterparts in developing countries like Philippines, Yugoslavia , Peru, Tanzania Etc. He was Head of R&D and Executive Director -System Integration SBU. Ecommerce, Embedded Systems for Defense during which period several important projects got launched and completed He was deputed to Mauritius for two years as MD of State Informatics Ltd (SIL), to set up Software Development centre for government applications. He was on Board of State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) and has helped build teams for the SIL & SBM by recruiting, training and mentoring local talents. He started his career in computers in 1964 with IIT Kanpur Worked on II & III generation IBM Systems as Sr. Systems Programmer & Operations Manager. Prof H K Kesavan, Prof V Rajaraman, Prof H N Mahabala, and many others guided his foundation in early years of his career. Under Prof H D Huskey at University of California at Santa Cruz, he developed High Level Assembly Language using Polish Notations. He left IIT Kanpur in 1977 and joined CMC Ltd. After his long stint with CMC Ltd, he was with Satyam Learning Centre, as Head of Industry -Academic Alliances. Subsequently, he was actively engaged in setting up & mentoring India Operations of Bling Technology, an US based Company developing Applications for Mobile phones for Carriers and Device providers.
He continues to be professionally active with CSI-SIG e-Gov, academic institutions., He was deeply involved with most of Hyderabad based conferences like COMAD, VLSI, Southern regional CSI etc., He holds Masters in Mathematics from Agra University. Advance Diploma in Systems Programming from UC Santa Cruz US, and Adv. Management Program from ASCI Hyd. Shri Prabhu Gollamudi is a freelance IT Consultant with expertise in the areas of Business strategy/Development of IT Products/ services and in facilitating talent screening of staff and external candidates. He has long and extensive IT Industry experience. He worked most part of his career with IT major CMC Ltd now a TCS subsidiary and closely worked on several e-Government projects from concept to creation. He had also worked on many System Integration projects in sectors like - Power, Transport, Banking and Defense. He has been associated with Indian Railways Freight Operations Management System in the early stages of its planning and in development of pilot projects as part of an Internationaly funded project. During his tenure with CMC Ltd, he had the opportunity of initiating many e-Governance projects with active support from Ministry of Information Technology. This association enabled him to interact with several Government Officials at various levels and in understanding Government processes for building appropriate IT solutions. He worked in CMC Informatics UK, as Vice President (Business Development) and travelled in Europe and UK as part of Business development. He had also contributed significantly to several quality initiatives and talent management activities of the company in the later part of his career. He has been supporting many of the Computer Society of Indias professional activities both at local level and at Central level. He has been closely associated with the CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards team for over 2 years now. He holds a Masters Degree in Applied Mathematics from Government Engineering College, Jabalpur. Mr Prabhu is keen to engage himself in learning from experiences of field teams connected with applying new ICT technologies to reach larger sections of the citizens.
Shri Nityesh Bhatt is working as Associate Professor and Chairperson in the Information Management Area at Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad India. Out of more than 13 years of experience in academia, corporate training and research; in his first nine years, he was associated with NIIT and First Computers, and Pacific Institute of Management, Udaipur. In 1998, he was awarded the best faculty of NIIT in North India. Dr. Bhatt holds MBA and Ph.D (eGovernance) degrees from M.L.Sukhadia University, Udaipur. He has also completed four months Faculty Development Programme (FDP) of IIM-A and Online Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme of DiploFoundation, Malta in year 2006. Credited with good number of research papers and management cases, he has also co-edited five books in the areas of technology and management. Two of his students have already been awarded Ph.D and two students are currently pursuing their Ph.D under his guidance. In year 2006, he was invited to participate in first Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meet jointly organized by United Nations IGF Secretariat and Government of Greece at Athens. Since year 2007, he is a member of the National Executive Committee of Special Interest Group on eGovernance (SIGeGov) set up by Computer Society of India. He is also coconvener of CSI-Nihilent Awards 2010-11. Dr. Bhatt is also a research consultant with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad in ICT area. He was awarded as Best Teacher of Information Technology in 17th B-School Affaire & Devang Mehta B School Award for year 2009. He has imparted lectures in almost 200 MDPs for more than 30 leading companies like ONGC, BPCL, BOSCH, HZL, Reliance Power, Sterlite, Alstom Power, Kalpataru Power, J.K. Cement, Parle, Zydus, Torrent Pharma, GMDC, SBI, Bank of Baroda, Indian Air Force etc at different levels.
m-Governance future in Indian context

Khairiyyah Binti Mohd
Contents
i v vii ix xi
Acknowledgements Foreword-President, CSI Message-President and CEO, Nihilent Technologies Message-Chairman, CSI SIG e-Gov Preface Section I
Widening e-Governance Canvas: Invited Papers

1. New Frontiers of Service Delivery: e-Gov. Focus Maturity Model
Dr. Dhrupad Mathur
03
2.
Meeting the Demand of e-Governance Professionals from the Higher Education System
Prof. Rafiq Dossani
07 12
3. 4.
A Values based Approach to e-Government

Prof. Harish P Iyer
CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards Nominations Assessment 2010-11: Process Overview

Shri Surendra Kapoor, Shri Prabhu Gollamudi and K S Vijaya Sekhar
20
5.
Mobile Office System Adoption in Seoul Metropolitan Railway Transit (SMRT) of Korea
Prof. Namjae Cho and Jungin Choi
35 45
6.
m-Governance future in Indian Context

Shri. K S Vijaya Sekhar, Dr. R K Bagga and Ms. Khairiyyah Binti Mohd Noor
Section II e-Governance Success Stories - State Level Initiatives

7. State Nominations Summary
Shri Prabhu Gollamudi
61
Section III e-Governance Initiatives Success Stories Department Initiatives

8. 9. 10. 11. Andhra Pradesh Forest Department*
Sri C Madhukar Raj and Sri P K Sharma
71 80 94
eGovernance at Chief Ministers Office (CMO)*

Dr Hiren Joshi
Gujarat State Watershed Management Agency

Smt. Rita Teaotia and Shri Ram Kumar
Commercial Taxes, Government of AP: IT Initiatives in VAT Administration

Shri Suresh Chanda
104
12.
Motor Vehicles Department, Kerala Services through ICT

Shri. T P Senkumar and Shri. Alex Paul
116 133
13.
Health Management Information System, Tamilnadu

Dr. S Vijayakumar
Section IV e-Governance Success Stories - Districts Initiatives

14. 15. 16. 17. ICT Initiatives for District level e-Governance
Dr Nityesh Bhatt
157 162 177 192
South Goa, Goa

Shri Sandip Jacques and Shri Ashutosh Apte
Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh

Shri P Narahari and Shri Avinash Pathak
Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra

Shri Atul Patne and Shri Meshram
18. 19. 20.
Nanded, Maharashtra*
Dr. Shrikar Pardeshi and Shri. Rajesh D Bhusari
216 234 243
Pali District, Rajasthan*

Shri Niraj K Pawan and Shri H S Yadav
Ramabai Nagar, Uttar Pradesh*

Shri. Chandra Prakash and Shri. Mayur Maheshwari
Section V e-Governance Success Stories G2C Initiatives

21. 22. 23. Online Scholarship Management System (OSMS)
Dr. Mohd. Ilyas Rizvi
265 280
Tourism Project Government of Andhra Pradesh

Shri Jayesh Ranjan
ePASS (Electronic Payment and Application System of Scholarships)*

Dr M Padma and Shri. Chakradhar
292
24.
National Portal of India A Gateway to Indian Government Cyber Space*

Neeta Verma and Alka Mishra
305 324
25. 26.
VAHAN- AN ICT-based Solution for Vehicle Registration*

Dr. Mahesh Chandra and Shri Nitin Gokarn
Honble CM Narendra Modis website: www.narendramodi.in

Dr Hiren Joshi
335 344 356 372 377
27. 28. 29. 30.
Online Teachers Recruitment

Shri Dr Hasmukh Adhia and Shri R P Gupta
Online Voting System (OVS) Shri K C Kapoor e-Services for Ration Cards
M S Jaya and Dr. K S Raman
Online Scholarship Management System, Kerala

Shri Ajith Brahmanandan
31. 32.
SAND: System for Attumanal Neutral Distribution*

Shri. V Sanal Kumar and Shri. Suresh K
388
Property Tax Management System Using Geospatial Technology*

Shri R Vikram Singh and Shri. U N Tiwari
397
Section VI e-Governance Success Stories G2G & G2B Initiatives

33. 34. 35. Census of India 2011* Dr C Chandramouli and Shri Manish Bharadwaj e-Panjeeyan* Shri Deepak Goswami and Shri Devajit Bhattacharyya Integrated Online Junction on Net for Decentralised District Planning (iOjN 4 Planning)
Shri V N Maira and Dr. Hiten Parekh
409 429
440 455
36. 37.
e-Governance of Mineral Administration*

Shri Vinay Vyasa and Shri Jagdeep S Kochar
Maharashtra Plan Schemes Information Management System MPSIMS*

Shri S J Kunte and Smt S M Aparajit
467 476
38. 39.
Government Receipt Accounting System (GRAS)

Shri Shreekant Deshpande and Shri Balakrishnan Nair
SEVAARTH (SEVA+ARTH) A Web based Integrated Package of Personnel Information and Pay Roll
Shri. Sunil Vyas
491 502
40.
Integrated Orissa Treasury Management System (iOTMS)*

Shri Patita Pawan Nath and Shri Siddhartha Das
Section VII e-Governance Success Stories Sustainability

41. Sustainability of e-Governance Projects
Dr. Ashok Agarwal and Prof. Sanjiv Vaidya
521
Section VIII About CSI-SIGeGov and Publications

42. About CSI SIGeGov Maj. Gen. Dr R K Bagga and K S Vijaya Sekhar CSI-SIGeGov Publications Author Index 539
43.
543 545
* Winner of CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards for the year 2010-11.
Acknowledgements
I am honoured to be the convener of the CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards 2010-11, more so to be associated for a cause that recognizes Institutions/ Organizations which are playing constructive role in Widening the e-Governance Canvas and bringing in more and more processes - both internal / external and Services G2C/ G2G /G2B using established and emerging ICT technologies for the overall benefit of all stake holders. I take this opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the people behind many success stories in taking these initiatives and making e-Governance work on a sustained basis. I and my team at the eGovernance Special Interest group (SIG) are delighted, that owners of these success stories took time out from their busy schedule and presented their nominations. Over the years, the SIG team has grown and a lot of dedicated people have joined hands to participate and support this activity. To begin with, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Special Interest Group (SIG) e-Gov of Computer Society of India (CSI) for providing me and my team members the opportunity to participate in the e-Governance Awards process leading to the publication of this book. This has been possible only through the support of Shri MD Agarwal, President, CSI and Dr RK Bagga, Chair, CSI-SIG e-Gov. Award process started in mid Feb 2011 and members of the core group, Prof Ashok Agarwal, Dr RK Bagga, Prof Harish Iyer, Mr GSN Prabhu and Mr Piyush Gupta past Convener , guided us at each stage. I thank each of them from core of my heart. Prof GR Sahu, past Co-convener and the initiator of the AHP model again helped in re-casting the evaluation tables, in view of additional assessment parameter Value Indicators getting included. I thank him for his enthused involvement and support. This year it was decided to introduce a new Award for Sustainability and recognize those cases of earlier award Winners and assess their current status, commitment for continuity etc and recognize sustenance efforts. For this purpose project Award recipients of 2006 CSI -Nihilent e-Gov Award were individually
ii
assessed for identifying winners. Prof Sanjiv Vaidya with guidance from Prof Ashok Agarwal did a commendable job in identifying the projects which have not only sustained but enhanced operations over the last 5 years. Maj General A Balasubramanian, AVSM (Retd.), founder member of CSI, Prof MP Gupta, Mr SP Singh, Mr Satish Babu, Mr DK Dwivedi, Dr Rachita Misra, Dr Bharat Deshpande & Mr S Ramasamy actively participated in the field visits and helped SIG in completing an important evaluation process. I thank them for their time and interest in SIG activities. At some places, we had also received very good support from local Chapters of CSI who helped in the field visits. I convey my sincere thanks to those who helped us in our journey. I also want to put on record significant contribution of Shri Mahesh Chandra, Mr Bipin Mehta and Prof Sai Kumar in our selection committee deliberations. Mr Bipin Mehta was special invitee and his presence added value to the selection process. Our thanks to Mr L C Singh, Mr Ravi Teja , Himanil Bose , Abhishek Mohanty of Nihilent Technologies for supporting the entire effort and participating at various stages most importantly anchoring Award Ceremony and handling logistics for the ceremony . Section I of the book has invited papers. We are indebted to the authors , Dr Dhrupad Mathur Director (industry Interface) SPJCM, Dubai, Prof. Rafiq Dossani of Stanford University, Prof Harish Iyer , Prof Namjae Cho & Jungin Choi of Hanyang University South Korea , Dr RK Bagga and his Research team at IIITH for readily agreeing to share their Knowledge and experience in the vital domain of e- Gov. As Convener of CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards 2010-11, I extend my special congratulations to all the Award winners and those presented with Certificate of Commendation. This journey over the one year is very fruitful and has been a wonderful learning experience for me and my entire team. I also wish to acknowledge great support received from Mr Piyush Gupta previous convener, Prof Harish Iyer and A Sridevi in the entire process. Last, but
iii
not the least, Very Very Special thanks to my two co-conveners Mr GSN Prabhu and Prof Nityesh Bhatt for holding my both hands and making the defined processes work. Mr Vijay of the SIG Secretariat team played crucial role of coordination and ensured that interface with all the Nominees and other Selection members/Guests is smooth and confidence building. I convey my thanks to him and his energetic student team volunteers. Lastly, thanks to our extended team members, Ms Rekha PKS of NISG and the book publishers ICFAI University Press for giving full support in bringing the book to shape and ready for release. Surendra Kapoor Convenor, CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards 2010-11 kapoorsurendra@yahoo.com
Foreword
President CSI
I feel highly delighted and proud to acknowledge the major achievements of CSI e-Governance SIG during last 9 years. Their endeavor to promote e-Governance through knowledge sharing summits and by recognizing talent and key achievers through CSI-Nihilent Awards in the field of e-Governance is remarkable. Members of our SIG e-Governance executive committee contribute actively to various committees for developing policy framework of Central and State governments, other government and semi-government organizations. Every year, CSI e-Governance SIG, with the whole-hearted support of M/s Nihilent, recognizes the contribution of Central and State level Government organizations/ agencies towards e-Governance projects and deployment of services to Citizens.. By this time, CSI web site is having a good knowledge base with last 6 years details of shortlisted entries of CSI Nihilent e-Governance awards. This on-line repository has become a good-quality reference for taking ideas and learning from success stories. We are really proud of the team work of CSI e-Governance SIG led by Dr. R.K. Bagga, Dr. Ashok Agrawal and incessant support from other committee members. CSI Nihilent e-Governance awards have become brand ambassador of CSI for promoting effective usage of ICT for masses. Many thanks to Mr. Surendra Kapoor and our editorial board for bringing out this excellent publication of compilation of high quality short listed nominations, most of which are Indias important e-Governance initiatives, particularly launched/ significantly improved over the last two years. Knowledge sharing, promoting of quality education of e-Governance subjects and building a network of practitioners, academicians, researchers, developers and policy makers are some of good initiatives, which we shall promote at national level through CSI delivery channels and engagements. My good wishes! The role of ICT in nations growth trajectory is indisputable. Providing ICT products, services, workplace environments and facilities that are accessible and usable, without any need for modification, for all users the ultimate goal of design for all or inclusive design. There is an increasing need for effective collaboration between major entities like people, technology and systems. There should be an effective framework for digital participation. It should enhance the digital delivery of varied, relevant and important public services with effective policy and governance. Global spread of technological proficiencies is introducing
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major transformation in diverse fields of Health, Agriculture, Banking, Education, Media, Entertainment, etc. Society needs to innovatively harness this immense potential for meaningful e-Inclusion for its growth. Introduction of Aadhaar (UID) for identification and verification opens up new possibilities of technical developments and innovations for e-Governance stakeholders. The success of eGovernance involves rightful choice of ICT framework and understanding of issues involved and also integration aspect of various kinds of e-Governance applications. For example, e-Governance for health services may have a direct linkage with another application which provides finance and insurance services. This will bring in a good benefit to citizens. I foresee a great amount of investment in eGovernance projects and the need for deep rooted research and development. Considering our nations diversity and language plurality, there is a challenge of making available versatile standard ICT solutions & E gov. solutions in local languages, which can be adopted across all states and organizations as standard solutions. There is strong need of development of standards and framework and collaborative ecosystem. Different states and organizations have implemented dissimilar solutions for common citizen services and governance issues. There is need for consolidation and uniformity and collective efforts at Nation level. Thanks to the vision of e-Bharat 2020 of NeGP, in this direction of creating standards and integration. CSI can definitely play an important role in defining standards and provide a rich platform of meetings and deliberations and help Nation to adopt e-Governance projects at a relatively faster pace. CSI has an opportunity to build a country-wide network of e-Governance experts and vendors. Education & training on e-Governance may be another important deliverable of CSI. I consider that the future of e-Governance is bright and we would be witnessing many more innovations and developments in this arena. My hearty good wishes to all contributors whose entries are included in this publication Widening e-Governance Canvas - Selected e-Governance Initiatives in India. Jai Hind. M D Agrawal President Computer Society of India
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Message
President & CEO Nihilent Technologies
Transparency Key for a Systemic Change

As once very famously said by Kofi Anan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Corruption debases democracy, undermines rule of law, distorts market, stifles economic growth and denies many, their rightful share of economic resources of life- saving aid. This famous quote has become more prevalent in India in the recent past against the backdrop of various scams hitting the headlines. As of 2010, India has been infamously listed as the ninth-most corrupt country in world. Corruption is today the biggest menace engulfing our Country & is the biggest hurdle in the progress of Indian Economy. There is much discussion about eradicating corruption on various public platforms by well-known public figures and the media but merely furnishing ideas to combat corruption will not completely eradicate corruption from society. There certainly needs to be a sustained and sincere effort to make systemic changes to ensure more transparency and safeguards in the governing processes. Lack of transparency in the functioning of the government agencies can make it easy for the perpetrators to cover their tracks. The biggest need of the hour is to eradicate the presence of secrecy in the functioning of the Government. Transparency implies that all rules and regulations regarding the functioning of the various arms of the government and the powers and duties of its officers are in the public domain. Transparency in governance in India has certainly improved in recent years, but a lot is still to be desired. Take the example of Right to Information Act (RTI) which only recognizes the crime after it is committed. So at best its a deterrent. It is our belief that Automation is the answer. Automating the entire decision making process of the Government or in other words moving to E-Governance will help lower costs, improve efficiency and generally provide better services to citizen while substantially improving transparency.
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A faster implementation of E-Governance can bring about a paradigm shift in the quality of service delivered to the citizens. E-Governance, however, is not merely the use of IT in governance but a tool to ensure equitable and easy to avail good governance. It does not mean proliferation of computers and technology; it is basically a political decision that calls for discipline, attitudinal change in officers and employees, and massive government process re-engineering. Implementers and drivers of E-Governance initiatives agree that the biggest challenge of deploying E-Governance is not technology but change management encompassing cultural, organizational, process, people and technological challenges. E-Governance can ultimately turn out to be one of the major reasons, for Indias rapid development by utilizing the people will to immunize projects from the changing mood of administrators. It is time for one of the oldest democracies in the world to change from what is today deemed as representative democracy to what the future beckons as interactive democracy. And this can be made possible by a strategic and sincere effort to automate the decision making process as far as possible. In the end technology can only function as an enabler and a tool to drive change. The real benefit of E-Governance cannot be measured by the level of technology used to simplify the operations, but by the application of technology in bringing about transformation in the functioning of the government and its interaction with people. LC Singh President & CEO Nihilent Technologies
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Messag Messag e
Chairman, CSI SIG e-Gov
Computer Society of India (CSI) under its revised Constitution set up a Special Interest Group on e-Governance (CSI SIGeGOV) in 2007 under the leadership of Dr Ashok Agarwal to address some of the major issues in e-Governance. The objectives of SIGeGOV include, act as a repository of National e-Governance Initiatives with a view to Knowledge Sharing of the experiences of all the stakeholders in India. Apart from starting a website (www.csi-sigegov.org) to maintain the details of various best practices, efforts were made in collecting details during CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards process to document in the form of a formal publication from one of the leading publishers. Since 2007, 5 publications including one published by SAGE, two by Universities Press (UP), three by ICFAI University Press (IUP) have been attempted and shared with all the stakeholders during awards presentations, as part of CSI Annual Conventions. The books have also been placed on www.csi-sigegov.org website for free download by all the stakeholders. One of the major benefits of these efforts was the widespread utilization of e-Governance Best Practices among various States, Departments and Districts, as experienced during three Knowledge Sharing Summits organized in 2009, 2010 and 2011. I am grateful to all the conveners of previous years CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards, who have made major efforts in their own time to benefit the society, with this rich content on e-Governance. Efforts have also been fruitful in getting the original stakeholders to document their efforts particularly using Results and Enablers Approach so that a clear understanding of the issues are made known to all. This has only been possible by a very efficient methodology of evaluating eGovernance Initiatives using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and including field visits and formal presentation at different stages of Awards process. Credit must also go to all authors, who have made efforts in documenting their eGovernance initiatives. The present publication by Surendra Kapoor, Prabhu Gollamudi and Nityesh Bhatt has further improved on the quality of documentation for the finalists of CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards for the year 2010-11. It required enormous
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efforts to collect, compile, edit and include the latest trends in e-Governance to make the present volume extremely useful. I am sure all stakeholders including researchers of e-Governance and common citizens will find the details provided in various chapters very useful for their activities, thereby spreading the much needed awareness of the e-Governance Initiatives in the country, at present. As Chairman of SIGeGOV, I will be failing in my duties, if I do not record our appreciation for Shri LC Singh, CEO, Nihilent Technologies and Shri MD Agarwal, President, CSI who have made the present book possible by their support and contributions. I am personally indebted to Prof Rajeev Sangal, Director, IIIT, Hyderabad for permitting me to undertake this societal task for CSI and allowing the use of some of the facilities for conducting evaluation process for these awards in IIIT-H campus. Congratulations to all the award winners, for their efforts. Major Gen. Dr. R K Bagga Chairman, CSI Special Interest Group on e-Governance (CSI SIGeGOV)
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Preface
In year 2011, The Government of India has released a draft Triad of Policies to Drive a National Agenda for ICTE [Information & communications technology and electronics]. A principal policy objective brought out in this documents is to optimally leverage Indias existing and developing ICT infrastructure and capabilities to meet the growing need for e-government services. National EGovernance Plan (NeGP) is one of the ambititious program of the Government of India aimed at pervasively spreading e-Governance in the country. In pursuance of this, the Government has launched several Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) cutting across the Center, and States, districts and departments. One of the early successes in the area of e-government was the creation of geographically dispersed citizen service centers. Whether called e-Seva center [as in Andhra Pradesh], Bangalore-one [in Bengaluru] or Jan Mitra Samadhan Kendra [in Gwalior District], such service centers are present in many corners of India and they have demonstrably made progress towards reducing periodic citizen footfalls into government offices. They also have contributed in two other important ways - firstly, by providing the employment opportunities in the field of ICT sector to village entrepreneurs and secondly, by rendering the benefits of ICT in the lives of villagers, particularly those who are geographically, socially, economically or demographically removed from the mainstream. With visibility comes familiarity, with familiarity, reduced doubts and with reduced doubts, greater usage - provided no barriers stand in the way. We thus see that when plans and support are in place, good ideas get replicated possibly leading to replication of solutions too. We have traversed farther on this journey since then, and we now have many State level portals which provide several Citizen centric services with integration with back end systems. A few among such portals include payment gateways too, thus improving citizen convenience. Though portal driven service delivery is in the right direction for making e-Governance work effectively, the core issues remain issues of low accessibility to a majority of citizens, due to reasons of unreliable infrastructure, low Internet literacy, relatively greater trust in manual systems etc. The often discussed Digital divide continues to be a challenge for policy makers and e-Governance architects in reducing the inequality.
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This theme - of enhancing visibility, removal of barriers and the resulting possibility of better and balanced usage of eGoverment systems - is reflected in the title of the Computer Society of Indias Special Interest Groups (SIG) compendium Widening e-Governance Canvas - Selected e-Governance Initiatives in India. We believe, in the current context of enabling growth in e-Governance the phrase widening the canvas is appropriate. a. The nominations received for 2010-11 included initiatives in the nature of CSCs. However, what was heartening was that many nominations received showed a shifting trend from looking at e-Governance projects in isolation to catering for forward and backward linkages. Moving beyond an elaborate GIS-MIS system and drawing up of detailed inventory of Forests, and the collaborative inter-departmental approach for ensuring that student scholarships were not misused are but two examples culled from 2010-11 nominations. Clearly such initiatives were enabling spread of e-Governance canvas. Widening of the e-Government canvas was also observed in case one nomination from Kerala for 2010-11 detailing e-Government initiatives which endeavored to present to citizens with more points of contact and more comprehensive demand and delivery management choices for availing of e-Government services. The project that relates to systematized allotment and accounting for sand for individual and group builders is a case in point. This year also very good example of ICT deployment for Mineral administration, a case of widening ICT under G2B category.
b.
c.
As a responsible national institution, CSI seeks to promote e-Governance in its balanced form. As a small step in this direction, for the first time, the assessment for 2011 included parameters which required nominees to introspect on their actions stood with respect to reducing digital divide and other value based parameters such as handling of e-wastage etc. In this sense too the e-Governance canvas has been widened - by making visible to global audience the exemplary efforts towards implementing balanced e-Gov programs or projects. As mentioned earlier, the special interest group of eGov of CSI, as part of 2010-11 CSI-Nihilent e-Governance award selection process, required nominees to assess themselves on Digital inclusion, e-Participation and e-Waste. The following table shows a small extract of responses received.
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Sample Response-1 Digital Inclusion Citizens are provided with vernacular language support in the services. Manuals and support documents are prepared in local languages. Help counters at Grama Panchayat and Taluks formed to assist citizen. Information Community centres are trained to assist Citizens. One of the objectives of district policy is to bridge the gap between digital divisions. The e-governance systems for better field operations were deployed across the district, placing trained manpower to operate the systems. It is not possible to send SMS in regional language, as only smart phones are having such facilities and penetration of such mobile phones is less than 10%. We have designed English SMSs in such a way that it is easily understandable. e-Participation Since documents are captured at source, e-participation of authorities concerned will ensure quick Decision making. e-Waste As when an ICT item is purchased it should meet the green standard, also a buy back policy is framed to remove the e-waste.
Response-2
On-line Complaint monitoring system is an example of e-participation wherein many administrative entities interacted through the system for making important decisions.
While acknowledging the fact that, large number of equipments were deployed which created a huge assemblage of electronics, thrust was given to rope in hired gadgets. With this notion of re-use of equipments, electronics wastes were effectively kept at a minimum value. The local body is doing buyback of old system. Till date we have done this process 5 times.The local body is using Thin Client instead of Desktop Computers as the life span of Thin Client is more than Desktop Computers. We are using refilling technology for our laser printers. This not only reduces eWaste but also is economically very cheaper.We encourage our staff to use LAN mode of data transfer. This has resulted in less consumption of CD/ DVD.
Response-3
To encourage eParticipation we have taken number of effective steps, which includes publicity of specific service by Print Media, news paper Printing details on how to access m-Governance service
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As can be seen from the table, the responses ranged from very specific and apt to very generic. In a larger context, widening e-Governance can also be perceived as a contributor to the knowledge economy. We observe that for many of the nominee organizations, the focus is still on Techno economic considerations rather than social drivers for launching e-Governance projects. While this is considered as a step in the right direction, progressive policy architects want evolution of new systems / paradigms based on citizen demands or civic society demands. While such feedback can be culled out from Call Center data, we are not sure if organizations have built in mechanisms to scan, collate and classify any such piece of indirect feedback. Some States have put in place Grievance monitoring systems. Here too, mostly the focus of citizens who bring the grievance forward is transactional rather than process related. This has been the first year, that CSI has attempted to draw attention to these very critical issues related to e-Government. Rather than retrofit an existing system to enable citizen participation, the CSI-Nihilent award committee hopes that by specifically requiring the nominees to think about and address the need to provide a system for citizens to digitally participate in all phases of e-Government initiatives - from conceptualization to implementation there will be greater awareness and action towards designing specialized programs and procedures for beneficiary e-participation. In a circuitous manner, greater digital participation will also lead to addressing the issue of digital divide, a lessening in the number e-exclusions. In short, it is hoped that such a widening of e-Government canvas will lead to congruence in thoughts, processes and action a congruence which respects and balances the fragility of environment [ewaste] with a respect for the fragility of human emotions and the need for being socially relevant [e-participation and e-inclusion]. Looking into track record of many projects but did not survive, CSI SIGeGov has started focusing on sustainability aspects of e-Governance initiatives. First step in this drive is to recognize those projects which have not only maintained their effective presence but have also scaled up in terms of scope of services and geographical coverage. This year three of such e-Governance projects were recognized for their sustenance. We strongly feel that this will enthuse the leadership as well other stakeholders for continuity of projects in the long term. Editors acknowledge the contribution and study inputs provided by Shri Harish Iyer, core team member of SIG in arriving at the title theme for this years book. Editors Surendra Kapoor Prabhu Gollamudi Dr Nityesh Bhatt
SECTION I Widening e-Governance Canvas Invited Papers
CHAPTER 1
New Frontiers of Service Delivery: e-Gov. Focus Maturity Model

Dr. Dhrupad Mathur
During the last decade there has been an enormous emphasis on the delivery of public services with transparency and convenience. One aspect which is frequently overlooked amid the jungle of technology issue is the citizen-experience, the outcome of service delivery. This has become very important today, especially for a nation that carried the legacy of the colonial rule for long, where the concept of service delivery was historically non-existent and any step towards citizen service was seen as a benefit from the government, but things have changed since last few decades. There is enough commitment from the political leadership now to show visible results towards better citizen services. This can be seen in the form of various large scale development programs and associated projects. However, when it comes to achieving the best frontiers of service delivery, there is still a room for improvement. While the focus of initial years of ICT and e-Gov initiatives was more towards computerization, subsequently process engineering and web-enablement got the centre stage. With more and more developmental commitments, the thinking is now gravitating towards various implicit and sustained dimensions of the service delivery ecosystem. The following empirical model has thus been proposed. It is a construct, to be seen over the backdrop of various practical e-Gov cases. It is titled as e-Gov focus maturity model.
STAGE 1 focus Computerization o o Application focus Hardware centric
STAGE 2 focus - Process re-engineering o o Procedural changes Information Systems approach
STAGE 3 focus - Web-enablement o o o o Online Presence Interactions online Transaction online

Online Delivery (of late, M-Gov)
STAGE 4 focus Behavioral/Development dimensions: o o o o o o o o Transparency Convenience to next level Thin skinned-city models Empowerment Participative models Development Policy reforms Inclusion Rich, satisfying and positive Citizen experience Productivity impacts Capability impacts
Fig: E-Governance focus maturity model (An empirical model currently prototyped by the author)
New Frontiers of Service Delivery: e-Gov. Focus Maturity Model
As per the United Nations E-Government Survey 2010, considering various parameters of Online service index, India ranks 55th. If we take a look on various components of this index India scores: 45 for emerging information services, 41 for enhanced information services, 22 transaction services and 8 connected approach. On the other hand there are countries such as US, Canada etc that score very high on each of these indices. A close study of the indices and other rankings in the e-Gov survey will further substantiate the evolution of the e-Gov initiatives as per the model above and the emerging focus brought up at every stage of evolution. Though there is apparently a natural sequence in the focus-maturity as per the stage of e-Gov evolution but the cognizance of these focus areas is not necessarily sequential and there is a certain extent of overlap across stage. In fact, the nations that started scaling up the ladder of e-Gov & ICTD programs a little late always had the opportunity to be exposed to almost all the newer focus areas. Of course it requires suitable capacity and willingness within the agencies, government departments to contemplate on various stages of maturity as listed in the e-Gov focus maturity model. Most important citizen-centric dimensions as we see it in the above model emerge during stage-4, which has an emphasis on the behavioral aspects. These aspects many times are amorphous and are also difficult to imagine and imbibe during the earlier stages of e-Gov development where there is pressure to show visible results through deployments, application development, hardware installations or related infrastructure setup. Thus, across all developing nations, we may see several e-Gov applications working perfectly well on a service counter which has not got even basic amenities in place since the focus was entirely on technology and not the citizen-experience. We realize that merely stage 1, 2 & 3 level maturities will not help. Thus its important to enhance the related experience and other dependencies as per stage-4 above. Lets further take an illustration: Recently while entering in India through one of the international airports, one of my friend saw that an immigration official was misbehaving with many travellers, was impolite and the episode soon turned out to be a squabble at the airport and guards had to intervene. The scenario is not very different from what many people would have experienced in their quest to get services from government agencies. Lets understand that the last node is very important. Well, we do have an e-Gov application at the node there but the poor citizen gets an
unpleasant experience, a rotten taste of dealing with the e-Gov frontend. Look at what happened to others in the same immigration queue all got fearful, families with children were scared and were just thinking of getting out soonest. What did the immigration officials probably derived? A taste of the legacy-Raj? In spite of several thousand crores of rupees spent on ICT enabled transformation & e-Gov projects, the citizens remain under-privileged or under-served. Its like preparing a very tasty meal for someone with all good intentions and instead of serving it suitably, smashing into the face. So the focus should not only on preparing but also serving it suitably. Yes, we do have citizen-charters in place; there are feedback mechanisms but it important to activate the system to achieve the end results. E-gov projects are inaugurated with all fanfare, yes, its a reason to celebrate as an achievement of our republic but equally important is to reach out to the people who carry thee onus of touching lives of the common man. Referring to the above maturity-model again, a higher degree of sensitization towards stage-4 maturity can only be achieved through sustained, committed and collective efforts. This can not be achieved only by technology and policies but by deep-seeded change management interventions. Hence we see that there is a certain emphasis on change management across ICT & e-Gov projects but the unresolved question is that do we understand it well? How will the entire strategy of dealing with human subjects be aligned towards larger developmental goals? ICTD & E-Gov leaders have to often struggle with the trade-off between doing things right and doing things fast; and one fully understands there is no easy way out of this. On one hand its important to have a clear implementation strategy and result-focus but the on the other hand one has to keep an eye on the long term development and vitality as per the ecosystem in which these projects operate; keeping the beneficiary in mind. * Views expressed in the article are personal. (Dr Dhrupad Mathur, Director (Industry Interface), SPJCM, Dubai. email:dhrupadm@gmail.com)
CHAPTER 2
Meeting the Demand of e-Governance Professionals from the Higher Education System
Prof. Rafiq Dossani
India, over the past decade, has become a test bed for innovations in information and communication technologies (ICT) serving underprivileged users such as rural users and low-income urban users. Various reasons explain this emergence. The most obvious is the search for a solution to what has long been an intractable problem: that rural India has remained poor while the rest of the country has moved ahead. The hope that ICT can surmount at least some of Indias social, political and administrative challenges and create a viable technology for the provision of health, education, and other social services is thus ICTs strongest calling card. An additional expectation is that ICT can be used innovatively to improve access to the large, underserved market that rural Indias 700 million people represent, especially considering that India has the resources to build an ICT infrastructure, i.e., its large, skilled, cost-efficient IT workforce. ICT can, therefore, be used for the delivery of the following services: Informational services disseminate generic (non-customized) information, such as weather forecasts, crop practices, and contact information. Transactional services involve an exchange of specific (or customized) informational services or funds between two or more parties using the ICT infrastructure. Examples include e-commerce and email.
E-Governance services refer to transactional services that involve local, state, or national government. Providing land records, submitting user complaints to local officials and confirming a users presence on electoral rolls are examples. In this paper, we focus on one service, e-Governance, and inquire as to the capacity of the higher education service to provide the skills needed to supply the service. The following table lists the needed capacities, and priorities that may be offered through e-Governance. The primary reason for the difference between the priorities of rural and urban areas is the availability of some of the services in the list below in more adequate supply in urban areas, with the result that providing e-governance services in such cases will not be highly valued. Typical examples of services that are in relatively adequate supply in urban areas are health and education services, whereas these are relatively inadequate in rural areas. Even employment services are provided to a larger extent by the private sector in urban areas, thus reducing the need for an e-governance intervention, whereas rural area employment is in short supply, with the gap being filled by government employment programs.
EGovernance Service Public-sector/govt. Employment Information & Fulfillment Transactions (eg., tax payments) Grievance Management Citizens Data Services (eg., land records, company registration) Health Services Education Services Census & Voter Services Personal Information Services (eg., email) Priority - Rural High High Medium Medium Medium Medium Low Low Priority - Urban Medium High High Medium Low Low Low Low
Note: The rural priorities are based on a survey conducted in 2005 under the auspices of the National Informatics Centre and undertaken by Dossani, et. al. (2005). The list of urban priorities is based on the authors compilation from interviews.
Meeting the Demand of e-Governance Professionals...
The countrys higher education service needs to be of adequate quality to fulfill the needs for e-governance. Apart from domain and technical skills, such as accounting, healthcare and other skills that derive from the above table, additional requirements include project management, training and cloud computing skills. For example, let us consider the case of providing healthcare services via egovernance to rural users. Even if we assume that the state will be able to obtain the services of healthcare professionals, several additional tasks remain. The first are project management skills. For instance, how will these services be delivered - the mix of onsite and offsite/online services for diagnosis, delivery and evaluation; and record-keeping. The second task is training of rural residents to provide support services, such as primary healthcare, in the absence of trained doctors. The third is to use cloud computing to provide applications for diagnosis, data management, etc. Clearly, these are tasks of immense magnitude and complexity. So, the question raised is: does the higher education system cater to these requirements? In sheer numbers, the answer might seem to be positive. If one considers the growth of professional graduates, numbers from the All India Council for Technical Education (which excludes healthcare graduates) are encouraging, as may be seen from the tables below.
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To get a sense of perspective, consider how many engineers will graduate over the next few years. As the table above shows, by 2016, India will graduate about 1.5 million engineers a year (equal to the intake in 2011-2012). By then, China will be graduating about 1 million engineers and the United States 100,000. Thus, in terms of the quantity, one can see that there are unlikely to be shortfalls. By most indications, the professional graduates from Indian colleges (not just engineers, but architects, healthcare professionals, etc.) possess a level of technical skills that are adequate. Hence, if there is a shortfall, it will be in terms of the ancillary capacities listed earlier, i.e., project management, training and managing on the cloud. Unfortunately, the first two are skills in very short supply in the country. This is because the higher education system at broader level is yet to be fully developed in true sense. Let us look at each in turn. First, consider project management skills. The reason why Indian colleges do not produce students skilled in project management is that students are required to specialise in a technical subject from the start of their college degree. Hence, they do not take courses or undertake practical work of the type that will give them project management skills. Second, on developing training skills, this is a fairly specialized activity that is best acquired through short professional courses after ones formal education is over. However, the pressures of employment for income that are present in most Indian families is high. The result is that few students will take such classes since it means sacrificing income from regular employment without the prospect of adequate reward.
Meeting the Demand of e-Governance Professionals...
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Finally, on developing applications for the cloud that are specific to egovernance, the problem is not that the skill sets are lacking. Instead, the problem is that the government does not welcome small, creative startups as partners for providing cloud applications. Instead, it relies either on internal suppliers, such as the National Informatics Centre, or on large or small private IT vendors. However, majority of players are learning competencies for cloud environment and neither of these types of providers possess enough knowhow and skills that is needed for designing ways to use the cloud. Instead, their strength is to look at best practices worldwide and Indianise them. It is desirable that they need to come up with practical solutions to fulfill the unique requirements of India. The solution to this problem is easier than the more difficult problems presented by the shortage of project management and training skills. It is for the government, perhaps beginning with state governments, to open the door by funding small firms for generating e-governance applications. In summary, this paper prioritizes e-governance services and lists some of the skills that are needed to provide these services. It argues that the technical skills and quantity of workforce is adequate. The shortfalls are in project management, training and creative applications on the cloud. The first two are long-term challenges that will need reform of the education system and better incentives. The last skill is not being developed in India because of numerous reasons related to public and private sector. Much of this can be remedied by a change in policy.
Reference:
Dossani, R., R. Jhaveri and D.C. Misra. 2005. Enabling ICT for Rural India. Project report prepared jointly by Stanford Universitys Asia-Pacific Research Center and the National Informatics Center. Available at: http://aparc.stanford.edu/publications/enabling_ict_for_ rural_india_2005
Prof. Rafiq Dossani, Stanford University, Contact: dossani@stanford.edu
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CHAPTER 3

Prof. Harish P Iyer
Introduction
The concept of e-Government is by no means new. It might be argued that it has attained a fair amount of critical mass over a period of the past decade or so. From issue of birth and death certificates to making railway reservations, the exposure direct or indirect - to e-Government has touched many a common man, and the idea of e-Government has permeated many a stratum of the Indian society cutting across multiple demographic boundaries. This paper presents two ideas. The first is an exhortation that due to the overpowering abilities of technology, eGovernment is very much about e and that it is time that phrases such as e-Government is less about e and more about government, the e in eGovernment is in small caps while G is in capital etc were not repeated as mechanically as is encountered in every discussion on the subject. The second is that if eGovernment practitioners do need catchy phrases to guide them, it is perhaps time to replace e with a different alphabet. Given that the track record of a number of e-Government projects in the country is not very flattering, one wonders whether such catchy phrases are of any help. The Hindu, in an October 2011 editorial, notes that under the National e-Governance Plan Income Tax, passport, visa, land records, property registration, pensions, road transport, police, municipalities, panchayats, and employment exchanges are all priority services, but these are not ready for electronic service provision even after years1.
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Notwithstanding the mixed results, the Government spending on eGovernment initiatives continues to grow. There currently are a host of eGovernment projects under various stages of conceptualisation, and implementation. There are a number of eGovernment projects which are being redone from scratch for reasons ranging from failure of earlier ones to a move towards [or away from] certain types of technology. Adding to this logjam is the contribution of a few eGovernment practitioners who are not averse to reinventing eGovernment applications even if very similar systems are under live usage elsewhere in the Country. For some reason, replication seems not to find favour in some Government circles.
The Political import of visibility

It is not uncommon when dealing with ICT pertaining to eGovernment to segregate tasks into those that are visible [software interfaces, PCs, handhelds, eService Centers], and those that are hidden or invisible [changes in Government processes, for instance]. Even if no reliable data exists on the level of activities of the back office/ invisible type, we will posit that, from Governments point of view, significantly increasing the level of activities belonging to the visible end of the spectrum is desirable. We can identify the following reasons in support of our presumption. 1. As stated in the draft IT policy 2011, the desire of the Indian Government is to render ICT ubiquitous. Achieving ubiquity mandates significant level of investments in visibles - hardware and software through which connectivity will be achieved. Though it is common knowledge among eGovernment practitioners that true success in eGovernment projects is obtained only if back office process changes [the invisible] accompany citizen facing eGovernment initiatives, the practitioners tend to focus on citizen facing, visible efforts such as establishment of CSCs, laying of wide area networks etc. Citizen facing activities are relatively easy, there is much political mileage to be obtained from being seen to promote such affirmative action. As part of the draft National Policy on Information Technology 2011, the Government intends to provide ubiquitous, affordable, access to information and public services for enhancing efficiency, transparency, accountability and reliability. By placing visible aspects of technology [ubiquity, accessibility]
2.
3.
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and value propositions [accountability, transparency etc are value propositions] on the same platform, Governments tends to affirm the rationalising effect of science on State intervention.2 Yaron Ezrahi calls this visual attestive culture3
From virtuous to vicious - a mob of four

To hold the view that e is subservient to G in eGovernance is to subscribe to an instrumentalist view of technology where technology is viewed as a set of instruments that act as tools for better governance. This view is perhaps dated. What is perhaps less anachronistic is to admit that technologies have begun to dictate what good governance should be. Speed, portability etc are one dimension of transference that has taken place from the domain of technology to the domain of governance. To quote Sundar Sarukkai element of speed now becomes an important element of good governance not necessarily because that is the way we conceive good governance but because that is what these technologies are best suited to do4. Speedy Governance is certainly a desirable one. Just as individual behaviour bears little relationship to mob behaviour under certain circumstances, so also speed, virtuous when single, becomes vicious in the company of following three other forces. 1. The undemocratic [and speedy] nature of evolution of technology where everybody the citizens, the industry, and the Government is free to participate and yet nobody controls either the direction or the content of development. As already stated elsewhere in this paper, the compulsion for Government and bureaucrats to be seen to act [speedily] giving them no slack to sit back and reflect. The uncertainty over the tenure of bureaucrats and eGovernment practitioners during which eGovernment practitioners must dream-up and deliver eGovernment solutions.
2.
3.
The demographic, cultural, and economic characteristics of receivers of eGovernment services are far from standard. The effect of the forces such as those suggested above however is such that many characteristics of uniqueness among the population of beneficiaries are sculpted away and a standardised personality of the
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intended receivers of eGovernment services is all that is retained. Once such virtual standardised personality is given life to, all that remains is to create standardised packaging of information and services. This seems to present the eGovernment practitioners with an efficient manner in which to conduct eGovernment operations. Woe to those who, by design or accident, retain their non-standard self. The results of a 2008 study5 conducted on selected Government sites to assess how well they supported all citizens including those differently able is shown below. As shown under the column 4, even minimum level of support was not available in India.
The essence of technology

It is important for eGovernment practitioners to understand and place e of the eGovernment in perspective before they begin to make plans around it. In keeping with the spirit of this paper, we will not be satisfied with any banal definition of e. Perhaps it may be relevant to recall the words of German Philosopher Martin Heidegger. Technology is not equivalent to the essence of technology. When we are seeking the essence of tree, we have to become aware that That which pervades every tree, as tree, is not itself a tree that can be encountered among all the other trees. Likewise, the essence of technology is by no means anything technological6. Heidegger offers no definitive answers to the question to how one must view technology. Perhaps there is no definitive answer. There is however considerable merit in his words Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it. But we are delivered over to it in the worst possible way when we regard it as something neutral7. Other than to suggest that cultural neutrality cannot be a part of the essence of technology ICT in particular - this paper will refrain from getting into further debate.
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e-Exclusion a by-product of Standardisation

In 2011, the author was introduced to a wonderful web based eGovernment ICT solution intended for use in the Education sector. The system was of G2C nature. Implementation of the system had resulted in elimination of middlemen and creation of very lean and transparent processes. For all the excellent features the system carried, it had its user interface only in English. On enquiry as to why such a system did not carry vernacular choices too since the system was aimed at those unlikely to have sound knowledge of English it was suggested to the author that the system had induced the students and their parents to become familiar with English a familiarity, the project managers submitted, that was to be desired. Desired by whom? In the above example, we see the emergence of one type of a standardised personality a beneficiary who is able to read and understand English. Definition of a standardised personality is an exercise involving comparisons and is an act laden with cultural implications. As the example cited above confirms, not only was it not the charter of this eGovernment project to help spread knowledge of English, it also betrayed the belief of the project owners of the superiority of English education over the vernacular. We take issue with this only because it carries with it the potential to exclude a number of citizens from enjoying what is due to them. Without getting too statistical, we can attempt to figure out the negative effect that follows from a subscription to packaging services in English for delivery to beneficiaries proficient in English narrative. The following table extracted from DISE database shows the break up of primary and upper primary students enrolled under different language medium schools in the State of Andhra Pradesh.
Source: District Information System for Education www.dise.in Figures for Andhra Pradesh 2009-10
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As the data shows, students enrolled in English medium schools during the year 2009-10 were only a third of the total primary and upper primary student population. If an eGovernment system was implemented targeting such students and even if a small percentage of the intended beneficiaries failed to participate in the program due to English language barrier, that would have worked out to exclusion of several Lakh students from one State alone.
Stakeholder participation the solution to double deviance Rajiv belongs to an Indian metro. He started picking rags at a very young age after he dropped out of school. The meager income of his parents, who are also rag dealers, forced him to leave school and earn to add to the family income. At 14, he was already pulling a rickshaw and supporting his family economically8. Rajivs poverty and dropping out from school for economic reasons is not the creation of technology. However, if eGovernment initiatives existed [and they do in India] for provision of school fees and maintenance scholarship and yet the likes of Rajiv continued to remain school dropouts, eGovernment services should shoulder a portion of the blame. Narrowly conceptualised and delivered eGovernment systems should be deemed to be doubly at fault- firstly for excluding the likes of Rajiv due to reasons of their migrant / homeless status, and other handicaps [related to Language, age, infirmities etc], and secondly, for their pre-occupation with promoting [educationally, economically and through other means] beneficiaries with standardised personalities, thus worsening the socio-economic divide.
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If cases such as Rajivs are to be prevented, eGovernment practitioners should practice thinking in terms of ontological measurements. Such measurements not different from what is referred to as normative standards in philosophical terms - first require determining what could be. What is the could be with respect to Rajiv? More importantly, who should decide what the could be for Rajiv should be? Just as we refrained from defining the essence of technology and armed ourselves with questions through which to ponder, so must we acknowledge that experts from within or outside of the domain of eGovernment can at best only partially decide what could be for others. To complete the could be, Rajiv too should be consulted. This calls not merely for citizen participation but enablement of e-participation. In todays age of multimedia and mobile phones based ICT, little skills are mandated for engaging in two-way interaction with any strata of society.
Street Children interacting with Computer through Hole-in-the-wall
Rajiv is not an imaginary person. We learn that Rajiv was introduced to computers through hole-in-the-wall project. By giving him access to non-standardised service and, equally importantly, by facilitating his own participation in developing content of interest to him, the initiative helped him rejoin the school going stream and regain his childhood.
Conclusion
As a small step towards promoting Values based eGovernment, CSI-Nihilent, in its 2011 assessment framework, introduced evaluation components which required nominees to self-assess their performance with respect to e-inclusion, e-participation and e-wastage.
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It is suggested in this paper that such must be the approach of eGovernment practitioners in India that they must understand that the e is in fact more powerful than is acknowledged and that it permeates and colors the culture in which it finds itself in silent ways. It is further suggested in this paper that having made this acknowledgement, the practitioners should replace the e with perhaps V for Values [or C for culture, if they wish]. It is hoped that this will help remind them that it is incumbent on governments to acknowledge if Government were not to contribute to deepening of information chasm that there are no standardised personalities to whom standardised eServices can be offered.
References:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The Hindu, October 12, 2011, Editorial titled IT Policy and Credibility gap Yaron Ezrahi, The descent of Icarus:Science and the transformation of contemporary democracy, Harvard University Press, 1990 ibid Sundar Sarukkai, Culture of Technology and ICTs, ICTs and Indian Social Change, Sage Publications 2008 Joanne Kuzma, Yen Dorothy and Klaus Oestreicher, Global e-government Web Accessibility: An Empirical Examination of EU, Asian and African Sites Martin Heidegger. The Question Concerning Technology and other essays. Translated by William Lovitt. Harper & Row, New York, [1977] ibid www.hole-in-the-wall.com
Prof. Harish P Iyer is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He has served as Consultant Professor at T.A.Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal. He was the co-ordinator of the first, full time executive program on e-governance (eGPX) jointly offered by DIT, NISG, and TAPMI.
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CHAPTER 4
CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards Nominations Assessment 2010-11: Process Overview

Shri Surendra Kapoor, Shri Prabhu Gollamudi and K S Vijaya Sekhar
CSI SIG e-Governance group has been successfully conducting Nihilent e-Governance Awards over the years. Any assessment of nominations requires to have a good and well tested process. And any process cannot sustain over such a long time unless processes are reviewed and improvements put in place. Improvements would depend on inputs from users, in this case nominee organization and practicing professionals. Every year the organizing team receives nominations- which present an attempt to use ICT for applications that were not earlier on the horizon. We also have some repeat cases showcasing enhanced functionality there by making the job of assessors tougher to cull out the best of the initiatives. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of the process, improvements in the templates and present the steps in evaluation. The paper sets out with background of the awards and various award categories. It then presents enhanced evaluation framework which consists of Result Indicators & Enabler Indicators and their attributes. Finally, it elaborates the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) which is revised and followed for evaluation and assessment process followed for the received nominations in various categories. It concludes by presenting the strengths of the process and areas of improvement.
CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards Nominations Assessment 2010-11...
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1.
Introduction
The Computer Society of India was formed in 1965 and since its inception CSI has been instrumental in guiding the Indian IT industry down the right path since its formative years. Today, the CSI has many chapters all over India, student branches, and more than 70,000 members. Indias elite of IT industry, brilliant scientists and dedicated academicians (http://www.csiindia.org) continue to patronage the CSI activities. Special Interest group on e-Governance is part of CSI and with continued support from Nihilent Technologies has instituted awards for recognizing the contributions made in the field of e-Governance in the country, particularly by Government Organizations/Institutions/Agencies both at Central level and State level. This is the ninth year since these awards in e-Governance were initiated. The basic objective of these awards has been to recognize and appreciate the successful efforts by the States, Government Departments, Project initiatives and Districts in achieving good governance using ICT. The endeavor has been to bring as many projects to the fore front for the benefit of all. As part of these awards, another major value addition being made has been towards knowledge sharing by documenting and bringing out a publication, for the benefit of all at large. The publication presents the major successful e-Gov initiatives selected from the nominations received and Award Winners are felicitated during the CSI Annual Convention each year. The CSI SIG team has put in significant efforts in revamping the Awards web site both from content perspective and ease of use.
2.
Award Categories
Nominations for the year 2010-11 Awards were invited for the following categories: (a) Award of Excellence State Category. States are judged based on their overall performance in e-Governance initiatives during the year 2010-11, especially with respect to policies, infrastructure, capacity building, projects, etc.
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(b)
Award of Excellence Department Category. Central and State Government Departments who have demonstrated excellence in the area of eGovernance during the year 2010-11. Awards of Excellence District Category. Outstanding efforts demonstrating excellence in e-Governance during the year 2010-11 at the District level. Award of Excellence Project Category. Projects that have been implemented or enhanced during the year 2010-11 and delivered benefits to its stakeholders. The projects will be judged in three sub-categories, namely G2C, G2B, andG2G/G2E.
(c)
(d)
For indicative purposes the schedule that the team followed for the process is presented below:
This year CSI-SIG eGov has instituted a new award called Award of Sustenance to recognize earlier winners efforts to sustain the early initiatives and for making systems stand the test of time and continued to serve with enhanced capabilities. For this award five years old project award winners are considered and evaluated using a framework developed to test the sustainability of the projects. SIGeGov andCSI Nihilent e Gov Awards web sites are used to announce the Awards and seek nominations from Government Departements. In addition to above , brochure announcing the Awareds are sent to all to senior officials of State and Central Governments and Districts
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3.

Conditions for Entry

Entry for sending nominations is open to all Government agencies in India (both Centre and State/UT Governments, District level). All the Government Organizations & Semi-Government Corporations, District Collectorate, Municipal Corporations, Autonomous bodies including Public Sector Undertakings are welcome to apply. Entries should fall in one of the specified Award categories. Entries under Project category are only for those projects been implemented in India which have
In case of project category, they should have at least 75% of the services being delivered should be Government services. Awards for year under consideration will consider the initiatives implemented during previous year and the current year. These can be either implemented during the current year in question or Special incremental efforts or enhancements to the earlier initiatives. To encourage fresh e-Governance efforts, the Initiatives that have been recognized and awarded by CSI in the last 2 years will not be usually not considered by the Selection Committee for recognition.
4.
Judging Process
Nomination to each category will be judged by the Awards selection committee, consisting of members from Government, Industry and Academia. The judging process shall be based on: On-line nomination submission Field visits to short listed entries by Selection Committee/nominated members for on site assessment and identification of Finalists Presentations by Finalists to the Selection committee Final Award list is generated based on the combined evaluation at different stages as above.
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The selection committee reserves the right to seek additional information from the nominated entries during the evaluation process. The final recommendation of awards will be made by the selection committee on the basis of the information available to them in the nomination form, onsite visits and presentations by the applicants.
5.
Evaluation Criteria for the Awards

The evaluation criterion is based on two indicators i.e. Results and Enablers. The attributes considered for Result indicator are mainly in terms of outcomes and the attributes for Enabler indicator are in terms of the processes in place so as to achieve the desired results. Keeping into consideration the constraints on time and resource, for the purpose of these Awards, only the key attributes are being considered for these awards. For the Awards of 2010-11 a new section called Value Indicators has been added to the templates. The Selection Committee will use this Value Indicators information for overall assessment at each stage of short listing and appropriate weightage applied depending on category of nomination. The Value Indicators are high level goals and objectives which can be used as guiding philosophies for defining visionary scenarios within which to place eGovernance projects. Guidelines for providing details and to respond to Value Indicators section have been presented on the Awards web site for the convenience of nominees. The background for introducing the three value indicators is explained below:
Digital Inclusion
It is often stated that e-Governance is more about Governance and less about e. While this might well be true, e-Governance is, from one perspective, all about delivery of Government services through the medium of portals and pages on public and /or private networks, which are accessed through the time tested PCs, Laptops, mobile devices etc. These delivery channels and touch points, collectively referred to as Information and Communication Technology [ICT], form the backbone of eGovernance. The digital ecosystem within which e-Governance finds itself is however not without its contradictions and challenges. A significant number of beneficiaries of e-Governance services do not speak English rendering non-Vernacular web pages inaccessible to them.
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A significant number of intended beneficiaries for e-Government services are senior citizens and women. In India, many from among these classes of Citizens have special mobility related challenges. If no special consideration is given to such disabilities, and delivery of Government services is designed in a generic manner which require such beneficiaries to travel to the service centers instead of the Services travelling to their doorsteps say through mobile phone based services then these beneficiaries become digitally excluded or disenfranchised. A significant number of stakeholders cannot read or write, let alone have any proficiency in the use of Computers. On top of their core illiteracy, digital illiteracy is also a burden thrust upon them. Even if the Government designs its pages in the Vernacular, will not such a marginalized class of beneficiaries benefit from eGovernment services if they are explained, made accessible, and delivered through Voice interaction mode? Unless conscious effort is made to during the design stage itself, e-Governance projects have the unintended consequence of contributing significantly to digital divide. The above are some examples of how, in designing e-Governance services, unless very intensive care is taken, some classes of citizens/beneficiaries come to become excluded.
e-Participation
e-Participation is about connecting beneficiaries of eGovernance initiatives with the policy-making group and involves identifying ways of giving the beneficiaries greater stake in the policy-shaping process. ICTs provide a variety of tools which can give beneficiaries easier access to information about what decisions are being taken which affect their lives BEFORE the decisions are taken. What services of the Government to bring under the charter of e-Governance, what features to incorporate as part of Computerization, what standards to establish under Citizen Charter, how the issue of Digital divide [specific to the e-Governance initiative under consideration] should be tackled and many other related issues can all be opened up for e-Particiation from the intended beneficiaries.
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Ranging from [quantitative] reduced coordination costs to [qualitative] increased and improved feelings of satisfaction and involvement, the benefits of eParticipation from stakeholders in the design and implementation of eGovernance initiatives cannot be overemphasized.
e-Waste
e-Waste [electronic waste] consists of everything from redundant cell phones and computers, to out-of-date televisions and printers. eWaste is produced in vast quantities by every ICT project e-Governance ones included. And with the price of commodities soaring, the profit from the extracting the copper, gold, silver and palladium, locked up in electronic devices, can be considerable. But to maximize profit, a significant per cent of the e-waste is segregated, dismantled and recycled in the unorganized sector based in urban slum in metro cities. National and State Level policies and regulations relating to eWaste disposal certainly help but unless every e-Governance project consciously and formally takes steps to ensure that eWastes produced by it are properly channeled for recycling or destruction with minimal impact on the environment, the long term social costs of e-Governance projects may well come to out weigh their short term benefits. The quality of content submitted by the applicants for the nominations will be of most important part of the evaluation process. The information needs to be as per formats/ templates defined on the awards web site. The key indicators and attributes being used for evaluation under each award category is presented in the following section.
4.
Evaluation criteria for the awards
The evaluation criterion is based on two indicators i.e. Results and Enablers. The attributes considered for Result indicator are mainly in terms of outcomes and the attributes for Enabler indicator are in terms of the processes in place so as to achieve the desired results. Keeping into consideration the constraints on time and resource, for the purpose of these Awards, only the key attributes are being
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considered for these awards. The key indicators and attributes being used for evaluation under each award category are given in subsequent paragraphs with brief explanation of each of the attributes. Award of Excellence - State Category Evaluation Criteria
Result Indicators & Attributes 1. Key Performance a. List of State Mission Mode Projects as per the NeGP and their status in terms of pilots and roll -out b. State portal implementation with single window G2C/ G2B information and transaction services. Provide information on number of portals functioning in the state departments and strategy of integration and consistency. 2. Government efficiency improvement initiatives(Till date in Brief and elaborate during the year for each of the following) a. Initiatives implemented under G2C, and their impact (time/cost) b. Initiatives implemented under G2B, and their impact (time/cost) c. Initiatives implemented under G2G and G2E, and their impact (time/cost) 3. Innovation and Best Practices a. Specific innovative ideas implementedin eGov area and their impact b. To what extend transparency has been achieved and how Enabler Indicators & Attributes 1. State Policy & Strategy a. eGov/ICT vision road map and its implementation status b. Sharing of common infrastructure status with details c. Policies related to open standards, technology architectures, website standards, security standards and their current status d. Planned budget during the year for e-Governance and the actual expenditure incurred for the same Support Infrastructure Plan for SWAN and current achievements State Data Center, and its utilization by various department applications CSC Rural and Urban, established and planned during the year and their actual utilization data services wise 3. Capacity Building a. Leadership support & visibility. Provide details b. Training plan and its implementation effectiveness c. Institutional structure for training planned and implanted
2. a. b.
c.
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Award of Excellence Department Category Evaluation Criteria

Result Indicators & Attributes 1. Key Performance a. What services ( G2C, G2B, G2G andG2E) Enabler Indicators & Attributes 1. Department Policy & Strategy a. eGov/ICT vision road map for
are delivered using ICT ; provide impact department and its current status in terms of time and cost of delivery b. To what extent the common of services infrastructure(national, state, other b. Implementation coverage till date department; delivery channels) is andduring the year (geographical areas being shared covered under pilot, roll-out, future plans) c. Technology standardization policy 2. Government Efficiency improvement initiatives and its implementation a. Time and cost efficiency improvements in 2. Process Re-engineering & Reforms the working & delivery of servicesb. a. Major non-ICT front end process Specific innovative ideas implemented in changes planned for Department eGov area; and their impact on services level eGovernance efforts and their c. To what extent the services are integrated current status with other offices / departments. b. Major non-ICT back end process changes planned for department level eGovernance efforts and their current status 3. Capacity Building a. Leadership support & visibility and current status b. Change management strategy defined and status thereof c. Capacity building plan and its implementation status d. Are the Program Management Teams are there full time (department officials/ consultants)
Award of Excellence District Category Evaluation Criteria

Result Indicators & Attributes 1. Key Performance a. What services ( G2C, G2B, G2G andG2E) are delivered using ICT ; provide impact in terms of time and cost of delivery of services b. Implementation coverage till date andduring the year (geographical areas Enabler Indicators & Attributes 1. District Policy & Strategy a. eGov/ICT vision road map for department and its current status b. To what extent the common infrastructure(national, state, departmental; delivery channels) is being shared
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covered under pilot, roll-out, future plans) c. Future plan with regard to geographical coverage as well as scope of services 2. Government Efficiency improvement initiatives a. Time and cost efficiency improvements in the working & delivery of services b. Specific innovative ideas implemented in eGov area; and their impact on services c. To what extent the services are integrated with other systems within and outside the district 2.
c. Technology standardization policy and its implementation Process Re-engineering & Reforms a. Major non-ICT front end process changes planned for district level eGovernance efforts and their current status b. Major non-ICT back end process changes planned for district level eGovernance efforts and their current status Capacity Building a. Leadership support & visibility and current status b. Change management strategy defined and status thereof c. Training of internal & external members on the use of the ICT systems planned vs implemented; d. Does the full time Program Management Teams (District officials/ consultants) exist? e. Efforts to ensure sustainability of various eGov efforts, in addition to the few mentioned above. 4. Technology a. Technological solution adopted [including cost of ownership, maintenance model]; b. Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented c. Competence of people in technology (hardware, software, security etc)
3.
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Award of Excellence - Project Category Evaluation Criteria

Result Indicators & Attributes 1. Key Performance a. Describe the services ( G2C, G2B, G2G and G2E) that are currently being delivered using ICT; Describe the benefits obtained from these services by each category of stakeholders; b. Present those services that are enhanced/ introduced/functionally extended during the year. What services are planned to be delivered through ICT in subsequent stages/ phases; c. Implementation coverage till date and during the year (geographical areas / category of stakeholders covered under pilot, roll-out, future plans) 2. Efficiency improvement a. Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT enabled services; b. Specific innovative ideas implemented in eGov area; and their impact on services; c. The extent to which this eGovernance initiative is integrated with other internal and/or external ICT systems Enabler Indicators & Attributes 1. Processes a. Major ICT and Non-ICT front end process changes that were planned and the extent to which the plans have been implemented; b. Major ICT and Non-ICT back end process changes that were planned and the extent to which the plans have been implemented People and Resources a. Project management & Monitoring adopted; b. Training of internal & external members on the use of the system planned vs implemented; c. Change management strategy defined and implemented; d. Leadership support ( Political, Bureaucratic) and its visibility; e. Financial Model ( Funding pattern , Business model PPP etc) defined and implemented Technology a. State strategy adopted for Disaster Recovery & service continuity and its compliance; b. Give a detailed description of the Technological solution adopted [including cost of ownership, maintenance model] and its compliance to NeGP standards; c. State the Security and confidentiality standards adopted and the level of compliance.
2.
3.
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5.
Methodology followed for evaluation
As contained in the paper of Prof. G P Sahu et.al which was published in the previous year;s book, the evaluation of nominated e-government projects falls into the purview of what is called Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) or multicriteria decision making (MCDM). Unlike methods that assume the availability of measurements, measurements in MCDA are derived or interpreted subjectively as indicators of the strength of various preferences. Preferences differ from decision maker to decision maker, so the outcome depends on who is making the decision and what their goals and preferences are. There are many MCDA / MCDM methods in use and for the CSI-Nihilent e-government awards, the AHP has been preferred over other MCDA methods, because of its ease of use. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP ) has been preferred over other MCDA methods, because it allows the relative importance of various parameters to be defined based on inputs from various experts and arriving at appropriate weightages for various parameters. AHP is a structured technique for dealing with HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/MCDA" \o "MCDA"complex decisions and well matches with the needs of the e-Governance area.
6.
Evaluation Process
Nomination to each category was judged by the Awards selection committee, consisting of members from Government, Industry and Academia. The selection committee usually seeks additional information from the nominated entries during the evaluation process. The final recommendation of awards will be made by the selection committee on the basis of the information available to them in the nomination form, on-site visits and presentations made by the applicants. A simple five step process was followed while assessing the projects nominated for CSINihilent e-Governance awards. (a) Step 1: Online Nominations. Going with the objective of fostering e-process utilization, the proposals/nominations were invited through the portal http:/ /csinihilent-egovernanceawards.org. The due dates for various stages and instructions for filling up of online nomination form with necessary documentary attachments was made available on the website. Step 2: Short Listing Based on Nominations. After the due date of the
(b)
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submission was over, the received nominations were evaluated by two experts on parameters mentioned in the nomination submission template. Each expert awarded score for each attribute for every project in the supplied AHP excel worksheet. These marks were multiplied by the corresponding weightage of each attribute. The marks assigned by experts were averaged for each project. A minimum cut-off score was decided by the core selection group for qualifying into the next step of assessment i.e. field visits. The marks scored in this stage, has 35% weightage in overall score of a project. (c) Step 3: Field Visits. Based on the rankings of each project short listed in Step 2 above, top 33% (approximate) nominations were selected for field visits. The field visits were undertaken by two experts for each shortlisted nomination. The main objective of field visits is to validate the correctness of the information submitted in nomination entry. Second objective is to have a first hand exposure on the benefits of the initiatives for its stakeholders. The Project Owners were informed well in advance on the visits to make all necessary arrangements for meeting and visits to project sites. Most of the visits were for one day duration wherein project was studies in detail with a view to ascertain correctness of information submitted in nomination entries. Field visit are an integral component of the overall assessment process for getting first hand exposure to the project and its accruable benefits. Each team member assessed and assign scores for various attributes on the AHP excel worksheet. The AHP score of each project was arrived at after multiplying with weightage of each attribute and averaging the scores awarded by members. The marks scored in this stage, has 65% weightage in overall score of a project. Step 4: Identification of Finalists Based on the aggregate score of each nomination, combining Step 2 and Step 3 scores Finalists are identified for Department, District and Project category of Awards except State category. For State category normally SIG is identifying Presenters based on nomination strength rather than any field visits. Once the Finalists are identified, 50% of their aggregate score are carried over to the Presentation stage. Step 5: Presentations Final Step in the evaluation process is presentations
(d)
(e)
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of all the short listed nominations by the project teams to a committee of experts. Presentations are made to the selection committee, and individual scores are given by each member. The AHP work sheet was used by the committee members to award scores for each attribute. The marks scored in this stage, has 50% weightage in overall score of a project.
7.
AHP Model
The actual stages that were followed for evaluation of e-government projects and identifying the best e-government project are presented below. These steps apply equally to other categories of awards, though the sub-attribute and subsub attributes may vary in each case. The AHP hierarchy prepared during 2009-10 continues to be the basis for attributes grouping. An excel worksheet based model was prepared to obtain weightages for various attributes from experts. This year a new assessment item called Value Indicators; got added and accordingly experts views were taken for determining weightage for each attribute. Weightages assigned by each expert was fed into the model', which calculated averages for each attribute Initial screening of nominations was done and those selected were assigned scores for each attribute by the core selection group and inputted into the evaluation model as described before. Result of Step 2 above Once the field visits are completed and experts provided their scores these scores were again populated into evaluation model. The worksheet indicating calculation of scores of projects as an outcome of Step 3 above. Based on scores obtained during Step 2 and 3 above weighted aggregates were calculated and Finalists identified based on 35:65% assignments of scores between the first two assessment stages These scores then are carried to the Finalists presentation stage. Once the presentation scores are received and after applying AHP weightages, 50:50 % is
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used between aggregate score of earlier stages and the Presentation stage score. Based on final scores the award Winners get identified under each category. The Selection committee(Jury) usually recognizes some of the very special cases of Finalists by way of Jury/Special Recognition Awards.
8.
Conclusion
The evaluation framework used consistently over the last few years to assess State, Departments, districts, and projects, based on Result, Enabler and Value indicators has matured and worked satisfactorily by providing a transparent process for evaluation to achieve a fair assessment. As done last year, nominations from various stakeholders for the awards were captured online by means of a nomination template. Through out the evaluation process (initial screening based on submitted documentation, field visits, and presentations by stakeholders) AHP model was used for determining weightages for various parameters The few aspects to be considered for future improvements include: judging one off cases along with high usage and most relevant citizen service systems; improving nominee adherence to response for all the attributes;strengthening Value indicators section for seeking more detailed information and introducing normalization process to remove the variance in the grading given by different selection committee members.. CSI-SIG eGov plans to focus on Sustenance of initiatives by various eGovenance projects based on the Award winners five years back. Shri Surendra Kapoor, Convenor, CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards 2010-11 email: kapoorsurendra@yahoo.com, Shri Prabhu Gollamudi, IT consultant, email: gsnprabhu@yahoo.com and K S Vijaya Sekhar, Member SIG Team, email: sigegov@gmail.com
Mobile Office System Adoption in Seoul Metropolitan ...
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CHAPTER 5
Mobile Office System Adoption in Seoul Metropolitan Railway Transit (SMRT) of Korea
Prof. Namjae Cho and Jungin Choi
1. Background: City Railway Services in Seoul

Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, is a modernized large-scale metropolitan city with the population of 11 million residences. Seoul has been the capital of Korea for the last 600 years. For this reason Seoul has full of historic monuments and palaces. The city of Seoul has been known as one of the fastest growing capital. Recently the city received keen attention as it is chosen as one of the best city Asian people want to visit and as it is awarded the best e-government service provider to its citizen. The number of inbound visitors from abroad is also increasing rapidly. Seoul has 8 completed lines of city railway, of which most of the line sections are subway lines moving under the ground. Two additional lines are under construction and 2 more lines are included in the master plan, making total 12 metropolitan railway lines by the end of the completion of the master plan. By now, 8 lines and part of line 9 and two city extension of Korea national railway make a complex and convenient coverage of the city of Seoul via fast railway network. As each train take passengers to almost every corner of the city and the train interval is maintained around 5 minutes, the city transportation in Seoul has become world-famous infrastructure. The metro system in Seoul is also known for its convenience, cleanliness, and modern technology. The complex web of subway lines is depicted in [Figure. 1].
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The first subway line (line number 1) in Seoul was built in 1974. Since then four lines were completed by 1985 based on the first stage city railway plan. The first four lines are managed by Seoul Subway Company (renamed as Seoul Metro afterward). When the second stage city railway plan is completed, the city decided to establish a second company to manage the next 4 lines. There was an important reason for establishing a separate company instead of incorporating new lines into existing Seoul Metro. By making two separate companies and evaluating their quality of services periodically, the city could introduce the competing mind into public services. The two companies, through competition, are expected to compete to gain high reputation in their service provision and to maintain organizational tension toward innovation and improvement. [Figure 1] City Railway System of Seoul
2. Seoul Metropolitan Transit Railway (SMRT)

2.1 Company Overview
Seoul Metropolitan Railway Transit (SMRT) Company is a government-owned public company owned 100% by the City of Seoul. SMRT was established in 1994 in order to manage city railway services.
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SMRT manages 148 stations and 6 large-scale maintenance centers. The company operates 1,560 coach compartments and 152 kilo meters of railway lines in Seoul carry 3,390,000 passengers per day. Line 5 operates 608 compartments (876 coaches) carrying 1,160,000 passengers per day, line 6 operates 328 compartments (841 coaches) carrying 650,000 passengers per day, line 7 operates 504 compartments (863 coaches) carrying 1,270,000 passengers per day, and line 8 operates 120 compartments (620 coaches) carrying 310,000 passengers per day. Daily revenue from fare collection is about 1.3 Billion KRW. SMRT ranked as number 1 in the management evaluation among all public service companies belong to the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs for 4 consecutive years from 2005 to 2008. SMRT also ranked top in 2008 in Integrated Railway Safety Review performed by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs among all railway operators in Korea.
2.2 Development of Mobile Office Environment at SMRT

1) Business Practice of SMRT during 1994~2009
SMRT has about 30,000 Major facilities. List of the whole facility include over one million items scattered all around the city. For this reason employees of SMRT keep move around the city to locate and manage the facilities of responsibility. Since the birth of SMRT in 1994 the task scheduling, assignment, orders, and reporting was processed manually up until 2004. Every morning each employee should go to the company headquarter, confirm the task order of the day, and receive work order sheet. They carry the work-order to the location of the facility, process the task assigned, and complete the work-order sheet manually. After returning back to the office, they again should fill-up the completion report about the task they performed. Such manual work process produced enormous amount of paper documents and the company should devote massive amount of time and effort to manage, transport, and store the documents. Employees had to spend 20% of their time on the street to move back and forth from office and facility in addition to commuting. In addition 30% of employee time devoted to create and manage administrative documents and
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to participate in meetings. For this reason only 50% of their time was used to take care of the actual tasks of facility check-ups, maintenance, adjustments, and operations. After computerized reporting system was adopted in 2006, employees could be freed from the manual creation of work-completion report at the end of the day. The keyed in the report contents about the work they completed in each day. The accuracy and usability of data has increased. However, the time spend on the street was same as before as the other processes including picking up the paper-based work-order sheet were remained unchanged. Still 20% of employee time was used for moving back and forth and 25% of the time was used for administrative chore. In addition, people waited on a line to enter the report as the peak load is concentrated toward the end of the day.
2) Mobile Office System Development Project at SMRT

Mobile Office System is considered to have the potential to innovate business practices as the infrastructure, application, and terminal equipment becomes reliable and smart. Korea is well known in the quality of telecommunication infrastructure. Since 1995, the Korean government drove the establishment and adoption of broadband backbone through Giga-Internet project, high-speed network project as well as the adoption of Wibro mobile infrastructure and smart applications. The introduction of smart phone such as iPhone opened up the potential to optimize the use of such telecommunication infrastructure. Smart phones provide improved flexibility and applicability compared to existing mobile support environment such as PDAs and laptops. The top management initiated the radical changes in business process to reduce non-task waste of employee time using advances in technological environment. He decided the development of mobile office system which can economize on the use of smart phones. Initial skepticism on the social effect, technical functionality, speed, fear for being connected and monitored were expressed the voice of labor union. Close communication about the potential problems and solutions with the employees was helpful in pursuing the project in a cooperative atmosphere. The CIO of SMRT decided to develop the application systems in-house as he did not want to be overly dependent on external services in future changes and
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developments of the system. Fast experience of hiring several external developers in the development of separate information systems might affect this decision. With the help of KT(Korea Telecom), the MOS infrastructure service provider, they started the development of internal service network, inter-connection with existing legacy information, and the development of mobile applications. In this vein, they re-organized IT Division by combining existing three separate departments: IT planning, system development, and technology analysis. They strengthened technical capability by recruiting more engineers, emphasizing updated technical training for existing IT members, and facilitating the sharing of development results, experiences, knowledge, and skill. They focused on the development of mobile office system applications, technology, and services best fit to the situation of the company and user groups.
3. Characteristics of the Mobile Office System of SMRT

By combining existing IS applications (such as engineering systems, electronic engineering and product design management system, and facility management system) and wireless personal media, SMRT could successfully develop a mobile task-supporting environment, first of its kind in the world as they mentioned, that help the management of subway lines real-time without the restriction of time and space. They named the system as ST&F (SMRT Talk & Flash). Thanks to the adoption of ST&F, employees now do not have to commute to the company headquarter office in the morning. Employees receive work-order via their individual smart phones before they leave home. They commute directly to the location assigned for planned and regular check-ups or to the location of facility with problem report. After completing the task the employees report the completion of the task real-time using the applications in their smart phones. Home page screen of ST&F system looks like [Figure 2]. The top menu includes Problem Reporting, Company Announcements, Approval of Railway Tasks, Operation Procedure Guide, and Barcode Inquiry.
1) ST&F Problem Reporting System
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[Figure 2]
Previously, problem reporting was a task assigned only to technicians in charge of facility check-up. After the mobile office system put in place, any member of SMRT can file the problem report wherever and whenever they find a problem in equipments and facilities while commuting or while working around. Immediately after the problem report is forwarded, a responsible and qualified technician closest to the spot while moving around is assigned the repairing and maintenance job. The problem is fixed real-time and the result of resolution is reported. There are three different methods of problem reporting: the use of ST&F barcode picture capturing, the use of company private phone line, and the use of SMS or public phone by citizen. When the ST&F is used, one use smart phone to take the picture of QR code attached in each facility or equipment. Then the facility or equipment information is retrieved and a menu to report a problem pops up so that the reporting can be completed on the spot (refer to [Figure 3]).
2) ST&F Barcode Processing System

ST&F Barcode Processing System is linked to the corporate facility management system so that problem reporting, part history-management, and problem resolution result reporting can be completed through one integrated interface. Although the reporter does not have sufficient knowledge on the facility of concern, the system help the user find key information so that any authorized employee can report a problem or the result of task completion (refer to [Figure 4]).
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[Figure 3]
[Figure 4]
3) ST&F Part History Manager

ST&F Part History Management system helps employees to search and review the current status as well as the detailed history of the maintenance of all equipment, facilities, and parts as a group or by individual items with just one simple touch of a button of their smart phones (refer to [Figure 5]).
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[Figure 5]
4) ST&F Operating Procedure Guide System

ST&F Operating Procedure Guide System provide SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) and response methods to the occurrence of such emergency situation as fire, railway delay, explosion or earthquake. SOP and response method include step-by-step response procedures to crises for all types of tasks such as integrated controlling, customer services, driving, coach handling, and engineering. It includes action guidelines at the spot, facilities and equipment handling guidelines, corporate rules by roles, as well as the methods for CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation).
5) Effect of the Adoption of ST&F at SMRT

After the adoption of ST&F system, the employees do not have to commute to the headquarter office in the morning. All the employees received the daily task assignment via their smart phones. They can directly go to the location appropriate to the completion of the mission such as periodic check-ups and problem handling. After the completion of the mission, they report the results immediately and directly to the central office. The new practice reduced the time for moving back and forth to 10% of their working time from previous 20% (a 100% improvement). The time used for paper works and administration chore also reduced to 10% of their working time
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from previous 30% (a 200% improvement) on the average. The employees could use 80% of their time to concentrate on the completion of assigned task. The effect of this improvement resulted in the heightened efficiency of the use of human resources and the heightened level of railway safety. The response time between problem reporting and the completion of problem fixing has also reduced dramatically to 20 minutes from 2 hours in previous practice. The ST&F Barcode Recognition helped every employee to report a problem they found and simple fix result without detailed technical knowledge, virtually every employee of SMRT turned into facility managers. The effect turned out as the increase of preventive maintenance and the reduction of defect-occurrence rate by 40% compared to pre-adoption period. In addition, the use of ST&F Part History Manager and Operating Procedure Guide systems helped standardize the performance reducing the discrepancy in the quality of task results between novices and skilled experts. This improvement increased the overall level of confidence of employees in performing their tasks. The company reports that the total monetary benefit from the ST&F system is expected to be 220 billion KRW (about 200 million USD), which include the annual reduction of operating costs (28.4 billion KRW) and revenues from new business services. Since the total investment into ST&F was 10.2 billion KRW, the benefit is way far surpassing the investment. The system also facilitated the enhancement of the reputation of the company. As the success of ST&F system of SMRT drew attention among industry professionals, experts from Canada, Singapore, and China visited SMRT for a benchmarking. Based on the confidence in their technological achievement, SMRT is pursuing the commercialization of the system to make it a new business to create extra revenue from the provision of software and consulting services to domestic as well international railway operators. Smartness and mobility has become the strategic necessity of todays corporate world. Mobile office system successfully incorporates both of these two attributes. However, consideration of the specifics and contingencies of organizational and task needs should be made for desired results. The case of SMRT shows how business
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needs and task characteristics fit to the use of technology. They could successfully innovate the speed and quality of public services by way of using advances in highspeed mobile infrastructure, applications, and equipments. Internal members of the company actively pursued the design and development of new systems rather than simply hiring and relying on external technology vendors. One learning from the case is that the members of a user company, who understand the nature of the corporate task better than any other should take initiative in developing noble technology. In a related vein, human relationship within the company can be carefully taken care of using the participative development approach. In addition, the case of SMRT shows that the mobile office system can be applied and extended to various business areas such as facility management and maintenance beyond such typical uses as sales and marketing support. Prof. Namjae Cho (Hanyang University, Korea) Assisted by Jungin Choi (MS student, School of Tech. and Innovation Management), email: namjcho@yahoo.co.kr
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CHAPTER 6

K S Vijaya Sekhar, R K Bagga and Khairiyyah Binti Mohd Noor*
Introduction
A century ago, companies stopped generating their own power with steam engines and dynamos and plugged into newly built electric grid. The cheap and affordable power did not just change how businesses operated, it set of a chain reaction of economics and social transformation, which brought the modern World; the global village. Today a similar revolution is under way, when internets global computing grid is pumping massive data, information and software code into our home, offices and businesses. Internet technology is the key to 21st Century growth and progress and is used to refer to the collection of tools and techniques to improve productivity both in public and private sectors. In this context, it is the current state of humanitys knowledge which combines resources to solve problems, fulfill needs of citizens, or satisfies their wants. That is exactly the charter of all Governments all over the World. The use of technology by the man began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools to build automatic machines that are able to help human beings in cooking, washing, entertainment and travelling. The discovery of the wheel helped man in travel and other technologies development during previous centuries helped man to do work in much easier ways. The development of information technology has impacted the press, the media, the communication using internet, which has reduced the physical barriers and allowed human beings to network on a global scale with the click of a button. e-Governance is expected to become a common mode of meeting peoples needs
* Article appeared in the CSI Communications October 2011 Issue
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which is in infancy particularly in developing country like India. Can India, with abundant of computer literate professionals take a quantum jump by using the explosive growth of mobile device and meet the need of masses particularly in rural area by directly focusing on m-Governance?
Governance to e-Governance
Governance is the act of governing by the governments or any other organizations or agencies which can be defined as The manner in which power is exercised in management of a Countrys economic and social resources for Development. Hence, Governance can be simply put as the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Since governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented, an analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal agencies involved in decision-making. e-Governance is the efficient use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at all levels of government set up in delivering citizen services to common man and also to the corporate world.
m-Governance
m-Governance is a sub-domain of e-Governance and it is not a replacement of eGovernance, through which the governments delivers their services to the citizens using mobile devices. m-Governance is as an alternative to e-Governance especially for the country like India, that has very large population of citizens where accessing or having the personal computers and internet usage is comparatively low as compared to mobile phones. Hence, the alternative of m-Governance or mobile Governance can help make public information and government services available anytime and anywhere by bringing personalized, localized and context aware services close to citizens and officials. Most of the government realized a long time back that mobile is no longer a tool meant only for communication but its a medium for empowering the citizens and a powerful enabler of good governance. m-Governance can be defined as a strategy and its implementation involving the utilization of all kinds of wireless and mobile technologies, services, applications and devices. It improves upon the benefits for those involved in e-Governance, including citizens, businesses, and all government units. m-Governance offers a great potential for enhancing the provision of basic public services, especially to
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the poor and marginalized populations. Furthermore, it also enhances the participation of non-State agencies in critical democratic governance issues, such as transparency, electoral processes, oversight of governments and public policy making. While many m-governance efforts are essentially focused in the provision of private services, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) interest lies in the improvement in terms of both quality and quantity of public services for those who have little to no access to them.
Need for mGovernance in India

To know the relevance of mobile devices in developing countries such as India, we must know the benefit of these devices. The growth of mobile technology is increasing rapidly day by day and every month, a new mobile device might come out in the market. This grows with the demand and the use of mobile devices by the users is increasing now a days. The high demand of mobile devices from the users especially in developing countries such as India which has high population is because of the benefits and advantages that they can get from these devices. Some of the advantages/benefits of the mobile devices are: Ready Availability, Low Cost, Easy Learning Curve and Location Based Services. One of the Indias Government aims is to connect all the States, villages and even every home in India through wireless broadband; so that, information can flow from any part of India to the home of any citizen anywhere in India even in a rural areas. Instead of the need of citizens to go to government agencies to get the services, now those services come to the citizens through all the e-Governance projects and plans. But, because of the high population in India and as well because of the slow pace at which the internet is spreading across the country, there will be a problem to reach e-Governance to all the citizens especially in rural areas. Hence, mobile devices technology has come out to improve the government services delivery to the citizens with mobile technology. The hand held mobile device set can make in roads into even the remotest area and can help make public information and government services available at anytime, anywhere to citizens and officials. In rural India, being able to store a number in contacts and then call that contact is a primary mechanism for overcoming traditional infrastructure
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challenges, like learning the prices of goods at market. However, currently, most mobile phones available to people in rural areas of India, have a text driven interface, making it near impossible for illiterate users to obtain and store contacts. Information in rural India isnt centralized through census information, medical and health records, or a regional phone book. Therefore, the contact lists on mobile phones become an extremely valuable mechanism for creating adhoc networks that enable information sharing. For example, several research participants recorded the blood type of the contacts stored in their phones address book. These users were able to act on this information when medical emergencies occurred in their village. They could quickly identify possible donors for blood transfusions and alert their network of the need. All these actions can be done through a simple piece of information stored in a mobile device. To show how data could be made tangible, and how illiterate users could easily share contact information, Adaptive Path, a product experience and strategy design company created a concept called MobilGlyph. Solving the save a contact problem for illiterate users became one of the focuses for their project. m-Governance allow for the use of mobile wireless communication technology within the government administration and tool for delivery of information and services to citizens and business. The use of mobile technology in government sector not only provides an alternative channel of communication and public service delivery, but more importantly, it can address the mobility of government itself where m-Government can help make public information and government services available anytime and anywhere by aware services close to citizens and officials. Therefore, these can help in reaching rural citizen to access government services. Transition from e-Government to m-Government requires researching the integration process between the two. m-Governance is an add on to e-Government involving the utilization of all kinds of wireless and mobile technology, services, applications and devices for improving benefits to all parties involved in e-government including citizens, businesses and all government agencies. m-Governance can be powerful component of the e-Government in facilitating the delivery of more and better services to citizens. With the developments in mobile and wireless technologies, some applications and services of e- Government are being provided through mobile devices, and yet these technologies are also opening ways to some unique and new applications and services. In terms of technology involved, currently many mobile
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government applications make use of SMS (short messaging service). Other technology includes Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), MMS and mobile internet. It is expected that mobile internet will play a more significant role in near future due to the development of 3G technologies and the capabilities to process more information faster.
Mobile Devices in India

Though mobile phones have been available for over two decades, their exponential spread in India during 2010-2011 is due to low cost and affordability, through large number of players in 2G arena. Not only their penetration has exceeded landline, it is bound to displace the existing inefficient BSNL set up. Steve Jobs of Apple must get the credit for his launch of iPhone and iPad, smart devices meeting the diverse need of new generation.
Status of m-Governance in India

Today, India is moving towards m-Governance after major involvement in eGovernance. Its a well known that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is very essential for processing, storing, organizing, and presenting data and information. The reasons for the keen interest in governing through mobile are not tough to guess. As the Indian telecom subscriber base reached the extraordinary figure of 700mn, mobile phones have become the most accessible tool of communication available to such a large population. Thus, making the best way for delivery of information at citizens site is a personalized way. Within two decades of mobile launch in India, mobile phone has reached at remote rural hamlet despite the much known hurdles like lack of connectivity and power and low level of literacy. In the other side, it has created lakhs of direct and indirect job opportunities for youth. In the second phase of the development, it has emerged as a delivery channel for different kind of services and now anyone can transfer amount from one bank account to another using their mobile phone. Government and private agencies have also started using Mobile Phone to deliver citizen and business services to common man. Recently, Reserve Bank of India has allowed commercial banks to provide banking services on mobile phone, whereas Government of India has approved the Framework for delivering financial services through mobile phone developed by
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Inter-ministerial group. After the launch of 3G technologies in India, users will be able to access health, educational, agricultural, infotainment services on their mobile phone. Around 54 Gram Panchayats in five remote blocks of West Bengal State will soon have SMS alerts on disasters, funds inflow and outflow, information about health camps and pulse polio campaigns will be sent to and from between the State departments, district offices and Gram Panchayats, block development offices. In India, m-Governance is still at a nascent or new stage. While many innovative applications are underway in both private sector as well as government domains, it may be a little premature to celebrate its success. However, embracing the possibilities and opportunities that this technology provides will only lead to an effective and cost-efficient way of exploiting the same.
Current m-Governance project and services in India

The project and services that currently provided by Government of India through m-Governance are: i) The latest M-service added is The electoral Details on Mobile Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) has added a new m-service by which citizens can check their Voter ID details by sending an SMS. The voters just need to send the message ELE to the Kerala m-Governance short code 537252 and the sender will get the details regarding his/her voter details Roll No, and polling station. Another example is that Gujarat State Election Commission has developed a project called Online Voting System for its Local Body Elections in October 2010 and in April 2011. ii) Mobile Banking in India In India, Banking sector has become more customers friendly to provide banking services through mobile phone. It has given an opportunity to customers to update themselves about Account balance, transactions and do the transfer of amount from one Account to another. All the public and private sector banks in India have started providing their different services through mobile phone. Currently they are offering banking services through mobile free of cost (except some bank) but customers have to bear the cost of mobile service providers.
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List of the banks offering banking services on mobile handset (Source: http:/ /www.indg.in/e-governance/mobilegovernance/mobile-banking): iii) Common Citizen Services in India using Mobile devices Some examples of common citizen services using mobile devices are Indian Meteorological Depts Weather Information, Kisan Call Centres Agriculture related queries solution, CBSEs Exam result of class 10 and 12 and so on. DataQuest (May 2011) may be referred for detailed list. Suggested Proposal for moving from e-Governance to m-Governance in India Within two years from now which has a time frame till Oct 2013, it is suggested that policy makers of India should implement m-Governance using below six phases to get better m-Governance services in order to give complements to eGovernance: Phase 1: Making all government websites mobile compliant/mobile site access should be promoted. All government agencies should use mobile optimized content as a primary method for device support. Phase 2: Plan strategies to popularize the use of mobile devices technology in rural areas by giving subsidies, training and guidelines. Currently, m-Governance status in India still at the starting level and in fact still new to the citizens especially for the Indian citizens in rural areas whereas the urban citizens are most aware of the mobile technologies that are growing increasingly nowadays. While most of the Indian rural areas are not aware and interested about the mobile technologies that are growing increasingly nowadays, and in fact some of them never use and own at least a mobile phone. If this condition still happens, the services that are provided by the government through the mobile devices might not reach the citizen. The government should plan a strategy how to popularize the use of mobile devices among the Indian rural citizens. Most of the Indian rural citizens have lack of knowledge about these technologies, because they are born and live in poor condition which might prevent them to own and use such technologies. To overcome this problem, the government should provide and give subsidy to own a mobile phone and they should be given a training how to use that
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mobile device. They also should be given knowledge what are the benefits they can get from the mobile technologies and why these technologies are becoming famous for other areas and countries. The Government of India should come out with the plans and strategies to formulate guidelines about the use of mobile devices and enable government departments to provide services from mobile phones like paying utility bills etc. It also should aims to formulate standards for applications for easy interoperability of services across multiple service providers and multiple Government departments and other agencies. Phase 3: Implement m-Governance by developing mobile applications in local languages and more mobile utilization applications. Phase 4: Plan strategies to popularize the use of mobile devices technology among all citizens by education. To popularize the mobile technologies among all the citizens, they should be introduced to such technologies since their early childhood. Currently in India, most of urban kids are already exposed with those technologies but the problem is for the kids in rural areas. To overcome this problem, the government should provide more learning by using the mobile technologies in the education space in India. This learning method is called as m-learning. Whereas m-learning apps already exist in the education in India but this learning method might still not in use in rural areas. Meanwhile, the government should expand m-learning method to all the school areas in India even in rural areas, so that, all the citizens might be exposed with those technologies. This strategy will change the mindset of rural citizens about the mobile technologies. Phase 5: Develop mechanisms and platforms for the good design and delivery of mobile Governance. To improve the m-Governance in India, it is proposed that development of suitable mechanisms to enable users to pay for public services through mobile phones, and develop and deploy innovative public private partnership. Multi stakeholder partnership models for the design and delivery of mobile governance services should come out. It will also encourage the development of cloud-based implementation models. Besides that, a platform should be proposed for the way
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the mobile services deliver to the citizens which will be fully integrated with existing infrastructure created under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). All ministries and departments will be able to start offering their services on this platform. Phase 6: Implement laws for mobile Governance for better m-Governance services. As we know, m-Governance is the complements of e-Governance so that mGovernance should provide services in a better way rather than e-Governance services. To achieve this vision, Government of India should come out with some laws to get the better services from m-Governance to overcome the problem that are still faced by e-Governance such as corruption. The laws that should be enacted by the government are such as Privacy Law, Data Protection Law and Legal Enablement for better m-Governance.
Challenges for m-Governance in India

To facilitate the deployment of m-Governance services reach to the citizens, it is essential to critically examine the challenges that have traditionally being the entry barriers. Here, we can define those challenges into technical challenges and management challenges. The main challenges of m-Governance are typically the same as those of e-Governance, such as low levels of computerization of government operations at the back-end, lack of digitized data or content and change management. As mentioned above, that the challenges for m-Governance in India have traditionally been the entry barriers. Some of these entry barriers which we can put it as management and technical challenges in m-Governance includes: i) Cost: m-Governance tends to be yet one further channel for e-governance, in which case it will create additional costs. This will continue until mGovernance can truly substitute for other delivery channels. Such substitution will be viable for applications within government. Low levels of literacy The low levels of literacy in India mostly happening in the rural areas. Currently, most mobile phones available have a text driven interface, making it near impossible for illiterate users to obtain, read and get any information provided by the government.
ii)
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iii)
Lack of knowledge of English language 80% of Indian citizens speak and understand only the local languages while only 5% of them have knowledge and understand English language. But, most of mobile devices applications are developed using English language. So, this factor will give challenge to the m-Governance services to reach their services to the citizens especially in rural areas through mobile devices.
iv)
Computer illiteracy The computer illiteracy problem in India will also pose challenge to mGovernance application reaching the citizens. This is because some mobile devices are using technology in m-Governance which is related to computer based devices such as tablet PC, iPad, iPhone etc. Therefore, the computer illiterate users might face problems and difficulties to access government services which are offered through such mobile devices.
v)
Not enough facilities in mobile devices for m-Governance Though, in India the costs of mobile devices and calls are perhaps the lowest in the world, in order to effectively deliver government services on mobile devices, we need very simple text messaging solutions. For example, if a person has to put details in a form etc, he/she cannot do so if such facilities are not available in the current devices. Therefore, the immediate option is to look at mobile devices that combine computing with mobility and are affordable.
vi)
To develop application in each of local languages Another challenge is to develop applications that can be offered in each of local languages. Because India is facing a lack of knowledge of English language challenge, the applications that can be offered in local languages should be developed. But, it still has another challenge where currently, India has 22 different national languages which will give major challenges for developers.
vii)
Trust/security If m-Governance is to encompass m-payment systems or other transactional
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public services, then it must have good security and must be trusted. As yet, there is still a credibility gap to be crossed for many mobile device users. The mobile nature of information poses a significant challenge at the government level. Data no longer simply resides within the network. It exists on mobile devices and data that is on a network can be accessed from virtually anywhere. In addition, compromising a mobile device itself can place the government at risk. The present cloud computing being offered will further aggravate the security environment. viii) Data overload Mobile devices increase the pressures of a world in which users are permanently connected. These connections increase the number of messages circulating and can cause a blizzard of communications by spam, junk and unwanted messages. Govt of India has just restricted the number of SMS per day to 100 to control such eventuality.
Conclusion
The research study done at IIIT, Hyderabad on the m-Governance in India is to give a better view of the government services through mobile devices technology. The discussion on this application has brought many issues, challenges and ideas involving m-Governance applications in India. In India, m-Governance is still at new stage and still need for more improvement to get a better m-Governance. While many innovative applications are underway in both private sector as well as government domains, it may be a little premature to celebrate its success and still need for the improvement. The proposed suggested plan for the m-Governance in India is to give better e-Governance environment in each phase. The proposal covers the strategy that could be accepted by Government of India in order to make m-Governance success and get acceptance by all citizens. Currently, mGovernance in India is still facing challenges in both management and technology. Hence, to improve the m-Governance in India, some suggestions have been recommended which are to overcome those challenges in order to implement mGovernance and make it successful in next few years.
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References
A Lesson in Computer Literacy from Indias Poorest Kids. Available at: http:// www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2000/nf00302b.htm. Accessed June 9, 2011. DATAQUEST site, E-GOVERNANCE: 20 Hot eGov Projects in India available at: http:// dqindia.ciol.com/content/top_stories/103101501.asp. Accessed May 19, 2011. Designing Mobile Technology for Emerging Markets Rural India available at: http:// blog.i2fly.com/?p=978. Accessed May 20, 2011. e-Gov (Magazine), May 2011, Vol. 07, Issue 05. eGovernment Mobile Applications available at: http://www.egov.com/Solutions/Innovative/ Pages/MobileGov.aspx. Accessed May 18, 2011. Governance Now (Magazine), April 1-15, 2011, Vol. 02, Issue 05. India Development Gateway official site available at: http://www.indg.in/india. Accessed May 18,2011. www.itmission.kerala.gov.in accessed 10 Jun 2011. M-Governance: Service On-the-go available at: http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/NetworkingPlus/210010501.asp. Accessed Jun 1,2011. mGovernment Benefits and Challenges. Available at: http://202.138.100.134/node/ 10603. Accessed May 18, 2011. Mobile future for e-government. Available at: http://www.ericsson.com/solutions/news/ 2007/q1/20070326_egovernment.shtml. Accessed May 19,2011. Mobile technology. Available at: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/ detail?itemId=1074298219&type=RESOURCES. Accessed May 18,2011. Nicholas Carr: The Big Switch; Rewiring the World from Edison to Google published by WW Norton & Company New York 2008 Rachel Hinman, MobilGlyph: Making Data Tangible. Available at: http://adaptivepath.com/ ideas/mobilglyph-making-data-tangible. Accessed May 19, 2011. Romit Pandey and KS Vijaya Sekhar: From e-Governance to m-Governance: The way forward paper submitted to ICEG-2011. Saaransh A compendium of Mission Mode Projects under NeGP, January 2011.
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The Future of M-governance in India in the Draft Stage. Available at: http://202.138.100.134/node/10603. Accessed June 8, 2011. The iPad 2 Price, Features, Availability Everything You Need to Know! Available at: http:/ /www.redmondpie.com/ipad-2-price-specs-features-availability-everything-you-need-toknow/. Accessed June 18, 2011. The Times of India Newspaper, Hyderabad, Monday, May 30, 2011.
K S Vijaya Sekhar, Pursuing his PhD in Dr BR Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad. email:vijay@iiit.ac.in, R K Bagga, Advisor IIIT-H, email: rbagga@iiit.ac.inand Khairiyyah Binti Mohd Noor, M.Tech, IIIT-H, email: khairiyyah.noor@gmail.com
SECTION II e-Governance Success Stories State Level Initiatives
CHAPTER 7
State Nominations Summary

Shri Prabhu Gollamudi
1.
Background
One of the very important nomination categories that SIG team anticipates with pride of doing assessment is the State category Nomination. Though the nominations are few the motivation and competitiveness amongst the nominees is high and enthusiastic. Last year the award was aptly won by the State of Gujarat and the previous year it was the State of Madhya Pradesh. This year we had more than five States showing their intent to participate. We are presenting here a summary of two nominations that were invited for presentation.
A.
1.
State of Andhra Pradesh

Intent of Submission
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has a comprehensive view of ICT as a vehicle for transforming Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge-based, economically vibrant, democratic and inclusive society. By the term inclusive, the Government means that the benefits of the socioeconomic transformation possible through ICT should reach every single citizen of the State. State has a vision of empowering with the latest technology, in all sections like High Quality Education, e-Governance, Healthcare, Institute of excellence, Infrastructure etc.
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In the endeavor to achieveinclusive society addressing the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) GoAP envisaged the ICT as an enabler of all other sectors, including economic, social, environmental and governance sectors. This enabling role of ICT encompasses the concept of ICT for development (ICT4D), reflecting the contribution that ICTs can make to the development in all sectors. Economic Sector: Agriculture, Industry (Manufacturing, Pharma, Mining and Tourism) and Services Social Sector: Especially Education and Health Environment Sector: agricultural extension programmes, disaster early warning systems Government Sector: Digital and Connected Governance
Access to the right information is a means of local and community empowerment and helps people enhance their capacity to sustain themselves. This nomination is an attempt to retrospect the journey to achieve improved transparency, speedy information dissemination and higher administrative efficiency and improved public services leading to the overall impact of the citizens getting connected to the department more easily Achieving efficiency in public service delivery through faster dissemination of departments information to a larger audience. Reduction of the cases of corruption as accountability and transparency is increased and the Departments activities are easily monitored. Providing equal opportunity to access to information is provided regardless of ones physical location and physical disability. Reach all the stakeholders who need government services regardless of their location, status, language, Breaking the barriers of bureaucracy experienced generally in the government offices as the hindrances caused by those in power are removed and the services are offered regardless of ones background.
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Interdepartmental exchange of information is facilitated Convergence of related services by linking with the servers of the participating departments leading to significant reduction of transaction costs, time, space, and manpower.
2.
e-Governance Vision of Andhra Pradesh
The Government of Andhra Pradesh is committed to build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and people to achieve their full potential in promoting sustained development and improving their quality of life.
3.
Level of e-Governance
The nominee has presented the following status of level of eGovernance which helps in looking at the road map for future.
High Rural Development Commercial Taxes Civil Supplies Welfare Arogyashree Treasury Transport Medium Registration Municipal Revenue Finance Tourism Energy Housing Police Low PR/RWS R&B Irrigation Education Health
4.
Summary
State has presented a very good continuity of initiatives earlier launched and the early leadership role the State enjoyed in terms of setting directions for the other States is visible in use of Infrastructure and resources. In terms of new initiatives the State has recently launched Mee Seva the results for which are expected to be visible very soon as they State has worked out an aggressive plan for spreading the service.
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B.
1.
State of Chhattisgarh*
Intent of Submission
Chhattisgarh, a 21st century State, came into existence on November 1, 2000. The State with wide-ranging socio-economic disparities consists of overwhelming SC/ST population and the literacy rate is only 65%. 44% area of the State is covered with forests and 80% of the population of State is largely rural, which had largely remained untouched by modern development. Implementation of eGovernance in this ecology is a challenge of altogether different dimension. Good Governance is the highest priority in this Fast Track State. State has initiated some key eGovernance initiatives, to transform the way the government interacts with its citizens and redefine the nature of relationship by providing a seamless and consistent service to the citizens. Chhattisgarh state has made considerable progress in electronic delivery of government services to rural and urban populations in implementing pro-poor e-Governance. Progress is largely in a) to clarity to the objectives of pro-poor targeting, b) to ensure delivery of public services in rural and urban areas, c) balanced standardization and localization, d) leveraging private sector and build PPPs to serve rural areas. We are successful in taking our mega e-governance projects like Bhuiyan, PDS, CHOiCE / CSC, eProcurement, CGSWAN across the state where the citizens get access to the Government services at village level. In a few years time, Chhattisgarh would be one of the front line states in transforming the pilot projects to successful state-wide roll out since we follow a collaborative, coordinated and an institution based decision making approach during the process of transformation. State e- Governance Mission Team has started functioning in the state. District e-Governance Committee has been formed in all districts with Collector as Chairperson for proper coordination and monitoring e-Governance projects at district level. Chhattisgarh has emerged as a leading state which delivers e-Governance projects to the most ambitious scales for its citizen. The focus of the applications is on both internal efficiency and service delivery to citizen. In the latest e-Readiness report released by Department of Information Technology, Govt. of India, Chhattisgarh
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has been placed at top in the category of select Advanced States in the field of eGovernance. In the Dataquest-IDC survey also, Chhattisgarh was placed at no. 3 in the country in The Indian States e-Governance Score Card. Besides, Chhattisgarh has achieved distinction of being first in India in the field of eGovernance on several accounts and has bagged awards and accolades including Prime Ministers Award for Excellence in Public Administration, UNDP Award, eWorld Award, National e-Governance Award, CSI Nihilent Award, eIndia Award, Manthan South Asia Award, Skoch eGovernance Award, Best of Open Source in India Award, Indian Geospatial Award, India-tech Excellence Award. CHiPS, the IT Agency of the State Govt. is the first ISO certified government organization in the state which indicates state commitment towards process standardization and continuous evaluation mechanism
2.
e-Governance VISION of Chhattisgarh
The States IT policy has been designed to achieve Governments vision of creating an enabled Society effectively contributing to the social and economic development of the State, where there are no islands of elitism or isolated conclaves of wisdom. Government of Chhattisgarh, in its new Industrial Policy has declared industries falling under Information Technology and ITeS in the list of Priority Sector Industries of the State in order to encourage investment in IT industry in the state. Towards this end, the State is ensuring appropriate financial and operational support is extended to entrepreneurs and enterprises in the IT industry. The projects including eProcurement, CHOiCE, SWAN, SDC, CSC etc. are being implemented on PPP model ensuring minimum financial burden on the State Government while implementing state-of-the-art e-Governance projects. Utmost importance is being given to address and frame policies for the security aspects related to e-Governance projects being undertaken in the State, It is worthwhile to mention that we have already adopted the state-of-art security features of PKI enabled tools like usage of Bio-metric and Smart Card devices and Digital Signature Certificate along with the normal usage of the login-ids and passwords. The Government recognizes the need to democratize he information technology ownership, control and its use.
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Chhattisgarh is the first State in India which has systematically developed an eGovernance Road Map in order to identify the various IT needs and priorities of the departments and also the first state to frame Chhattisgarh Citizen Service (Electronic Governance) Rules, 2003 in accordance with IT Act 2000 of Govt. of India.
3.
Capacity Building
Government as part of strategy has created a society in the form of CHiPS (Chhattisgarh infotech & biotech Promotion Society) for all requirement of IT in State. Society provides necessary flexibility to Government to cater to unique requirement to sunrise sector like Information Technology. In order to give a direct message that Information Technology is a top priority area for Government, the portfolio of Information Technology as Minister in-charge is held by Honble Chief Minister himself. Further Chief Minister is also the chairperson of CHiPS. This ensures that IT ownership is at highest level and horizontal and vertical coordination and collaboration are easy and smooth. At the next level an Empowered Committee has been constituted, duly approved & empowered by Cabinet, which is headed by Chief Secretary of the State and Principal Secretaries / Secretaries of important Departments as its members. District e-Governance Committees have been formed in all districts with Collector as Chairperson for proper coordination and monitoring e-Governance projects at district level. State eGovernance Mission Team has started functioning in the state. Further, separate cell has been formed for NeGP projects like SWAN, CSC, eProcurement, SDC etc. for proper coordination and monitoring at the State level. Government has paid a very focused attention on the capacity building. In a very ambitious programme, 4000 Government employees including the humble Class IV employees were trained on computer. Chhattisgarh was the 1st State in country where the Honble Chief Minister along with its senior Cabinet colleagues attended a 2 day workshop on Smart Government at ISB Hyderabad organised by NISG. The programme was so successful that NISG has made it a regular module and many other States have also undergone similar training. Similarly IT training programme was arranged for Honble MLAs of the State and specialised training like Project Management, GPR & Change Management for senior Government officials of all Departments. Under Specialized Training Programme in eGovernance (STeP), 3 batches
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of senior officials across major department of State Govt. has been trained through NISG. Under ICT at School project, computer training is being given to students/ teachers of 1900 schools in the state. A separate IT/e-Governance Training wing is being set-up at Administrative Academy of State for training to employees / officials of state in eGovernance. Award Winner during CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards 2010-11.
4.
Summary
The presentation by State representative gave a broader eye view of the ICT road map and the pro active support being enjoyed from leadership. The successful replication of projects like CHOICE across State has been presented and factors for success elaborated. The importance of capacity building to address future IT growth has been shared and explained on their plans. Focus on staff training and training of leadership teams seems to have paid some dividends as per the State team. Shri Prabhu Gollamudi, IT consultant, email: gsnprabhu@yahoo.com
SECTION III e-Governance Initiatives Success Stories Department Initiatives
CHAPTER 8
Andhra Pradesh Forest Department*

Shri C Madhukar Raj and Shri P K Sharma
I) Overview
Forest Department of Andhra Pradesh has adopted Information Technology in a big way as DSS for the Management of natural resources in Planning and Implementation of different projects. Modern technologies like Remote Sensing (RS), Geographical Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) & DGPS have been deployed in the day-to-day administration and management of forests and monitoring various activities, which has led to improvement in efficiency, transparency and ease of monitoring. The Dept. has executed GIS and RS-based projects in the past like Vegetation Cover Monitoring, Fire Risk Zonation Mapping, Site Suitability of Water Harvesting Structures and Site suitability of Plantations. It has also carried out Statewide Inventory of Forest Resources using modern tools and carried out survey of assets of VSS, Forest Blocks and Forest Conservation Act areas using DGPS. The Dept. has also deployed a number of web-based Forests Management Information System Modules for monitoring various activities of the Department and been a pioneer among the Forest Depts. of the country. APFD has brought out a comprehensive report on the growing stock and the status of forests in the State of Andhra Pradesh in 2010 based on the field work carried out between 2006 and 2008, titled Andhra Pradesh Forest Inventory Report, 2010. It was a unique venture of a large scale Statewide inventory of the forests resources, attempted for the first time in the country. The department has also brought out comprehensive reports on the forest cover changes at the lowest
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level of forest administration, i.e., Beat level, during 2010 and 2011 in the form of Andhra Pradesh State of Forest Report 2010 and Andhra Pradesh State of Forest Report 2011 using Remote Sensing data. It has taken a new initiative of online MIS, APFMIS with a view to create almost paperless offices, reducing redundancy at all levels of the hierarchy for obtaining data from the field level officers through customized data capture modules and generating reports for various levels of Officers and providing them with a tool to analyze the data for better administration and improving efficiency at all levels. The Department has also been building the capacity of departments officials in the use of modern technologies. As recognition of the efforts at national level helps motivate the teams engaged in the development and transfer the services employing modern technologies, hence the APFD is submitting the nomination. Andhra Pradesh is the 4th largest state with 2nd largest forest area in the country with an area of 63,814 Km 2; around 23% of the Geographical area. The department is organized into (13) territorial Circles and (14) functional Circles; (46) territorial Divisions and (62) functional Divisions; (204) territorial Ranges and (222) functional Ranges; (930) territorial Sections and (759) functional Sections and (2611) territorial Beats and (305) functional Beats. (1458) Asst. Beat Officers assist the FBOs. The primary function of the AP Forest department is protection, conservation and management of forests, wildlife and Bio-diversity. Managing this vast natural resource has been a herculean task. Efficient Forest Resource Management requires capturing rapid, reliable and accurate information about the status of various activities connected with Forest and Wildlife. This requires strengthening the current forest planning and management systems using latest technologies and development expertise in-house. The Department has been traditionally managing vast amount of data and images manually, which was cumbersome and time consuming. The modern technologies make the above task simpler and increase efficiency by cutting down the time on redundant activities. Therefore, Andhra Pradesh Forest Department has started out in making use of modern tools of Geomatics like RS, GIS, GPS and MIS in aiding the
Andhra Pradesh Forest Department
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planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation of all the activities. These steps are leading to development of a robust Decision Support System (DSS) for the Department. The Dept. has acquired expertise in a relatively new field and has developed a team in-house to handle all the technologies. The following are some of the Projects executed by the Department, using Remote Sensing, GIS, GPS and Web technologies. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Spatial Database creation Vegetation cover Monitoring Fire Risk Zonation Mapping Selection of Suitable Sites of Water Harvesting Structures, Wildlife Habitat Mapping and Bio-diversity Characterization. (Some key areas) Selection of Suitable Sites for Eco-tourism (Some key areas) Selection of Suitable Sites for Coffee and other Plantations. (Some key areas) Andhra Pradesh Forest Inventory Micro-level Watershed Planning using DGPS (Some key areas) Recognition of Forest Rights under RoFR Act (Some areas completed and remaining areas in progress) Online GIS services using Enterprise GIS Server Online Andhra Pradesh Forest Management Information System (APFMIS), etc.
The efforts of the Dept. have been recognized by the Govt. of India in the past and have been awarded with Silver Icon during the year 2004 for Fire Risk Zonation Mapping and with Golden Icon for Site Suitability of Water Harvesting Structures during the year 2005 for excellence in the e-Governance Initiatives. The output of the above initiatives has been made available to all the Officers and Staff and the communities, who have been sensitized in the use of these technologies
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in day to day administration and preparation of Micro Plans at the VSS level, respectively.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C, G2B, G2G, G2E)
G2G: Most of the activities of the department in the past were highly time consuming, giving very little time for proper analysis and use in the decision making. To elucidate this point, it is to inform that identification of encroachments in the forests was highly time consuming for the field officers, especially in the hilly terrain. Now with the deployment of RS, GIS and GPS technologies, the officers can straight away walk to the sites and take appropriate action. It saves 90% of time of the field officers. The Work Estimates are being prepared by the executive officers using APFMIS by selecting readily available menus and time is greatly saved and it is not prone to errors. The reports generated through various modules of APFMIS at various levels are highly useful and time saving. This time is reduced to a fraction compared to the time needed in data collection compilation and use through snail mail. APFMIS removes manual and subjective errors/biases. Initial cost of procurement of hardware, software is high but in long term it will prove to be highly cost-effective as the benefits in terms of empowering the officers at all levels and enabling them in taking correct and timely decisions will far outweigh the costs. G2C: Various types of maps and vector layers of Forest areas and Reports of Forest Inventory, State of Forest Reports and various other reports are kept on the web for the use of general public. This brings in transparency in the operations and aids the Researchers in advancing their works. This serves as a sensitizer to communities and other sister organizations. The NGOs can also make use of the data for their projects.
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b.
Implementation Coverage
The Implementation coverage is whole of the 63,814 Sq. Km of Forest Area of Andhra Pradesh (All the items mentioned in 2-2) area-wise and 50% functions-wise. Future plans are to provide PDAs to field officers enabling them to enter data on the central server direct from the field specially pertaining to offence cases (Registering of PORs), Nurseries, Plantations, Wildlife Monitoring, etc. and to cover all the remaining functions (pertaining to HRM and HRD, Budgeting & Accounts, JFM, Timber sales, Establishment matters, etc.) in the next 1-2 years.
2.
a.
Efficiency Improvement Initiatives

Time and Cost Efficiency
The time of the executive officers and staff, regional officers and Head Office Officers as well as staff is saved as the data is received almost on time basis and period of wait, which sometimes ranged up to 6 months, is reduced to a maximum of 1 week. As this data is available on the web, is available to stakeholders as well as general public. Now they need not approach various offices for supply of information. b. Innovative ideas Implemented
Both, the department officials as well as common public and stakeholders are benefited. For example, even the clearance of Forests for encroachments, is identifiable to sub-Hectare level. This precise information helps the field officers in effectively and timely dealing with the Offenders. It is also leading to increase in the accountability on the part of field. The Applicants for Mining Licenses, New Sawmill Licenses etc. can easily come to know if the proposed location/s and the extent are falling inside the RF/ proposed RF or a WLS or NP; by plotting it on Arc GIS Server and make appropriate decision. It relieves the dependence of the public on the FD for each and every work. c. Integration with Other Departments
The facilities available have extensively used by Rural Development department, specially the IWMP, for better management of the Watersheds.
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The services have also been utilized by the Tribal Welfare Department in mapping of the rights of the Tribals and Traditional Forest Dwellers under RoFR Act, 2006. Irrigation department, Electricity department and others like GHMC etc. have also benefited from the facilities of the Geomatics in the Department.
III) Enabler Indicators

1.
a.
Department Policy and Strategy

eGov/ICT Vision and Road Map
A new ICT Vision document is prepared in year 2011 focusing on A to Z of the ICT in the department. It includes ICT hardware, software, human resource, connectivity and other infrastructure; and sources of funds for the same including Capacity Building of the Department Officers and staff. It is being sent to Centre for Good Governance/APTS for vetting. However, as per the APO of 2011-12 of the CAMPANPV Project and the 13th Finance Commission Schemes (i.e., major sources of funding), action to procure H/W, S/W and CB is going on. b. Sharing of Common Infrastructure
APFD has been striving to achieve excellence and avoid duplication of works. In this endeavor it has obtained as well as shared data and common infra-structure with the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun & the NIC at national level and The NRSC Hyderabad and AP State Remote Sensing Applications Center (APSRAC) at State level. The AP Forest department has been providing its GPS and other Lab facilities at nominal rates to Other Government departments. Besides, it is helping/guiding many students of the Universities and Colleges in pursuance of their Degrees, PG and Doctoral thesis. c. Technology Standardization
A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has been constituted by the State Government Order (G.O.Ms.No.121 dated 04-12-2009, EFS&T (For-III) Dept.) by nominating Members from various National and State level organizations like NRSC Hyderabad, MoEF GoI New Delhi, FSI Dehradun, APSRAC Hyderabad and Officers of the AP Forest Department to guide the activities of the GIS wing. All the activities are undertaken as per the advice of the experts.
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Besides the above, there are Technical Committees for various purposes constituted by the PCCF for data standardization as well as procurement of IT-related equipment and software and services.
2.
a.
Process Re-engineering and Reforms

Major Non-ICT front end Process Changes
In the past, all procurements were done following the traditional method of calling for tenders etc. by giving paper notification. Now it has been replaced with the system of e-Procurement to have greater participation and to ensure transparency and fair play. Traditional method of surveys has given way to GPS/DGPS surveys saving lot of effort and time. Around 2000 GPS sets are available in the field. In the past each Division was provided with an Arc-View GIS and now all the required functions have been made available through web-enabled Arc-GIS Server. The customization is nearing completion. It is planned to procure PDAs with GPRS connectivity and cameras to monitor most of the important activities like wildlife sightings, seizure of forest produce in offence cases, plantation details, nursery stocks; including movement of staff and their field observations. This will enable better monitoring by the superiors and will provide timely guidance to the field officers. b. Major Non-ICT back end process changes
As the GIS and MIS are in use in the Department for last 10 years, the back-end ICT is ready for general applications. However, it is planned to integrate all the data collected using geo coordinates and the unique codes to each geographical unit and person within a period of next 6 months.
3.
a.
Capacity Building
Leadership Support and Visibility
The AP Government and the APFD leadership in particular, is highly pro ICT. They are providing all the budget, support and guidance needed for deployment of the ICT Plan.
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b.
Change Management Strategy
It is planned to manage the change by regular trainings to all the concerned on the new technologies and applications. Training modules have been prepared keeping in view the needs of various categories of the Officers and staff in various fields. Further, CB activities have also been decentralized; certain trainings and programes will be conducted at State HQ level, while others would be at Circle, District, Division and Range level, so that benefit of changes proposed is quickly disseminated to the ground level. c. Capacity Building Plan and its Implementation
It goes with the change management programe. Capacities of the officers and staff would be strengthened by custom made, decentralized training programes. d. Program Management Teams
Yes, the programe management teams, known as Core Functional Groups (CFGs), are in place. They are full time department officials, having been identified based upon their aptitudes, expertise and domain knowledge with interest in the field of ICT. They are supported by programmers and GIS scientists, taken on contractual basis.
IV) Value Indicators

1. Digital Inclusion
Steps taken to address this factor Stakeholders, specially the frontline staff and the Communities (VSS members) are being educated in the use of new technologies in their own mother tongue. Manuals and reading material are being provided in Telugu. Some Web-Mobile applications are also proposed to be in Vernacular language, besides English.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: Most of the information is being captured through Web-based applications. Many such applications are in place and many more are in the pipeline.
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3.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor: The e-Waste generated is being recycled/disposed of as per the Orders issued in G.O.Ms. No.24 dated 03-09-2010 by the Government of Andhra Pradesh as part of its eGov initiative Shri C. Madhukar Raj, IFS, Prl. Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, Andhra Pradesh, e-mail: prlccf_hf_apfd@ap.gov.in and Sri P K Sharma, IFS, Addl. Prl. Chief Conservator of Forests (IT), AP Forest Department, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, e-mail: apccf_it_apfd@ap.gov.in
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CHAPTER 9
eGovernance at Chief Ministers Office (CMO)*

Dr Hiren Joshi
I) Overview
On June 23, the Chief Ministers Office (CMO), Gujarat, won the prestigious 2010 United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) for innovative use of information technology to address public grievances. CMO is also certified ISO 9001:2008 since last three years with scope related to administration and overall governance. Effective use of IT has played an important role in getting this certification. CM office implements the e-Government strategies and professional IT development which contribute to achieve positive transformation Change for Performance. CMO plays a vital role in sustaining the democratic ethos of the society and ensuring a high level of transparency in governance. Chief Minister Office (CMO) is the focal point of GoG performing innovative, constructive and result-oriented progressive policies for the promotion of e-governance in the State. It acts as a catalyst to play a significant role in the affairs of the State. Overall governance of the state with efficiency and transparency is the primary objective of the Chief Ministers Office. It adopts leadership, people, process, partnership and resources in process to enhance e-governance initiatives of GoG. Active participation in e-governance by Honble CM with infrastructure, policies and e-governance road map, charter to implement ICT as a vehicle for transforming Gujarat into a knowledge-based, economically vibrant, democratic
eGovernance at Chief Ministers Office (CMO)
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and inclusive society. CMO plays a vital role in sustaining the democratic ethos of the society and ensuring a high level of transparency in governance. It further focuses on digital gap and implements ICT-enabled egovernance in almost every sector of socio-economic activity ranging from industrial production to education and public healthcare for improvement in the quality and efficiency of human endeavors. It encourages E-readiness initiatives in CMO and all ministerial and department offices. The experience gained shows that the major challenges that are faced by Gujarat State Government to implement an e-Governance project are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. to overcome inertia to change work culture to upgrade skills and increase awareness to introduce changes in infrastructure to redefine rules and procedures (legal/tech) to ensure security
Having overcome challenges, Some of the remarkable Changes for Performance achieved are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Effective policy making Ensured Environment-Friendly office Development of a collaborative and structured work environment Efficient work/task prioritization Enhanced and efficient monitoring and control of various files, work items of CMO Enhanced internal information exchange Building up a sharable knowledge base system Automated the routine tasks Automated the generation of file number and tracking Standardized common processes Reduced cycle times and dependencies 24*7 access to relevant information
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This section should give high level introduction to the Department and should explain the overall approach to the e-Governance plan and current status. e-Governance is visualized as Governance by a SMART Government at CMO which is Systematic, Methodical, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent government. CMO overhaul Major Initiatives for strategic performance with its enhanced IT Policy 2006-2011. CMO encourages E-Readiness Initiatives in all departments with IT Action Plan with a one year focus and a five-year perspective. CM motivates and encourages other ministerial and Department Offices for E-readiness and implements workplace task force to perform as per his vision and mission. Primary Activities of the Chief Minister Office The main activities of the CMO in coordination with various department Boards, Corporations, Heads of the Department, etc. are as under: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Effective and better governance of overall state activities. Ensuring overall economic, cultural, social progress of the state. Appointing different ministers for regulation of various departments. Effective utilization of the budget. Provided better infrastructure facilities and safety measures to the citizens. Regulation of funds collected from the taxes for the betterment of the citizens of the state. Providing funds to the needy and the victims of natural calamities from the CM Relief Fund. Introducing, implementing and monitoring the different schemes. Timely and optimum utilization of all the natural resources available. Promote foreign trade and improve relations with neighboring states. Managing in-house work flow like Secretarial Functioning within GoG Departments, Effective Time Management with CMs Schedule, PRO/ Media Meetings/Programs/Public Forum/CM. Instruction for state image building and justification of negative news/program/trends. Approval of all media press notes/program clips before publishing
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Major eGovernance and reach of initiatives 1. Policy/strategy drafting is initiated by CMO for functioning efficiently and to achieve its public mission to provide convenience to citizens along with sustainability, innovation and reliability. Implementation of IT strategies to accomplish effective eGovernance. All departments are in the process of creating shareable databases of rules and other information pertaining to administration including information such as budget, recruitment/service rules, plan achievements for various schemes, etc. Integrated Workflow and Document Management System (IWDMS) is implemented across the Government Secretariat, which increases Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness in Government administration. State Wide Attention on Public Grievances by Application of Technology (SWAGAT) At Jansampark Department of Chief Minister Office, the grievances of the common man are addressed through video conferencing and solutions are provided online immediately. Since the implementation, 92.45% of the applications received have seen justice through the mutually united initiative of all Department heads. The GSWAN project saw a boost from the CMO for the Secretariat office Activities. It facilitates intra government communication. It involves active participation through 20015 email ids created for Government offices all over the State. Systematically monitoring and integration of activity-oriented MP/MLA system is performed by the CMO apart from formulating relief fund processing, visitor and telephone diary systems and other fields that need CMO governance.
2. 3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
ICT is an enabling tool that achieves the Vision of Development and effective Governance that has been established for Gujarat. Using various ICT interventions, we are committed to accelerated growth and cohesive social development through the following measures:
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1. 2. 3. 4.
Providing SMART governance to the people of Gujarat. Empowering citizens and providing equal opportunities through appropriate information dissemination . Making the Government accessible to citizens anytime, anywhere and serve them in a more effective and empathetic manner. E-readiness initiatives with in-house implementation at workplace Task force to perform as per vision and mission of CM. The Government is thereby, geared for e-governance right from the grass root levels.
Other features: 1. 2. 3. Grievance registration: online lodging of grievance and online status tracking available. Online Appointment and tour scheduling and automatic updation of appointment list for Honble CM. Online employees requests submission for various entitlements like leave, advance payment, etc. with ability to track the same online. Online records of such requests are also maintained. Online appointment scheduling for Chief Minister Implementation of ICT-enabled CM website www.narendramodi.in and State Portal, www.gujaratindia.com.
4. 5.
Performance Goals CM believes that technology alone can foster e-Governance and that good governance can only happen through an efficient, proactive and citizen-friendly system. Hence, the GoG initiated a massive training program to reorient over 5,00,000 state government employees and to strengthen the administrative machinery. Chintan Shibirs are annual retreats for ministers and senior government officials for brainstorming, progress review, goal setting and developing a collective vision while V-Governance is a unique training initiative for Vibrant Governance through change in mindset. Till date, 4 Chintan Shibirs have been held and lakhs of officers/ employees have undergone the V-Governance training. In addition to government officials, over 2.5 lakh teachers too have undergone the karmayogi training.
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II)
1.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Services Delivered (G2C, G2B, G2G, G2E) GoG remain focused onand committed toTransparency, Participation and Collaboration. CMO is the focal point with improved task operations with ICT enabled featuresan open government initiative that has its impact on deliverance of G2C, G2B, G2G and G2E. 1. G2C Service: Citizen
Enhanced access to public information through the use of dissemination tools, such as: State Portal and CM Narendra Modis website: Provides transparency. Highlights policies and development projects and initiatives. Increases venues of communication between the CM and the citizens through updates, news stories and online interactions. Live Audio, Video and Photo features reflect the CMs bold strategies for Development and governance. SWAGAT provides right platform to the citizens to avail various government aids and raise their issues/concerns to top leadership for effective and speedy resolution. Registering common man / public grievance and forward to concern department for closings and make sure that compliant has been resolved without unwanted delay. SWAGAT program every week with effective planning & execution and its closing and for a reach to Villages Gram Swagat is effective with G2C service. 2. G2B Service: Business Focus on effective compliance management and transparency. Provide business information and simplification through website download of policies, project and initiative highlights and links to related websites eg. Vibrant Gujarat (through State Portal and CMs website). E-communication between Department and stakeholders through e talking, e messaging and sms. Speedier conveyance of Decisions to concerned Departments/stakeholders.
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3.
G2G Service: Government State MP/MLA can raise the issues/concerns of their respective constituency through MP/MLA application. This integrated application not only brings issue in notice of CM but also routes the same to appropriate department authorities for resolution through a electronic workflow. Integrated Workflow and Document Management System (IWDMS) is implemented across the Government Secretariat, which increases Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness in Government administration. Dashboard Facility: State Portal Gujaratindia.com is enhanced with Departmental Dashboard facility. The feedback/complaints, etc mails reach straight to Departments with a copy to CMO. Interactive emailing and timely action is noted by CMO for the same. Also In-House Interaction related to people-centric services are taken care of. G2E Service: Employees Continuously strives to improve efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of intra department and inter department interactions (Government and with Government employees). Provide Human resourcesenhanced facilities to employees. Conducts massive training program to reorient over 5,00,000 state government employees and to strengthen the administrative machinery. Chintan Shibirs are annual retreats for ministers and senior government officials for brainstorming, progress review, goal setting and developing a collective vision while V-Governance is a unique training initiative for Vibrant Governance through change in mindset. Till date, 5 Chintan Shibirs have been held and lakhs of officers/employees have undergone the V-Governance training. In addition to government officials, over 2.5 lak teachers too have undergone the karmayogi training.
4.
Implementation Coverage Various e-gov initiatives like IWDMS CMO and SWAGAT have been implemented and operational. Additionally, as part of grievance processing, IWDMS CMO has been integrated with other departments and their
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District Collectorate offices for effective resolution of these grievances. These district offices are spread all across State. Swagat online Grievance Redressal Program Gram Swagathas been rolled out for villages with aim to reach remote rural corner of the state to help their problems solved. State Portal Gujaratindia.com is actively operational with G2C (citizen) G2B (Business) and G2G (government) facilities whereas CMs website is fully functional with transparency with G2C. Partake with Government, e-Transcriptor and iGujarat are some important roll outs apart from videos, audios, etc.
2.
Efficiency and Improvement Initiatives

50% time reduction achieved for Grievance handling processSWAGAT. Mail management becomes efficient and average mail processing becomes faster by 80%. MP/MLA reference processing also became faster by 50%. The clerical manpower (6-8%) can be reallocated as the work being done by them earlier has been automated, thus resulting in cost benefit. Reduction in ICT spending with enhanced features. Simplified business focused with G2B effective business compliance and management. Improves efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of intra department and inter department interactions with Government and with Government employees. (G2E). IWDMS is a project for improving the productivity of Government Employees and increasing the transparency in Government administration.
Innovative Ideas Implemented As file is the basic unit of workflow, every file has been assigned a unique identification to enable a qualitative control of tracking/monitoring of same.
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workflow item in the form of Unique File Number for better tracking and tracing E-mail and SMS Alerts: The employees can receive alerts on documents received in their inbox. Digital signature: This is being incorporated for authenticating documents and also for ensuring security of crucial transactions. Dashboard for tracking: The dashboard along with drill down facility provides the view of pending files with an officer and his subordinates at any given point in time. Pocket appointment scheduler: A provision for mobile version of appointment schedules for handy reference by Honble Chief Minister. Dynamic priority management of file based on ageing, subject and other factors supported by automatic notification. Automated updating of appointment schedule once in 3 minutes for Honble Chief Minister. A graphical interface for managing ones delegated work assignment to various subordinates along with the capability to re-assign and monitor the status of work. Honble CMs web presence is at top among the leaders in India. People can connect with him on twitter, facebook, blog and on official website.
Integration with other Departments Major eGov initiatives like IWDMS CMO, SWAGAT have been completely integrated with other Departments. SWAGAT online is being viewed as models a for replication at the national level. Dashboard @ State PortalDepartment can access their dashboard by using a unique login and they can update/post content to State Portal with dually moderated mechanism; department can even see query/feedback posted to each department and reply to each.
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1. Department Policy and Strategy
eGov/ICT Vision and Road Map ICT is not an end. It is an enabling tool to achieve the Development and Governance Vision of Gujarat. Using various ICT interventions, CMO is committed to accelerated growth and cohesive social development through: Providing SMART governance to the People of Gujarat. Empowering citizen and providing equal opportunity through articulate information dissemination. Making Government accessible to Citizen anytime anywhere and serve the citizen more efficiently and effectively. E-readiness Initiatives with In-house implementation at Work placeTask force to perform as per vision and mission of CM. Thereby, geared for egovernance from grass root levels. e-Governance Vision of Gujarat To become first State in the Country so as to make Transparent, Efficient and Effective Government to Citizen (G2C) Government to Government Services available Online. G2G with the Dashboard facilities to Departments is an Innovative approach through CMO. e-Governance Road Map It is an initiative to make a detailed Roadmap of all the ICTs initiatives that will be undertaken by the GoG over the next 3 years. The big picture of e-Governance blueprint of Department is transparent on its State Portal www.gujaratindia.com and CMO Department Initiative of CMs website www.narendramodi.in Sharing of Common Infrastructure State and Department: GSWAN: Gujarat State Wide Area Network SDC: State Data Centre SICN: Sachivalaya Integrated Communication Network
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Technology Standardization GoG has taken a giant step towards technology standardization across its various functional units, i.e., departments. An integrated information system based on open standards, J2EE architecture has been implemented across various departments and in HoDs. With the adoption of open standards technology, CMO department has moved towards interoperable systems leading to easy integration with other e-government solutions and is effective with ease and improved efficiency.
2.
Process Reengineering and Legal Reforms
Major Non-ICT front-end Process Changes Grievance registration: online lodging of grievance and online status tracking available. Online appointment and tour scheduling and automatic updation of appointment list for Honble CM. Online employees requests submission for various entitlements like leave, advance payment, etc. with ability to track the same online. Online records of such requests are also maintained. Online appointment scheduling for Chief Ministers programs.
Major Non-ICT back-end Process Changes Electronic file and correspondence movement, tracking and processing with a dashboard. Electronic workflow for ESS and HRMS processing. Electronic processing for Visitor passes, Grievance processing, Appointment scheduling, Relief fund processing.
3.
Capacity Building
Leadership support and visibility and current status The Gujarat Government adopts the Total Quality Leadership rooted with timeless principles: Faith, hope, humility Industry, research, technology Constancy, consistency, predictability
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Continuous improvement and progression Virtue, selfless service, truth and human relations
The Government is absolutely apolitical with P2G2 Pro people, Pro active Good Governance under the leadership of Honble CM and is the most fastforward State of India with political stability, entrepreneur spirit and represents uniformity of development as well as unanimity on the issues of development. The strategy adopted by Government of Gujarat was to follow Top-down approach. A major e-gov initiative, i.e., IWDMS, SWAGAT have been first implemented in Secretariat to set example, gain visibility and ensure continuous support from top leaders at all levels. Thereafter, extension of E-gov program was carried out at HoD and other hierarchy levels under guidance and support of top leadership. Moreover, CMO is the main center for top leadership activities and various e-gov initiatives. CMO has natural advantage of continuous attention and support of top leadership. Social Media Presence is a major Initiative by the Leader with website, Blog, Social network integrations like Facebook Page, Twitter and You Tube. The Gujarat Governments Department of Information has announced the use of Social networking websites Facebook and Twitter. This enables the Government to connect to technically versed generation, predominantly the massive youth populace in order to circulate news and information on Government activities and schemes. The State Portal is likely to adopt and embrace the Technology with Social Media Presence as a future plan of action. b. Change management strategy defined and status thereof
Changes have been dealt on following levels: Transition from manual system of workflow processing to electronic workflow processing: various general and project specific e-governance awareness and training initiatives have been taken to smoothly carry out the transition of employees and end users of new system. Change/improvement in various information systems implemented under egovernance program: A single point of contact has been identified for the
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entire department to implement and authorize any change in the concerned information systems like IWDMS CMO, etc. This has resulted in smooth change implementation and better alignment of information system to departments requirement. c. Capacity building plan and its implementation status
CMO places indepth efforts to formulate capacity building of its employees and ensure smooth implementation of various e-governance initiatives. Adequate provision has been made to provide training and build computer competency of the government employees. It encourages E-readiness at all levels for smooth operations. Types of training provided: Basic computer training Gujarati Indic Training (typing in local language) IWDMS CMO, SWAGAT training to users Refresher training ISO Awareness Training
Highlights of training: User base divided into category based on Designation. Separate trainings carried out for Registry Clerks, GDC, DySO, SO, US, DS, JS. Content of the training designed based on participant designation. Minimum 2 hours of Training with question-answer session and 1 hour of hand-holding on computer with each user login into their account and exploring the actual functionalities of the system. Elaborative and comprehensive user manual designed in regional language for easy understanding of system process implementation. Awareness Level Management Level Functional Level Program Management Teams
Capacity Building at: d.
CMO has defined and implemented those human and physical factors of the work environment needed to achieve conformity of administration and governance.
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Consideration of these factors is identified during the administration and governance and process planning stage. This includes: Positive environment; Work methods; Work ethics.
The C.M /Secretariats appoint a member as the Management Representative. Dr Hiren Joshi (OSD IT) has been appointed as the Management Representative. He is responsible to implement and maintain the quality system and various eGovernance Initiatives.
IV) Value Indicators (Optional Section)

1. Digital Inclusion Steps taken to address this factor
Fully functional State Portal and website with G2C/G2B/G2G and G2E features.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: e-talking, sms and e-messaging Department Dashboards G2C features at State Portal and CMs website, e.g. Partake with Government, Swagat online, etc.
2.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor: Paperless working (inter and intra office) Department Dashboard at CMO/on State Portal
Dr Hiren Joshi, Officer on Special Duty (IT) to Honble CM, Chief Minister Office, Government of Gujarat, email: osdittocm@gujarat.gov.in
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CHAPTER 10

Smt. Rita Teaotia and Shri Ram Kumar
I) Overview
The concerted, calculated and conscious efforts undertaken by the department in the direction of applying e-governance in the recent past have been remarkable and won appreciation from many quarters. The policies and strategies to make e governance happen have been put in place to the extent required. A dedicated manpower with the domain expertise have continuously supervised the entire process to ensure that nothing goes wrong and if at all some aberration occurs, corrective measures are taken on time. Feedback mechanism has been developed to take on board the outsiders opinion and accommodate the voices of the genuine ones. This has led to a better service delivery, a more transparent system and an improved problem solving scenario. It is all the more relevant given the erstwhile background when decision making was mostly subjective and arbitrary with no use of any DSS tool. Scant attention was paid to capacity building of the stakeholders. There was neither a proper monitoring system nor a strong institutional arrangement. Equity concerns like benefit sharing, beneficiary selection and conflict resolution were either completely ignored or dealt with on an ad hoc basis. Such scenario engendered lack of transparency and accountability. The abovementioned context necessitated a complete overhaul of the system and here came the e governance to salvage the situation. The ICT enabled benefits have been achieved in many sectors and one did not have reason to repudiate the same here in the department. The conviction was converted into action with
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putting in place a robust and customized e governance system that led to desired outcome. The concrete benefits realized through the e system and the experiments done in the application of ICT by the department have to be made known to and shared with other stakeholders, institutions, departments, agencies. It will help ensure the wider acceptability and usability of such initiatives. Essentially and precisely, this has been the reason to nominate the entry. The Gujarat State Watershed Management Agency (GSWMA), Rural Development Department serves as a State Level Nodal Agency (SLNA) to undertake Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) in the state. GSWMA is the key player in planning, strategizing and executing the innovative changes that have been brought about in the way Watershed Development Projects are managed. Being the State Level Nodal Agency (SLNA), it is responsible for obtaining sanction for IWMP projects from the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development of the Government of India. After getting the projects sanctioned, it appoints Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) for implementation of the projects at village level. At district level, its offices in the name of District Watershed Development Units (DWDUs) monitor the projects regularly. The PIAs are responsible for facilitation of works to be carried out primarily by the Village Watershed Committees. The major role played by GSWMA are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Provide technical support to District Watershed Development Units (DWDU) throughout the state Prepare a perspective and strategic plan of watershed development for the state Approve a list of independent institutions for capacity building of various stakeholders and planning for the same Approve Project Implementing Agencies identified Establish monitoring, evaluation and learning systems at various levels Ensure regular and quality on-line monitoring of watershed projects in the state in association with Nodal Agency Constitute a panel of Independent Institutional Evaluators for all watershed projects Prepare State Specific Process Guidelines, Technology Manuals etc
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Goals/Objectives of the ICT initiatives: 1. Prioritization and planning of watersheds across the whole state for a pragmatic and scientific assessment of whole area to be treated while at the same time integrating historical and future physical structures in the plan Long term, scientific and need based holistic planning of each micro-watershed with mandatory provision for convergence with other relevant schemes/ departments/agencies Participatory management where developmental planning, execution and monitoring was done with active participation of the community members integrating modern technology with traditional peoples wisdom Transparent and effective monitoring of the ongoing projects at field level
2.
3.
4.
Economic/Social Agenda of the initiative: 1. 2. 3. Poverty eradication through natural resource management Employment generation through livelihood support Restore the ecological balance by harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources such as soil, vegetative cover and water in a holistic and sustainable manner Demand driven and need based watershed planning with active participation of community members Prevention of soil run-off and regeneration of natural vegetation with low cost technological solution complemented by indigenous knowledge Rain water harvesting and recharging of the ground water table with inculcating a sense of conservation among the community Enabling multi-cropping and the introduction of diverse agro-based activities, which help to provide sustainable livelihoods to the people residing in the project area Promoting eco friendly and locally suitable activities with the required capacity building of the stakeholders
4. 5. 6. 7.
8.
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II) Result Indicators

1.
a.
Key Performance
Services are mainly delivered in the categories of G2C and G2E with primary focus on G2C. Compared to previous scenario, the service delivery mechanism in the present has proved time efficient and cost efficient. b. Implementation Coverage Table 1
Sr. No. Year of Sanction 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 No. of MicroWatershed Covered 1136 802 881 No. of Villages Covered 1099 1101 1135 No. of Projects 151 141 138 Total Area Budgetary (in Lac Ha.) Allocation (in crore ) 7.08 7.21 7.12 930 927 922
1 2 3
2.
a.

Technically appropriate selection of project area & location of physical interventions: Identification and prioritization of most needy and critical areas throughout the state have been accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Below is the illustration of the priority map of the Dang district of Gujarat state where project clusters has been shown and the clusters are located in one of the most backward regions in terms of socio economic status and natural resources parameters: Scientific prioritisation has resulted in selection of remotest and needy area in tribal district of Dangs which is one of the hundred most backward districts as per Planning Commission Scalability: Geographical Coverage Gujarat State Table 2
S. No. 1 Total micro-watersheds (MWS) in the State Item Details No. 13587 Area (Lakh ha.) 196.024
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2 3 4.
Total untreatable MWS (Reserved Forest, Barren Rocky, assured irrigation, etc.) Total treatable MWS in the State a. Total MWS covered under pre-IWMP schemes of DoLR b. Total MWS covered under schemes of other Ministries c. Total MWS covered under IWMP 2009-10 and 2010-11 of DoLR d. Total of 4 a to d
1005 12582 3895 645 1507 6047 6535
27.2386 168.7854 31.6302 6.07954 14.218 51.9277 116.858 7.12 39.7477 37 33 116.858
5 6
Balance micro-watersheds not covered till date Plan for covering balance micro- watersheds 11 Plan 12th Plan 13th Plan 14th Plan Total
th
2011-12
881 1842 1940 1745 6535
Figure 1: Geographical Spread of the Project Services in Dangs
b. 1.
Innovative Ideas Implemented GIS based prioritization on objective parameters and planning of watersheds was undertaken for the whole state resulting into a pragmatic and scientific assessment of whole area to be treated under the programme while at the same time integrating historical and future physical structures in the plan.
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The Government of India has issued a reference to all states to follow Gujarat model for preparing DPRs under IWMP viz., letter vide No. Z-11011/ 20/2010-PPC Dated 7 September 2010 that validates the ample potential of the replicability of the approach adopted under the initiative. 2. GIS Based Monitoring: Use of GIS has been planned for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation of IWMP projects. Each WDT member of PIA will be allotted a unique code for their respective districts. Timely updating of the data regarding the project implementation on GIS maps will help in generating regular summarized and specialized reports for the decision makers. Data will be translated at State level onto GIS maps through which monitoring before, during & post implementation will become possible. Additionally, Customized mobile based software is being developed in collaboration with BISAG (Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics) which will enable updating maps through mobile text messages received from WDTs & incorporating GPS coordination. The process is represented in a diagram below: Impact Assessment through remote sensing and GIS: The GSWMA has designed a rigorous impact assessment of projects. On completion of the project, impact assessment becomes essential. GIS will be used to map the environmental as well as social impact resulting from implementation of IWMP. Natural parameters such as ground water recharge, forest cover, salinity ingress, soil erosion and biodiversity will be studied through remote sensing and GIS. Also parameters such as crop pattern and irrigated area which have a direct impact on society can be studied. Analysis of data available from satellite images at regular intervals will help in generating an idea of the changes occurring in the baseline data due to implementation of IWMP. While detection of changes on the ground may be possible only after certain duration. Since IWMP is a long duration project, the assessment is feasible. Collection and analysis of data at regular intervals along with the mapping of project activities before, during and after implementation will create a very useful database which is at the core of any impact assessment process.
3.
4.
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Figure 2: Monitoring & Evaluation System

1.
a.

eGov/ICT Vision Roadmap 1. 2. Use of technology as a tool for transparency and improved planning at grassroots level. Centrality of community participation and democratic processes right from the commencement of the project by holding village meetings through Gramsabha, Participatory Rural Appraisal exercises and execution of work through a democratically constituted Watershed Committee in the village. Continuous Capacity Building at all the levels with special emphasis on the Watershed Committee for ensuring quality implementation and sustainability of the project.
3.
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b.
Sharing of Common Infrastructure
State infrastructure for ICT is shared with the department. c. Technology Standardization
State specific Technical, Capacity Building and Human Resource Manuals and Operational Guidelines issued and enforced
2.
a.
Process Reengineering and Reforms

Major Non-ICT front-end Process Changes
To enhance the efficiency, transparency, accountability and effectiveness of IWMP, the systems and procedures have been automated to the extent possible. The difference between the new and the old approaches is given in the diagram below where one could see that new approach focuses more upon participatory planning with proper application of scientific tools like GIS and remote sensing as and when required. To ensure transparency and get feedback across board, the planning output i.e. detailed project report has been put in public domain. Vernacular hard copies have also been provided to VWCs. Figure 3: Monitoring & Evaluation System
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Colour code: Pink: New approach; Blue: New aspects; Green: Traditional approach E-connectivity has been provided in all its offices at different levels- from state to village level
3.
a.
Capacity Building
Leadership support & visibility and current status
There has been a constant support from the upper hierarchy at each and every stage of the conceptualizing, designing and operationalization of the initiatives. b. Change management strategy defined and status thereof
Change management strategy: c. Institutional restructuring Team building at every level of the department Community and employee participation Application of technology to the extent possible Emphasis on capacity building of every relevant stakeholders Capacity building plan and its implementation status
The whole process of capacity building has been standardized. A manual to this effect has been prepared and enforced. A consortium has been developed by empanelling 33 reputed institutions of different expertise. These institutions provide technological support and training programmes for skill enhancement. Regular capacity building programmes are under way to address the knowledge gap. Such programmes are aimed at all the relevant stakeholders within the department and targeted beneficiaries. d. Program Management Teams
Yes. There is project team at every level. Team of domain experts work in unison and with community resulting into the successful execution and effective
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coordination. Efforts have been made to professionalize the human resources by enlisting people from reputed institutes like IITs, IRMA, Anand; EDI, Ahmedabad, DA-IICT, Gandhinagar, XISS, Ranchi, etc.

Steps taken to address this factor: Availability of the services in the vernacular Capacity building for utilizing the services Documentation of the ICT application plan
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: Citizens and Employees can send their feedback through e mail, SMS, ETC. The e governance initiatives exercises are shared electronically with the staffs and suggestions are accomndated
3.
eWaste
Not Relevant.
Smt. Rita Teaotia, Principal Secretary, Rural Development. Govt of Gujarat, secrd@gujarat.gov.in & Shri Ram Kumar, Chief Executive Office, Gujarat State Watershed Management Agency, Rural Development, Gujarat, gj071@ifs.nic.in
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CHAPTER 11
Commercial Taxes, Government of AP: IT Initiatives in VAT Administration for Improved Transparency, Fairness and Tax Payers Services
Shri Suresh Chanda
I) Overview
CT Department, Government of AP endeavors to transform into an enterprisefriendly entity with greater transparency and achieve highest tax efficiency through use of Information Technology. As part of this vision accomplishment, department is providing Tax Payers Services through Online System in addition to other channels to give choice to dealers to opt for a service channel which is more convenient to him and also to reduce avoidable physical interface between citizen and tax office. These initiatives have brought in higher levels of convenience to tax payers, higher levels of satisfaction, reduced cost of service to citizens, reduced discretion in the hands of tax office in decision making, transparency in decision making, reduced scope for corrupt practices and reduced cost of service delivery for Government. Commercial Tax department contributes more than 65% to the AP State Revenues. It is the biggest and main bread earner for the State. Main function of the department is administration of Value Added Tax, Entertainment Tax and Profession Tax. During 2010-11, it collected Rs. 32,800 Cr towards State Revenue. The State Excise Department stands at No. 2 with revenue collection of Rs. 7,5000 Cr. It has more
Commercial Taxes, Government of AP IT Initiatives in VAT...
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than 2.25 lakh dealers on its Roll. Every month more than 2 lakh dealers visit department offices just to file their monthly VAT Returns and to make Tax Payment. Approximately, 3,000 new prospective dealers need to visit Tax offices per month for Registration. Approximately, 20,000 dealers visit every month Tax offices to apply for Statutory Forms like Waybills, C Form, etc. to transport their Goods. Every dealer, on average, has to make at least 3 visits to get these Forms. These processes were leading to too much of physical interface between Tax Payers and Tax Collectors along with its associated ills. Not only ills of physical interface, there was too much secrecy and scope for subjectivity in decision making and there were delays in delivery of service again leading to increased scope for corrupt practices. By nature of its functions, Tax departments all over the country are highly prone to corrupt practices. Tax staff generally has lot of discretions in taking decisions. In view of this, these departments generally face complaints of harassment, corrupt practices, unfair treatments of tax payers, abuse of discretionary powers, etc. But in the recent past, there has been positive improvement in all these departments and now there are proactive initiatives to improve Tax Payers Services, reduce discretionary powers, simplify process, and improve transparency in decision making process and fairness in approach. Government, by nature of its functions, is the biggest monopoly. Citizens has no choice but to approach Government for many services like Licenses, Registration Certificates, Permissions, Protection of Life and Property, Resolution of disputes through Courts, to name a few. This monopoly tends to reduce efficiency and effectiveness of Government services. Government does not feel the pressure of competition. But now that also is changing and Government can no longer ignore it as more and more citizens, with increased awareness, are demanding improvement in Government services.
Approach towards eGovernance

Within that monopoly of Government, it is possible and feasible to eliminate or reduce such monopoly in many sub functions of the main function of the Government. For example, for issue of Statutory Forms, the sub functions like receipt of request applications and dispatch of Forms can be easily outsourced to multiple agencies to create options and choices for the dealer to create competition and thus improving quality of service. That
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has been the primary approach for ICT initiatives. Further it is a well known fact that discretions in decision making, non-transparency in decision making and too much physical interface creates ground for corrupt practices and harassment. This is another main objective behind ICT initiatives. In brief the objective behind ICT initiatives are, to the maximum extent possible, to provide options and choices to citizens to access Government services, reduce discretion, decision based on system-driven policies, reduced avoidable physical interface, services to citizens as per their convenience and move towards Online Service on 24X7 basis. These initiatives will also bring substantial savings to citizens in terms of reduced cost of travel and time and also savings to Government in terms of reduced routine work in Tax offices. These initiatives will also improve the image of the Government and increase the satisfaction level of citizens towards its Government. T h e major ICT initiatives taken up are:
eRegistration and Central Registration Unit (CRU)

Prior to Reforms process, prospective dealer has to go to local Tax office only. To provide choice (Breaking monopoly) and additional channels for service (Increasing supply); initially Central Registration Unit was created at Hyderabad for all the areas coming under Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Twin cities contribute more than 50% tax revenue. At CRU, dealer gets Registration Certificate on the same day without the need to visit the Tax office. In the next step, eRegistration facility has been put in place. Prospective dealer can file his application Online through Internet and he can send documents to Tax Office through Post. Registration Certificate is dispatched to dealer place through post. eRegistration has eliminated even the need for visiting CRU. Now Prospective dealer has choice (Breaking monopoly) as per his convenience to choose Tax Office or CRU or Online System (More channels increased supply smaller queue). Physical interface with tax office has been reduced.
eReturn
Every month more than 2 Lakh Tax dealers visit Tax offices just to submit Tax Return and Cheques. Facility was available during Tax Office Working Days and Working hours only. If the last date for filing Returns happens to be a sunday or a Holiday, the dealer has to file the Return one day in advance of the last date. Through eReturn
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process, dealer can file his Tax Return through Internet from any place on 24X7 basis even on holidays and make payment Online through Internet Banking account. For dealers who still do not have access to Internet, they can file Tax Return through any eSeva center spread over all Municipal Towns in the State. The facility has also created for Sales Tax Practitioners (STP) to file Return on behalf of Dealers so that dealers who do not have their own IT infrastructure, can avail facility of STPs. This process has eliminated the need for more than 2 lakh dealers to visit tax offices every month. It has also helped Tax department. No need to enter more than 2.90 Lakhs Returns in computer every month. Earlier there used to be a lot of data entry errors in Tax offices committed by the Data Entry Staff. Now no errors, as Return is entered by dealer himself online. Even if we take average travel of 20 KMs per the dealer per month, it has eliminated more than 4.80 Crores Person KMs travel per year. Thus reducing not only Travel and Time cost for dealer, but also big benefit to society as a whole in terms of reduced traffic congestion on roads and reduced consumption of fuel by personal vehicles.
ePayment
It is a big boon to Finance department. If tax is paid through Cheque/DD, Government realizes Tax after, on average, 6 days. In case of ePayment, tax is realized by Government next day itself. Thus, there is improvement by 5 days.
Issue of Statutory Forms

Dealers for transporting goods from one place to another place require certain Forms like VAT Waybill, CST Waybill, C Form, etc. In the manual process, dealer need to apply to the local tax office. The service was available during Office working days and during working hours only. Issue of such Forms by the Tax office, has always have been a source of complaint from the trading community. General complaints are delay in issue of Forms, issue of lesser number of Forms forcing them to approach Tax office again and again and complaints of tax office staff demanding bribes. On average, 20,000 dealers per month approach Tax offices for 10 lakh Forms. As a first step towards reforms, a Centralized Computer Dealer Service Centre (CDSC) was created at Head Office. Dealers can file request online through Internet on 24X7 basis to this Center. The system will check the eligibility and indicate the number of Forms that can be given to a dealer. The Service provider (Third party) will dispatch Forms to dealer within 48 hours through courier. The entire process is completed without any interface with Tax
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staff. The system is self-sustainable and does not require any budget support from Government. Service provider, who is selected on open tender basis, collects transaction charges from dealer to meet his expenses and courier charges. This system has eliminated altogether the need to visit Tax office for getting Forms. On average per month, more than 4.50 lakh (45%) Forms per month are delivered to dealer through this system.
eWaybill
As a next step to further improve dealer services, in this system, dealer will fill up goods transaction details for which he desires Waybill online and self-Print the Waybill. This service is also available to dealer on 24X7 basis. This service has even eliminated the need for dispatching Form through Courier and Form delivery to Dealer is instant. On average, more than 2.10 lakh (21%) Forms per month are being self-printed by dealers.
Information dissemination Transparency

Correct and timely information is the key for transparency and fairness in administration. It strengthens the hands of citizen and makes staff accountable for its actions. A full-fledged portal puts citizen-centric information in public domain. In addition to that, the department has started putting all its orders on the Portal as soon as these orders are issued for the information of public. Earlier, order passed by the Tax authorities will be known to respective dealer and respective office only. Others will have no access to these orders. Orders passed by Tax authorities are quasijudicial in nature. As such, department cannot take one stand in one case and another stand in another similar case. But in absence of transparency it is not possible to ensure such fair play. Once these orders are put in public domain, dealers can insist for such fair play. It will also make authorities accountable for their actions.

1.
a. 1.
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C, G2B, G2G, G2E) Central Registration Unit (CRU) and eRegistration:
In manual mode, prospective dealer has to visit Tax office for submission of Registration application. It involved Travel as well Time cost to dealers. Under eRegistration, citizen can file Registration application Online and submit required documents through Post. Thus, avoiding on as average a minimum of 20 KMs of travel to and
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from Tax office. At CRU, dealers get Registration Certificate on the same day. eRegistration has reduced data entry work at Tax office. 2. eReturn:
In manual mode, every month, more than 2 lakh dealers has visit Tax office for submission of monthly Tax Return. It involved Travel as well Time cost to dealers. Under eReturn, citizen can file Return Online on 24X7 basis. Thus, avoiding on average, a minimum of 20 KMs of travel to and from Tax office for each dealer. On average more than 4.8 crore Person KMs are avoided per year. Indirectly, it is also a big benefit to society as it has reduced pressure on Public Transport and Traffic on Roads. Each month the department has to enter more than 2 lakh Returns in computer system. There were many instances of data entry errors. With eReturn, there is no need to make entry of Returns at Tax office and no scope for data entry errors. Manpower cost savings to Government also. 3. ePayment
In manual mode, dealer will prepare Cheque, go to Tax office, Tax Office will capture details in Computer for generating Challan, send Cheque along with Challan to Treasury Bank, Bank will send Cheque to Other Bank for realization. Finally, the Bank will transfer amount to Government account and Challan confirmation details to department. This process involves huge routine work in Tax office and in bank. Government will realize the amount on average after 6 days from the date of submission of Cheque by the dealer. Under ePayment, dealer makes payment Online without visiting Tax office and information flows between Tax office to bank Online. No data entry work in Tax office and Bank. Government realizes revenue on next day of ePayment. Huge benefit to Government as time for realization is reduced from 6 days to 1 day. In the month of June 2011, Rs. 800 Cr was realized through ePayment. Soon it will go up to Rs. 2000 Cr per month. In financial terms, it will amount to financial cost saving of Rs. 50 lakh per month. 4. CDSC and eWaybill
In manual system, dealer has to make at least 3 visits to Tax office to get Statutory Forms. Thus spending time and money on travel. Under CDSC and eWaybill system, dealer files request Online and get Forms delivered at his door steps through courier
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(in CDSC) and Prints Form himself instantly (eWaybill). Thus totally avoiding visit to Tax office. Savings in terms of Travel and time Cost for dealer. With eWaybill and CDSC in place, Tax office staff can focus on other important functions. Saving in manpower cost to Government. b. Implementation Coverage All the ICT initiatives are now available to all the dealers through the State of AP.
2.
a. 1.

Time and Cost Efficiency Central Registration Unit (CRU) and eRegistration
In manual mode, prospective dealer has to visit Tax office for submission of Registration application. It involved Travel as well Time cost to dealers. Under eRegistration, citizen can file Registration application Online and submit required documents through Post. Thus avoiding on average a minimum of 20 KMs of travel to and from Tax office. At CRU at Hyderabad, dealer gets Registration Certificate on the same day. 2. eReturn
In manual mode, every month, more than 2 lakh dealers has to visit Tax office for submission of monthly Tax Return. It involved Travel as well Time cost to dealers. Facility was also available during working days and working hours only. If the last day for filing Return happens to be a holiday, the dealer has to file the Return one day in advance. Under eReturn, citizen can file Return Online on 24X7 basis. Thus avoiding, on average, a minimum of 20 KMs of travel to and from Tax office for each dealer. On average, more than 4.8 crore Person KMs are avoided per year. Each month department has to enter more than 2 lakh Returns in computer system. There were many instances of data entry errors. With eReturn, there is no need to make entry of Returns at Tax office and no scope for data entry errors. Manpower cost savings to Government also. 3. ePayment
In manual mode, dealer will prepare Cheque and go to Tax office. Tax Office will capture details in Computer for generating Challan, send Cheque along with Challan to Treasury Bank, Bank will send Cheque to Other Bank for realization. Finally, the
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Bank will transfer amount to Government account and Challan confirmation details to department. This process involves huge routine work in Tax office and bank. Government will realize amount, on average, after 6 days from the date of submission of Cheque by the dealer. Under ePayment, dealer makes payment Online without visiting Tax office and information flows between Tax office to bank Online. No data entry work in Tax office and Bank. Government realizes revenue on the next day of ePayment. Huge benefit to Government as time for realization is reduced from 6 days to 1 day. In the month of June 2011, Rs. 800 crores was realized through ePayment. Soon it will go up to Rs. 2000 crores per month. In financial terms, it will amount to financial cost saving of Rs. 50 lakh per month. 4. CDSC and eWaybill
In manual system, dealer has to make at least 3 visits to Tax office to get Statutory Forms. Thus spending time and money on travel. Under CDSC and eWaybill system, dealer files request Online and get Forms delivered at his door steps through courier (in CDSC) and Prints Form himself (eWaybill). Savings in terms of Travel and time Cost. Further dealer will get Forms with a delay of 10 to 12 days. Under CDSC, Forms are dispatched to dealer within 48 hours and under eWaybill system he gets instantly. With eWaybill and CDSC in place, Tax office staff can focus on other important functions. Saving in manpower cost to Government. b. 1. Innovative Ideas Implemented Uploading of Orders on Portal:
Earlier it was very difficult for the dealers to get a copy of the Department Notifications, Circulars and Orders timely. The only way for them to get copies was through Private Publications on Taxes. Now all orders and circulars issued by department are made available on portal as soon these are issued. Not only dealer has access to orders related to him but to all orders. Now he can represent if he finds that departments has taken different stand under similarly placed cases. It will bring transparency and accountability. 2. CDSC and eWaybill:
Earlier there used to be a lot of complaints from trade on delay, harassment and corrupt practices in issue of Waybills. Under CDSC, Waybills are provided to dealers
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without any physical interface with Tax office and dispatch is within 48 hours. Under eWaybill system also, physical interface with Tax office has been eliminated. Dealer himself can print Waybill Online and service is instant. It has not only reduced service delivery time but, most important, it eliminated physical interface with Tax which is generally the cause of harassment and corrupt practices. 3. ePayment
ePayment option has reduced lot of routine work in Tax office and helped Government to realize Revenue on T+1 day as against earlier of T+6 days. c. Integration with other Departments
Major interface of Commercial Tax department is with Treasury Department for realization of Revenue. Through ePayment system, Challan generation has been made online with treasury department. Now department is working for Online Verification of PAN data with Income Tax department.

1.
a.

eGov/ICT Vision and Roadmap
Vision: CT Department endeavors to transform into an enterprise-friendly entity with greater transparency and achieve highest tax efficiency through use of Information Technology. As part of this vision, department is now providing all Tax Payers services through Online System in addition to other channels to give choice to dealers to opt for a service channel which is more convenient to him. b. Sharing of Common Infrastructure
CT department has its own Data Centre and WAN of 2 Mbps connecting all its Divisional offices and 256 Kbps for Circle Offices. As now AP SWAN capacity has been increased from 2 Mbps to 8 Mbps, it is planned to migrate Divisional offices to AP SWAN. Similarly as soon as State Data Centre is made operational, Critical Servers will be shifted to State Data Centre. c. Technology Standardization
Department has not locked into any one technology. It is using Windows as well as
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Sun Technology. Database is Oracle. But now it plans to migrate to SQL Server for cost advantage.
2.
a.
Process Reengineering and Reforms

Major Non-ICT front-end Process Changes
Legal changes have been carried out to facilitate eReturn and ePayment. Change in procedure for issue of Forms through CDSC and Online has been made. b. Major Non-ICT back-end Process Changes
VAT software was initially implemented in 2005. Subsequently many Tax Payers Services related software has been developed with independent databases. Now it is planned to develop single software with single database. Software agency already identified and work of developing software started. It is likely to be completed in next 8 months.
3.
a.
Capacity Building
Leadership support and visibility and current status
Any Reform initiative requires support of all stakeholders more so top leadership. Support from top leadership is very crucial in getting required approvals, budget and legal changes carried out. Government provided all the required support at right time to accomplish the vision. b. Change management strategy defined and status thereof
Tax administrations by and large are highly conservative and regulatory in nature and thus they resist any reforms and liberalization for fear of Revenue loss. Further, Tax administrations are known to be prone to corrupt practices because of inherent nature of job, high degree of discretion in taking decisions and secrecy. As such it creates vested interest in the system which tend to oppose any simplification in process, reduction in discretionary powers, transparency and liberalization. Hence it is important that all critical stakeholders namely Tax men, Tax payers are taken into confidence at every level of change contemplated. Tax men should not feel that Reforms and IT initiative are planned to take away their powers. Tax payer should realize early results of such initiative like improved convenience, fairness and reduced scope for harassment. Thus, strategy adopted was to create additional channel of services
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without dismantling existing channels run by Tax men. Idea was to create choices for dealers. Let dealer decide which option is good for him. It helped in answering the fears of Tax men that IT is not planned to replace them. Bottom line is to provide improved services to dealers whether through online system or through Tax office. Finally dealer should feel satisfied. It worked. It improved trust level between field Tax staff and higher administration. Meetings with Trade organizations and direct touch with dealers through email helped in creating right environment for early adaptation of IT initiatives. Once critical mass of dealers realized its benefits, it easily spread to others for adoption. c. Capacity building plan and its implementation status
This department has been one of the earliest users of ICT in AP as long back as 1989. VAT software was launched in 2005. All the staff was given exhaustive training for making use of ICT initiatives. For creating awareness among dealers, meetings were held with Trade dealers. Citizen friendliness and ease of use was given high priority while developing Citizen Centric software. Maintenance of ICT infrastructure has been outsourced to third party. d. Program Management Teams
There is full time Project Management team consisting of Department officials and Technical team from Institute of Electronic Governance and Centre for Good Governance.

Steps taken to address this factor The main Stakeholders for this department are Tax Dealers. Most of them have their own ICT infrastructure but there are many small dealers who do not have their own ICT infrastructure. To ensure that such dealers also take advantage of eInitiatives, dealers can take assistance of Sales Tax Practitioners, who are authorized by the department, to avail Online Services. In addition to this, dealers can also file their eReturns at any eSeva Centers. From the beginning this aspect was kept in view while designing, planning and implementing ICT project. If system is adding value to citizens, they are very eager to adopt these new initiatives and even willing to learn new IT-enabled processes.
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2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: The various important stakeholders in this initiative are, Dealers, Field Tax Staff, their Associations, Trade Organization, Media, Senior Tax Administration staff and Government. As Tax staff was taken into confidence at every stage and it was made very clear that purpose of Reforms and IT initiative is to improve service delivery to dealers through multiple service delivery channels, there was no expression of negative fears. Trade organizations gave highly positive support for these initiatives and also took initiatives to create awareness among dealers for early adoption of these initiatives. It helped in building positive critical mass very early. Media supported these initiatives by highlighting the advantage and taking awareness to large number of citizens. Government at every stage and at right time provided all the necessary approvals to make it happen. Department portal has provision for giving feedback. Special care is taken to answer dealers queries received through this channel. Many dealers gave very useful advice to improve the quality and reach of these initiatives. Their feedback was taken into consideration for making appropriate changes in software. It also encouraged them to give more feedback to improve system.
3.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor AP Technology Services, a Government of AP enterprise has identified third party vendors for safe disposal of eWaste. Recently this department has submitted list of eWaste for disposal through identified vendor. Shri Suresh Chanda, IAS, Commissioner, Commercial Tax, Government of AP, Andhra Pradesh, Email: schanda@ap.gov.in
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CHAPTER 12

T P Senkumar and Alex Paul
I) Overview
Motor Vehicles Department is one of the departments of the Government of Kerala offering highest number of citizen centric services. The department was established in 1958. It is a major revenue earning department of the Government. All the 18 Regional Transport Offices, 65 Sub Regional Transport Offices, and 19 Motor Vehicles Check Posts have been fully computerized through the FAST (Fully Automated Services of the Transport Department) Project, and interconnected using Kerala State Wide Area Network (KSWAN), the first of its kind in the State of Kerala to have a wide coverage. Computerization of all the citizen services has helped the department in providing efficient and timely services with better transparency and quality to the citizens in spite of having acute shortage of staff. The major boost to the department was its recognition in the national level by awarding the CSI:Nihilent e-governance awards for the Best e-Governed Department in the year 2007-2008 at the initial stage of computerization itself. This has helped the department in implementing new and challenging innovative schemes. The major reasons to submit this nomination are: 1. 2. To get recognition of the department for the successful use of Information & Communications Technology in serving the public. To recognize the efforts and confidence of all the department staff who accepted the new schemes.
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3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
To encourage the department officials to accept challenges in implementing e-Governance. To get recognition and confidence of the citizens and to bring a new perspective of the Government services. To promote cost-effective and open source e-Governance solutions. To be a model department for other State departments in the e-Governance field. To accept the support and encouragement of the departments technical solution provider, National Informatics Centre, Kerala.
Motor Vehicles Department is the only department in the country which has achieved 100% computerization of the services and implemented State Register and National Register. The department believes that it has brought a new perspective before the citizens by the use of IT services in providing the department services and has greatly reduced the time and cost of the citizens for obtaining a service. Hence this nomination is submitted for the Best e-Governed Department. The Motor Vehicles Department was established in the year 1958. The department is a line department of the Transport Department, Government of Kerala. All the services under Motor Vehicles Laws including those related to licensing of motor vehicle drivers and registration of motor vehicles is performed by the department. The department is headed by the Transport Commissioner and is assisted by the Joint Transport Commissioner and Senior Deputy Transport Commissioner. For the smooth functioning of its administrative and citizen services, the department has sub offices all over Kerala. There are 18 Regional Transport Offices, 65 Sub Regional Transport Offices, and 19 Motor Vehicle Check Posts. There are also four Deputy Transport Commissioner Offices in each zone (North, Central Zone-I, Central Zone-II, South Zone) to control the functions of the offices. The department was formulated with the objective of regulating the use of Motor Vehicles in public places and ensuring safety and efficiency in the transport system for catering to the needs of traveling public as well as transportation of goods for industries and agriculture. Collection of revenue for meeting the expenditure for the regulation of traffic and construction and maintenance of roads are also important objectives of the Department.
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The services of the department can be broadly classified into three categories: 1. 2. Citizen Services: Issue of licences, registration, permit and related works. Enforcement Activities: Implementation of Motor Vehicles Acts & Rules, Control of automobile pollution, implementation of road safety measures and enforcement at border check posts. Revenue Collection: Collection of vehicle tax, CESS, fees, compounding fees
3.
All the services of the department were fully computerized as part of the FAST project and was declared Go Live in January 2007. All the services related to licences, registration, permits, number allotment, check reports etc have been automated through the SMART MOVE software. The department has always strived to give better and faster services to the public. With the advancement of information technology, the department has been using these services to deliver promptly the needs of the public. People assess a Government by means of how the departments respond to the needs of the public. It depends upon the structure, uses of resources, decentralized mechanism, good procedure, routing of files, correctiveness in its day to day activities and avoiding delay in implementation. With the above priorities in mind, the department is working diligently and effectively through various e-Governance schemes. The department has implemented the ICT activities using specifically the resources allocated by the Government of Kerala. Care has also been taken to develop the software needed for various computerization activities in open source platform thereby avoiding financial burden to the citizens to avail various services. The department has explicitly used the Government service delivery points like FRIENDS, Akshaya centres, mobile governance etc to deliver its services. By the use of Government schemes like Data Centre, Kerala State Wide Area Network etc. the department has definitely taken care that no extra cost is to be incurred by the Government or department. Various G2C, G2B, G2E and G2G services have been implemented by the department. It is to be noted that the number of people coming to obtain the services of the department are increasing day by day with the growth of vehicle
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population. The vehicle population in Kerala which was only 11.7 lakhs during 1996 has reached around 65 lakhs by the end of the year 2010. Implementation of various services with the help of ICT has helped the department to offer satisfactory services even with acute shortage of staff. The technology-mediated process to modernize Government has brought in tremendous changes both in the method of delivery of public services and in the interaction between the Government and the public.
II)
1.
a. 1.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Stakeholder services and benefits achieved through ICT interventions G2C Services
The department has introduced submission of applications online for selected citizen services. This has made it much easy for an applicant to apply for a service. The applicant can select the service he needed and input only the relevant details like licence no. or registration no. After submitting the application, he is provided with the application forms duly filled in the prescribed format with barcode and an application id. The data entered online is readily forwarded to the Central Data Server and the same can be retrieved in the office by entering the application ID. The advantage of this system is that the applicant need not be bothered about which application form be submitted for a particular service.
e-Licence Services: b. Licence Particulars f. Duplicate c. Change of Address g. Change of Address (outside State) d. Renewal d. New Badge h. Renewal
a. New Learners Licence e. Addition of new class e-Vehicle Services: a. RC Particulars f. Hypothecation termination e-Permit Services: a. Fresh
b. Duplicate RC g. Transfer of ownership b. Renewal
c. Change of Address h. No Objection Certificate
e. Hypothecation endorsement
i. Re-assignment j. Certificate of of Registration no. fitness d. Transfer e. Cancellation
c. Authorization renewal
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Information Services: Facility has been provided to the public for accessing various information in the department website www.keralamvd.gov.in, related to licence, vehicles, permits and registration numbers. The following services are offered:
a. Licence details e. Mock test for Learners licence b. Vehicle details f. Booking status of reserved numbers c. Allotted numbers d. Temporary registered vehicles h. Application status
g. Tax calculation
Mobile Services: As part of the m-Governance scheme of the Government of Kerala, the department is providing selected information services through mobile using SMS technology. Messages in specific format can be sent to the short code 53725/537252 for availing the services. The following services are offered: Vehicle details: MVD V <vehicle no.> Application status: MVD A <inward no.> Permit Application status: MVD P <vehicle no.> New Registration number: MVD N <inward no.> Vehicle Tax: MVD T <vehicle no.> Vehicle Number booking range: MVD F <office code> Vehicle Number booking status: MVD F <booked no.>
Fast Track Services: A new innovative venture of the department called FAST TRACK counters envisages providing instant services to the citizens through a single visit. The main features of this scheme are as follows: Services are rendered only to those applicants who come directly. This has reduced the interference of agents and touts in the offices. Services are delivered and disposed within 30 minutes of the submission of application. Two counters at each office have been exclusively provided for services through this counter. All the services like acceptance of fees, tax and application are done through a single counter.
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Facilities to take photos of the applications, if needed are provided at the counters. Documents are delivered by hand to the applicant after service on the same day itself. Selected services are only provided through this scheme: Driving Licence/Conductor Licence: Renewal, Change of Address, Licence Particulars, Duplicate (on surrender of original) Vehicles: Transfer of ownership (non-transport), Change of Address, Hypothecation noting, Duplicate (on surrender of original), Registration certificate particulars Permit: Motor Cab permit & Auto rickshaw permit renewal 2. G2B Services
Dealer login The facility was introduced for dealers to enter directly the data related to vehicles for registration. This has reduced the workload of the employees to a great extent. On an average 80-100 vehicles are registered daily in an office. This caused delay in disposing the applications in time and data entry errors were frequent. With the introduction of this facility each dealer can enter the data of vehicles he is registering from his office. The data can be retrieved from the office by entering the application ID. It has also become much easier to accept fees and tax of the vehicles thereby making it possible to issue the registration certificate on the same day itself. The Driving Schools are using the facility of e-licence services for submitting the applications of new learners licence and for booking the test date and time of appearance. Banks and financial companies can use the facility of e-services and m-services for verifying availed vehicle loans. This prevents the misuse of taking loans for the same vehicle from different financial institutions. 3. G2G Services Enforcement login The department is giving G2G services to departments like Police, Excise, Sales Tax etc. by sharing information like details of licence, vehicles, tax details through e-services and m-services for enforcement
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verification. Data is shared with other departments for verification purposes. The National Register for vehicle and driving licences has been made for the interconnectivity with other States also. Common Service Centres Department is using the facility of common service centres like FRIENDS, Akshaya etc. for delivery of its services. Citizens can remit tax and fees for various services of the department through FRIENDS. Citizens who are not well-versed with internet technology can use the services of the Akshaya centres for submitting online applications. G2E Services Employee login Facility has been provided in the website for the employees to login and retrieve various statistical reports in the sub offices. This has reduced the time delay in obtaining various reports. E-mail E-mail IDs have been provided to all the senior officers and offices of the department for instant communication. The department has used the facility of Kerala State Wide Area Network in achieving this. Important circulars and communications can be communicated through this facility. SPARK The department has implemented Service Payroll and Repository of Kerala, a Government initiated web service application for payroll processing. This has greatly reduced the work load of the employees in matters related to process of pay of the employees.
4.
Implementing the services through ICT has greatly reduced the time for disposing of services to the citizens. The facility of web services and m-services has reduced the time taken by the citizens to submit an application and knowing its status. Implementation of web services has given access to the services of the department to the citizens anywhere and anytime. In the conventional system, services which took more than 10 to 15 days on an average for processing and disposal, now takes only 2 or 3 days. The ICT services have also brought better transparency in the services of the department. With the facility of knowing the application status through web and mobile, a citizen can easily track the process of his application in an office without coming to the office itself. Submission of applications has also become very easy. Before the implementation of ICT services, a citizen had to fill up to 7 or 8 forms for some services and he was forced to take the help of agents and touts in filling the application forms. In the web service
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system, he only needs to enter the necessary details, and a filled application form is generated automatically, which he can submit to the office with proper documents. Facilities like choosing the test date and time for appearing in Learners Licence test or Certificate of Fitness test for vehicles has reduced the burden of the citizens to a great extent. The e-permit services recently started by the department have reduced the workload of the employees and also that of the taxi permit holders in the State. Earlier the application along with RC and other necessary documents had to be sent to the office of the State Transport Authority for process and then send back to the citizen through speed post. Now with online applications, these are verified at the respective RT Offices and the documents are returned then and there to the applicant. The details only are forwarded by web service to the head office for process and the permit certificates are sent by post to the applicant. Services like FAST TRACK Counter have given the confidence to the citizen to approach the offices without the help of agents or touts. All the services of the department through ICT have been implemented in a cost-effective way by using the resources provided by the Government. Application software have been developed in open source platform. Connectivity has been got through the KSWAN provided by the State. The necessary technical solution and development of programs are being done through NIC. Hence, there is no extra cost incurred by the department and it has made possible to deliver the ICT services to the citizens without causing them much financial burden. b. Implementation coverage till date and during the year:
The ICT services of the department are available throughout the State. All the offices have been computerized and are providing the citizen services through ICT only. Internet technology and mobile technology have made it possible for the citizen to avail the services of the department 24x7x365 days anywhere and anytime. The pilot run of the ICT services were done in selected offices of the department and necessary corrections were made. The program was then rolled out in all the offices of the department. At present 100% of the services are being delivered to the citizen using the ICT services only. The department has taken active steps in implementing e-payment gateway to be integrated with the web services and will be rolled out shortly. At present, STQC certification, testing and trial run are being conducted.
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In the enforcement area, the project Automation of Enforcement Wing proposes to achieve automation of the enforcement work of the department. Cameras have been installed in major junctions of the city and vehicle/licence details of any citizen who transients the motor vehicle laws and traffic rules will instantly be informed to the enforcement officers. Under this scheme, enforcement officers are provided with PDAs which will enable them to generate check report and compound penalty while on the move itself.
2.
a. 1.

Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT enabled services: The introduction of ICT based services has definitely reduced the time and cost of delivery of the services to the citizens. Services which had taken more than 10 or 15 days has now reduced to less than 5 days. The ICT services have also enabled the department to give service with quality. Registration Certificates and Licence which were in book form and handwritten are now delivered in computer printed format and laminated. With the use of ICT, the work environment in each office of the department has been utilized to maximum. Now there are less paper files to keep and hence the work area around the staff is fresh. With the introduction of e-services, filling of application form has become easy. It can be done by anyone having a minimum knowledge of ICT or he can take the service of Government controlled CSCs. Only relevant data need be filled and this has saved the cost of application forms or service money which are to be given to the agents and touts. The citizen can directly track the status of application through e-services or m-services and hence he need not come to the office often. The documents are sent by speed post to the citizens address. The employees need not do data entry and hence any service can be delivered in time. The data already entered by the applicant can be retrieved from the central server of the department. Though the number of vehicles has increased considerably over a period of time, the department is able to deliver the citizen services in time due to
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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the adoption of ICT and hence the costs of appointing additional staff by the Government have been saved. 8. Wise use of resources provided by the Government have enabled the department to save considerable expenses that could have occurred in this field. The technical solution provider, NIC, being a Government of India body has developed the softwares for free of cost and thus no expenses have been incurred in this field. Use of open source softwares have saved considerable amount for the department. Specific innovative ideas implemented in eGov area; and their impact on services: FAST Project: - Fully Automatic Services of Transport Department project was the first of its kind in the State to cover such a vast area in the field of computerization. The department offices all over Kerala were computerized with this initiative in a short span of time. Smart Move Software: - The software was developed by the NIC by customizing the Vahan-Sarathi software. This is comprehensive software to automate all the citizen related services pertaining to licence, registration, and permits. Automatic allotment of registration numbers is a main feature of this application. Computer Aided Learners Licence System: - This module is coupled with the Smart Move and is used for conducting learners licence test. It is an objective type test module and is available in English, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Kannada languages. This has made possible to issue learners licence in a single day itself and at an average more than 80 candidates are able to attend the test. Any Counter Any Service: - These counters were set up as part of the FAST project so that fees and tax for various services could be remitted in any of the counters instead of separate counters for a particular service. This has helped to prevent long queues and the citizen could get his services done without any delay. Fast Track Services: - A new venture in which selected services can be processed and disposed off within a single day itself, if applicants come directly. This has helped the department offices more citizen friendly.
9. b. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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6.
Speed Post Delivery: - With this facility, the applicants need to come to the office only once for submitting the application. The documents are then sent by speed post to the applicant. This has prevented the exploitation of the common public by agents and touts. E-Applications: - In this the citizen need only enter his licence number or vehicle number for a particular service and the application form is generated automatically. An application ID is also incorporated so that citizen can track the status of the application. Test date booking for Learners Licence and Certificate of Fitness: - While submitting online applications for learners licence or vehicle fitness, the applicants can choose the date and time for appearing for the test, and hence multiple visits to the office can be avoided. Dealer Login: - This was introduced for facilitating the dealers to enter the data of newly registered vehicles from their office itself. This has enabled the acceptance of tax and fees of new registration vehicles easy and has become possible to issue the certificates on the same day itself. Online Permit Applications:- This web service was started by the department recently. Instead of sending the RC and the applications to the head office by post, citizens can now submit applications at RT Offices and after scrutinizing the documents are returned to the applicant. The details entered by the RT Offices are then forward to the head office via web service for processing and the permits are despatched by speed post to the applicant directly. E-Kiosks: - Touch screen kiosks have been installed at all the offices of the department for the public to access various information services without the assistance of office staff. Application status, tax calculation, change of driving test date, mock test for learners licence, number allotment, number reservation, vehicle and licence information can be accessed through this facility. To what extent the services are integrated with other departments
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
c.
The data of the department is shared with the Police, Excise, Sales Tax etc. through enforcement login for knowing the details of vehicles and licence holders. Data is exchanged between FRIENDS Common Service Centres for facilitating acceptance
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of fees and tax. Under the e-District project of the Government, the department data is shared with the Revenue Department for verification of address proof and identity.

1.
a.

eGov/ICT Vision and Roadmap
The department has a broad perspective on its future e-Governance initiatives. The department is always in the forefront to embrace the emerging technologies in ICT to deliver services through e-Governance. The major projects of the department are: E-Payment: - All necessary steps have been taken by the department to implement e-payment facility in the web enabled services. At present, auditing and testing of the applications is being done by STQC and department officers. Electronic Document and Records Management System: - The department has a database of over 65 lakhs of licences and 56 lakhs of registration certificates, voluminous number of permits etc. Though the applications are processed through computer, the necessary documents are being kept in paper form. This has led to piling up of the documents and difficulty to retrieve necessary papers. Hence, it has been decided to digitize all the paper documents and store it in a web server which can be retrieved online from any office. Complaint and Query Management Systems: - Road transport is a very vital area of public interest. To render help to the public an effective and efficient method of complaint management system needs to be implemented. In the present scenario complaints are received by means of letter or e-mail and there is no way for tracking the status of these complaints. An automatic CQMS will allow the citizen to track the status of complaints and bring transparency and speed in disposing the complaints. Web Application Software: - At present, the department is using the clientserver model of the Smart Move software to deliver computerized services
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to the citizens. It is proposed to develop a web application software having a common database to avoid duplication of records and can be accessed and processed via online. This will also bring the concept of a single RTO. b. Sharing of Common Infrastructure
The department has taken care to utilize the resources and channels provided by the Government to maximum use. Connectivity between the offices have been established through Kerala State Wide Area Network. The front end of the web site has been developed in the open source content management system JOOMLA and the back end has been developed in open source platforms using PHP and PostgreSQL. Common Service Centres like FRIENDS, Akshaya are being utilized for service delivery. Government schemes like m-Governance are also being used to deliver services to the citizens. Sharing of data with other departments is also done through KSWAN. c. Technology Standardization
The department has decided to implement all its e-Governance schemes using the resources made available by the Government and to use open source platforms for software development. This is clearly evident in the ICT services already implemented.
2.
a.
Process reengineering and Reforms

Major Non-ICT front end Process Changes 1. 2. 3. Implementation of web enabled services and e-application form. Facility for tracking the status of application through e-services and m-services. Despatch of processed applications through speed post.
b.
Major Non-ICT back end process changes 1. 2. 3. Implementation of e-applications. Data synchronization between RTO and central server using the KSWAN connectivity. Capacity Building.
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3.
a.
People and Resources

Are the Program Management Teams there full time; (department officials/ consultants)
The departments IT team, Smart Support Group is constituted with IT interested officers. They provide full support and suggestions in implementing various e-Governance schemes. The major functions of the team are: 1. Examine and enable formalization of changes required in the departmental process and review the progress of implementation of process re-engineering and change management. Evaluation of progress of implementation of the e-governance schemes. Capacity building plan and its implementation status Training is being given to the employees during the implementation stage of e-Governance activities. Vehicle dealers and driving school owners are also given training for the use of e-applications. Master trainers are selected from the department staff for giving training. National Informatics Centre also gives requested training programs to the employees.
2. b.
c.
1.
Change management strategy defined and status thereof

Employees and citizens have been given better ambiance. The office work environment has got a new look. Provision for drinking water and seating facility has been provided in the offices. Centralization of data has enabled to deliver information 24x7x365 days through multiple channels. Sharing of data with other departments are also possible. Concept of e-application forms has greatly reduced the burden of the citizens in filling data repeatedly. Leadership support & visibility and current status
2.
3. d.
The Transport Commissioner along with Joint Transport Commissioner leads the overall implementation of the projects. The departments IT team called the Smart Support Group manages monitors and implements the various e-Governance schemes.
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The technical solution provider of the department, National Informatics Centre, Kerala provides full support and suggestions on the e-governance schemes. The Service Provider of the FAST Project, C-DIT supports and maintains the ICT equipments in all the offices. Recently the department has started its own Software Development Centre, Software Testing Centre, and Software Training Centre. The software development centre and testing centre has been equipped with latest and advanced servers and ICT equipments for developing and testing the web enabled software of the Smart Move software. In the training centre, it is proposed to conduct regular training for various e-Governance activities. The centre has been equipped with internet connection and latest computers for giving hands on training to the existing employees as well as to the new recruitments. T.P. Senkumar, IPS, Transport Commissioner, Motor Vehicles Department, Kerala, tc@keralamvd.gov.in & Alex Paul, Joint Commissioner, Motor Vehicles Department, Kerala, jtc@keralamvd.gov.in
Annexure - I: Details of computerization and Database Connectivity of Motor Vehicles Department in India as on 31.12.2010

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Health Management Information Systems, Tamilnadu
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CHAPTER 13
Health Management Information System, Tamilnadu

Dr. S Vijayakumar
I) Overview
The Tamilnadu Health Department works for the cause of a healthy population through a system of Medical College Hospitals, District Hospitals and Public Health Centers arranged in a three tier system. Tamilnadu Health Systems Project under the department of Health and Family wrelfare, Government of Tamilnadu, caters to the upgradation Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Care hospitals in the State. The system lays special emphasis on reaching out to the poor, disadvantaged and tribal groups. Health Management Information System HMIS is a judicious combination of Information Technology (IT) and management systems, to deliver improved evidence based health care to the public at large. Health Management Information System provides information-based support for the implementation of cutting-edge reforms by the Tamilnadu Health Systems Project. Apart from Primary health centers, Secondary care hospitals, this project is envisaged to include all the tertiary care hospitals including the Medical colleges. IT enablement of hospitals in the Tamilnadu districts will create an accurate real time database which can be then used as a basis of timely information for drawing up health-related policies and budgets by the State bureau. This initiative strives to strengthen the patient and the hospital database such that it ably supports the strategic management of the health system of the state. The easy
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access to epidemiological data about individual patients enables proactive and efficient management of communicable and non-communicable diseases. This is very effective and result-oriented during the eventuality of an epidemic. Early intervention and swift response by the health directorates, guided by accurate information would aid in handling emergencies and such other situations. The Health department of Tamilnadu is not only providing for quality health care but also ensuring infrastructure support to sustain this care. Critical parameters captured and made available in real-time, across the health chain, distinctly aids quality and timely decision making by the health directorates. Implementation of health schemes has significant financial implications. Thus the HMIS project being implemented by the Health department of Tamilnadu for IT enablement of the hospitals. The ambitious project was conceptualized to provide the critical health data across the health chain for quick and timely intervention by the health directorates. The project includes the development and implementation of Hospital automation of Primary, secondary care institutions, Tertiary care hospitals, Govt Medical Colleges & a Medical University across the state and a State wide Health IT network for reporting on a uniform reporting platform. All the critical parameters are captured at the end user level and made available real time across the health chain for decision making HMIS is a judicious combination of Information Technology (IT) and management systems, to deliver improved healthcare to the common man. Critical parameters captured and made available in real-time, across the health chain, distinctly aids quality and timely decision making by the health directorates. In addition to administrative benefits experienced by the hospitals and enhanced patient-experience in follow-ups, the state-run programmes like Blindness Control, Malaria, TB, Infectious diseases, School Health etc. gain access to accurate and current data which gives a fillip to the success of the programmes. Implementation of health schemes has significant financial implications. The objectives of HMIS include improved financial control of the various schemes. Efficient data handling of patients, equipment inventory, drug stocks and such other related entities, controls costs and avoids unnecessary wastages.
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Compliance with International Classification of Diseases-10, is essential to carry out qualitative analysis of the diseases and health problems of a large population. HMIS eases this process and gives the Tamilnadu Health Care system a significant leverage in efficient management across the entire state. The Government health care delivery covers a population of over 7.21 Crores (2011) in the State of Tamilnadu (in all 32 districts) through 19 Tertiary Care Institutions under Directorate of Medical Education, 267 Secondary care hospitals under the control of the Directorate of Medical Services and 1539 Primary Health centers under the Public Health Directorate. The HMIS application is envisaged as a single State Health IT system. A totally centralized web based system on fully open source technologies was decided upon to optimize investments and more importantly, overcome the maintenance and skills availability at district/hospital level. It has two components namely:-
HMS (Hospital Management System)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Registration-OP/IP/casualty Clinical module for OP record/IP record/Nurses notes, Operation notes/ discharge summary/ ANC record etc. Reporting of the lab test results online Online indents and issues (for drugs) Online ward transfer/linen/diet/BMWM Online day end/periodic report generation Final disease diagnosis is mapped to ICD-10 And
MIS (Management Information System)

1. 2. 3. Clinical module (as above-Auto populate) Ancillary-reporting forms-Blood Bank, stores, diet etc National Programmes Blindness control, Malaria, TB, Infectious diseases, School Health
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4. 5. 6.
Administrative Information HR issues Security module handles all the access and privileges to be given to end users for each Application and reporting.
An University Automation system for Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University and College Management system has been devised for University & Medical College activities. This is devised to capture real time online data on patients and hospitals in 267 hospitals in 32 districts across the state of Tamilnadu. Health management information from 1539 Primary health centers, 19 medical colleges, 47 DME institutions. While TCS provides the software solution support, the connectivity is provided by Electronics Corporation of Tamilnadu using a 2 mbps leased line. The vendorindependence of the software and fail-proof connectivity make the system a robust one. So, this system can be successfully deployed across all the hospitalswhether it is in an urban area, a village, or a remote location, independent of the volume of patients handled by it. The simplicity of the interface enables the use of the application directly by the end-users without any assistance from operators. Implementation of HMIS has been treading zones where no one had ever gone before. Gujarat had a system, but that was data entry operators putting information into the system. This is a real time online loading of data and its success is dependent on the cooperation of the staff. By implementing this system we have fixed accountability and responsibility on the individual health care providers.
Project Data:
HMIS the flagship Tamilnadu Health System Project was implemented in a phased manner. Started as Pilot (during the year 2008), followed by PhaseI (during the year 2009), Phase-II (during the year 2010) and finally Phase III levels (2011). Amount spent for pilot implementation
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Table 1:
Sl.No 1. 2. 3. 4. Stage Pilot Phase I Phase II Phase III Total Amount Spent through TNMSC and ELCOT Rs.2,88,15,000/ and Rs.18,33,250/Rs.5,01,84,000/Rs. 87,85,28,697/Rs.23,05,05,792/Rs. 118,75,46,739 + Rs. 50,00,000 (Rupees One Hundred and Eighteen Crores Seventy Five Lakhs Forty Six Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Nine Only)

1. Key Performance
The HMIS project has several stakeholders Patient, Doctors, Health Administrators and the service providers in hospitals. Benefits to patients 1. Online health record available for easy retrieval by doctors in subsequent visits 2. Time saved with access to doctor directly instead of registration for follow up visits Benefits to Government / Health Administrators 1. Quick and easy retrieval of data real time data across hospitals/districts available online 2. Close monitoring and follow up easier with data available online 3. Better inventory and human resource management 4. Capability to analyse trends and disease patterns 5. Evidence based decisions for investments, improvements 6. Savings in terms of paper and records maintenance 7. Referral chain and patient movement 8. Easy consolidation of data for comparison, validation, etc. Benefits to hospitals/staff 1. 2. Time saved for reports and data consolidation Quicker and easy retrieval of records
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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Single point of data entry at end user level Uniform and standardized reporting formats across the Health chain Near real time data available for monitoring, decision making across the health chain Reduced/minimized duplication of data entry and data maintenance Automatic consolidation/collation of data In-built validations for data entry reduction in data entry errors Master data entry forms standardized to bring in uniformity in reporting
HMIS is a solution that encompasses technology, procedures and people with a focus on providing timely and accurate information to micro manage at operational level and aid decision making at policy level. This solution aims to increase process and quality outcomes and decrease inefficiencies and costs. This would help control administration costs and maximize efficiencies of available resources. Acknowledging this, the initiative was awarded the e-India 2009 award for category e- Health Best Government initiative/policy for the year 2009 at the e- India event, held at Hyderabad during August 25-27, 2009. Selected for Final round National E-Governance Award awarded by department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Government of India. One of the important measurable outcomes of the HMIS implementation is that approx. 60% of the registered patients bring back the PIN (Patient Identification Number) during their subsequent visits, which shows high patient compliance to this system. By implementing this system we have fixed accountability and responsibility on the individual health care providers. The results are clearly indicating the success 1. 267 secondary care Government hospitals + 1539 PHCs online 2. Real time data 24x7 3. The Usage details since December 2008
2.
a.

Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT enabled services:
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Table 2:
1.
All the processes and data capture fully paper based and all records maintained manually at the hospital - resulting in time consuming process for transfer/retrieval of records, and collation/consolidation of data for reporting. Substantial Government funds spent on printing of Registers for record keeping.
2.
3. Duplication of records/data entry eg. Patient demographics including name, age, sex to be entered in each register/record; and no records maintained by hospital for patients treated in Outpatient department. 4. Inconsistency and variations in health care data received from hospitals/ districts for analysis. 5. No snap shot/dashboard view available to monitor the performance of the hospitals on real time basis for health administrators. 6. No uniform and proper maintenance of details for Equipment, Personnel, Drugs inventory, at hospitals/administrator levels. 7. Limited mapping facility for Inpatient records to Disease classification (International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)) at hospitals. The end users across various Institutions and offices were called upon for finalizing the software requirement specifications, so that the entire application was customized to suit the needs of each and every department. TNHSP judicially chose an Open Source software stack in order to prevent a vendor lock in state, in case the project needs to be up scaled. Extremely simple, user friendly screens designed by application provider to ensure end user ease of use and optimized for performance.
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Adequate training for the end users at the Institutional level, to ensure the full participation and to increase the comfort level of the end users. Hassle free connectivity through Tamilnadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN), which is a 2 Mbps dedicated leased line terminating at each hospital level. A Broadband Connectivity of 2 Mbps connectivity has also been setup at all hospitals as a redundant connection. We have also established Automatic switch over from TNSWAN to broadband and vise versa during times when either one of them fails. A centralized web server which houses all the database placed at a fully equipped Tamilnadu State Data center maintained by ELCOT. TNHSP in coordination with Tamilnadu Electricity Board has ensured that there are no power cuts during the Out patient hours of the hospitals. We have also supplied UPS with 2 hours back up to all the hospitals in case of a power failure. TNHSP has requested the State Government to issue necessary orders to do away with the manual registers subsequently Govt Order number (MS)10 dated 14.01.2011 was issued by Health and Family Welfare department, Govt of Tamilnadu, this had enabled all the hospital staff to eventually use HMS for all the transactions. Continuous motivation of all the end users from the top level of the management and a daily review of the performance of the hospitals on HMS at the Directorate level ensured that the implementation was a success. Creation of a Centralized Help Desk to register calls/clarify queries from end users regarding hardware/ application related issues, which will also ensure coordination among various stakeholders. TNHSP has posted an IT Technical coordinator at each district for the 32 districts to supervise, troubleshoot and handhold the various issues occurring at the institutional level. b. Specific innovative ideas implemented in e-Governance area; and their impact on services 1. 2. 3. Unique Patient Identification Number (PIN) - helps in Referral and easy retrieval of Patient data Standardized and Unique codes across all government hospitals; and employees of the Health Department Usage of standardized State level drug codes from Central procurement
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agency & Treasury codes for Finance related information 4. 5. 6. Uniform and standardized reporting formats across all institutions for ease of comparison, data analysis among Health Directorates. Online availability of patient health records across referral chain. No Data entry support by ensuring the end users themselves trained for online usage of the system - OP record entry by doctors online including online prescriptions, lab investigations, diagnosis. Issuance of Government orders - removal of manual registers; process changes at hospitals (eg. Drug tokens, lab slips removal) and use of the online HMS. Rationalization of manpower and processes
7.
8. c.
The extent to which this e-Governance initiative is integrated with other internal and/or external ICT systems
Optimal utilization of existing IT infrastructure investments by the State including Wide Area Network, State Data Center Guided by the objective to improve efficiencies at the global level and leveraging the prolific presence of technology, rationalization of some processes, inputs and reports have been done. This has led to removal of many manual processes including manual tokens for drugs, lab request slips, indent forms, etc. and automation of periodic reports on drug issues, indents, daily census, etc. resulting in substantial saving of time for the end users. Grass root level study of information requirements and processes has facilitated the design of uniform and standardized input formats and processes. Common uniform system of reporting will ease data comparison and performance monitoring across institutions. Proactive Health programmes can now be tailored to meet the local challenges. The abstract of the innovations brought about by the project are as follows:1. 2. 3. 4. Unique Patient Identification Number Unique Institution codes across all government hospitals and office Unique employee numbers/user names and password-for access to system Re-use of drug codes (from other central procurement agency)
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5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Re-use of the treasury codes for finance related information Uniform and standardized reporting formats across all institutions TNHSP will propose to link the PIN to the UID that is to be developed by the government of India. The Lab test results are being given to the patients with test report reference values The final disease diagnosis is linked to International Disease Code-10
Basic Computer training to all the hospital staff were arranged with the help of Tamil Nadu e Governance Agency (TNeGA). The doctors themselves enter diagnosis, order lab tests and give prescriptions online for all out patients. As a result, no manual records are maintained any longer. Posting of an exclusive District IT Technical Coordinator, to maintain the systems inventory and to attend to local hardware/network issues ensures minimal downtime. Top management support has also played a critical role in the successful deployment of the application. Continuous motivation of all the end users from the top level of the management and a daily review of the performance of the hospitals on HMS at the Directorate level ensured that the implementation was a success. As mentioned earlier, at the behest of the Director of Medical and Rural Health Services facilitated by TNHSP, the State Government has supported this project by way of issuing a G.O instructing hospitals to do away with manual registers and make full use of HMIS application. Also, HMIS was conceptualized as a centralized web based software solution to minimize technology support and maintenance dependencies

1. State Policy and Strategy
One among the Secondary care hospitals where this web-enabled system had been established the Namakkal Govt Hospital had received NABH accreditation. The vendor-independence of the software and fail-proof connectivity adds value to the system. Hence this is successfully deployed across all the hospitalswhether it is in an urban area, a village, or a remote location, independent of the volume of patients handled by it. Government had issued
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orders to do away with manual records and all hospital related entries are done online. By principal government had issued orders for the implementation of State Health Data resource center, which will serve as a central repository for all the data received through HMS and HMIS. The various Government orders are as follows:1. G.O.2D No.68 Health and Family Welfare Department Dated: 29.08.2005 (Hiring of a consultancy firm to develop and implement a comprehensive HMIS for secondary level hospitals). G.O.2D No.62 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated: 06.06.2007 (Hiring of a consultancy firm to develop and implement a comprehensive HMIS for secondary level hospitals Expenditure Sanctioned). G.O.(Ms) No.223 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated: 08.07.2008 (Implementation a comprehensive HMIS for secondary level hospitals- Pilot Phase Procurement of Hardware components and connectivity, etc). G.O.2D No.87 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated: 29.07.2008 (Implementation a comprehensive HMIS for secondary level hospitals). G.O.2D No.37 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated: 18.05.2009 (Implementation of comprehensive web based HMIS including HMS and patients electronic medical records Implementation in 270 hospitals in the State Procurement of equipment for Phase I hospitals Sanction of additional funds of Rs.3,47,26,930/-). G.O.2D No.80 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated: 20.10.2009 (Implementation of web based HMIS and HMS in Phase I project hospitals Provision of TNSWAN connectivity proposal approved Sanction of expenditure of Rs. 1,56,66,521/-). G.O.2D No.87 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated: 21.10.2009 (Provision of computer furniture to the hospitals supplied with the computers - Proposal approved Sanction of expenditure of Rs. 10 Lakhs). G.O.2D No.88 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated:
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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21.10.2009 (Implementation of web based HMIS and HMS in all project hospitals Outsourcing of Technical Co-ordinator(IT)). 9. G.O.(Ms) No.63 Health and Family Welfare (F1) Department Dated: 2.03.2010 (Introduction of HMIS in all secondary care hospitals under the control of the Director of Medical and Rural Health Services in two phases Implementation of changes in the hospitals systems Formation of team at the Directorate level and nomination of contact persons at the district level). G.O.(Ms) No.121 Health and Family Welfare (F1) Department Dated: 03.05.2010 (Planning and Development Introduction of Hospital Management System and Hospital Management Information System in all the Secondary care hospitals under the control of the director of Medical and Rural Health Services in two phases Implementation of changes in the hospital systemsformation of the team at the Directorate level and nomination of contact persons at the district level Orders issued amendment to orders Issued). 11. G.O. (Ms) No.9 Health and Family Welfare (F1) Department Dated: 14.01.2011 (Department of Medical and Rural Health Services Implementation of a comprehensive HMS in all secondary care hospitals under the control of Director of Medical and Rural Health Services in all remaining districts). G.O. (Ms) No.10 Health and Family Welfare (F1) Department Dated: 14.01.2011 (Department of Medical and Rural Health Services Implementation of a comprehensive HMS in all secondary care hospitals under the control of Director of Medical and Rural Health Services in all remaining districts Dispensing away with the manual reporting system Fixing responsibility on hospitals staff for online reporting). G.O. (Ms) No.72 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1/1) Department Dated: 23.02.2011 (TNHSP Establishment of State Health Data Resource Center and implementation of Operational Guidelines - in-principle approval). G.O. (Ms) No.73 Health and Family Welfare (E1) Department Dated: 23.02.2011 (Department of Medical Education Implementation of HMIS in all tertiary care hospitals and 20 Government Medical Colleges (Including Government Dental College) under the control of Directorate of Medical Education
10.
12.
13.
14.
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and Pilot Implementation of HMIS in Government General Hospital, Chennai and Government Thanjavur Medical College Hospital and Implementation of University Automation System and College Management System (CMS) in Dr. MGR Medical University). 15. G.O. (Ms) No.102 Health and Family Welfare (EAP 1-1) Department Dated : 01.03.2011 (TNHSP Department of Medical Education Implementation of HMIS in all tertiary care hospitals and 19 Government Medical Colleges (including Government Dental College) Pilot implementation of HMIS in Government General Hospital, Chennai and Government Thanjavur Medical College Hospital Implementation of University Automation System and College Management System in Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University contracting of a consultant for a software development).
2.
Cost Effectiveness
HMIS is a solution that encompasses technology, procedures and people with a focus on providing timely and accurate information to micro manage at operational level and aid decision making at policy level. This solution aims to increase process and quality outcomes and decrease inefficiencies and costs. This would help control administration costs and maximize efficiencies of available resources. The huge cost involved in the procurement of records and registers are now being curtailed and a more cost effective system put in place.
3.
a.
Support Infrastructure
Sustainability
IT challenges faced by all deployments is, trying to accommodate increasing demand for new IT capabilities and services. The scenario in this case includes maintaining a fine balance between growths, cost savings, handling day-to-day operations and providing improved and extended services. The mantra for success for this application includes : 1. 2. 3. Enablement of real-time, online data capture and updation High availability Reliability After the project period the respective Directorate will maintain the HMIS
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implementation and will be promptly supported by the Department of IT. The budget (recurring expenditure) needed to run this project will be factored in during the annual budgeting of the Directorate. The Department of IT will maintain the hardware/ software by means of Annual Technical Support every year. One of the important measurable outcomes of the HMIS implementation is that approx. 60% of the registered patients bring back the PIN (Patient Identification Number) during their subsequent visits, which shows high patient compliance to this system. Even registered patients who fail to bring the PIN, their data can be retrieved by way of searching the name, address or the date of previous visit. Creative use of resources has been instrumental in tiding over all these challenges. The project has been conceptualized as a centralized web based software solution with minimal technology support and maintenance dependencies. Notwithstanding this demand, the solution is customized to suit the needs of all departments and has been designed using the inputs from the end users across various Institutions and Offices. Reliability and availability has been the key area of focus while drawing up the blueprint of infrastructural support for HMIS. Dynamic changes in technology and rapid growth of user needs are some universal changes. To counter the changing software scenario, TNHSP wisely chose an Open Source software stack to eliminate vendor lock-in, to create efficiencies, improve service delivery and maintain scalability. On the hardware front, uninterrupted connectivity is assured using Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network (TNSWAN)a 2 Mbps dedicated leased line terminating at each hospital level. As an automatic failover solution, this system includes a fallback mechanisma redundant, 2 Mbps broadband connectivity has been setup at all hospitals such that an automatic switch over takes place from TNSWAN to VPNoBB and vice-versa in the event of failure of one of the connectivity mechanisms. A centralized web server which hosts the database is securely placed in a fully equipped Data center. The server Architecture has been designed in such a way so as to enable redundancy at every level, so that there is never a server downtime. Every end user machine IP address is configured and locked by the IT technical Co ordintaor, so that the end users do not alter the same and also it has prevented IP conflicts
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occurring within the Institution. The IP schema of the hospital is maintained by IT technical coordinator and also shared with the concerned Chief Medical Officer and the respective Directorate. b. Application Solution Architecture 1. 2. Centralized web based solution On open source platform J2EE Postgre SQL Database Glassfish Application server Solaris OS The Solution is a centrally hosted web based application. It follows industry standard three tier architecture via Presentation, Business Logic and Data Layer. The application is built on J2EE platform, the components used follow J2EE specifications. The access to the applications are user role based and privileges assigned as per the designated roles and requirements defined by the respective directorates. The applications also audited and certified as fully compliant with the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) requirements. The hardware requirement for the hospitals including the UPS and electrical cabling, Local Area Network - number of nodes and positioning of switches, was carried out by a technically competent agency. The agency after a thorough field inspection, prepared a scientific document detailing the exact requirements for each and every hospital including department wise breakup and cabling diagram for the hospital, based on which the procurement is being carried out. TNHSP in coordination with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has ensured that there are no power cuts during the outpatient hours of the hospitals. The hospitals are equipped with UPS with 2 hours back up to all to manage the situation in case of a power failure. The simplicity of the interface enables the use of the application directly by the end-users namely Doctors, Staff Nurses, Pharmacists, Lab Technicians, ANMs and Hospital workers. The centralized web-based solution
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developed using open source technologies overcomes the blockades arising from vendor lock-in. The advantages of open-source technologies also supports customization required to handle situations unique to hospital management across all terrains in the country. The end user machines are loaded with Linux Operating system which has also proved to be cost effective till date. The design caters for possible pain-points that could arise at operational level due to factors like remote location of the hospital, lack of trained manpower at hospital, operational exigencies etc. The solution is driven by low cost of support, ease of deployment, training, etc. HMIS data entry formats are fully standardized and provide for uniformity in reporting and data consolidation. Data input and collection in forms includes the data requirements for National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and other reporting needs at State and Central level. Simple, yet comprehensive solution enables phased implementation such that the process enhances competency and the comfort-level of the end-users, taking it to a smooth roll-out. The patients records being available online provides for ease of referral across the chain of hospitals from primary health care centers to secondary health care centers to tertiary health care centers as needed. This clearly demonstrates that the solution can easily adapt itself to different volumes and different levels of uses. c. Capacity Building
The HMIS application is envisaged as a single State Health IT system. The government healthcare delivery covers a population of over 7.21 crores in the State of Tamil Nadu. The State Health Society also a major stakeholder also expects to extract/import most of the information needed for reporting and management from this application. This centralized web based system on fully open source technologies was decided upon to optimize investments and more importantly, overcome the maintenance and skills availability at district/hospital level. The hospital records and processes were totally manual prior to implementation of the HMIS application. Basic computer training followed by HMS training and HMIS training is imparted to all users with the help of TCS, TNeGA. at State head quarters and at District head quarters. Also training programs are conducted at individual hospitals for the doctors, pharmacists, Lab Technicians, Staff Nurses, IT co-
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ordinators posted in all 32 districts of Tamilnadu train and support the users during their hospital visits. Project management & Monitoring adopted;The project is being monitored by full time State HMIS coordinator along with a team from the respective directorates. The online reporting provides for status updates and helpdesk support. There are periodic reviews by the Project Director and respective Directorates on the online entry and usage status. Training of end users are handled through both classroom and hands on training sessions. All training sessions for 5 districts as part of Phase I of the project fully completed. Refresher training also planned and implemented to target user groups to improve online usage. Change management strategy defined and implemented as follows :- As computerization was introduced for the first time, the users had to be initially exposed to basic computer training and orientation. The eGovernance agency of the State also provided the basic computer training. Apart from the Application training, the champion/nodal teams at each hospital also trained to handle basic troubleshooting of IT infrastructure. Various government orders mandating the usage of online system also issued as needed. Leadership support : The Project Director & Special Secretary to Health Department, Secretary IT Department, NRHM Mission director along with the Directors of Medical services, Public Health and Medical Education have addressed the end users during training and other review sessions to reiterate the need and importance of ICT interventions for better patient care. Interpretation and Action taken 1. Respiratory tract infection and Asthmatic Bronchitis indicates the high prevalence rate in tropical climates - ensured availability of appropriate drugs. Degenerative arthritis and Fibromyalgia are next common in elderly ensured rehabilitation activities. Habits - Food and exercise imply that Acid Peptic Disease and NIDDM are seen among the people - Counseling plays vital role.
2. 3.
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Figure 1: Drugs Prescribed Online
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Action Taken Ensured the availability of drugs Procurement based on utilization Change in prescription pattern Figure 2: Lab Orders Online
Interpretation of Action Taken 1. 2. Majority suffer from Upper Respiratory Tract Infections / Lower Respiratory Tract Infections Blood HE/ESR/DC/TC are done to evaluate. Next commonly affected individually are elderly with osteoarthritis and Hypertension - Serum glucose/urea/creatine and urine glucose/protein/ deposits are done. Based on instant results they are assured of speedy management and recovery.
3.
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Awards & Honours for HMIS 1. This Project was the winner of the e-India 2009 Jury award under e-Health category for Best Government Policy / Initiative of the year 2009 which was awarded during the e-Asia Conference 2009 event held at Hyderabad August 25-27, 2009. The Project Paper was selected for oral presentation at e-Asia Conference 2009 held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, during December 2-4, 2009. The Project Paper was selected for an oral presentation at the Med-e-Tel 2010 conference at Luxembourg during April 14-16, 2010. Based on the cost effective approach, this project has caught the attention of the following International Publishers, who have offered to publish this project as a book. 1. The Lambert Academic Publishing AG & Co.KG, Germany. 2. VDM publishing house Ltd., Mauritius. 5. Shortlisted for the final round of e-governance Na tional Award for the year 2010-11.
2. 3. 4.

e-Inclusion under HMIS project includes the staff and users at hospitals who now benefit with ICT initiative in terms of time saving, record keeping and use to technology for quick and real time availability of health data. The staff hitherto carrying out manual maintenance of records can fully utilize the benefits of online system for data capture and reporting as needed. The patient also is benefitted with the online availability of medical record across the government health chain for doctors to view and retrieve full patient history as captured. Steps taken to address this factor In Phase III activities, when this system is extended to Tertiary Care Medical College Institutions integration to Digital X-ray transmission/PACS planned,
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interfacing with Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University will enable further einclusion on academic specific areas. Three members from Tamil Nadu Health systems Project has attended an International Conference on Digital Libraries on 23.02.2010 to 26.02.2010 at TERI, New Delhi.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor All staff at hospitals are being trained on use of computers and application as needed. e-Participation is the generally accepted term referring to ICT-supported participation in processes involved in government and governance. Processes may concern administration, service delivery, decision making and policy making. Eparticipation is hence closely related to e-government and (e-)governance participation. TNHSP with the implementation of HMIS facilitate E-Governence activities of district collectorates by providing the Public Health Data and other National Health Programmes. This enables the policy makers to decide on health policies and it is reflected in the annual health budget performance. The staff with interest and aptitude for ICT have also been trained on hardware, LAN and other local troubleshooting to help create nodal teams at locations for quicker diagnosis and resolution of IT infrastructure related issues. The entire staff can participate in utilization of the online system based on their roles and also interact with the Central helpdesk for any ICT related issues. IT Coordinators, 3 Server Administrators and all other program officers are involved in this e participation. 32 Technical Coordinators from all the districts are also involved in this e-participation.
3.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor E-waste Management policy is adopted by TNHSP head quarters. Awareness among individual users is propagated by IT coordinators in various districts.
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Action plan has been devised to keep the environment green. Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project is disposing its e-waste through a vendor adopting auction process imposing stringent rules for the clearance of e-waste. As per the State e-Waste policy, the buy back and disposal of all IT hardware components are being followed. The ELCOT is the coordinating agency for implementation of this policy on behalf of the Health Department. Dr. S. Vijayakumar, I.A.S., Ex. Project Director, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, Tamil Nadu, pd@tnhsp.net, pdtnhsp@gmail.com & State Coordinator (HMIS), Health and Family Welfare department, Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, Tamil Nadu, skthiru@tnhsp.net, dr.skthiru@gmail.com
SECTION IV e-Governance Success Stories District Initiatives
CHAPTER 14
ICT Initiatives for District level e-Governance

Dr Nityesh Bhatt
Government of India (GOI) approved the National e Governance Plan (NeGP) in May 2006, with the following vision: Make all Government Services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man. To realize this vision, 27 Central, State and Integrated Mission Mode projects (MMPs) along with 8 support components were identified and approved under NeGP. Overview of e-District MMP: e-District MMP is one of the 27 MMPs under NeGP, with the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India as the nodal Department, to be implemented by State Government or their designated agencies. It aims at electronic delivery of identified high volume citizen centric services, at district and sub-district level, which are not part of any other MMP. (Source: http://www.mit.gov.in/content/e-district) For delivery of these services, front-ends in the form of citizen facilitation centers are envisioned to be built at District-, Tehsil-, Sub-division- and Blocklevels. Village-level front-ends would be established through Common Services Centres (CSCs). Objective of these front end and CSC are to reduce travel and interaction of citizens with Government offices and faster delivery of services.
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With online submission of applications, a Citizen can also track the progress of the application/request on line. Timelines: e-District project in each state is to be implemented in two Phases. In Phase I Pilots would be undertaken covering 1-2 Districts of a State and in Phase II, the Project would rolled out across the State subsequent to successful implementation of the pilot. Phase I would be completed within 18 months from the date of approval of the pilot project report. Phase II will be completed within two years from the date of sanction of statewide roll out. At the end of the project, all 640 districts will start offering e-District services. A core list of six services has been identified at the national level which shall be taken up for implementation by all States which agree to participate in the eDistrict MMP. The State can also add a further 4 services, at its discretion, for implementation under the MMP. The list of core services is as follows: a) b) c) Issue of Certificates including Domicile, Nativity, Caste, Marriage, Income, Employment etc Pensions Social welfare Pensions (Old age, Widow, Handicap, Destitute) Revenue Court including Case listing, Case adjournment, Stay orders, Final orders, Status of execution of orders: Information, Tracking, and filing of misc. applications. Government dues and recovery as part of Land Revenue including Issue of notices, Record payments, Track default processes, Updation of treasury receipts etc Public Distribution System, Ration Card related services including Registration, Change of address, Addition of members, Issue of duplicates etc. RTI services including redressal of Grievances (Application, tracking, monitoring, redressal, appeals etc.), Education, Electricity, Drinking Water, Panchayats, Health, Police, Revenue, Road, Treasury, Social Welfare, Irrigation, Woman & Child, Public Distribution System, Transport, Disaster Relief
d)
e)
f)
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In addition to these core services, discretionary services to be chosen by States include certificates, revenue, marriage services, electoral services, licenses, court services, utility services, payment of property tax, grievances, education, health, employment, police, travel, grant/loans, social welfare and industries. By May 2011, 41 e-District pilot projects have been implemented in than 16 States under different platforms. STQC is engaged to test that under each service category for chosen services, the functionality is built securely and the e-district application so developed gives acceptable performance for a defined load. The edistrict applications which will get certification from STQC will qualify for state wide roll out. This modernization and automation project of district administration will ultimately empower the citizens. The estimated total project cost for the nationwide rollout of e-District MMP is Rs 1663.08 crore, out of which Government of Indias share is estimated to be Rs 1233.08 crore and States share Rs 430 crore. (Source: http://news.nwn.in/2011/04/20/e-district-mission-mode-project-toempower-the-citizens-in-640-districts-of-india/) CSI-SIGeGov & eGov in India: The Computer Society of India (CSI), the largest association of information technology professionals in India, with over 70,000 members from all domains has instituted a series of awards for recognizing the contributions made in the field of e-Governance in the country. Special Interest Group on e-Governance (CSI-SIGeGov) has been setup within CSI to focus on eGovernance activities in the country. One of its annual activities is e-Governance awards. These awards, sponsored by Nihilent Technologies are given for the efforts made in e-Governance area at the State, Department, District and Project level. Award of Excellence - District Category: In District Category, Award of Excellence is (are) given for outstanding efforts demonstrating excellence in e-Governance during the current year at the district level. The basic objective of this award has been to recognize and appreciate the successful efforts at the district level in achieving good governance using information and communication technology (ICT). For annual CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards 2010-11, CSI SIGeGov received 16 district nominations for the District category. From
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Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala States two nominations were received while from Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Assam and Punjab States, we received one nomination each. Based on the response to template questions, a few nominations were considered suitable for Project Category instead of District Category. After two stages of screening, five districts were called for presentation in front of selection committee. Three broad evaluation criteria, that are used are: Result Indicators, Enabler Indicators and Value Indicators. For those nominations that were short listed for Field visits non-disguised observations as well as interaction with key stakeholders i.e. District officers (including District Collector, District Information Officers), employees and CSC owners & employees were included as a process of evaluation. Result Indicators were comprised of Key Performance (further divided into eGovernance services portfolio and its impact, implementation coverage, future plans), and Government efficiency & improvement initiatives (in terms of time, cost, innovation and integration with other offices/ departments). Enabler Indicators were District Policy & Strategy (further divided into eGov vision roadmap, shared IT infrastructure and technology standardization), Process reengineering & Legal Reforms (both front end and backend), Capacity building (comprised of leadership, training, change management, program management teams and sustainability aspects) and technology (cost, maintenance, security and competence of people). Value Indicators was made up of e-Waste, eParticipation and digital inclusion. Most of district projects covered a large number of G2C services like various certificates, public grievances, health Projects, land record computerization and delivery, PDS as mentioned above. Some of projects also covered G2G services like video-conferencing, treasury management, election management etc. Few projects offered G2B services also. Citizen Services Centres (CSCs) in these districts are offering many G2C as well as some B2C services also. Many districts have deployed innovative technological solutions like IP based surveillance, SMS based disaster management, SMS & GPS based PDS distribution, biometric based attendance system, touch-screen kiosks etc. In majority of cases, districts utilized their own funds for these installations. Even in some cases, private donor support was also sought.
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Background & Impact of selected Districts: Interesting observation about the received nominations was that most of the districts were relatively small, lessknown and backward in terms of main socio-economic indicators literacy, healthcare, employment, income etc. Some of them were facing severe naxal violence. Geographical reach is also not easier with many districts. Despite these challenges, these districts under strong and techno-centric leadership of district collector and their team could achieve significant success which was not only recognized by their State, Centre and also non-State actors like CSI but many of such initiatives were replicated in other districts or whole State. Successful implementation of various E-Governance projects in these districts have delivered tangible results in terms of employment generation, efficiency of employees, reduction in corruption, faster file processing and speedier grievance handling and intangible results in form of empowered and satisfied citizens. Passion of leadership in these districts is also reflected in accolades received in non-IT initiatives such as healthcare, literacy etc. Determinants of Success: Based on our interaction with different stakeholders and observation of IT projects in these districts, we generalize following major reasons for their success: 1. 2. 3. 4. Passionate, enthusiastic and courageous digital leadership Involvement of stakeholders through effective communication and motivation Constructive change management practices including training Political support
Final Results: Based on comprehensive scores obtained at each stage of assessment, Nanded (Maharashtra) Pali (Rajasthan) and Ramabai Nagar (UP) were recognised for Awards in the District category. Dr Nityesh Bhatt, Chairperson & Sr. Associate Professor Information Management Area, Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad; Co-Convener, CSI Nihilent Awards, nityesh@imnu.ac.in
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CHAPTER 15
South Goa, Goa

Shri Sandip Jacques and Shri Ashutosh Apte
I) Overview
South Goa Collectorate has implemented a DC-Suite system with a technical support of National Informatics Centre, Goa. DC-Suite is an integrated suite of applications implemented for effective district administration so that the services to the citizens can be provided timely. DC-Suite is web-based application, developed under open source technologies. It has implemented with a minimal expenditure on the development, deployment, training and implementation components of the project. Initially, fifteen functional areas are identified under this project. It has work flow based file management system as backbone of the system and other functional modules are integrated with this to provide services to the citizens. There are fifteen modules in the system which are integrated with the file flow management system. Modules such as Arms Licence, Certificates, Revenue Recovery, Public Grievances, Govt. Quarters Allotment, Rest House Reservation, Court Cases, Cash Receipts, Assembly Questions, Land Conversion etc are integrate with it. System enables features such as public access, transparent administration, and service delivery to the citizens. District Collectorate is an important government machinery at district level of the revenue department. State and Central Government policies are
South Goa, Goa
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implemented at grass root level through the district administration. It deals with the various subjects ranging from revenue administration, development, magisterial, disaster management etc. Every citizen is related to this department through one or other activity. District Collectorate is headed by the Collector which is highest authority at district level. He is assisted by the two additional collectors and deputy collectors in the collectorate. Deputy Collectors/Sub Divisional Officers are heads of the sub-divisional level offices and Mamlatdars are heads at taluka level offices. Through this machinery, government policies are implemented at local levels. South Goa District has six talukas and four sub-divisions. Dharbandora, the sixth taluka has been formed recently. The District Collectorate functions can be broadly classified into five categories. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Revenue Administration. Magisterial. Schemes Implementation. Election. Personal Administration. Census.
Revenue Administration Collectorate handles various acts under Land Revenue Code. It deals with land conversion, cumeri cultivation, recovery of government dues, matters relating to agricultural tenancy and mundcar, transfer of rights by way of sale/gift, grant of government land, land records, encroachment of government land, illegal construction, mining, etc. Cases/Appeals under LRC are filed in the courts of the collector and additional collectors. Land Acquisition Act is also implemented by the collectorate to acquire land for the public use.
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Magisterial Collector is responsible to enforce Law and Order in the district. Collector has delegated quasi judicial powers under various acts. Collectorate issues licenses under Arms Act, Cinematography Act, Explosives Act, Noise Pollution Act, Video Parlour, Sound Permission. Collectorate implements other acts such as Criminal Procedure Code, Motor Vehicle Act, Essential Commodities Act, Indian Forest Act, Indian Electricity Act, Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, Press & Registration Act, Smoking & Spitting Act, Non-Biodegradable Garbage Control Act, Child Labour Act. It issued Domicile Certificates and permission to transport dead bodies. Development Schemes Collectorate implements various development schemes of the State and Central Government. Schemes such as 20 point program, MPLAD, Ambedkar Awas Yojana, Old Pension Scheme are implemented by this office. Election Collectorate hold elections of Parliament Constituency, Assembly Constituency, Zilla Panchayat and Co-Operative bodies in the district. Collector being a District Election Officer, looks after Electoral Registration work. Personal Administration Collectorate has offices at district, sub-divisional, taluka and village levels. It has to maintain records of service books, leave accounts, promotions, transfers on day-to-day basis. Besides this, it has to handle matters like employee pensions, annual confidential reports, vigilance enquiries, etc. Census Collector is a District Census Officer. This office conducts decadal population census of the district. Also, it involves in conducting animal census and other surveys.
II)
1.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
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a. 1. 2.
Stakeholder services and benefits achieved through ICT interventions G2C Services Acknowledgement of letters. Current status of files. Current status of an application. Beneficiary search. Government Order search. Public Grievance status. Help Desk Employee and office search. Citizen charter with detailed collectorate services. Application forms. SMS facility to enquire status of an application. Interface to Govt of Goa eService portal to accept applications through internet. G2E Services Intranet to the employees. Notice Board to publish notices & circulars. E-mail messaging. Discussion Forum, Chat. Daily events, meeting dairy. Search of Tapals and files. Payslips of employees. Circulars. Meeting minutes.
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3. b.
RTI Act information. Internal office application forms for employees. G2G Services User-based login to other offices. Land records form I & XIV availability on kiosk. Implementation coverage till date and during the year
DC-Suite system is implemented in the South Goa Collectorate. This system is being used by all employees of the collectorate. Citizen Facilitation Centre is setup in the office with four counters to accept the letters, help citizens to fill application forms etc. c. Future plan with regard to geographical coverage as well as scope of services
It is planned to integrate additional functional modules such as Explosives Licence, Land Conversion, Court Cases, Land Acquisition, Land Conversion in the system. Arms Licence renewal module access can be given to police station to verify applications. It is planned to extend same kinds of services at Taluka and Sub Divisional offices. 2. a. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Efficiency and Improvement Initiatives Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT enabled services: Tapals can be traced easily with a particular staff and file. It has a provision to search on tapal number, subject, receiving dates etc. Searching of files and documents based on file/document number, subject has reduced considerable time. Pendency of tapals and applications made available always to the staff. Reduced time in generating letters and certificates. Citizen problems solved considerably as they need not move table to table to locate an application.
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b. 1. 2. 3. 4. c.
Specific innovative ideas implemented in eGov area, and their impact on services: Citizen Facilitation Centre is setup in the Collectorate to receive applications and assist people to fill application forms. SMS facility is setup to enquire status through mobile. Public access provided through internet. Applications are made available in the CFC. Extent to which services are integrated with other internal and/or external ICT systems within the district or outside.
Goa State has a GBBN network through fiber optical cables. Maximum offices are networked through this network. Access to this system can be provided to other departments.

1.
a.

South Goa E-Governance Society is being formed in the district to achieve the following objectives. 1. To take all necessary steps to promote efficiency, reduce delay; enhance accountability, transparency and objectivity in the functioning of the South Goa District Administration. Formulating and implementing policies, procedures and guidelines for the adoption of Information Technology and e-governance for improvement of citizen services through various government departments and agencies and ancillary activities and services. To promote and disseminate information technology culture in the district so that the common man could avail the benefit of information technology and e-governance. To administer the implementation of e-Governance projects for ensuring use of information technology for masses. To lay down the necessary
2.
3.
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administrative, financial legal and technical framework and resources for the IT-enabled citizen services. 4. List and prioritize the areas for Citizen Services in consultation with the concerned Departments and take all steps for improving Citizen Services to the use of IT. To facilitate implementation of Citizen Charters framed by the other departments through the use of e-governance and IT as a tool. To workout revenue models and modalities for providing Citizen Services through use of IT on a public-private partnership model for its selfsustainability and to encourage private sector initiative in IT-related infrastructure and services. This would include working out all commercial modalities and revenue model including Franchise Model in citizen services. To collect revenue and to issue receipts on behalf of the various Departments and Organizations. Such receipts shall have same legal validity as if it were an actual receipt issued by the concerned department of the organization. Transfer the revenue collected to the concerned departments and organizations. Or to authorize a suitable authority, committee, subcommittee or society for these purposes on behalf of the e-Governance Society. To establish and make available connectivity and access to Information through Internet, Intranet, LAN, MAN, WAN, E-MAIL, WEB SERVERS and Websites, VSAT and other modes of communication or any other form of connectivity and regulate their use in the State. To facilitate the creation of a comprehensive State-wide Computer Networks and a State Telecom Network for use by all Government departments, institutions, agencies as also the public and private sector. Anything in excess capacity could be commercially exploited. To buy, sell, let on hire, repair, import, export, lease, trade and otherwise deal and provide all IT resources and support, required by any Department for IT and e-governance applications including hiring of professionals, consultancy services, procurement of hardware and software, development of special purpose software projects involving application of Information
5.
6.
7.
8.
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Technology on turnkey basis. 9. To enter into collaborations, MoUs, partnerships, agreements and contracts with Indian and/or foreign individuals, companies or other organizations for transfer, sale, purchase of equipment and for technical, financial or any other assistance for carrying out all or any of the objects of the society. To enter into an agreement with any Government or authorities (municipal local or otherwise) or any corporations, companies, or persons which may seem conducive to the Societys objects or any of them and to obtain from any such Government authorities, corporations, companies, societies or persons any contracts, rights, privileges and concessions which the society may think desirable and to carry out, exercise and comply with any such contracts rights, privileges and concessions. To hire professionals, consultants and other specialized agencies as found necessary for efficient handling and conduct of the business of the society. To provide and/or arrange to provide all technical assistance and help to create, organise, and maintain centralised data-warehouse, departmental databases, information-repository, and software-library to be shared by all departments, institutions, agencies and wherever possible, the general public. To facilitate inter-departmental coordination in all IT-related matters and to devise modalities for information sharing so as to avoid duplication of data entry and development of software. To enable, simplify and modernize the storage, retrieval, transmission, distribution and exchange of information in electronic format. To work out procedures for data entry and its verification, validation, security, storage and updation on a regular basis. To handle intellectual property rights in Information Technology and other new technology areas. All the software created in any government Department would be jointly held by the Department of IT through the Society. To workout and notify the Standard of Service and Service Level Agreements in e-governance and IT for citizen services. To take all means for the safety and security of data and to lay policies procedures, guidelines and rules for achieving the objectives of security
10.
11. 12.
13.
14. 15.
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and authentication. This would include use of digital signatures and public key infrastructure. 16. To take all the steps necessary to fulfill the objectives of the Department of IT, good governance any governance for the overall benefit of the citizens and public in the State of South Goa. To do all such other lawful things as may be necessary, incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objects. To obtain licenses, certificates and privileges for all purposes from all persons, local authorities and the Central and State Government, to renew the same and transfer the same in favor of any person or authorities. To lend or deposit moneys belonging to or entrusted to or at the disposal of the Society or franchisees and other having dealings with the society with or without security, upon such terms as may be thought proper and to guarantee the performance of contracts by such persons or company provided that the Society shall not carry on banking business as defined in Banking Companies Regulation Act 1949. To borrow and raise money with or without security or to receive money and deposit on interest or otherwise in such manner as the Society may deem fit. To draw, issue, accept and to endorse discount and negotiate promissory notes, hundies, bills of exchange, delivery orders, warrants, warehouse, keeping, certificates and other negotiable or commercial or mercantile instruments connected with the business of the Society. Sharing of Common Infrastructure It has access to land records database to view Form I & XIV records. Online applications received through Govt of Goa eservices portal are downloaded and processed through this system. Interface to South Goa District website. Technology Standardization
17.
18.
19.
20.
b. 1. 2. 3. c.
It was planned to use open source technologies to deploy this system. Software
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Package is developed under Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP(LAMP) platform. E-Service layer is the front-end layer of DC-Suite which interacts with citizens and offers services to the citizens. The public access is provided through internet, SMS and Touch Screen kiosk. Intranet layer is the middle layer which offers lot of collaboration services and tools. Serivces like E-mail, Forum, Notice Board, Daily Events are provided to the staff. Back Office layer is the key functional area comprising of all fifteen functional modules with which the government staff will work and carry out the backend operations.
2.
a. 1.

Major non-ICT front end Process Changes Citizen Facilitation Center: It is setup to receive all kinds of applications at a single location, issue all types of forms and help to fill forms to citizens. Status of application can be traced from CFC. Standardization of application forms and documents required to attach along with the application forms. Standardized correspondence letters, orders for activities which are covered as modules. Major non-ICT back end process changes Re-arrangement of sections and seating arrangement of employees based on the public and official contacts. Assigned seat names to each employee. Purchase of two Linux Servers to deploy an application DC-Suite. Employees motivation and training to shift from manual process to electronic process.
2. 3. b. 1. 2. 3. 4.
3.
Capacity Building
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a.
This project is initiated with the positive support of District Collector, South Goa District and other officers. They had arranged study tour to Kerala districts. b. 1. Change Management Strategy Training
Employees were trained through N.I.C. and Education Development Corporation to operate computer systems and use windows, MS-word, Open Office tools. NIC had conducted trainings on Windows basics, Open Office, Internet and Email in the collectorate. Also, employees were sent to computer training programes organized by the EDC. 2. Workshops
DC-Suite demo was organized to provide general awareness about package and functional activities covered in the system. Officers and Section heads were involved in it. It was arranged mainly to prepare them to shift over to a new working environment. It helped to clear apprehensions and negative attitude. 3. Formation of a Committee
A Technical Committee is formed to monitor the DC-Suite implemention project. It consists of Additional Collector, Mamlatdar E-Governance, Dy. Collector (Revenue), State Informatics Officer, District Informatcis Officer as members. District Collector is the chairman of the committee. It meets on a monthly basis to review the progress of the project. 4. Hiring Technical Hands
Graduates with computer knowledge were hired to assist staff to operate DCSuite software and attend the minor technical problems. These graduates were hired in the initial phase of the project for a period of six months. 5. Master Trainers Identification
Collectorate has fourteen sections to handle various matters. One Master Trainer was identified from each section to assist other staff. Master trainers were trained
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thoroughly on DC-Suite. Master trainers were chosen with the following criteria Having a positive attitude towards the computerization activities. Having reasonable knowledge on computer operation. An aptitude to learn and develop skills. A helping mentality to their colleagues and ready to share knowledge. Energetic and ready to take challenges.
The master trainers are looking after day-to-day issues on DC-Suite implementation in their sections. They act as a link between the sections and NIC officials. c. Training Plan Internal and External
The skills and capabilities development of the staff is an important component to implement e-governance services. Keeping this in mind, the staff was provided training on basic computer knowledge of MS Office, Open Office, Internet and E-mails. It was planned to form batches of ten employees to train twice on basic tools and DC-Suite system. In the beginning, two trainings were given to the staff. These trainings were conducted by the NIC in the Collectorate. All employees were trained in basic computer tools and DC-Suite. Every month on last Friday training is arranged for new employees and refresh their knowledge on computer concepts and DC-Suite. Also, employees were sent to EDC to attend training regularly on basic tools. NIC had conducted around trainings to implement this project apart from monthly training. d. Program Management
Yes. Technical support is provided by the National Informatics Center, District Unit, Margao to implement the project. Also, one programmer is hired on a contract basis to develop additional modules in the system.
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A technical committee has been formed to review the progress of the project. It meets on a monthly basis and discusses the technical and non-technical issues with the Collectorate section heads. e. Sustainability of Efforts
This district is covered under e-District project. Also, E-Governance committee s being formed to implement e-services in the district. Regular training programes are being arranged for newly joined staff. Training programme is conducted on the last Friday of every month to refresh knowledge. Adequate ICT Infrastructure is made available by the Collectorate to run this project.
4.
a.
Technology
Give a detailed description of the Technological solution adopted [including cost of ownership, maintenance model]
DC-Suite is developed under Open Source Technologies Linux, Appache, MySql & PHP platform. Software is web based application and citizen interface is provided through Kiosk, internet and SMS. b. Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented
Standards Defined 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. User authentication. Firewall protection. Roll-based access. Module-based access. Seat-based access. Hierarchy-based transfer of tapals and files.
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Standards Implemented 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. c. 1. 2. 3. 4. This system has been deployed on Linux Servers with a firewall protection. Each employee has a user account and they login with login/password. Users are created by granting admin, master and general permissions. My SQL users are created with the necessary grants and permissions to access the database. Seat-based required menus are enables in the system whether a particular employee handles functional area. Dealing hands can transfer tapals or files to his next superior only. Competence of people in technology (hardware, software, security. etc.) All employees are made computer literate for using basic tools through trainings and re-trainings. Software is being used by all the employees of the collectorate. Data backups are taken regularly. Databases are replicated on the Server at Secretariat, Panaji.

1.
a.
Digital Inclusion
Extent to which this factor of eExclusion/eInclusion has been addressed
This factor has not affected implementation of this project as English language is maximum being used in daily office work.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor 1. 2. 3. Review of pending tapals and files done fortnightly. Module implementation done with district administration support. Provided technical hands to implement the project.
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3.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor As per the directives of Govt. of Goa, a committee has been formed to dispose obsolete ICT items. Committee consists of Dy. Collector, Accounts Officer and NIC official from district unit. Items list is prepared as per the guidelines, it is approved from DOIT. Obsolete items are disposed through buy-back or e-waste management agency. Shri Sandip Jacques, Collector, South Goa Collectorate, Goa, e-mail: cols.goa@nic.in and Shri Ashutosh Apte, Mamlatdar E-Governance, Goa, e-mail: mamdmegov.goa@nic.in
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CHAPTER 16

Shri P Narahari and Shri Avinash Pathak
I)
Overview
E-governance ranges from the use of information technology to free movement of information to overcome the physical bounds of traditional paper and physical based systems to the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees. The common theme behind these definitions is that e-government involves the automation or computerization of existing paper-based procedures that will prompt new styles of leadership, new ways of debating and deciding strategies, new ways of transacting business, new ways of listening to citizens and communities, and new ways of organizing and delivering information. To monitor and judge the various government activities and policies e-governance is an inevitable step in todays scenario. Our district administration takes various steps for the automation of different departments involved in the public welfare activities so that a better decision making foundation has been laid down. Multiple numbers of e-governance projects has already been launched and few are in pre stage of implementation for providing fast and upto the mark government to citizen services out of which Samadhan Ek Din, Jan Sunwai, and LAIIS system are the platinum ones. The key to e-governance is the establishment of a long-term, organization-wide strategy to constantly improve operations with the end in view of fulfilling citizen needs by transforming internal operations such as staffing, technology, processes and work flow management. Adding to this key Basic
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Amenities and services monitoring system (PARAKH) and Land Acquisition and Industry Information System (LAIIS) has been implemented for proper monitoring of various public welfare tasks in the district. Kiosk centers have been developed for providing better Citizen Services at Block level. Every important effort needs recognition in the world. CSI-Nihilient recognizes these efforts and honored them globally through e-governance awards in various categories every year. We also want to be a part of this great event so that we can judge our e-governance initiatives and learn with others as competition is a wonderful way of improvement. Singrauli is the 50th district of Madhya Pradesh. It was ranked district status on 24th May 2008, with its headquarters at Waidhan to fulfill the aspirations of people of this place. Singrauli district has emerged as an ideal destination for setting up of thermal power units due to availability of coal and water in the vicinity. As many as 8 projects promoted by industrial houses like Reliance, Essar, Hindlaco, JayPee etc. are being setup in the district, with an aim to wipe out the shortage of power. District administration is entrusted with the onerous task of land acquisition for all these projects. District Administrations priorities include acquisition of land in a speedy yet humane and justified manner, to satisfy this quench e-governance is the best option as a result of which we have developed and implemented Land Acquisition and Industry Information System (LAIIS). LAIIS helps in various land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation activities going on within the district. District administration also provides various G2C services through various e-Nagrik Seva Kendra Kiosks implemented at the district as well as block level. These seva Kendras works for facilitating submission of applications by the citizens for issue of certificates like Birth, Death, Caste, Residential and Income. Implementation of State Wide Area Network (SWAN) and the development of various Common Service Centres (CSCs) at the Gram Panchayat level will make the district globally connected. Jan Sunwai System has been extensively used by the various departments and the industries for the automation of grievance redressal mechanism.This system helps in the proper tuning of the various administration tasks & activities so that they can provide maximum benefits to the citizens. Apart from these activities a plethora of other e-governance activities also going on in the district.
II)
Result Indicators
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1.
a. 1.
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C, G2B, G2G, G2E) Land Acquisition and Industry Information system Project Brief
Singrauli district has emerged as an ideal destination for setting up of thermal power units due to availability of coal and water in the vicinity. As many as 8 projects promoted by industrial houses like Reliance, Essar, Hindlaco, JayPee etc. are being setup in the district, with an aim to bridge the shortage of power in the state and the country. District administration is entrusted with the onerous task of land acquisition for all these projects. District Administrations priorities include acquisition of land in a speedy yet humane and justified manner. LAIIS is a web based software which is full of Graphical User Interface extensively used by various power sector companies for various land acquisition and R&R activities and citizens of the district for filing on line complaints and checking their status. Basically this software is developed in two different phases (Using Drop wise Software Development methodology). In the first phase of development (August 2008), a software was developed to enter the data captured from govt. records and field surveys and calculate the compensation payable to Project Affected Persons (PAP) and also generates a unique ID No for each PAP and print photo identity card for them. In the second phase (November 2009) we developed a web based software (hosted it with a DNS of http://www.singraulidist.org) with an aim to bring transparency to the whole process of land acquisition, as well as subsequent Rehabilitation and Resettlement Activities. Project Objectives
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The key objectives for this project are as follows: a. For Project Affected Persons (PAPs)
Project affected Persons should access to accurate and reliable information such as: b. c. What data has been captured related to their physical assets land, house, trees etc. Rates of Compensation What R&R benefits the company has agreed to provide to them In case a PAP finds some discrepancy he/she should have a complaint filing system For District Administration Making all information available at fingertips for speedy complaint settlement Keeping track of all compensation payments Keeping a check on companies as to whether all R&R responsibilities are being executed in proper manner Ease in Planning due to availability of data in a comprehensive manner. For Other Groups
To report the true state of affairs to media, NGOs and political parties so as to dispel any misinformation campaign. Benefits of Project
The software goes one step further than just display of information captured and allows all the companies setting up projects in Singrauli to login to the site and enter data on the following activities (Ten different data screens have been provided for it) Financial Compensation - Award Financial Compensation Land Rate Difference
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Financial Compensation for House on Govt. land Housing Labour/Employment Training Educational Scholarship/Other Pension/Displacement Stipend Medical Other Benefits
As most of the R&R benefits are of a long term / recurring nature, projects are using them on a continuous basis and will be required to do so in future also. This data automatically gets added to the profile of the respective PAP and when you search for any PAP you get complete details about him his family, assets, compensation paid to him/her and R&R benefits given till date. In addition to individual reports about the PAPs project wise reports are available on demographic profile of displaced population and compensations paid to them. a. b. c. Information / Services being provided to public Based on the data entered by projects the system dynamically generates various types of reports in PDF format for public access: Updated information on compensation payment and R&R benefits given to PAPs, like house, education, medical facilities etc. Detailed profile of all PAPs along with Photo, family details, assets, and upto date details of benefits given. Summary Reports on demographics profile of PAPs based on education, age, sex, category, village, BPL Status etc. The system also makes available all Agreements, R&R policies and Award Statements, related to land acquisition, in public domain. Public can also view News, Notices and Announcements posted by District
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Administration, and news updated by industrial projects. d. The system has a complaint form, where any complaint can be submitted in Hindi and the system generates a reference no which can be used to track the status of that complaint, online. Complaint registration module of LAIIS (Land Acquisition and Industry Information System) This module provides online complaint registration mechanism and after filing the complaint a unique complaint id will be generated through which he/she can check the status of his/her complaint. Details of the complaint along with action taken/response are available for everyone to see. Table 1
Complaints 2814 Resolved 2764 Pending 50
E Nagrik Seva Kendra
Samadhan Ek Din Mein- e-Nagrik Sewa Kendra (One Day Governance-Public Facility Centre) is a very innovative and pro-people project which increases efficiency of administration. It seeks to provide around 21 certificates sought by the applicant on the same day itself. The main aim of the program is to provide all kind of services like Govt. certificates on the day of submitting application itself and under one roof. For the Administration, it reduces the corruption to a great extent, generates revenue, increases public confidence and reduces the number of pending cases. As this district was formed in 2008 so currently there is only one public facility centre established with in the premises of district collectorate and two centers are being developed at Deosar and Chitrangi block. This will help in the work flow automation of various governmental activities. Table 2
Year 2009-10 2010-11 Applications Received 7776 22598 Resolved 7776 22598 Pending 0 0
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MP LOK Seva Kendra
Recently we have launched delivery centre for various MP lok seva services in the district Collectorate premises. Common Service Centers (CSC)
Common Service Centre (CSC) is a community service centre for rural citizens at panchayat level covering about 6 villages. Currently 136 CSCs at all levels in the District cater the service needs of all the communities in the surrounding 5-6 villages. Each CSC will have computer and internet facilities. It will have both offline and online services. It will be equipped with computer, multi function printer, digital camera and networking facilities. Following G2C Services have been provided by CSCs: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. Land records Vehicle Registration Issue of certificates Government schemes Utility/Telephone Bills Employment exchange Ration cards Electoral Services Pension schemes Road transport Public grievance Jan Sunvai System
This system has been extensively used in the district for the automation of grievance redressal mechanism. A separate public grievance cell is working under the Collector which is using this software for registering the grievances of the citizens came at every Tuesday (This day is declared as Jan sunwai din). Using
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this system one can easily measure the density of applications comes under which department and various statistical configurations for decision making. This monitoring tool has developed enormous confidence among district people, especially with thousands of Project Affected Families. Table 3
Year 2009-10 2010-11 Complaints 5368 11606 Resolved 3709 8239 Pending 1659 3367
2.
a.

Time and Cost Efficiency BHU Abhilekh (Land Record System)
BHU-ABHILEKH System has been implemented as a future step for implementation of decisions regarding agricultural land ceiling, distribution of ceiling surplus land by removing various administrative and legal obstructions. It is a detailed and informative database with an efficient retrieval mode. It helps in the creation of comprehensive computerized database on land records and land reforms activities. This database can help in the land tenancy, ceiling, consolidation and records maintenance activities pertaining to land reforms. We are using the Data hosting software for hosting the created data to the main server so that it can be easily accessed by the citizens. Recently we have integrated BHU Naksha software with the existing system which will generate digitized map along with khasra details. Parakh (Basic Services and amenities management system)
This software covers management of various basic infrastructure services such as drinking water (hand pumps), electricity (transformers), education, health, agriculture, veterinary services, women and child development (anganwadis) , distribution of essential commodities through fair price shops, distribution of old age and social security pension and disposal of demarcation, mutation and partition cases. Data regarding these amenities and services has been collected and compiled on monthly basis and has been used for creation of resource inventory of all the villages, better monitoring and planning and improvement in delivery of services.
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Rural soft monitoring system
Web-based Rural Soft is a web based solution for monitoring monthly progress reports of various rural developmental oriented schemes such as Indira Awas Yojna (IAY), Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojna (SGRY), Mid Day Meal (MDM), National Food For Work Programme (NFFWP), M.P.Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MPREGS), Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF), Watershed Management etc. It facilitates on-line data entry and on-fly generation of monitoring, progress / analysis reports. These progress reports directly reflect the progress of poverty alleviated schemes those are executed by Zilla Panchayat. BRISC (Bank Recovery Incentive Scheme)
This system has been used to facilitate the user department in easy Maintenance, Management & Monitoring of Revenue recovery against Loans given under various Schemes. The basic input to the system consists of Master Directories viz., District, Tehsil, Bank, Revenue Officers, Treasuries, Schemes and the details of RRC containing the information of borrower, scheme under which Loan sanctioned, bank, Guarantor, Loan & due amount. CM Visit / DM Visit Monitoring System
This system has been used for the monitoring of various tasks/announcements that have been declared/announced by Chief Minister or District Magistrate during visits/tours to various places within the district. Using this one can easily track the progress of any announcement and its current stage of implementation. Table 4
e-Khanij (Information System for mineral resources department) Following facilities has been provided by the system-
1.
Submission and processing of applications for granting Reconnaissance permit (RP), Prospecting license (PL), Mining Lease (ML) and Quarry
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lease (QL). Submission/ processing of application for renewal, Transfer, Termination for ML & PL. 2. Submission of Transit Pass (TP) request by lessee, its processing and issue of TP book by a work flow module. Calculation of royalty and dead rent deposit at the time of issuing of TP book. Registration, processing and disposal of the cases related to illegal mining and illegal transportation. This will result in the speedy disposal of various RP, PL, ML and QL related applications. Availability of accurate mine-wise mineral production may result increase in tax collection and royalty collection. Forest Survey and Dwellers System
3. 4.
This system is collectively used by forest and tribal department. Its implementation encompasses extensive use of innovative technologies like GPS (Global Positioning System) and the use of personal digital assistant (PDA) for conducting surveys in the forest areas. It is used for the exact calculation of land and its topographical characteristics. After conducting surveys the data will be uploaded to the site for global access. About 3600 forest dwellers have been given pattas under Forests Rights Act 2006 and been distributed. NREGA MIS
This system has the following elegant features1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Information on base-line data of BPL survey. Password protected on-line data updation at the web-site. Various on-line reports based for citizens/government. Computerization of all activities of NREGS right from the registration to muster roll preparation. Provides status of fund availability at district/ block/ panchayat level. Facilitates data uploading on Delhi server directly. 80% MIS feeding is the current position of the district.
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Election MIS
Assembly/Parliamentary General Elections were held under the directions of Election Commission of India. Various reports in the required formats were arranged. Polling and counting party formation was made my computerized randomization technique fulfilling all the guidelines of ECI was done by NIC, Singrauli and was found quite successful. More over to keep ready and at a glance the various elections information of the district was profiled by the computer system. This profile made available the countless election related information then and when required. CD was prepared and sent to ECI, Delhi for uploading on ECI website www.eci.gov.in. The counting data compilation of electors, generation of reports and transmission to ECI, Delhi, Chief Election Officer, Bhopal. The computerization as a whole was found so much satisfying and needs of the time that the district authorities especially responsible. Time Limit Paper Monitoring System
The time limit paper monitoring system helps the collector to keep track of action taken/time taken by various officers on time limit works. On every Monday a meeting has been conducted for the progress of work required and using this system collector will easily track the work progress corresponding to various OICs. This will increase the throughput and make the work flow more efficient. Table 5
Vidhan Sabha Question Reply Management System (VQRMS)
This system has been used for the workflow automation pertaining to gathering of replies of vidhan sabha questions from various offices of the Departments and aid in smooth and effective management in reply to Vidhan Sabha Questions. Table 6
Total Question Received 30 Total Question Final Replied 30 No. Of Question Pending 0
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Mobile Governance
A quick and efficient method of governance has been adopted by District Collectorate and Zila Panchayat using the SMS service of various cellular network providers. This is helping the collector and ceo, zila panchayat in making the good network with various district and janpad panchayat officials. Using this service they have been monitored the different tasks and processes going on at different execution levels and also send the schedules and agenda of meetings on it. Video Conferencing facility
The Video Conferencing facility had been started by NIC since 2009. The facility is being used by most of the departments regularly to interact with their head offices. VC facility is proving to be very beneficial as it saves a lot of time and money involved in traveling. EScholarship
Various schools and educational institutes in the district have been using this software for online demand of scholarship and the whole procedure is monitored by Assistant Commissioner Tribal Welfare. Agmarknet
Software is supplied by NIC Head Quarter New Delhi and successfully implemented at all Agriculture Produce Market Centers. LAN Backbone
Singrauli is one of the important nodes of NICNET, a satellite based computer communication network. For accessing the web/internet/email a LAN setup is currently installed in the District Administration Centre. Using this LAN backbone various offices connected to each other and communicate through electronic mails. District Website
Website for district Singrauli has been hosted. The site contains information about the District and District Administration, various Industries, Government
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Schemes, Key Contacts, Places to visit etc. for the giving the brief details to the user who wants to visit the District Singrauli or who is interested in getting some information about the district.

1.
a.

The main ambition behind all the ongoing / planned schemes above is to make Governance transparent and hence totally accountable to the normal citizen. It is intended that the citizen be made free from all cumbersome procedures and red tapism and he / she feels empowered through the use of ICT. All the projects that have been taken up have been approved by the either state or district authority. Some concepts have been borrowed from best practices in other districts but approval has been received from our state before implementation hence the software being used is uniform throughout.
2.
a.

Major non-ICT front end process changes
Creating suitable plans to deal with organizational issues that arise during implementation of e-governance projects. E-governance projects tend to redefine power equations within departments. Stakeholders outside government are also often impacted. The major front end process changes that are envisioned mainly center on the comfort of the citizen. The citizen should be able to access information anytime anywhere either through the internet or may be even through phone. This information may relate to his / her own grievance or to any developmental project of the government. Apart from this, these G2C, the G2G, G2E services should help the various departments to stay connected to reduce file work and instill more confidence in the average government employee. The major back end process change hence focuses on paperless office and quicker delivery of services.
3.
a.
Capacity Building
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To initiate any e-Governance project, the capacities required are much more comprehensive and holistic than a conventional Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) project. E-Governance initiatives entail policy development/refinement, Financial Management, Program Management and warrant a higher emphasis on Change Management. Establishment of district e-governance society is a step to achieve all these milestones. Almost all eminent public representatives of the district are the member of this society and make the valuable additions in the current policies and procedures so that district administration will avail the various services to common citizen in an easy and effective way. A technical team under district Collector with the support of District Informatics Centre provides training to various government officials.
4.
a.
Technology
Give a detailed description of the Technological solution adopted [including cost of ownership, maintenance model];
Mostly open source technological solutions have been adopted by district administration for the software development process. We develop a quality control and prediction model for improving the quality of software delivered by development to maintenance. This model identifies modules that require priority attention during development and maintenance. The model also predicts during development the quality that will be delivered to maintenance. We try to make each and every software security complied, a team will conduct a security audit before launching of the application.

1.
a.
Digital Inclusion
Extent to which the project has addressed the factor of eExclusion/ eInclusion
As per the demographic structure of Singrauli, most of the public lives in rural areas nevertheless district administration takes various steps to improve eInclusion. Recently Singrauli has been emerged as an energy hub of India hence various
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industrial houses makes the enormous task of land acquisition and as a part of R&R policy most of them along with district officials are involved in giving computer training to rural public. Thats why we rate our shelf in the scale of 3(moderate).
2.
eParticipation
To improve eParticipation a proper training plan has been made for various district officials which contains software specific training, basic computer skills program. Shri P Narahari, DM & Collector, District Collectorate, Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, Email: p.narahari@yahoo.com and Shri Avinash Pathak, District Informatics Officer, Department of Information Technology, Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, Email: pathak.avinash@nic.in
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CHAPTER 17

Shri Atul Patne and Shri Meshram
I) Overview
Gadchiroli has traditionally been the most backward district in the state of the Maharashtra. On all the developmental indicators especially the HDI Gadchiroli has somehow remained worst off in the whole state. But the district administration is determined to reverse the situation. Need of an hour Citizen oriented administration, administration at your doorstep, development administration and other such terms were coined after the phase of e-governance has become a reality in the public administration. By using the IT in the administration the efforts are being made to go from the establishment computerisation, facility centers, smart cards, web based monitoring, SMS Alert to now Social Network/Blog based administration. E-governance is expected to deliver speedy work and if possible transparency in the administration. Prompt availability of facts for decision making has been equated with prompt decision making. Beginning with the Dhar districts Gyandoot the project of providing citizen facilities, Karnatakas land record computerization project Bhoomi etc and Maharashtras Setu project, etc experiments are already underway. Previously the public sector was using the e-governance. E-auction, e-tendering etc have become common now. Banks core banking was implemented as their efforts towards e-governance. But the more I think about these projects, the more
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I realize that e-governance implemented in the name of making the administration citizen centric cannot actually be construed to be so. Computerisation is merely a support system of technological upgradation, but when I really think about its utility in making the administration development oriented, several objections can be raised. Let us look at some of the facets which though straightforward have seldom caught anyones fancy e-governance is concerned mainly with computerization, in other words it is a related concept to the Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.). A computer cannot be a substitute to human nature, whatever good-bad use technology is put to depends upon the intentions and nature of the human beings operating. For example, same technology can be used to launch a satellite into the space and the same technology can be used to a launch a deadly missile onto defenseless humans. Same satellite can be used to spy on others and same satellite can be used to predict the deadly cyclones. The examples are numerous. Similarly the citizen centricity of the administration depends on the intentions of the officers-employees making use of the medium of e-governance. Here in I visualize the need for the I-governance which is more dependent on Emotional Quotient. EQ is also dependent on IQ but is much more than it. Similarly I-governance though inseparably linked to e-governance is much broader concept. Here, I stands for Innovation. I-governance is inclusive of e-governance. It never avers from the use of IT in the administration, it just aims to put a heart in it. To realize it is paramount to establish mechanisms which can send a message to the last levels of implementation of encouraging the employees to put their heart into their work as well as can analyze the effects and response timely. District Gadchiroli is situated at the east and extreme end of the maharashtra state and is well known for dence forest, beautiful hills and rivers. however now a days the district came into limelight because of naxal activities. Gondia district is situated on the north side towards east shares borders of Rajnandgaon Baster District of chattisgad state; towards south it shares borders of Karimnagar, Adilabad district of Andra Pradesh. All this neighboring district are Naxal affected. Gadchiroli is tribal district it mainly includes gond, pardhan, madia, rajgond tribes. The Total Population of Gadchiroli District is 11.03 lakh and tribal population is 3.72 lakh i.e. 38.35%.
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II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Our approach will become evident in the following projects that have been undertaken in the district to bridge the gap between the popular expectation and the results of administrative exercise. Our efforts have been based on two types of approach 1. 2. Improvement of existing systems Formulation of new systems and procedures Following is the list of projects that are being undertaken in GadchiroliProjects involving Improvement of existing systems ICT based Disaster Management Plan- implemented by the Disaster Management Cell of the district Gadchiroli as part of its Disaster Management Programme 1. e-Flood Alert Project 2. 3. 4. 5. b. Control Room for constant flood situation monitoring - It consists of following innovative modules CUG Mobile distribution under disaster management cell SMS based Flood Alert System (Includes a query module to monitor in between scheduled alerts)
SMS based Water level monitoring in the Observation Wells SMS based Blood donor information and registration system Wild life monitoring system and automatic pumping system at bore well of drinking water for wild animals. e-News Specific innovative ideas implemented in eGov area; and their impact on services:
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1. 2.
IVRS and web based seed and soil testing Information and assistance system e-Vidya- Computer education and long distance education using V-Sat facilities in remote and inaccessible locations
Projects based on formulation of new systems and procedures: 1. 2. Innovations in the Public Distribution System Implemented GPS Tracking of PDS Trucks SMS based information system
Proposed 1. 2. 3. 4. Mobile ration shop DWAR POCH for whole district Direct supply of grains from FCI godown to the FPS Increase the remuneration for the truckers Innovations made in the implementation of the MGNREGS:
Implemented 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Project e-Disha- Financial Inclusion in MGNREGS: Use of Business Correspondent Model and the biometrics Call Centre Adult Literacy Skill development projects Mobile Crche Financial cover for the beneficiaries SHGs should be allowed as a unit for NREGA work Crche under NREGS Scheme Increase the sharpening charges of the tools Grant of powers of Technical Sanction Literacy Missions for the beneficiaries
Proposed
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7.
Convergence of Forest Right Act 2006 with MGNREGS
Other innovative measures taken 1. 2. 1. Jayshree Bima Yojana and Aam Admi Bima Yojana Convergence of Social Security Schemes ICT based Disaster Management Plan
In the field of systemic improvement, our main focus has been to introduce the innovative use of Information technology in ensuring better efficiency and service delivery to the citizens. We have realized that the IT can be most useful in speedy information processing and dissemination. So we saw it fit to integrate most of our IT based initiatives with the district s disaster management system. Thus, the Disaster Management Cell of the district undertook various initiatives to strengthen its disaster handling capacity. Our mission is vulnerability reduction with respect of all types of hazards, be it natural or manmade. This is not an easy task to achieve, keeping in view the vast population, and the multiple natural hazards to which this country is exposed. However, if we are firm in our conviction and resolve that the Government and the people of this country are not prepared to pay the price in terms of massive casualities and economic losses, the task, though difficult, is achievable and we shall achieve it. Gadchiroli district is well known about tribal people and most of the peoples are farmers. Specialty of this district is the number of big and small rivers that cross through this district, so in rainy season all the rivers have huge quantities of water flow very violently and make it a very vulnerable situation for the river bank of the people. Rivers are as follows in district Gadchiroli: Table 1:
S.No 1 2 3 Name of River Wainganga Godavari Indravati Affected Area Wadasa Sawangi, Armori, Dongargaon, Wagala, Gadchiroli, Markanda, Gadaheri Somnur Somnur, Damrancha, Hindur
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4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Gadvi Sati Khobragadi Kathani Pranhita Parlakota Palamgoutam
Vichiro, Shankarpur, Mohgaon, Aratrodi Kurkheda, Manapur Malewada Gadchiroli Mrudukrishanapur, Gadaheri, Sironcha Bhamragad Lahiri
Every year due to heavy rainfall, the floods cause substantial loss to people and property. Administration has to rehabilitate thousands of people to safer place. So, for the prevention from the damages arising due to natural calamities and also to reduce cost on rehabilitation of the river bank people, we have made extensive IT made interventions.
2.
1.
Introduced Technology:
e-Flood Alert
Control Room: An Emergency Operations Center (Disaster Management Cell) exists in collector office, Gadchiroli, which functions round the clock, to assist the divisional commissioner office in the discharge of his duties. The activities of the Control Room include collection and transmission of information concerning natural calamity and relief, keeping close contact with governments of the affected villages, interaction with other state Ministries/Departments/Organizations in connection with relief, maintaining records containing all relevant information relating to action points and contact points in state Ministries etc., keeping up-to-date details of all concerned officers at the State levels. District administration has provided the emergency ambulances in flood affected area because to provide health services immediately to the victims. Through VHF-GPS fitted in the ambulances, control room keeps track of the information about their current situation. 2. CUG Mobile distribution under disaster management cell
In Gadchiroli district, 42 villages are flood affected, so district administration has given the CUG mobile to villages people like Sarpanch, talathi, Gram Sevak. In case of emergency, villagers could be directly connected to control room or vice versa. The first step in implementing an efficient flood damage control programme is developing a fast and least error alert and information system.
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District Administration implemented GSM based E-Flood monitoring systemDisaster Management Cell has installed and commissioned GSM based E-Flood monitoring system on 13 destinations which have been chronically flood affected. Before installing this system, DMC had surveyed the area which has been flood affected in previous years and selected most vulnerable 13 destinations for installation. The system consists of following three main moduleso o o GSM based flood monitoring equipment with solar panel Flood server for collecting data of current water level through GSM module Web portal for live updates of current water levels of river.
GSM based flood monitoring equipment is a completely customized one consisting of various electronics equipment integrated with the help of mobile technology. We have installed and commissioned flood detection equipments at all the destinations most of which are very remote and affected by naxal activities. Basic concept of behind this project was to give prior intimation of current water level of river on mobile through SMS. In this system, we have prepared the four water level alert like o o o o River water flow is normal level : means it is safe for transportation, no need to panic River water flow is above normal level: means it is safe but be alert River water flow is danger level : means be alert for flood situation River water flow is above danger level: Flood Alert
All of the above mentioned levels automatically fired the message through flood monitoring server. Flood GSM based equipment immediately message to the server like Gosikhurd Vainganga River water flow is normal level. The Server immediately blasts the alert message to desired stored mobile numbers within 5 Min. And with help of this message, concerned disaster management authority comes to know as to where to provide the help or communicate this message to all river bank area people.
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How it works e-Flood System
GSM based flood equipment is installed and commissioned on a high point from river bed like bridge, structure of irrigation department besides the river bed or on the top of well besides the river. Height of equipment from the river bed has been calculated by using measuring instruments and decided the water level like, if total height of equipment from the river bed is 10 meter then o o o o Normal level is set on 2.0 Meter Above Normal level is set on above 2.0 to 5.0 Meter Danger level is set on above 5.0 to 7.5 Meter Flood Alert More than 7 Meter
As per the above mentioned levels format, water sensor has been commissioned to desire destinations. In rainy season, if water flow of river increases and touch the first water sensor, sensor immediately response to the equipment and equipment searching the network and send immediately request to the flood server which is situated at disaster management cell. Server takes the request from the remote flood system and generates SMS like. River flow of water is on normal level and sending to stored mobile numbers. If the water level decreases then sending the SMS like River flow of water is below normal level. We have designed the special server for message data collection and generate SMS notification and send to the stored numbers. We have collected the cell no. list from divisional commissioner office, Nagpur; police department, Gadchiroli; and BSNL. With help of this list, we inserted cell no. of district administration officers of 6 districts, police departments, Gadchiroli and also gram Sevak, talathi, NGO who works in Gadchiroli. About 7 thousand numbers have been stored in flood server for the purpose of sending flood alerts. One more add-on technology we have adopted here, this server is attached to the SMS gate way server, if you want any information about the water level of Specific River, we have made separate server number with specific number. Some key words are:
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o o o 3.
WL Mark (Markanda Vainganga) WL Gadv (Vichora Gadhavi) WL Sati (Kurkheda Sati) Benefits Date of 5 th, 29th, 30th August 2010 and 05 th to 7 th September 2010 due to heavy rainfall flood situation was occurred and communication, transports services was hampered that time due to this system, people got pre-alerts SMS for flood situation and with the help of disaster management cell, rehabilitation team reached the place and moved people to safer destination, supplied the foods, motor boats, life jackets and good swimmer teams were deployed on flood locations. In rainy season, 42 villages were covered by E-Disaster Management Cell In rainy season, within 15 days 51000 No SMS was blasted from the server at various locations and people got the information on their mobiles and controlled the situation before any disaster came through heavy rain. GSM based Automatic Water Level Measurement System on Observation Well through Mobile SMS
4. 5.
6.
It is again very important innovation made which works on the reverse principle of the flood alert system. While the flood alert measures the rise in the river water level, this equipment measures the sinking of the water level. Thus it can be very useful in sending out the warning regarding an impending drought. If the water levels sink dangerously low, the situation will be reported to the district administration in real time, thus enabling us to make necessary relief provisions to address any situation of water scarcity immediately. This project is first of its kind in India, which is implemented in the district of Gadchiroli. This is a GSM based equipment and tailor made mechanism as per the conditions of the installation site. In Gadchiroli most of the OB wells are very far from the district headquarters because area of Gadchiroli is 14412 sq. km. and 80% is under dense forest cover. So in summer or rainy season, when it is not easy to go to the OB well, this innovative mechanism comes in very handy.
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Whatever be the water level it is sent by way of an SMS by the GSM based equipment fitted inside the OB well. Benefits GSDA installed and commissioned this system at various 10 destinations which are in very interior area. From this system, GSDA are getting the reading on live server. From only one SMS, every can gets the observation well reading on there mobile From this system, they saved time, money 7. E-News system for daily updates of flood, wild life reports to the local people of Gadchiroli, district administration and media person of district and state level
District administration has launched E-news project under disaster management cell. Project features are as follow 1. 2. Launched web portal www.e-warta.org, in this portal district administration upload the latest news of Gadchiroli. Started E-SMS system, collected the cell no. data from BSNL and subscription facility on web portal, up till now more than 10000 cell no. have been stored and daily short news updates or various types of messages can be broadcast on behalf of the district administration through SMS.
As mentioned earlier we tried to develop an integrated system with the help of IT interventions. In this setup to fully exploit the potential of SMS based information management system, we further developed an important module to maintain an inventory of the information about the potential blood donors. As Gadchiroli does not have any significant blood bank facility this information bank can prove life saving in times of need. Following is the description of this facility. 8. SMS based blood donor information and Registration facility
This, essentially, is a mobile based application using the SMS facility to provide information on the blood group donors in the district.
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District administration develops following two systems for the citizens of Gadchiroli which is very helpful for providing instant health services to victims of any accident, requirement of blood and eye. Blood Donor Information System through Mobile SMS Registration of Blood and Eye Donor through Mobile SMS
Blood Donor Information System: This system is completely web based customized solutions and integrated with SMS gate-way server. Up till now we have collected database of blood donors more than 1500 of various blood groups and it is randomly selection process in web based software. Whenever anybody sends the SMS for blood that time web based software selects the three numbers randomly and sends reply to request mobile number. Benefits This blood donor SMS system is very much helpful for citizens of Gadchiroli, they are getting instant information blood donors immediately on their mobile. Uptill now 3679 people have got benefit from this system.
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9.
1500 eye registrations have been done on server. IVRS and SMS based soil testing information and assistance system
Gadchiroli is spread over an area of almost 15000 sq kms. From North to South the distance is around 350 Kms. There is only one soil testing laboratory which is located at the district headquarters in Gadchiroli. For any kind of seed or soil testing the farmers have to travel great distances and go through a lot of inconvenience. To ameliorate this situation we decided to automate the whole procedure of soil testing. The samples of soil are collected by the Agricultural assistants in the villages and a PNR number is issued to the farmer and affixed on the soil sample. This sample is then taken to the central soil testing laboratory. Along with the soil sample a whole lot of information is taken from the farmer regarding his farming practices. A user account of the farmer is opened and all the information relating to him is stored in this account. All this information is fed into the central database. After testing of the soil sample the results are uploaded in the user account of the farmer. The farmer can access these results from anywhere over the internet or by simply dialing the contact number of the IVRS based system which is programmed to operate in local languages like Hindi, Marathi, Madia etc. The website for accessing the results online is www.seedsoiltesting.com Benefits Farmers of Gadchiroli getting their soil result at taluka level through TAO (Taluka Agriculture Officer) Also getting report of soil testing through internet From this system, agriculture department is saving money on transportation, saving time. This system increased the efficiency of work. Replication: Agriculture Commissioner, Govt. of Maharashtra is going to start this project all over Maharashtra
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e-Vidya Computer education and long distance education using V-Sat facilities in remote and inaccessible locations Executive Summary:
The project of e-Vidya has been implemented on a pilot basis in the two Naxal infested and remote talukas of Dhanora and Kurkheda in the Gadchiroli district. This is an endeavour to take education to the remotest and most deprived parts of the district. The project envisages the education of computer through computers to the students in these talukas. To overcome the handicap of connectivity, we have installed V-SATs at all the sites not covered by any kind of connectivity. 10. Use of breakthrough technology for quality education Through this project we are empowering the students and the youth by giving them quality education through access to the best of teachers imparting subject classes through a VSAT network. To implement this, we have established Audio Visual Labs and Virtual class rooms in the Schools spread across the district. 11. Imparting Vocational Training through these labs and studios We understand the importance and the need for vocational education for increasing the employability of the rural youth. The gap between the requirement and availability of skilled manpower can thus be reduced through structured training using the studios and establishing such labs in ITIs and Polytechnics. 12. Soft skills and Employability enhancing skills for the unemployed youth These labs can also be used for the training the unemployed youth in soft skills, language proficiency, skill development and other employability enhancing skill sets thereby addressing one of the key concerns of the masses.
Background & Objective of the project

The project was conceived to meet the unmet demand of quality education on modern lines in the backward and interior regions of Gadchiroli. Our objectives are To fulfill the primary objective of the department, in providing quality education for the grades 1 to 12 in regional language or Hindi or English medium.
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To enrich the education process with the help of the latest technology. To improve the students performance uniformly across the schools, thus improving retention and quality of education. To help and assist teachers through regular training in utilizing technology and developing new methods of teaching. To impart vocational training to the youth, thus increasing their employability skill sets. Use of this infrastructure for multifarious uses like imparting health awareness, timely inputs for increased agricultural output, rural development, governance etc.
Current Challenges faced by District Administration Field of Education 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Shortage of quality teachers resulting in limited assimilation of subject matter. Use of out dated delivery mechanisms, adversely impacting the quality of education. Poor infrastructure in most schools. High dropout rate of students due to waning interest in studies. Resultant unemployment and thus easily attracted towards organizations inimical to the interests of the State.
Vocational Training 1. 2. 3. 4. Inadequate dissemination of knowledge and skills in institutions like the ITI and Polytechnics. Low conversion ratio of such youth from student to employment. Industry specific skills to be imparted by quality instructors are lacking. Resultant unemployment and thus youth easily attracted towards organizations inimical to the interests of the State.
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Governance 1. 2. 3. 4. Lack of means to disseminate forecasts/ information/ market intelligence to farmers and discuss issues affecting them. As vast majority of rural population are mainly agrarian, this is a big void which needs to be plugged. Inadequate means to spread health awareness campaigns and timely calamity warnings. Insufficient interactions between the District and Panchayat authorities leading to divergence of views.
Strategy Adopted By District Administration: The solution to the above problems is using technology which is cutting edge and at the same time affordable, in improving the teaching and learning capabilities, skill development, vocational training, imparting health awareness and critical agricultural inputs, real-time and transparent interactions between the authorities at various levels thereby making a difference where it matters substantial increase in quality of education and imbibing skill sets required for higher employability quotient, renewed trust in the governance systems and a hope for the future. VSAT Studio As per directives from the district administration, implementing agency has set up state of the art VSAT studios at the district headquarters. The studios are equipped with all the necessary hardware to broadcast the class through the network. The implementing agency Everonn Ltd is appointed fully trained and qualified manpower to operate these studios and provide necessary satellite link up and connectivity for seamless transmission. Virtual Classrooms and Audio Visual Labs In the first phase, as per directives of district collector, implementing agency has established VSAT labs in the schools in the district. These labs are equipped with computer, projector, webcam, VSAT equipment, mike, speakers, requisite
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furniture, UPS etc. The classes are conducting from the studios located at District headquarters by the best available subject matter experts of the schools. Implementing agency has provided one Technical assistant in all these VSAT labs to assist in operating the lab. It would initially train the teachers at the studio to teach the students on camera. The time table is being scheduled by studio manager in consultation with the school. In the second Phase the above solution can be taken to the ITIs and the Polytechnics in the district for improved vocational training, skill development etc. Multifarious Uses of this Studio The studio can be used for other multifarious uses like imparting health awareness programmes, timely inputs to farmers for increased agricultural output, rural development, governance etc. 1. 2. 3. Benefits E-Vidya is turnkey project for district Gadchiroli. Through this project students can get digital and distance academic education. Trible students are getting the computer education through this project. Due to this project, strength of student in the school has increased and reduced the percentage of absence in school.
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4.
In Gadchiroli district 60% population are below poverty level, they dont have enough money to give computer education to their children, in this scenario district administration has started the revolutionary project and fulfill the dreams of poor students to give the computer education through E-Vidya project. Gadchiroli district two NGOs are working there a. b. Search Foundation, Chatgaon which is run by Mr. Abhay Bang Lokbiradari, Bhamragad which is run by Mr. Prakash Amte
5.
These NGOs are conducting training and awareness program through the E-Vidya project. Achievement
E-Vidya, Gadchiroli has got eWorld Education Summit Award 2011 at New Delhi which was organized by Department Telecommunication, GOM. c. Implementation coverage till date and during the year (geographical areas covered under pilot, roll-out)
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Area Area under Forests Latitude Longitude Temperature Average Rainfall Population Population Density Literacy Rate Sex Ratio Languages No. of Subdivisions No. of Tehsils No. of Villages STD Code
14412 sq. kms 1184000 Hectares 18.43 to 21.50 North 79.45 to 80.53 East Min. 11.3 C; Max. 47.7 C 1410.2 mm 970294 (2001 census) 67 per sq. kms. 60.10% 976 females per 1000 males Gondi, Madiya, Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Bengali 3 12 1688 07137
Above mentioned all project has been implemented throughout complete Gadchiroli district. Every citizen is the beneficiary of district administration projects. All mentioned projects have started in August 2009 and still running properly in Gadchiroli district. d. Future plan with regard to geographical coverage as well as scope of services. District administration has done two year agreement with implementing agencies for running the projects. Award winning projects proposal is sent to govt. for replicating all over state.
2.
a.

Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT enabled services:
As per the time concern, all projects are innovative IT based projects 1. E-flood alert system,
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Disaster management cell are giving all the water level positions of the Gadchiroli district rivers, within a minute to particular river bank living people get the message of water level on their mobile, in this case DMC can provide the rehabilitation services to victims and other resources. This solution is very cheap solution, awarded agency has developed their own mechanism and assembled it. One installation of the cost of Rs. 1,57,500/- (Including tax)
2.
Automatic Water Level Measurement System on Observation Well through Mobile SMS GSDA (Geo-water survey and development agency) has installed the automatic water level measurement system in interior area which is not easy to travel there time to time, through this installation they are getting the water level of OB well at their own office hence they saved our time and cost of transportation. They can update their ob well data web portal. Due to this system Govt. cost has reduced on the survey of Observation well.
3.
IVRS and SMS based Soil Testing Result system Before implementing this system, all the taluka soil samples were coming at District Soil Testing lab, Gadchiroli and registered the form of soil testing result and also coming at district place for collecting the result of soil testing. In previous system govt expenditure was highly paid on transportation and stationary material. But due to this system following advantages are obtined. i. ii. Only one time visit at district place for giving the sample of soil. Registration of soil by farmers can be registered at their own office at taluka level (TAO).
iii. After registration, taluka farmer is getting the PNR number of soil. iv. After the soil testing, district soil testing laboratory staff enters the details of soil on the web portal.
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v.
Through internet, with help PNR no, farmers can use IVRS system or send SMS for soil result or taking print receipt of test result through website. With the use of technology, we can save the money and cost of their expenses on transportation and stationary material.
vi. b.
Specific innovative ideas implemented in eGov area; and their impact on services All innovative ideas are implemented in eGov area and from this district administration has got tremendous trust from the citizens. Last under the e-Flood Monitoring system, 51000 No SMS blast from the server within 1 and half month during the rainy season, due to this district administration done wonderful rehabilitation work in flood area at Bhamragad. GSDA (Geo-Water Survey and development agency) are getting the water level of OB well at their own office and due to this system they are very thankful to district administration for introducing this technology to their department. Also GSDA has sent the proposal to Govt. for taking initiative to install this equipment to all GSDA departments in entire state. E-Vidya project is the turnkey project in Gadchiroli district. Tribal and poor students are getting the education of computer through the distance learning concept through V-SAT. Recently E-Vidya project has got e-World Forum Summit Award 2011 at Delhi.
c.
1.
To what extent the services are integrated with other internal and/or external ICT systems within the district or outside.
E-Flood Monitoring system and Automatic Water Level measurement system has got 14th National Conference Award which was organized by Government of India-New Delhi and also going to replicate this system to all over Maharashtra IVRS and SMS based Soil Testing Result System is going to replicate in entire
2.
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state. Proposal of IVRS and SMS based soil testing System in Commissioner level, after approval commissioner, it will be ready to launch to entire state. 3. E-Vidya project is the turnkey project in Gadchiroli district. Tribal and poor students are getting the education of computer through the distance learning concept through V-SAT. Maharashtra Govt. is going to start this project in Maharashtra. Recently E-Vidya project has got e-World Forum Summit Award 2011 at Delhi.
4. 5.

1.
a.

eGov/ICT vision roadmap for District and its current status
The entire mentioned project running successfully in the district with the keen interest of District administration and committed to run all implemented projects at district level. 1. 2. 3. Technology is used for other district, state and national also but infrastructure cannot share because it to every place and situation. Some technology can be shared and used common infrastructure like IVRS and SMS based soil testing result. Technology standardization policy and its implementation.
All technology has been developed by awarded agency, developed technology is the combination of IT, Electronics and Mechanical based used materials are solely purchased by District Administration and doing implementation by contract awarded agency.
2.
a. 1.
Capacity Building
Leadership support & visibility and current status Leadership support for implementing innovative projects from the most dynamic and innovative ideas maker district collection Mr. Atul Patne, I.A.S. District Collector, Gadchiroli. Presently Mr. Atul Patne is the Director of Textile Corporations, Nagpur
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2. 3.
No change management strategy defined and implemented Implemented projects are mainly man less projects, very few time got in touch with this system. Development agency is giving maintenance and support of any details about traning, reports or any other consultation to district administration. Does the full time Program Management Teams (District officials/ consultants) exist? Development Agency: Yes Maintenance and support is increased for 2 year from the district administration
4. 5. 6.
3.
a.
Technology
Give a detailed description of the Technological solution adopted [including cost of ownership, maintenance model]; We have used all embedded technology to implement this project 1. E-Flood Monitoring system : Microcontroller which has customized by development agency GSM module GSD modem Solar Panel Water Sensors Database Server Linux server for data management GPRS modem for blasting SMS Cost of per installation 1,57,500/- with 20% maintenance and support cost
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2.
GSDA-Automatic Water Level Measurement System through Mobile Same technology is used in GSDA, only difference, we have used mechanical based gear system for water sensor probe. Cost per installation 1,57,500/- with 20% maintenance and support cost
3.
IVRS and SMS based soil testing result system This is the web portal and developed SMS server which is used by GPRS modem and also developed IVRS (Integrated Voice Recording System) This site is hosted on lynx server
4.
E-Vidya: This project is completely based on V-SAT 5. District Administration set up on V-SAT server room at ITI college Audio-Visual room set up at every schools Provided Computers, Projectors Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented 6. Maintaining one database server with highly secured by Firewall and also maintaining one backup server.
Competence of people in technology (hardware, software, security etc) All the security of software, hardware is doing third party agency. As per concern about the installation of Flood Monitoring system and GSDA automatic water level measurement system, we have given responsibility to their local authorized people or staff.
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1. 2. We have provided the services to their local languages like Marathi, Hindi, English, Madia and Gondi. Our IT services is not bound for particular stakeholders, it is for every human being in this district and for live things. Because Flood disaster and Health services must in entire earth.
Shri Atul Patne, I.A.S, Director, Textile Corporation, Nagpur (MS), Textile Corporation, Nagpur, Maharashtra, was the Ex Collector Gadchiroli District, email: dhanankur@gmail.com and Shri Meshram, Resident Deputy Collector, District Administration, Gadchiroli, email: dhanankur@gmail.com
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CHAPTER 18
Nanded, Maharashtra*
Dr. Shrikar Pardeshi and Shri. Rajesh D Bhusari
I)
Overview
The Nanded district administration has been actively involved in promoting e-Governance initiatives since last 10 years. It has been proactive and at the forefront of implementing National e-Governance Programme (NeGP) and other e-Governance projects in association with the State and Central Governments. There are three main reasons for which we are applying for this prestigious award: 1. 2. To endorse authenticity to the efforts put in by all stakeholders and the results achieved thereby We would like to submit our projects for replication at a National level, as it has been recently identified for replication within the state of Maharashtra vide Government resolution dated: 13th April 2011 Provide a boost to all stakeholders, Government, private operators and citizens as we continue to adopt various reform projects.
3.
In the recent Economic Survey of 2010 11, published by Government of Maharashtra, Nanded district is ranked in the bottom 5 districts in terms of per capita income. In this context, it is extremely important that Governance in the district is enhanced to the maximum extent possible using e-Governance to its full potential to help the citizens of the district in their day to day lives. Hence,
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while it is likely that some of the initiatives mentioned have been implemented earlier, at a District level, we believe it is very important to embrace the initiative and implement it so that the citizens can avail the benefits of the results.
Summary
Nanded covers an area of 10,422 Sq. Kms. As per the provisional figures of 2011 census, the population of the district is 33.56 Lakhs. The district has a population density that is lower than the national average with only 28.29% of its population living in the urban areas. Nanded district has been divided into 4 revenue subdivisions which include 16 talukas consisting of 80 revenue circles. The revenue circles are further divided into 457 Talathi Sajjas which include the 1572 revenue villages of this district.
Objectives
Nanded district administration aims to promote e-Governance with the following objectives: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To ensure greater quality, accountability and speed in citizen centric services. To provide single window clearance for all Govt. Services at District Level. To create a user friendly interface in order to eliminate middlemen. Transparency in administrative operations. To facilitate cost effective services.
Services
The District Collector is in charge of the Revenue administration within the district and co-ordinates the functioning of all other departments of the state Government within the district. It offers 136 services to the citizens and undertakes various functions like Revenue collection, Land acquisition, Supply of essential commodities, and implementation of various Govt. schemes etc. With the above objectives in mind, the Nanded district administration has following two key initiatives, amongst other initiatives, which are being submitted for evaluation in this nomination:
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1.
PARADISE (Setuonline) Powering the Maha e Seva Kendra (CSCs): Nanded is one of the first districts to provide its own web based application software to implement G2C services in the CSCs and support them with the required enablers of process reengineering through standardization and introducing mutually beneficial accounting of revenue. PDS reforms (PDS Nanded): Given the economic situation of the district and with majority of the population living in the rural areas, the District has used e-Governance, including m-Governance to empower people with information pertaining to PDS distribution in the district.
2.
II)
1.
a. 1.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C, G2B, G2G, G2E) PARADISE (SetuOnline) Powering the Maha e Seva Kendras (CSCs):
Background
Nanded was a pioneer in implementing citizen service centers way back in 2001, known as SETU centers and further decentralizing in year 2008 in Maharashtra. Nanded District SETU Samiti, under the chairmanship of the Collector, in association with NIC Nanded developed an application PARADISE (Processing Applications, Registration and Delivery Information System Electronically) in 2008. Over the years, the initiative was nurtured and improved upon gradually. The rollout of CSCs as part of NeGP in 2009 10 was the perfect platform that Nanded district required to rollout its application,PARADISE to offer G2C services through the Common Service Centers (CSCs) named as Maha e Seva Kendras in Maharashtra. The scheme envisages 1 center per 4-6 villages with following objectives
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Cut down the travel cost (loss of wage, travel, food etc) Easy reach either by walk / cycle Employment opportunities for the computer literates from rural areas Eliminate transaction costs by providing transparency using e Governance solution
Services One of the major hurdle in the implementation of CSCs was lack of backend computerization to offer services through the CSCs. Nanded District has tackled this problem by running its home grown Internet based application PARADISE through the CSCs. Earlier only few B2C services were offered through the CSCs. District Administration then entered into an arrangement with the SCA to run PARADISE through the Maha e Seva Kendra (CSCs). Currently 136 G2C services are offered through PARADISE. The complete list of these services is provided on website www.setuonline.in (option-kiosk) through PARADISE in the Maha e Seva Kendras (CSCs). In summary, these services are: Acceptance of application forms (with receipt having token number for tracking) Providing photo based computerized affidavits Generation of Certificates Online status monitoring for the applications (KIOSK) Downloading of Forms available free of cost at the centers and over the Internet.
A major innovation that was conceived and implemented earlier by Nanded District has subsequently been implemented in the CSC centers in Nanded in 2010 11 viz. Prepaid Accounting. This has been explained later. Seeing the success of this practice, the SCA of CSC has incorporated this feature in his application for rollout in other districts. As the District Administration has completely computerized the Land Records of the District, the CSCs also offer the 7/12 extract (land record certificate) and
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the 8A extract (land holding certificate), which are by far the most frequently used services by the farmers. Nanded is the only district in the state which has completely banned the manual issuance of land records by the Talathis (Patwari). Report of Computerized 7/12 (LAND RECORDS) Distribution in Aurangabad Revenue Division in the year 2010-2011 Table 1
Month Population (lakhs) April-10 May-10 June-10 July-10 Aug-10 Sept-10 Oct-10 Nov-10 Dec-11 Jan -11 Feb-11 March-11 Total Latur 24.55 10103 NA 16185 20284 12326 9092 15715 NA 16743 13407 NA NA 103752 Beed 25.85 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jalna 19.58 21852 29377 40415 43804 32484 15099 NA NA 17098 20368 NA NA 169268 Parbhani Hingoli Osmanabad Aurangabad Nanded 18.35 NA NA NA 54692 30774 14538 11459 NA NA 10937 NA NA 122400 11.78 15654 22270 NA NA NA 18309 12501 NA NA 14691 NA NA 45501 16.60 9216 8220 10773 12376 9631 7905 9395 NA 11050 9239 NA NA 70369 36.95 7289 7543 9900 7759 7759 10219 13153 NA 28803 34721 NA NA 112314 33.56 54989 69245 107988 95617 56785 23754 25159 26103 30124 50323 42724 45692 415853
Total Transactions through Maha e Seva Kendras in the Year 2010-2011 Table 2
Year 2010-11 Transactions through PARADISE 3,29,472 Total Transactions 10,868,27 Distribution of record of rights (Land Record) 7,57,355
Benefits The Benefits this initiative has brought to the District is summarized for the following three stakeholders:
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Citizens Village Level Entrepreneurs with average income Rs. 4000 per month District Administration (Government) Citizens
The citizens have gained the following benefits: a) Services in the neighbourhood: All the centers are outside Government offices. Therefore, to avail these 136 services, the citizens do not have to travel to Government offices. Further, they can avail the services close to their home as a total of 282 Maha e Seva and Setu sub centers are presently working across the entire district. Easier tracking: The centers have displayed the service levels i.e. turnaround times of delivery of the services. Hence, citizens now know the time taken and they can track their request based on the token number they get while applying for any service. This token number can be tracked online on Internet or at the CSCs. Standardization of service: This initiative has enforced standard forms and standard support documents requirements across the district, providing the citizens with more predictability of requirement from them to obtain the service. Village Level Entrepreneurs Earlier process and its problems: The Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) would collect service charges from the citizens and deposit the same with the Govt. VLE would then submit an invoice for its share to the Government. The VLE would have to make many rounds to get his payment released and this process bred corruption and delayed the cash inflow for the VLE. Innovative process implemented in Nanded District: The VLE first deposits money in advance with the District Headquarters. Thus, the Governments share is received in advance. This amount is loaded as credit into the VLEs account in the online application PARADISE used at the CSCs. Then, as each transaction is made in PARADISE by the VLE to provide the service to the citizen, this account gets debited. The VLE can continue
b)
c)
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to provide services as long as there is a balance in their account. Therefore, the cash collected by the VLE from the citizen as service charge remains with the VLE and he does not need to deposit it with the Government. Benefits: The VLE has obtained the following benefits a) Faster receipts of his due share: The VLE now gets his share in real time as soon as the citizen avails the service as the citizen has to pay the service charge upfront. Minimizing interaction with the Government: Apart from the periodic reloading, the VLE does not require to visit Government offices to obtain his share of service charges. Predictable cash flows: The VLEs are now aware of the seasonality of their volumes and hence, reload their accounts accordingly. Therefore, their cash flows, both inwards and outwards, are more predictable. District Administration (Government)
b)
c)
This initiative has provided the District Administration with the following benefits: a) Standardization: The District Administration used this opportunity to rollout standard forms and documentary requirements from citizens. This has helped the Departments in processing the requests more quickly. Nanded is the only district to ban issue of manual land records by talathis (patwaris) in Maharashtra and to mandate issuance of only computerized 7/12 (land record certificate) and 8A (land holding certificate). Initial scrutiny performed by the VLEs: The VLEs perform the initial checks on the citizens requests, thereby filtering out incomplete requests from the citizens. Less rush at District administration Offices: As all centers are outside District Administration Offices, this has significantly reduced the rush at the said offices. This allows the District officials and officers to concentrate more on their work as citizen interaction has been optimized. Implementation Coverage till date: The total number of Maha e Seva Kendras has gone up to 282, which are spread all over the district. The
b)
c)
d)
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State Government has adopted this model and declared to replicate it in other parts of State vide government resolution dated 13/04/2011. Department of IT has conducted independent assessment of this project via SPV members. This model will be replicated under Maha online, an ambitious project of Govt. of Maharashtra. Future Plans There are two aspects to the future plans: a. Increasing the number of centers: The District Administration plans to complete its target of commencing a total of 453 Maha e Seva centers in the District. More services: The District Administration will add about 30 more services by the end of September 2011 to the CSCs to leverage more from the successful experience and impetus provided by the Government. Using online banking: NIC Nanded is helping the District Administration to explore usage of online banking for the VLEs to reload their accounts. PDS Reforms (PDS Nanded):
b.
c. 2.
Background The PDS system is plagued with leakages at various points in the supply chain because of the subsidized essential commodities, which are priced lower than market prices. On the ground, this diversion and pilferage results into various problems. Two commonly occurring problems that the District Administration aimed to solve were: a. Citizens not having any visibility of commodities available at the Fair Price Shops (FPS): Especially in the rural areas of the District, the FPS owners would drive away the citizens citing unavailability or non-delivery of essential commodities from the District godowns. Citizens being denied their benefits of various Government schemes due to lack of their awareness: Depending on which ration card a citizen holds
b.
224
i.e. for APL, BPL or Antyodaya, a citizen is entitled to specific quantities of essential commodities and at specific prices. FPS owners would maximize their gains by offering lesser quantities and / or at prices of higher schemes. There are cases, when the FPS owners would take away and keep the ration cards of the villagers with him. Services Nanded District Administration has started the following two services in September 2010 aimed at addressing the above two problems. These services are: a. SMS information of grain dispatch to citizens: The District has 23 warehouses from where the food grains are dispatched to the FPS. As soon as food grains are dispatched to a FPS, the information is entered onto a web application, which then sends out SMSs to the members of Village Vigilance Committee who are the key individuals of the village where the FPS is located. These individuals would be the Sarpanch and other office bearers. The SMS summarizes the food grains, their quantities, name of the FPS and the date of dispatch. Besides, on the website (www.pdsnanded.com), any citizen can enroll his / her name to receive SMS alerts for any FPS they choose. b. Display of ration card holders list at FPS: Another initiative undertaken by the Department is to computerize its 5.47 lakh ration card holders. Based on this computerization, at each FPS, the District Administration has mandated that Display Boards be put containing the following information: List of all ration card holders, scheme wise i.e. APL, BPL and Antyodaya. Details of entitlement, scheme wise along with the price rates.
This list of ration card holders or beneficiaries is also available online at the above mentioned website. The District Administration has issued an order that has mandated the FPS owners to provide essential commodities to citizens even if they do not have the ration cards as long as their names appear on the Display Board.
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This initiative by the Nanded district administration aims at achieving a more transparent and well monitored PDS system through participation of the citizens. After running a pilot for 2 / 3 weeks, all 1935 FPS were covered under this initiative. A total of more than 2.9 lakh SMS have been sent since July 2011 Benefits This initiative has brought benefits to the citizens as well as to the administration. Citizens -
The Citizens come to know of delivery of food grains to the FPS in their locality almost at the same as when the food grains reach the FPS. This increases transparency and empowers villagers with information to exert pressure on the FPS for distribution of the essential commodities. Further this service is available to citizens at zero cost as incoming SMS is free. The citizens now cannot be denied any essential commodity available at the FPS due to reasons of non-availability or mutilation of their ration cards. They now also know their entitlements and the rates at which they should be procuring the essential commodities based on the scheme under which names fall. District Administration (Government)
By increasing the transparency in terms of release of food grains to the FPS and openly displaying entitlements, the overall lifting of food grains has dropped as diversions or pilferage has become more difficult. By enhancing the transparency of the system by having SMS sent to the citizens, the District Administration has tried to redress the grievances of citizens regarding the PDS system. Their initiative to aid the entitlements of the citizens through the Display Boards is viewed as a citizen friendly change.
2.
a.
1.

PARADISE (SetuOnline) Powering the Maha e Seva Kendra (CSCs):
The pre-paid accounting has added cost efficiency into the CSC initiative. The
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Government also gets its share in advance. The VLE also receives his share sooner. This reduces the cost of capital. Standardization of the forms and requirements of documents have reduced the time it takes for the VLEs / their operators and the District officials to check process requests of the citizen.
2.
PDS reforms (PDS Nanded):
By incurring a small additional expenditure of about Rs.8 lakhs on the SMS system, the District has saved pilferage of food grains worth Crores of rupees. The demand for food grains has fallen as avenues for diversion of pilferage have reduced. This has been responsible for the efficient utilization of food grains, as for Nanded, the state has to part away with lesser food grains without any drop in number of beneficiaries. District Administration could identify 28,262 bogus ration cards which were cancelled during the initiative. Comparative statistics of actions against FPS based on inspection
Year No. of Shops Inspected License Cancelled License Suspended Deposit forfeited Amount seized (Rs.)
Sept 2009 Aug 2010 (Before reforms) Sept 2010 Aug 2011 (After reforms)
951
18
30
40
60,000
659
29
37
36
98,000
b.
Innovative ideas Implemented
The use of following innovative ideas has helped the citizens, in a District with over 71% of the population living in the rural areas: Using of SMS medium of information i.e. m-governance for disseminating food grain delivery related information Publishing names of ration card holders / beneficiaries using simple Display Boards.
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Both these innovative ideas are the very backbone of the PDS reform initiative.
c.
Integration with Other Systems Within and Outside
The PARADISE application has been completely integrated with the CSC initiative. PARADISE application has been used to provide the application for offering G2C services through the physical setup of the CSCs. The Land Records related system is also made accessible through the CSCs, thereby ensuring convergence of the 2 key applications of the District under the CSC initiative.

1.
a.

The Nanded district administration aims to promote e-Governance with the following objectives: To ensure greater quality, accountability and speed in providing services and information to the people of Nanded. To provide single window clearance for all G2C Services at District Level. To create a user friendly interface in order to eliminate middlemen. Transparency in administrative operations. To facilitate cost effective services.
Nanded district has been driven these objectives and has achieved significant progress with CSCs as its means for delivery G2C services. Today 136 services are already offered through the CSCs and 30 more are planned to be launched by September 2011. Nanded districts experience with PARADISE will help it to embrace the recently launched e-District initiative under the NeGP. b. Sharing of Common Infrastructure
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The District administration believes in using common infrastructure to the fullest extent. Therefore, all its initiatives that have interaction with the citizens are routed through the CSC initiative.
c.
Technology Standardization
Nanded district has been consistent in its adoption of Unicode. Applications like PARADISE, PDSNANDED are developed using known standards. These applications make use of Unicode for data to be entered. Even office correspondence in local language is done in Unicode only. For whatever e-Governance initiatives that Nanded District has undertaken, it has been conscious of using open source technologies. LAMP platform is used for the application development, saving cost of proprietary software.
2.
a.

The following major non-ICT front end process changes were planned and implemented to support the e-Governance initiatives: Standardization of forms: While implementing PARADISE, the team realized that various Tahsils were using different forms for the same service. Before developing the application, an exercise was first done to standardize the forms and the supporting documents that were required from the citizens.
The State Government of Maharashtra has recognized the Districts efforts and has passed a Government Resolution dated 03/06/2011 instructing all other districts in the state to follow suit. Order for issuance of only computerized 7/12 and 8A forms: As far as the most commonly used G2C service i.e. issuance of 7/12 extract (land record certificate) and 8A extract (land holding certificate) is concerned, the District Administration has passed an order that only computerized land record / holding certificates would be issued to ensure uniformity in the disbursement while universalizing the same. To complement the above change, facility is also provided in PARADISE over
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the Internet that allows any individual to key in the issued certificate details and ascertain if the certificate was indeed issued from the system. This service is offered without compromising on the confidentiality of the certificate, by providing only a confirmation or denial of the authenticity of the certificate. Lastly, to strengthen the processes followed at the Maha e Seva Kendras, the District Administration got 10 centers in Nanded City ISO9001:2008 certified. The processes followed at these centers have been replicated across all centers. The audits that are done under ISO9001:2008 certification help in doing a periodic check on the adherence of the processes. b. Major non-ICT back end process changes
To enforce PDS reforms, the District Administration passed an order that mandated the FPS owners to issue essential commodities to the citizens even if they did not physically possess the ration cards, provided their names appeared in the list of the beneficiaries on the Display Boards. The names could also be verified by any citizen over the Internet as well.
3.
a.
Capacity Building
For the good part of the year, the Chief Minister of the state was from the Nanded District. This lent very good visibility and support for the e-Governance initiatives. It was the then Chief Minister who inaugurated the issuance of computerized land records through Maha e Seva and the Display Board initiative in the District. b. Change Management Strategy
Following two specific interventions were planned and have been implemented towards change management: Camps: The PARADISE application that is accessed over Internet at the CSCs can also be accessed on laptops / PCs using wireless data cards. The present Collector personally wrote to Head Masters (580) of all High Schools (580) in the district and had mobile camps conducted for the children and their parents. More than 32,000 certificates pertaining to caste, domicile etc. were prepared and distributed in schools itself.
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Communication: Regular briefing of the print and electronic media has helped in dissemination of the vital information about the progress of the mentioned initiatives. Apart from this, simple brochures prepared for the citizens were distributed to important offices and in villages for awareness. Training: Various trainings have been conducted to help the VLEs operate effectively in the Maha e Seva Kendras. A total of 10 such training sessions were conducted in 2010 11. The training sessions covered the topics of Online Software (PARADISE) Business development for village level entrepreneurs Communication skills CSC accounting
District Collector has also initiated best VLE scheme based on their performance in CSC scheme. The periodicity for this scheme is presently 1 year, which Administration will revise to half year in coming days. The best VLE is felicitated by the Collector with a cash prize of Rs. 500/-, certificate and garland. Best VLE selection is done on following criteria c. Number of G2C transactions done Conformance with the principles laid down to run the CSC General indicators like ambience of CSC, communication skills etc.
Training Plan- Internal and External Plan Status
Training is an ongoing activity for this project as new enrollments of VLE, transfer of Officers / clerks is a continual process. Specifically trainings are conducted to following audience. Training Audience
Sr. No 1. 2. 3. Audience Village level entrepreneur Certificate issuing authority File processing staff Type External Internal Internal Sessions Conducted 6 sessions conducted and in all 282 persons are trained 6 sessions and 16 Officers trained 10 sessions and clerical staff trained
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d.
Program Management Teams
Under the supervision of the Collectors office and the SETU Samiti, which is also chaired by the Collector, NIC Nanded provides full time program management oversight for the initiatives. The SETU Samiti has nominated few retired District officials to support NIC Nanded in the day-to-day program management. e. Sustainability of Efforts
To ensure sustainability of the various e Gov efforts, the Nanded District Administration has undertaken the following initiatives: The District Administration has proactively worked to reduce its share to help the VLE obtain double their share to help sustain the Maha e Seva Kendra:
Stake holder VLE CMS (SCA) Setu Samiti Total Service Charge (to the citizen) 6 Rs.15.00/Rs. 15.00/Dec 2009 Rs. 3.90/Rs. 2.10/Rs. 9.00/Nov 2010 Rs. 7.80/Rs. 4.00/Rs. 6.00/-
By making issuance of only computerized certificates mandatory, the District Administration has ensured that the setup does not fall back on earlier manual systems to ensure that the initiative sustains. The cost of implementing the described PDS reform initiative is very less (about Rs. 8 lakhs). The revenue from the District share of the PARADISE initiative can easily fund the PDS initiative.
4.
a.
Technology
Technological Solution Adopted
The software is developed using PhP on front end and MySQL at backend. The operating system used was RHEL 5.0. Due to open source adoption cost of proprietary software was saved. Afterwards the application software was hosted on private shared server at a cost of Rs. 18,000 /- per year. Maintenance of software
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is being done in-house while, for larger scale development, manpower is hired as per requirement. b. Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented
It was ensured that the software conforms to standard web security aspects also the security issues related with open source environment are taken in to account. c. Competence of people in technology (hardware, software, security etc)
282 direct centers (CSC operators); Officials from 20 offices and Citizens are making use of this software. The software is developed keeping the audience in mind, it can be said, based on feedback received, that this is real user-friendly application.

1.
a.
Digital Inclusion
Digital Inclusion has been rightly considered while implementing the mentioned initiatives. During the period from 2001 to 2008, the Setu Centres were restricted only to Collectorate and Tahsil Offices. However, since 2009, there has been active promotion of Maha e Seva Kendras at the doorstep of the citizens. It was decided that rather than calling the applicants and giving service at office end, the Govt will go to the doorstep of applicant by establishing centres nearer to their residing place. That is the reason that Maha e Seva Kendras have been consciously kept out of office buildings of the District Administration and have been spread all across to the District so that the citizens can access it nearer to their home. Secondly to bridge the digital divide both the portals www.setuonline, www.pdsnanded.com have been developed in local language i.e. Marathi. All the centres are ready to serve the poorly educated as well as the illerates, helping them to assist in filing applications. Citizens are empowered for the usage of portal to get optimal information about citizen centric services. For the PDS reforms, by providing the required information through ubiquitous technology like mobile phones, it
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has become very easy for citizens to obtain the desired information. Simultaneously the display boards, with the names of all the beneficiaries under all categories, for subsidized food grains, in front of all the fair price shops has given them confidence about their monthly entitlement of food grains.
2.
eParticipation
Setu Samiti is apex body for the project. Officials from all fields are nominated as members of the Samiti. Apart from this, in the initial stage local NGO was involved for better delivery of the services. It is now proposed to call noted social activists with a background of citizen centric services in the Setu Samiti meetings so that the project can benefit from their experiences. Setu Samiti always believes that reforms and inclusion are a continuous process. This commitment has led to ISO9001:2008 certification for the Setu Samiti Centres which acts as third umpire in the present scenario.
3.
eWaste
For the initiatives been submitted, e Waste is not applicable due to the following reasons: 1. PARADISE: As the initiative of Maha e Seva Kendras is run in PPP, the PCs used belong to the VLEs and the prerogative on deciding its redeployment or discarding would lie with the VLEs. PDS reforms: These use mobile phones, which are personal properties of the citizens and its discarding, would be the citizens prerogative with the District Administration not having any specific role.
2.
Dr. Shrikar Pardeshi, IAS, Collector & District Magistrate, Revenue Department, Government of Maharashtra, Email: shrikarpardeshi@gmail.com & Shri. Rajesh D. Bhusari, District Informatics Officer, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Maharashtra, Email: mahnan@nic.in
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CHAPTER 19
Pali District, Rajasthan*

Shri Niraj K Pawan and Shri H S Yadav
I)
Overview
For recognization of contributions, made in the field of e-Governance, in the Pali district of Rajasthan. Primarily for recognization and replication of the successful initiatives of the district, in achieving good governance using ICT. It gives an insight to all stakeholders in e-governance and shares the critical success factors in the implementation process. To show that e-Governance is a tool to ensure equitable and easy to avail good governance. Pali district is situated in western Rajasthan. District Pali of Rajasthan is a land of opportunities embedded in its vast mineral resources; close proximity to the northern and western markets of India; educated and skilled labour force; and investor-friendly attitude of the State Government. Pali district is blessed with varied climatic conditions ranging from arid western region to humid region, such that it is able to produce a wide variety of products. It is a leading producer of mustard, bajra, barley, maize and cotton. It has a large livestock population. It, being a pre-dominantly agrarian district with about 70 per cent of the total population depending on it, offers numerous opportunities for development of agro-based industries. These industries include solvent extraction, floriculture, tomato processing as well as other processing industries based on fruits and vegetables. Industries based on herbal and medicinal plants, poultry products and non-edible oil have bright export prospects. Pali district is famous for its exotic beauty, rich cultural heritage, wild life and safaris, forests and bio-diversity.
Pali District, Rajasthan
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It is endowed with ancient forts, carved temples, museums, archaeological sites, etc. Some of the important places of tourist interest in the district are Ranakpur, Nadol, Jojawar etc. Besides, fairs and festivals of Rajasthan have assumed international prominence. All these make the district Pali a favourite destination for tourists the world over. Given this, the Government has taken several steps for promoting investment in the tourism sector. Accordingly, a tourism policy has been designed to make tourism truly a peoples industry. This policy aims at ensuring optimum utilisation of rich resources of the district; generate employment; develop a ready market for the traditional handicrafts; and thus accelerate the contribution of tourism industry in socio-economic development of the district. The district has shown significant spurt in industrial activity, based on the exploitation of its agriculture and rich mineral deposits. It is manufacturing a wide range of products, which include synthetic and cotton yarn, cement, marble and granite slabs, edible oils, chemicals, rubber and plastic based items, electrical and electronics goods, ceramic and glass, etc. In addition, its diverse and beautiful landscape has made tourism in the district, a preferred sector for investment. The District Administration is making all efforts to leverage the benefits of IT for improving the quality of life of the people. It has undertaken several steps for promoting Pali as an attractive location for investment in the IT industry.

1.
a. 1.
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C, G2B, G2G, G2E) SMS based Public Grievances Redressal:- Using latest SMS based technology, the District Administration tries to redress public grievances in an efficient manner. GPS based Public Distribution System Kerosene route monitoring:- With the help of GPS technique, the District Supply office keeps track of the movement of Kerosene tankers, so that black-marketing of kerosene is minimized. Web Conferencing for SDOs:- This technology is used by the District Collector and all the nine SDOs, so as to interact as and when needed, for on-line appraisal of situation etc. Through this facility any person can
2.
3.
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interact directly with the District Collector, Pali from the Sub Division officers offices located in the district. 4. Common Service Centre(s)- The CSC is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), to introduce e-governance on a massive scale. The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as well as other private services. A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills. The Scheme creates a conducive environment for the private sector and NGOs to play an active role in implementation of the CSC Scheme, thereby becoming a partner of the government in the development of rural India. The PPP model of the CSC scheme envisages a 3-tier structure consisting of the CSC operator (called Village Level Entrepreneur or VLE); the Service Centre Agency (SCA) and a State Designated Agency (SDA) identified by the State Government responsible for managing the implementation over the entire State e-Mitra Project is aimed at providing various citizen-centric services of various government departments in integrated form through service & information delivery centres. RPSC On-line Application Filling :- For the benefit of rural and urban youth, Rajasthan Public Service Commission has started on-line application filling facility. This facility can be availed at e-Mitra/CSC kiosks on payment basis. Implementation Coverage SMS based Public Grievances Redressal:- This system is aimed at lodging of public grievances using SMS from any part of the district or from anywhere. So far more than 6000 complaints have been lodged and sent to their respective departments for an early redressal. GPS based Public Distribution System Kerosene route monitoring:- To keep track of distribution of kerosene under Public Distribution System, this system is implemented throughout the district.
5.
6.
b. 1.
2.
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3.
Web Conferencing for SDOs:- For on-line discussion on important matters and for appraisal of any information, this facility is being implemented for all the nine SDOs of the district Pali. Common Service Centre(s):- So far 79 Common Service Centres have been operation in the district to cater to various needs of the public for different services. e-Mitra :- In district Pali at present 27 e-Mitra counters are operational
4.
5.
Future plan with regard to geographical coverage as well as scope of services 1. SMS based Public Grievances Redressal:- In future this system will be expanded and in addition to district headquarter level monitoring, block/ tehsil level monitioring would be started. GPS based Public Distribution System Kerosene route monitoring:- To cope with numbers of kerosene tankers, foodgrain trucks etc. the number of vehicles fitted with GPS based equipments would be increased. Web Conferencing for SDOs:- For on-line discussion on important matters and for appraisal of any information, this facility would be implemented for all the Block Development Officers and important District Level Officers of the district Pali. Common Service Centre(s) & e-Mitra: More and more services would be included for the benefit of common man of the district.
2.
3.
4.
2.
a. 1.

Time and Cost Efficiency SMS based Public Grievances Redressal:- This system is aimed at time and cost efficiency. With the help of this system, grievances may be lodged from any part of the district or from anywhere. Then lodged grievances are sent to their respective departments for an early redressal. GPS based Public Distribution System Kerosene route monitoring:- To improve vigilance and time & cost efficiency, this system is devised, so that keeping track of distribution of kerosene under Public Distribution System may be monitored smoothly and effectively at any time and from anywhere. Web Conferencing for SDOs:- Time and cost efficiency improved drastically by using Web Conferencing for on-line discussion on important
2.
3.
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matters and for appraisal of any information. Using this facility the SDOs can save their precious time. 4. Common Service Centre(s):- Common Service Centres have been in the operation in the district to cater various needs of the public for different services, thus improving time and cost efficiency in public services for common man. e-Mitra :- Time & cost efficiency has been improved in services provided by the e-Mitra centres being operational in the district. Innovative ideas Implemented SMS based Public Grievances Redressal:- This system is implemented by using SMS. This idea aimed at time and cost efficiency. GPS based Public Distribution System Kerosene route monitoring:- The basic idea is to improve vigilance and time & cost efficiency. Keeping this idea in view, this system is devised, so that Public Distribution System Kerosene route has been monitored smoothly and effectively at any time and from anywhere. Web Conferencing for SDOs:- To use the on-line web based conferencing, with improved time and cost efficiency, this idea is implemented. This in turn, improved various aspects drastically by using Web Conferencing for on-line discussion on important matters and for appraisal of any important information. Common Service Centre(s):- To improve the services rendered to common people by using ICT in eGov area, these Common Service Centres has been in the operation in the district to cater various needs of the public. Thus improving time and cost efficiency in public services for common man. e-Mitra :- This innovative idea has improved efficiency in eGov area and simultaneously provided services in the district. Integration with Other Departments SMS based Public Grievances Redressal:- This system is implemented at district headquarter by using input from SMS from anywhere, inside or out-side of the district. ICT systems are using latest technology to cater
5. b. 1. 2.
3.
4.
5. c. 1.
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public needs and early solution of public grievances. 2. GPS based Public Distribution System Kerosene route monitoring:- The GPS technology is used to improve vigilance and time & cost efficiency. With this technology effective and smooth monitoring has been possible, at any time and from anywhere. Web Conferencing for SDOs:- This system uses web technology to facilitate real-time web based conferencing. Presently all the nine SDO offices are connected through this system, they can interact, using their credentials, from any part of the district or outside. Common Service Centre(s) & e-Mitra:- With the help of these systems, use of web based ICT applications, from designated Common Service Centres/e-Mitra kiosks, across the district and connected to the state server, to improve the services rendered to common people by using ICT in eGov area has been successfully implemented.
3.
4.

1.
a.

Application of Information Technology, in the processes of district level administration, to ensure timely services to the common people. For this district administration is trying its best to ensure in providing with the benefits of using Information and Communication Technology to common people. Work processes, decision making and interactions within government will be improved significantly with the help of ICT. b. Sharing of Common Infrastructure
Initial efforts were local by using shared resources. Subsequently state government allocated funds for new infrastructure. Still few applications are using common infrastructure/resources whereas some are standalone. c. Technology Standardization
ICT tools used in these applications confirms to the standards, as latest tools were deployed under the close vigilance of district ICT officials.
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2.
a.

Registration, monitoring and intimation of disposal related details of the public grievances received through the system. b. 1. 2. 3. Major non-ICT back end process changes Communication of grievance details to the concerned officer Regular monitoring to make the whole system effective Systematic operational changes/improvements required for strengthening the system for effective delivery of public services.
3.
a.
Capacity Building
Adoption and promotion of useful innovation, for the benefit of common people, in every possible manner. b. Change Management Strategy
Believed in the spirit of team building and promoted the collective responsibility culture for the decision taken during the course of action in good faith. For this many a times new ideas, methods and innovations are cross checked, tried and documented. c. Capacity Building Plan and its Implementation
With the availability of skilled technical experts, various in-house training were conducted from time to time to cater to the needs of the house. Sometimes state level trainings were attended by the staff deputed/posted in these projects to improve their skills. d. Program Management Teams
District administration has appointed nodal officer(s) for smooth functioning of these projects and to handle any problem occurred during day-to-day functioning of these ICT applications.
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e.
Efforts to ensure sustainability of various eGov efforts, in addition to the few mentioned above.
As mentioned above, nodal officer(s) were made responsible and accountable to handle problems occurred related to these projects. Their work has been regularly monitored during weekly meetings.
4.
Technology
Technological Solution Adopted 1. SMS based Public Grievances Redressal:- This system is implemented using latest .NET technology, integrated with SMS facility to cater public needs and early solution of public grievances. GPS based Public Distribution System Kerosene route monitoring:- This application uses GPS technology to improve vigilance and time & cost efficiency. With this technology effective and smooth monitoring has been possible, at any time and from anywhere. Web Conferencing for SDOs:- This system uses web technology to facilitate real-time web based conferencing. Presently all the nine SDO offices are connected through this system, they can interact, using their credentials, from any part of the district or outside. Common Service Centre(s) & e-Mitra:- This is a web based ICT application, being accessed from designated Common Service Centres/eMitra kiosks, across the district and connected to the state server, to improve the services rendered to common people by using ICT in eGov area has been successfully implemented. Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented
2.
3.
4.
b.
Security and confidentiality standards are well defined and are being implemented in all the e-Government initiatives been implemented in the district. c. Competence of people in technology (hardware, software, security etc)
For the e-Government initiatives, been implemented in the district, technical aspects are managed by technical experts posted in the district, under the
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directions of the state government and local district administration received from time to time. Hardware, Software and Security standards/aspects are as per government norms/standards and are being monitored regularly.

1.
a.
Digital Inclusion
In the district, implementation of e-Government initiatives has increased use of information and communication technologies to broaden and deepen citizens participation, by enabling citizens to connect/interact with district administration for improved service delivery. This also includes all stakeholders in decision-making processes and not only citizen related top-down government initiatives. Thus digital inclusion in the form of eInclusion has been implemented successfully.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: ICT-supported participation in processes involved in government and governance has been ascertained by active participation of stakeholders at all levels. eParticipation is closely integrated to e-government and (e-)governance participation. This has also emerged as citizen benefits and values that have often received less attention in e-government development than those of the service providers. Also the role of citizen and customer has become clearer.
3.
eWaste
NA
Shri Niraj K Pawan, District Collector, Pali, Rajasthan, email:dm-pal-rj@nic.in & Shri H S Yadav, ADM, Collectorate, Rajasthan, email: rajpal@hub2.nic.in, adm_pali@yahoo.in)
Ramabai Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
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CHAPTER 20
Ramabai Nagar, Uttar Pradesh*

Shri. Chandra Prakash and Shri. Mayur Maheshwari
I)
Overview
Governance today, is incomplete without the crucial word E. E-Governance has been adopted internationally, as an effective tool to facilitate G2C interface, trickle down the effects of development and investment for weakest links of society and ensure transparency and accountability in governance. Last decade has been witness to tremendous efforts being made in e-governance initiatives in India as well. However, there has been a duplication of these efforts in many cases and gaps in many others because of lack of interactive platforms to debate and discuss these efforts at national level. In this background, CSI-Nihilent E-Governance awards has emerged as a powerful platform for dissemination, sharing and discussion of e-governance initiatives at the national level. It has been a forum whereby the best of e-governance initiatives across the nation, in different categories have been presented and awarded, helping future better projects to come up and deliver effective services for all. It is with this very objective of being able to get a platform for the projects running in district Ramabai Nagar of Uttar Pradesh i.e. Aarogyam, (which has also won this years National E-governance Award 2011(Silver ICON)), and E-Samwad (which won e-World Award 2011) that the district has been nominated herein. Aarogyam, initiated in Uttar Pradesh, is countrys unique end to end digital mapping and pioneer pregnancy tracking system which uses ICT to empower all sections of society, at their doorsteps. CSI-Nihilent award can help in further dissemination and adoption of this project in other states of the nation, and contribute in better health care
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delivery for all and especially, mothers and their children. E-Samwad is another unique initiative whereby with use of ICT, sittting at district Headquarters, top officials can monitor performance of all government developmental schemes at the village level. CSI-Nihilent awards is a key forum which would help in dissemination of these benficiary oriented G2C projects across the nation. Hence, the nomination. District Ramabai Nagar is centrally situated in Uttar Pradesh with the population of 17.95 lakhs having sex ratio 86.2 and literacy rate 77.52. The District has five tehsils as administrative units and 10 blocks as development units. Area wise district spread is at very high side hence ICT initiatives are needed to address the citizens living at the distant places like Rasulabad (55 Km from District Headquarters) and Sandalpur (60 Km from DHQ). 98% of the citizens in this district live in the rural area and the transportation is still a problem in the rural areas. Hence the initiatives like Aarogyam and E-Samwad are a boost for such type of terrain. So these type of initiatives help the citizens to get effective services in time.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
In Ramabai Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, two major initiatives were launched in Februray, 2011 and both the initiatives are giving the G2C services to the Rural citizens of the district. As most of the population resides in the villages hence these two applications are widely used by them and they have improved their living quality. First of these is the health initiative-Aarogyam-Doctor in pocket. 1. Aarogyam
Mothers and children constitute a significantly large proportion of the countrys population. This group is exposed to the risk of child bearing in case of mothers and growth, development and survival in case of infants and children. Therefore, it is a high risk group requiring special care and attention. In this backdrop, the Purpose of Aarogyam is to develop a digital health mapping program to ensure:-
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a. b. c.
100% immunization for children in 0-5 years of age group. Tracking each pregnancy with the help of a technology based monitoring system Complete reproductive and child health care including early registration of pregnancy, Ante-natal/post-natal care, institutional delivery (promotion of Janani Suraksha Yojana(JSY) ), pulse-polio immunization etc. Development of a replicable model of technology based Pregnancy tracking and Child immunization system to achieve the Millennium Development goals for various health indicators Generation of awareness in community about health services by providing information to citizens at their doorsteps
d.
e.
With above specific priorities, the project uses ICT and mobile phones as a tool to generate telephone calls, sms (in Hindi for wider appeal) to the families of target group on/before the due dates of immunization schedule. Hence, the model has Knowledge is power as the underlying theme wherein, have-nots are converted to haves through information dissemination. It therefore becomes a potent vehicle for people living in low socio economic brackets to access healthcare at their doorsteps through the feedback mechanisms inbuilt in the system. Aarogyam works on a four pronged approach of Proactive, Reactive, Interactive and Educative interventions among the community. It can be thereby visualised in terms of following two modules:a. b. Pregnancy tracking and monitoring module (Proactive and Reactive) Proactive- Aarogyam keeps citizens at the centre of the health model and uses an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), which generates automatic family specific reminder calls/SMS in Hindi encompassing the following areas: Immunization details for children from 0-5 years informing them about the place and date of vaccination. ANC/PNC details of pregnant and lactating mother based on the due date for TT, IFA tablets etc.
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c.
Institutional delivery and benefits of Janani Suraksha yojna (JSY).
Reactive- In case of pendency the reminder calls are sent to the concerned family and village pradhan for ensuring the service delivery, ANMs are also sent reminder calls for all uncovered families per village. This enables Aarogym to ensure that all beneficiaries receive the desired services. Services delivered
d. e. f.
Enabling the digital health mapping and pregnancy tracking system. Outbound IVR/ Hindi SMS disseminating personalized information w.r.t mothers and children for - BCG, DPT, Polio, Measles vaccines etc. Audit Trails - Regular pendency reminder calls to family, ANM, Pradhan (Village Heads) for ensuring 100% immunization, ANC, PNC etc.
2.
a.
Grievance Redressal and Information dissemination module (Interactive and Educative)

Interactive Aarogyam allows beneficiaries to interact with the system whereby through in-dial option on a helpline number, one can gather maternal and child health care information e.g. child vaccinations, antenatal care, postnatal care, institutional delivery, birth preparedness, and Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY) among other topics. A beneficiary can also lodge specific health related complaints using the in-dial facility. Educational- Aarogyam provides educational support to various health campaigns such as Directly Observed Treatment Short Course for Tuberculosis (DOTS), pulse polio campaigns, gender-equality, antiepidemic (i.e., cholera or dengue fever) campaigns, Prenatal Diagnostic Tests (PNDT), JSY, and the burden of disease in a particular region among others. In addition to this Aarogyam sends periodic Behavior Change Communication (BCC) messages to the beneficiaries. Services Delivered Inbound Information retrieval of Health parameters and schemes Complaint lodging and redressal
b.
c.
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Community Broadcasting
Apart from the above, Aarogyam provides web-interface for service providers as well as citizens through its web portal www.aarogyam.co.in. Herein, the project objectives/strategy/mode of operation is made clear for use of citizens. Apart from that, various MIS reports which are an integral component for review of online system as in : Mother report, Pending child immunization SMS report ANM/Pradhan Call report Polio report Complaint reports etc.
are uploaded for effective monitoring by district level officers right from District Magistrate to chief medical officer. Benefits obtained from above services for different target groups are elucidated below :1. Improved responsibility and accountability of service providers: Instant messages and calls to service providers have made them (ANM/MOs) more responsible and accountable. The web based monitoring portal (www.aarogyam.co.in) gives a snapshot of achievers and underperformers. This helped to ensure the timely delivery of health care services to the communities. Improvement in measurable indicators of health for children and pregnant mothers: So far as measurable indicators are concerned, there is a positive trend over a period of time. Across the board in figures wrt child and mother immunization, we are seeing positive trends emanating with the implementation of Aarogyam. For District Bagpat, there has been commendable improvement over a period from Jan 2008 to Jan 2011:-
2.
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Table 1
Immunization Polio DPT BCG MEASLES TT Mother -1 TT Mother -2 Apr-2007 to Jan 2008 19914 19914 22637 21838 20314 18374 from 18374 to 38280 Apr-2010 to Jan 2011 33964 33964 34419 33934 39525 38280
Figure 1: Impact of Aarogyam
3.
The project has provided a specific health database with respect to measurable indicators of the target group and each individual therein. Having access to this, our entire future strategy in disease control can be planned and thereby made highly focused.
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Figure 2: Impact of Aarogyam
4.
The best result has been in terms of knowledge empowerment of the henceforth left-outs, economically/socially impoverished families. Sitting at home one gets specific knowledge about ones health profile, and this has resulted in a tremendous hike in demand for health related services especially wrt immunization. The model has helped health department to refocus its strategy and change to Preventive Medicare whereby on the basis of demand generated and complaints lodged in, one can immediately take corrective steps and achieve results. User friendly approach: It follows a user friendly approach in which an illiterate person can also take initiatives to update himself/herself on health service provisions and status. It is also easier for health department to inform their community level workers (ANMs, ASHAs) on health gaps and priorities.
5.
6.
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7.
Community feedback: It was evident during several field visits of health and other officials that communitys response on the idea is very enthusiastic. Their feedback on technology based information and monitoring system was positive and they are looking forward to get more benefits from the technology based system. Effective Planning: Better planning of community level health programs especially ANC/PNC checkups and immunization drives are possible with the system e.g. ANMs can be now informed of the number of beneficiaries to expect at the each session, this will not only result in reduced waste of vaccines but also more accurate head count.
8.
It is wrt above mentioned benefits that project has won accolades at national as well as international levels. Aarogyam has won various awards at national and international levels as in:1. WINNER : National E-Governance Award 2011-Aarogyam won the prestigious Silver Icon award in the Citizen Centric Service Delivery category at National E-Governance Conference held at Aurangabad. WINNER : NASSCOM Social Innovation Honours-2010 Organised by NASSCOM for recognising and awarding pioneering work in various fields of e-governance. The Honours were adjudicated by an eminent jury consisting of Mr. Narayan Murthy (former chairman of Infosys Ltd), Mr. Jerry Rao (founder of Mphasis Ltd) and Mr.T Ninan (former Editor of Business standard) etc. WINNER :- FIEO Telecom Technology Award 2011 by Ministry of Commerce in 2 categories - Amazing Social Media Initiative and Jury Choice award WINNER : M-billionth awards south-Asia 2010 Supported by Digital empowerment foundation Finalist- Stockholm Challenge Award 2010 Second initiative is E-Samwad
2.
3.
4. 5. 3.
a. E-Samwad With the initiatives of District Magistrate Ramabai Nagar, Shri Mayur Maheshwari, IAS, the last mile connectivity at Ramabai Nagar has been
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achieved. District Magistrate calls his E-Samwad Team and every body is ready for a trip to a remote village inside the district with all the logistics in a Bolero Vehicle. He sits with some senior officers at the District Headquarter and then Video Conference starts from the remote village. Villagers start telling the problems and the real governance takes place. It is great to watch the villagers getting satisfied with their queries and the district level officers there itself are told to solve the problem on the spot. Some of these district level officers are informed just an hour before and they also go to the remote village and hence the various services are offered to the villagers at their door steps. This way the villagers have the win-win situation. The villagers do not have to travel, hence they are saving the travel cost, do not have to pay the speed money to somebody for their work and so many advantages are there to adopt this nice facility of Video Conferencing. E-Samwad has made the villagers more informative about the schemes which are running in the district. As when this conference takes place the hour is given for the information about the various government schemes. Their long awaited problems are redressed. They are in front of the DM and then they tell the real situation at their village. The concerned government employee is also at the village and DM instructs about the gaps if any about the services. b. Implementation Coverage
Since its inception in March 2009, the project has been benefitting around 2 lac families in four districts of UP i.e. Baghpat, JPNagar, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ramabai Nagar. The project is easily replicable1. An integral component of the project, Pregnancy Tracking System, has been taken up in all 72 districts of the state of UP as mentioned in the NRHM PIP. Secretary Health GOI has seen and highly appreciated the project. Joint Secretary, Health, GOI, and Director NIHFW, have visited both the districts and have recommended scaling it up on a national level. Already the program is running in four districts (Bagpat, J.P. Nagar, Gautam
2. 3. 4.
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Buddha Nagar, Ramabai Nagar) catering to around 70 lakhs population. Project funds have been sanctioned in NRHM PIP for all districts of Moradabad Division (Moradabad, Rampur, Bijnore, JP Nagar), where it has been initiated. 5. 6. Teams of Health Departments of Punjab and Rajasthan have visited the districts and evinced keen interest in replication of Aarogyam in their states. Different NGOs like Intra Health Foundation (A Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Rotary Foundation, Public Health Foundation of India, etc. have visited the project and are keen to replicate key approaches/practices from this project in their own fields. Geographical Coverage Aarogyam
c. 1.
As it is a well known fact that despite being aware of the benefits of the health services uptake for a pregnant woman and children, regular hammering is required to change behaviour of the community. Therefore.. a. We can increase spectrum of the services ranging from pre pregnancy to child immunisation and family planning after delivery such as b. First child after 20 years of age for adopting some family planning method OCP/Condom (may only for ANMs of concern village) Importance of early registration of the pregnant woman (message/ call will go in pre pregnant state) Importance of 3 ANC check up and call alerts for pregnant women Importance of breast feeding Home visits for PNC care to ANMs to follow up with ASHAs Family planning methods after 1st child- spacing and after 2 childrenpermanent. Same message to ANM for follow up.
We would like to achieve the following other immediate possibilities for the project Integration with other departments like Panchayati Raj for Total Sanitation Campaign, with ICDS implementing agencies, Education etc
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Database to be used as a Community Broadcasting Tool in different aspects as in case of a Calamity/Disaster for effective and speedy relief/evacuation/ forewarning, voter ID registration. Link up with emergency transport and 24*7 medical facility for emergency patients.
2.
a.

Aarogyam-Improved efficiency of process and effectiveness of outcome: Awareness can be created in no time and there is no need to have too many people to spread a message. At the field level the efficiency of workers has been improved as they are being informed about their duties on phone on regular basis. At the district level, top officials are now better equipped to monitor the progress as well as coverage through web monitoring system. Field Officers are found to be more efficient in data analysis and compliances of complaints. e-samwad - Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT enabled services: By the application of this system, timely information is spread to the masses and at least one village is completed in one conference. As the information is delivered by senior officers hence the specific and timely information is shared. Sitting at district headquarters, one can come to know of the field situation, and review performance of developmental works. It is especially important for repeat assessment and review of works done in a village and to assess performance vis-a vis instructions passed on earlier. Hence it is a great saving of time and cost, as one can in a day cover many villages/areas. b. Innovative ideas Implemented
Aarogyam is a unique Mobile-Governance health initiative. Its innovativeness is in its being : The first outbound IVR application in government health care delivery mechanisms.
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It is also a pioneer in terms of establishment of a scientific and comprehensive pregnancy tracking system. The digital database so captured makes it a powerful community broadcasting medium for various educative campaigns not only in health like pulse polio and JSY, but also in public welfare schemes of other departments like Total Sanitation Campaign, Education, Flood/Epidemic alerts etc. The inherent advantages of Integrated Voice Response Technology, add to its innovativeness in terms of following factors: Ease of access:-Easily accessible to anyone who knows how to receive a call. Wide range of people covered:-Wide range of people can be reached to, who hold phone/mobile. Use of Vernacular to spread awareness Applicable to illiterate people:-No need to have any writing/reading skills, only listening ability is required. Zero cost to people:-As this is an out dial voice call, there is no cost for receiving a call all over India. Fast: Awareness can be created in no time. Hence there is less time lag as compared to visiting a remote village. Less human Endeavour:-No need to have too many people to spread a message, hence greater efficiency can be ensured.
As far as E-Samwad is concerned, it is the only application where we have reached up to the masses at village level to review their developmental concerns, without them having to come to various offices for effective redressal. Innovativeness of project lies in Usage of video conferencing equipments to address the rural citizens The reach is the last mile reach
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The Government is going to the door steps and the citizen is not coming to the Collectorate or Tehsil office.

1.
a.

With the advancement of ICT and the upcoming Internet technologies the District headquarter is connected to the five tehsils with the 2 MBPS line and the ten blocks are also connected to the district headquarter. Some of the major offices have the fibre optic network from the district headquarter like DRDA, Treasury, Local bodies and many more. We have a State Wide Area Network Center at the district Headquarter. Still the District Level health, education, transport and other departments have to procure the Routers and then the Network of the Department will be complete. Figure 3: UPSWAN
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b.
Sharing of Common Infrastructure
Aarogyam and e Samwad shared the same backbone which is used by the district level projects. The information collection and the dispersal is being done with the help of the government given Internet facility hence a lot of cost is saved due to sharing of the resources. c. Technology Standardization
The locally developed formats on the web are used to get the data from the field level and the standardized performas approved from government are used to get the data from the field staff hence the redundancy is avoided and the integrity is maintained. In aarogyam and e samwad the Booklet of the forms is made and was made available to the citizens.
2.
a.

Major Non-ICT front end process changes
The mode of transformation for Aarogyam can be visualized in various phases wherein various front and back end ICT and non ICT plans have been implemented as in: Phase-1 Baseline Study A comprehensive baseline survey of district with respect to family health indicators like age, gender, class, parity, immunization details of children, database of pregnant mothers and their expected date of deliveries (EDD) was conducted, with interdepartmental coordination especially Health and ICDS Department. The survey captures village wise database encompassing all crucial determinants of health. Phase-2 Implementation Phase The above information forms the master database, which is then fed in a customized software and linked to Integrated Voice Response System (IVRS). The technique uses analogue/digital card to read all the uploaded data and devolve it to the beneficiaries.
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Next step is establishment of multiple phone lines and initiation of health helpline for the citizens to get an update on health services and to register their complaints. Establishment of required institutional mechanisms at district (central server) and block level, ensuring updation at CHC level and linkage with the master database. Capacity building/training of service providers and data entry operators on the software, with clear delineation of their roles, responsibility and accountability. Awareness generation through IEC/BCC (Films, Songs, Nukkad Natak, Pamphlets, Hoardings) about the project.
3.
a.
Capacity Building
Under the guidance and motivation of the Chief Secretary, UP, the DM Ramabainagar (Mr Mayur Maheshwari) and MD KESCO, then DM-JP Nagar (Ms. Ritu Maheshwari) have demonstrated excellent leadership qualities to conceptualize and implement the innovative model. They ensured the participation of different departments and stakeholders and motivated them enough to work and perform together. It is their leadership quality which resulted in successful implementation of approach and also a consistent growth in health indicators in very small span of time.From the state government also we get a lot of support in terms of hardware, software and the training programs for the senior officers. In Feb 2011 state Government has organized 7 days training program for SDMs, Tehsildars and Revenue staff at the Division level which was inaugurated by the Commissioner Kanpur Division. So we have a lot of support from the government and from the Senior Officers. b. Change Management Strategy
Development of a web based monitoring portal www.aarogyam.co.in which reflects total disposal of grievances, officer-wise complaint pendency, status of call alerts and sms sent on a daily basis, pendency calls generated etc. This portal is regularly accessed by key officials including CMO and District Magistrate (DM).Similarly
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e-samwad can be accessed on distric website www.kanpurdehat.nic.in/e-samwad. Also, continuous training program for the health, rural development and the revenue department staff is planned andbeing implemented since 1st of April 2011. 11th batch training is in progress which is undertaken by NIC having support from the above said departments.The use of SMS, IVRS system is also demonstrated at the different function like Krisi Mela and other government related Melas. c. Training Plan Internal and External-Plan and Status
As far as aarogyam is concerned, a major challenge has been in terms of technical training/inputs as anms were not aware of the new survey formats or data collection sheets. Similarly data entry operators were not well equipped to handle loads of health were not well equipped to handle loads of health information daily. Hence continuous weekly rounds of training were conducted for both anms and data operators , whereby they learnt the feeding of survey formats, data collection sheets as well as the process of continuous updation/uploading of data. Apart from above, for all e-governance projects, At the District Level we have a training calendar which is followed and the Officers and the lower staff both are trained from time to time. This financial year, two training programs have already been completed and two more are proposed. In these training programs officers and the staff are trained about the Internet Usage, email, SMS, use of IVRS System, Internet Browsing, How to get data from Internet, How to See the Judicial Statements and many more. d. Program Management Teams
A full time team is in place for effective monitoring of the project. Two key features of management and monitoring strategy are: Development of the cadre of trained and skilled staffs for data interpretation, entry, analysis and documentation. Under ambit of NRHM, data entry operators have been engaged, and trained for feeding, updating and uploading the database both at central server as well as PHC level. District level review committee continues to monitor the progress with supportive supervision
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e.
Sustainability of Efforts
The project cycle is chosen so that it is not officer dependent but it is process dependent. Most of the other district projects like SWAN, e-tehsil (Certificate generation work are running for last 4 years, which tells that we are generating the sustainable systems.) Aarogyam and e Samwad also have a very strong feedback system where the feedbacks are taken care of and integrated in the system if they are found useful by the feedback committee.
4.
Technology
Technological Solution Adopted The software applications have been developed via out-sourcing. A comprehensive baseline survey of district wrt family health indicators was conducted, with Interdepartmental coordination esp Health-ICDS Department wherein family details concerning all health indicators were collected. These include, name, address and age of family members, immunization details of all children wrt their expected dates as well as actual dates of immunization/pregnancy, details of pregnant mothers wrt ANC status and PNC coverage, location and phone no of each family and finally assigning a unique family ID to each family. This whole information was then uploaded on a specially designed software to have health indicators of each family on computer. The details have been uploaded on IVRS. The technique uses analogue/digital card to read all the uploaded data and devolve it to the beneficiaries through AUTOMATIC FREE OF COST AUTO-DIALERS AND SMS. The kinds of SMS/calls devolved are demonstrated below: Costing of the project has been purely through utilization of available funds/ grants under National Rural Health Mission, provided by the Government. Costs incurred on the project can broadly be seen in two aspects. One time costs i.e. costs incurred, initially at time of project start up & recurring costs i.e. yearly running costs of the project : One time costs 1. Baseline Survey 2. Awareness Generation Rs. 1,70,000 Rs. 3,60,000
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Widening e-Governance Canvas Rs. 80,000 Rs. 10,00,000 Rs. 16,10,000 Rs. 30,000 Rs. 1,00,000 Rs. 4,80,000 Rs, 6,10,000 Rs.22,20,000
3. Training and capacity building 4. Technology setup at district & Block level Total One time costs: Recurring costs: 5. Monitoring and documentation 6. Stationery and miscellaneous costs 7. Human resources:Total Recurring costs:Total Expenditure (per year per district) b.
Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented
Though the data in Aarogyam and e-samwad is from the people and for the people, there are three security objectives for information and information systems: CONFIDENTIALITY: Preserving authorized restrictions on information access, which is implemented by operating system, data base management system (DBMS) as well as physical and administrative control on information system. INTEGRITY OF data is validated at different layers in organization through field staff as well as administrative level. AVAILABILITY Ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information by preventing service disruptions due to power outages, hardware failures and system problem by round the clock supervision of IT systems. Competence of people in technology (hardware, software, security etc)
c.
The district has an IT wing which takes care of the hardware, software and other related issues of network and security. They are well versed to tackle the day to day problems and address them effectively.

1.
a.
Digital Inclusion
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Language plays a key role in e-inclusion. In this perspective, Aarogyam seeks to disseminate useful information to all stakeholders by sending vernacular sms and call alerts i.e. in Hindi. Another factor key to involvement of all stakeholders is ease of access of the initiative. Access may be limited because of geographical/ cultural/ gender/class related limitations. Since Aarogyam ensures free of cost, family specific outbound calls for all families with a landline/mobile number, the barriers of geography, culture/caste/class/gender are totally eliminated. Once all beneficiaries are identified and their data uploaded on central server, software automatically sends specific information to every family. Secondly, since it also has an inbound call facility, one not registered on the system or left out by field staff because of any kind of bias can dial in, and lodge a complaint and register himself/herself on the system. A key factor herein is the availability of phone to a particular family. It is significant to mention herein that teledensity in India is growing at a very impressive pace, being more than 60 at present. Still, for those families left out of the loop, calls are sent to the village pradhan so as to ensure all round participation at village level.
2.
eParticipation
The project has well integrated interactive model, which ensure e-participation. Aarogyam has firstly, the in-dial helpline numbers and secondly, online portal www.aarogyam.co.in, wherein one can dial-in/log in and lodge complaints/ suggestions, which are automatically forwarded to the concerned officials for their effective redressal/incorporation. Hence, it ensures participation of different stakeholders in the decision making process. Shri Chandra Prakash IAS, Joint Secretary Labor and Employment, Principal Secretary IT and Electronics, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Email: cphardoi20@gmail.com and Ms. Ritu Maheshwari, IAS, DM Ramabainagar, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Email: :mayurmaheshwari@yahoo.com/ catch_ritz@yahoo.com
SECTION V e-Governance Success Stories G2C Initiatives
CHAPTER 21
Online Scholarship Management System (OSMS)

Dr. Mohd. Ilyas Rizvi
I) Overview
For the first time in the history of the country a totally transparent and simplified online workflow automation system Online Scholarship Management System (OSMS) was designed, developed and successfully implemented way back in 2006-07. This project became a role model in the country for all student scholarship computerization systems in the country. The application is generic in nature i.e., the same application can be easily customized to suit any type of students scholarship management system without much changes in the software. The application is uni-code compatible so fully compatible with Indian languages without changing the code. It has been developed using open source technologies and tools. The application has been deployed at Govt. of India, NIC Data centre to avoid overheads and associated additional expenditure. This is the only online scholarship management system in the country catering to the students of primary school to the Research Scholars i.e., First class students to PhD students. The entire workflow has been made paperless, as all the required documents/ certificates/testimonials are being scanned and uploaded by the students. The
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system is Aadhaar compliant so it can be interfaced to upcoming Aadhaar identity framework in the country. This is the first tamperproof system in the country for managing student scholarships. Right from the first year of its implementation its impact is visible as it is fully linked to the authenticated sources of information such as School Directorate, Universities, College Directorate etc., so that bogus students and bogus educational entities get checked even at the entry level of the system. It has brought total transparency and process efficiency improved several folds. This is the first system in the country to reduce cumbersome twenty four plus processes of manual system to simply six processes. This is the first open source system in the country with multiple technical features such as. Indigenous and Secure Online Payment Gateway Interface to Banks. Low-Cost SMS Gateway Interface to Mobile phones of Students/Parents/ guardians, Online Web-Services Interface other legacy and peer systems for automatic verification / authentication & local language interface with Uni-code compliance, Very simplified user friendly interface so that teachers/parents of even Urdu medium primary schools from remote villages are able to apply online (for and on the behalf of primary and secondary students). Has high-performance and low-cost architecture to serve peak scalability of a few lakh hits per day.
In view of uniqueness and novelty, delegates from US, Israel, Pakistan, MiddleEast have visited and studied the system. Even Japanese have shown interested and invited to Tokyo for presentation of the project. 1. 2. To improve transparency of the pre-matric and post-matric scholarships management system for students of minority community. To develop an online 24X7 application submission system, so as to facilitate submission of application from anywhere.
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3. 4.
To develop an automatic, objective rule based transparent scholarship and fee re-imbursement calculation system. To develop efficient, effective, accurate, speedy scholarship disbursement system avoiding delays in disbursement, errors, scams, subjectivity in awarding scholarships, redundancy etc. To enable students to track status of their application online. To publish the details of beneficiaries online. To enable the authorities at different levels to access the data online for verification and other purposes. To eliminate subjectivity and human factor and associated problems.
5. 6. 7. 8.
Earlier there was lot of problem in reconciliation of amount sent to the colleges and the students through the banks in the manual system. Therefore we obtained limited connectivity between (NIC) Server and Banks Server so that online proceedings are being sent to the banks and in turn the banks transfer the amount to the concerned students account online and send the file back to NIC server and as soon as the file is received, automatically the amounts sent by the banks along with date appear in the appropriate box before the name of the student. This has made the reconciliation process very easy. Earlier hundreds of students were enquiring daily in the District Offices and even in Head Office regarding sanction and release of their scholarship and tuition fee and our Officers had to struggle to give them satisfactory reply. This problem was overcome by online system of oost matric scholarships for minority students by giving them facility of tracking the status of their applications online by just filling their token number on our website www.apsmfc.com, and they can know the status of their application. Earlier students were not able to write their correct course and University to which their college was affiliated. To overcome this problem we have prepared College Masters so that the students after selecting the University, get the drop down list of colleges affiliated to the University and by selecting the college, get the list of courses available and they have to select their own course in which they are studying. This has made the filling up of the scholarship application very simple and user friendly.
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Through our Online Scholarship Management System we have served 1875585 students and disbursed total amount of Rs. 751.83 crores. The Online Scholarship Management System (OSMS) for Minority Students is taken up to enable the students of Pre Matric from Class I to Class X and Post Matric students studying from Class XI upto Ph.D. including all professional courses viz; B.Tech, M.Tech., MBA, MCA, MBBS, MS, MD etc. to apply for the fee reimbursement and scholarship scheme online through our Website www.apsmfc.com and to get rid of the old manual system of filling the application forms. In this system, the student applies online through our websitewww.apsmfc.com and after filling the application, he/she takes out the print and along with required 2 to 3 documents, submit the application form to the college and the college authorities in turn will fill up the Bonafied Certificate and write their online Account number for the reimbursement of tuition fee , then these forms come to the District Offices/Executive Directors of Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Finance Corporation (APSMFC), where it is validated online and all the information furnished by the students are validated with respect to the printout and online sanction is given by the ED, APSMFC of the concerned district and the online advice is sent to the bankers to transfer the fees amount directly into the bank account of the college and the scholarship amount directly into the bank account of the student and in turn the bankers transfer the amount online as per the advice and after execution of advice, they send back the file online to our server and the executed action of the banker is updated online in our system. Students and the colleges have been given online facility for tracking their online application by typing unique token number issued to the students on our website, where he is able to see the status of his application. Similarly colleges have been given password and they can download the sanctioned proceedings online and they can also know as how many students have been sanctioned scholarship and to how many students the tuition fee and scholarship is pending due to want of which certificate. SMs and E-mails are also sent to the students giving them information regarding sanction of their fee reimbursement and scholarship. The system is unique and innovative in the country by harnessing state-ofthe-art Information and Communication Technology in the following areas.
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1.
Electronic Payment: Never before in the country any student of minority community has been delivered the scholarship amount directly to his bank account in a transparent manner electronically and securely. By establishing a unique disbursement gateway which interacts with the bank payment gateway, the scholarship amount is being credited automatically to the accounts of the students. Automatic Reconciliation: With unique automated feed-back system established with the banks, the reconciliation is happening within 24 hours - which hitherto used to take several months. Efficiency Transparency: The entire workflow has been made 100% transparent, which eliminated all disputes. The workflow status gets updated automatically and corresponding reports are published online. Nearly twenty four processes in the manual system were reduced to six processes. There is 75% increment in the efficiency due to automation of 3/4th of the processes. Accuracy: The automated rule engine is incorporated in the software to make all the calculations 100% automatic and accurate. Very complicated course specific fee structures on one hand and the eligibility rules on the other hand are incorporated to prepare the rule engine to make the automatic calculations and achieve 100% accuracy. Empowerment: By making students to apply online, every eligible student is empowered to submit his/her application directly to the system. Ease of Use: Each key stakeholder has a single and simple interface to operate the system. Thus usability is maximum. Authentication: Very reliable and less time consuming online processes introduced to ensure authenticity of the content. Verification: A very unique database referential integrity technique has been successfully applied to ensure verification of the credentials of students. This has resulted in eliminating several bogus records. Errors Elimination: By collecting and creating the master data of thousands of educational institutes and course details and similarly standardizing the inputs based on the previous applications, master databases have been created which has resulted in eliminating the scope of data entry and associated mistakes to a very large extent.
2.
3.
4.
5. 6. 7. 8.
9.
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10.
Timely SMS Alert: As and when the student tuition fee amount is credited to the Educational Institutes bank account, automatically an sms alert goes to the students mobile number. So that educational institute cannot harass students regarding tuition fee again in view of the sms alerting system.
The programme is innovative because never before the minority students were able to apply for the scholarship online and monitor their status of application online. In the earlier system they were not able to get the information regarding the receipt of application, its sanction and release of scholarship and fee reimbursement amount to the colleges and students. If the applications submitted by the students were found defective it was difficult for the officers to communicate to the college and the students for rectification of defects and also the students were not able to know whether their scholarship is sanctioned or not and after sanction of scholarship, money was released to the colleges and the students were not aware about the same. Sometimes some colleges were collecting the fees also from the students inspite of release of fees by the Government. In this system the students are able to know the status of their application and when the amount is sanctioned they can see the status and even the date on which and how much amount has been sanctioned, date on which the amount is transferred from the bank to their College account and to their own Account. Therefore this innovation has made the whole system transparent, user friendly and innovative.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C,G2B,G2G,G2E) with benefits
Benefits Delivered: The system is highly scalable and capable of catering to thousands of students concurrently. The system scaled up to the load and served a few lakh students online with respect to accepting the applications (write operations). The system is tuned to serve over one lakh transactions per day at present. This configuration is good enough to serve the Minority student community. The Data centre of NIC which has high scalability, security and reliability is being used to host the application. The Storage Area Network is capable of storing several lakhs of student records online for any required duration of time (years).
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The students who are beneficiary of this scheme and major stakeholder are able to submit their application online and track the sanction and release of fees and scholarship to them. If there is any deficiency in their application that is also shown online with their Token No. and hence they are able to rectify defects pointed out. So that their Scholarships and Fees Reimbursement is sanctioned. The next stakeholder is the college where the students are enrolled and studied. The colleges have been given link to the software so that they can download sanction proceedings and to know about how many students have been sanctioned Scholarship and Fee Reimbursement and how much. Moreover SMS Messages are also being sent to students about sanction of Reimbursement of Fee and Scholarship through our online messaging system.
b.
All the students of Minority Community belonging to all the (23) districts of Andhra Pradesh and students of Andhra Pradesh studying in National Institutes like IITs, NIITs etc. throughout the country. Therefore geographical reach is all India.
2.
a.

Due to online system following impact on cost incurred is observed. 1. 2. 3. 4. Printing of Application forms has been disbanded. Information is following through online in place of paper advertisements and notifications. Students need not travel long distances for obtaining and submission of application forms. Students need not travel long distances for knowing the status of their application forms, now status can be known online from any place.
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5.
Sanction proceedings need not be taken in hard copy and not to be dispatched to the colleges, as colleges have been given facility to download sanction proceedings online. Reconciliation of expenditure need not be done manually taking long no. of mandays now. It can be done online Processing time has been reduced drastically. Due to facility provided by online system no. of students increased. Figure 1: No. of Students covered
6. 7. 8.
Figure 2: Year wise Budget released (Financial Rs. In Lakhs)
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9. b.
Rate of dropout of minority students is reducing year by year. Innovative Ideas Implemented
The system is unique and innovative in the country by harnessing state-ofthe-art Information and Communication Technology in the following areas. 1. Electronic Payment : Never before in the country any student of minority community has been delivered the scholarship amount directly to his bank account in a transparent manner electronically and securely. By establishing a unique disbursement gateway which interacts with the bank payment gateway, the scholarship amount is being credited automatically to the accounts of the students. Automatic Reconciliation : With unique automated feed-back system established with the banks, the reconciliation is happening within 24 hours. Which hitherto used to take several months. Efficiency Transparency : The entire workflow has been made 100% transparent, which eliminated all disputes. The workflow status gets updated automatically and corresponding reports are published online. Nearly twenty four processes in the manual system were reduced to six processes. There is 75% increment in the efficiency due to automation of 3/4th of the processes. Accuracy : The automated rule engine is incorporated in the software to make all the calculations 100% automatic and accurate. Very complicated course specific fee structures on one hand and the eligibility rules on the other hand are incorporated to prepare the rule engine to make the automatic calculations and achieve 100% accuracy. Empowerment : By making students to apply online, every eligible student is empowered to submit his/her application directly to the system. Ease of Use : Each key stakeholder has a single and simple interface to operate the system. Thus usability is maximum. Authentication : Very reliable and less time consuming online processes introduced to ensure authenticity of the content. Verification : A very unique database referential integrity technique has
2.
3.
4.
5. 6. 7. 8.
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Figure 3 : Increasing Students and Decreasing Costs TA/DA, Postage, Stationery in Rs. Lakhs
been successfully applied to ensure verification of the credentials of students. This has resulted in eliminating several bogus records. 9. Errors Elimination : By collecting and creating the master data of thousands of educational institutes and course details and similarly standardizing the inputs based on the previous applications, master databases have been created which has resulted in eliminating the scope of data entry and associated mistakes to a very large extent. Timely SMS Alert : As and when the student tuition fee amount is credited to the educational institutes bank account, automatically an sms alert goes to the students mobile number. So that educational institute cannot harass students regarding tuition fee again in view of the sms alerting system.
10.
The programme is innovative because never before the minority students were able to apply for the scholarship online and monitor their status of application online. In the earlier system they were not able to get the information regarding the receipt of application, its sanction and release of scholarship and fee reimbursement amount to the colleges and students. If the applications submitted by the students were found defective it was difficult for the officers to communicate to the college and the students for rectification of defects and also the students
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were not able to know whether their scholarship is sanctioned or not and after sanction of scholarship, money was released to the colleges and the students were not aware about the same. Sometimes some colleges were collecting the fees also from the students inspite of release of fees by the Government. In this system the students are able to know the status of their application and when the amount is sanctioned they can see the status and even the date on which and how much amount has been sanctioned, date on which the amount is transferred from the bank to their college account and to their own Account. Therefore this innovation has made the whole system transparent, user friendly and innovative.
c.
Integration with Other Systems
First system in the country with full extended integration. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Fully integrated with school education system by sharing same education institutes Master data CBSE, ICSC Sharing SSC & Inter & Eamcet etc., common entrance results system. Integrated with fee structure of Universities courses. Integrated with Government of India Post Matric, Pre Matric scholarship system. Integrated to B.C Welfare system through web services for de-duplications automatically. Integration with Banks payment gateway system to credit scholarship to students accounts directly.

1.
a. 1. 2. 3.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes One stop non-stop simplified single online interface to all stakeholders which is operational 24 hours as per the announce schedule. SMS alerts to students. Online Help desk for grievance redressal
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b.
Major non-ICT back end process changes
ICT : Linkage with educational institutions database system, SSC, Inter, Counseling database system. Fee structure data base system. Database system of school education, college education department, universities etc., Student rule engine for calculation fee structure database. E payment Gateway & Messaging services. Non-ICT : NGO camps to sensitize students to open zero balance bank accounts, apply online assistance with Internet Kiosk etc. Above Plans implemented.
2.
a.

Project Management and Monitoring
A team has been formed to monitor the core project and suggest suitable measures for its improvement time to time. This team consists of Programmers and Officers of A.P. State Minorities Finance Corporation who are working day and night for the betterment and monitoring of the project. Resistance envisaged. However, step by step manner training given and employees were trained and motivated to use it to overcome work load. As they started using ICT from 2006 in the process transparency brought automatically. b. Training -Plan and Status
Regular trainings, Seminars and Workshops are being organized for the programmers and the staff members who are working on this system and whenever there is any change in any application, special training programmes are also organized. Sensitization and training given role based to internal staff. Manual process stopped. Software made user friendly. So project continued & sustained due to cost effectiveness. c. Change Management strategy
Due to change in the system from the manual system to the online system the whole strategy and mind set has been changed and in place of non-computer
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Figure 3: OSMS Workflow
known Jr.Assistants and Sr.Assistants, Computer knowing personnel are placed who are working for the Online Scholarship Management System day and night. It has also changed the working of the whole office and all the data is being collected and stored in the digital form and it has become very easy for the Officers to review the progress of the work at every stage. The reports are being generated as per requirement. d. Leadership Support and Visibility
The Online scholarship system has been accepted by the Officers as well as Political Leaders across the Party affiliation, due to its transparency and user friendliness. Due to online system the number of applications have increased year by year and it is getting full support from the stakeholders, its beneficiaries and from the political bosses as well as bureaucratic bosses. e. Financial Model
The Online Scholarship Management system is applied for scholarship and fee reimbursement schemes of Government of India as well as State Government of Andhra Pradesh. For the State Government Scholarship scheme, the funding is
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100% from Government of Andhra Pradesh and for the Scholarship scheme of Government of India (GOI) i.e., for the Post matric and Merit-cum-Means Scholarships funding is 100% from GOI and for Pre matric GOI scholarship scheme, 75% funding is by GOI and balance 25% is from Govt. of A.P.
3.
a.
Technology
Strategy for Disaster Recovery and Continuity
The whole scholarships system for minorities is being implemented through National Informatic Centre (NIC) and they are taking all the care for the disaster recovery. The disaster recovery and business continuity plan has already prepared and being implemented.
b.
Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
As discussed earlier the online scholarship management system for minorities is very cost effective and very less cost is required for its maintenance. Earlier huge man power was required for dealing with lakhs of applications of the minority students for scholarships whereas through online scholarship system, the man power is reduced considerably and it has become very efficient and cost effective and user friendly and it is being maintained. c. Yes Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance

To a large extent eExclusion addressed. Minority students were encouraged to open no-frills bank account facilitating financial inclusion. Simplified online system sensitized them to empower then to use internet. NGOs opened Kiosks. Steps taken to address this factor Temporary kiosks to reach the unreached.
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Muslim women started applying for themselves & their children.
2.
eParticipation
Addressed fully Steps taken to address this factor Department encouraged NGOs in operating special camps to help minority students to apply online & scan & upload documents & open bank accounts. Over 50 camps organized in remote areas. Besides usage of online E-Seva centres, Public Kiosks etc.,
3.

eWaste
We have eliminated procurement of additional Hardware to a large extent. We made the best use of the available resources. We have avoided stationery for consumption to a large extent. TA/DA also reduced.
Steps taken to address this factor Bare minimum hardware are being procured We are upgrading the systems time to time in place of disposing there off.
Dr. Mohd. Ilyas Rizvi, IFS, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Minorities Welfare Department, Andhra Pradesh State Minorities Finance Corporation Ltd., Andhra Pradesh, email: ilyas_rizvi@hotmail.com, info@apsmfc.com
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CHAPTER 22

Shri Jayesh Ranjan
I) Overview
The Tourism department, Government of Andhra Pradesh has taken up a unique project of giving a high end audio & video pda for the visiting tourists to the renowned Golconda fort. This concept includes providing a device on rental basis at the heritage sites which will offer tourists a rich audio-visual experience. The higher-end devices which will offer audio and video content will have a pda-like user-interface that is intuitive and requires minimal familiarity with technology. The content itself will draw upon the rich heritage and history of the specific monument and will be comparable in scope, coverage and depth to what is available at some of the best heritage sites in the west. Furthermore, will differentiate the content by having narration of short passages from books written by famous authors, re-enactments of historical events, music clips from a particular era and an ensemble of rare photographs and other artifacts. Currently, there is no comparable solution that comes even remotely close to delivering this kind of rich experience. This project is taken up by the state with the help of central financial assisted under computerization and its schemes. First of its kind initiative in India is taken by the state under pilot basis at Golconda Fort. Tourists would be able to select their preferences and also indicate how much time they have to visit the site. Accordingly the software will recommend
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specific points of interests within Golconda and make a customized route map for them. These points of interest would each have multimedia content developed for them. The story would be told using tools such as videos, pictures, maps, graphics, audio and text. Total content length is expected to be around one hour. It will be give a live walk through feel and effect through the fort, with subjective camera movements (use of steady cam equipment) or the actors/presenters taking you through the locations. For the first time in India, if not the world, a Smartphone GPS-Video Tour has been developed for a heritage site giving travelers an independent, intuitive and rich experience. As of now audio guides have been popular globally. However, the power of video cannot be underestimated in delivering a world-class memorable experience to the tourist. AP Tourism, along with an ISB-incubated innovative Hyderabad company, My IndiEye, has come up with a mobile product which is delivered both online, on Googles Android platform, and offline. The application has been ingeniously designed to cater for numerous customers still without smartphones. The initiative is innovative right from its PPP business model, to solution conceptualisation, technology development, human-science design features, end marketing and distribution and feedback collection. Overall the impact of this project is massive as it can be scaled fast across the country. In general, tourists in India face key problems: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Lack of Quality and Quantity of information Variable and Unreliable Language barriers and the communication problems thereof Lack of multimedia options during the day for tourists (Light and Sound show in the evenings) Lack of effective distribution mechanisms for high quality multimedia content Pestering of tourists who want to be left alone Overcharging due to lack of standardization in pricing mechanism
The criticality of need is high is because of the expectations of tourists when they come to a particular site. They are discerning individuals who have a keen interest in knowing in depth about the site they are visiting. The only mitigating
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factors are the reference books they have or the information they might have downloaded from the web. As Tourism has been growing at a remarkable pace since 2001, sailing through recessions, and contributing to 8.6% (~118b US$) of Indias GDP, it is expected to be a key growth driver for Indias overall economy, it becomes imperative for us to embark on key initiatives which make a quantum leap in the overall quality of experience of tourists. Ministry of Tourism had commissioned a market research study to AC Nielsen to understand foreign tourists better and following insights were reported: 1. 2. 3. 4. The majority of foreign tourists visiting the country are individual travelers Majority of the foreign visitors have indicated that they consider India as a destination of rich cultural heritage Heritage of the country is the most pre-dominant factor considered by the foreign tourists prior to their visit in India According to the tour operators, the major problems faced by foreign tourists who wish to visit the country are the cumbersome immigration procedures at airports, inadequate frequency of flights to various destinations in the country, poor road infrastructure, insufficient hospitality services, inadequate medical facilities, lack of appropriate entertainment/recreation amenities at certain location and unsatisfactory modes of conveyance In order to increase foreign tourist inflow to the country, the tour operators feel that the Government should play a more pro-active role in Tourism enhancement The Hong Kong Tourism Board in particular suggested that India should package and market its destinations in a professional manner.
5.
6.
Overall the key premises and areas of value-addition on which this ICT Project was built were as follows: 1. 2. Research showed tourists were returning dissatisfied from their visits to heritage sites Research also showed people prefer video content and find it more interesting; also, they wanted independent navigation to be free and empowered
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3. 4. 5. 6.
The differently-abled hearing and visually impaired, were less able to enjoy and explore our rich cultural heritage and history Smartphones are proliferating and platform winners are emerging Android; iPhone etc. 3G roll-out is on its way and the entire mobile-telephony landscape is changing The market and situation called for development of a product which solved existing problems and created a technological asset which could be scaled up across the country.
II)
1.
1
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Table 1
Exceptional industry, media and customer feedback/reviews from hoteliers and tour operators to foreign and domestic tourists across demographic profiles (ages/ genders/occupations etc.) Project commissioned on a PPP model with Indian School of Business (ISB, Hyderabad) incubated company My IndiEye Travel Companions Pvt. Ltd. Plans to expand project to other Heritage properties in AP (Qutb Shahi Tombs; etc.) Cross-functional innovation team comprised of award-winning historians & filmmakers; top-management, technology and design experts; Tourism industry experts; Government personnel Overall the initiative is innovative along multiple dimensions PPP business model; team configuration; project conceptualisation; technology; marketing and distribution mechanisms; sustainability integration; long-term scalability and impact prioritization
Table 2
# 1 ISSUES FACED BY TOURISTS TODAY Lack of quality, accurate, media content/ info on the heritage, history and stories associated with the Fort Insufficient highly trained, educated top quality human tour guides to cater to the fast increasing tourist population DIRECT IMPACT OF INNOVATION Positive impression on tourists; strong visual memories for tourists to carry back home versus images of poverty that is the norm (Eg. Slumdog Millionaire) Innovation can take care of any number of tourists without compromising on quality. Devices can be increased in inventory; Online download also available
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Lack of quality and pricing standardization for guides/information distribution mechanisms Language barriers across information dissemination mechanisms Lack of independent navigation aids (Google Maps does not map Golconda Fort) on site Lack of inclusive multi-format content audio/visual/textual Lack of feedback mechanisms to improve products/ services and features Lack of products developed in a modular and scalable manner so more sites can be enjoyed in a high quality and empowered way
Non-negotiable centrally controlled standardized pricing on the same distribution channel Barriers eliminated. Multiple languages option easily implementable using subtitles/dubbing Independent unassisted navigation using GPS without physical installations at fort ruining its authenticity Inclusive product to enable the disabled (hearing/visually impaired) to enjoy the site better Continual feed of data to allow for sustainable improvements and enhancement of experience Using latest technologies to enable fast and capital-efficient expansion to make more effective use of public resources. Content for more sites can be added cheaper and faster on the same platforms/devices.
Tourist Reviews
The product by My IndiEye adds a new dimension to Tourism. It allows the user to practically travel back in time to understand the historical context and meaning of a landmark or artwork, through the use of National Geographicstyle dramatizations, computer graphic simulations and content-rich scripts that can be thoughtfully customised to individual preferences. Victor Ng, Singapore It is a very easy to use, handy device which enabled us to better appreciate the history and significance of the fort we were about to visit. There is an amazing level of attention to detail, which can only be understood once used. Armaity, Hyderabad, India The concept of video-guides is still new in India and the way the tutorial is conducted is very impressive. Even the elderly were comfortable with the device, thanks to your instructions. The content loaded on the device had a perfect blend of history, facts and illustrations and wasnt crammed with too much information.
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Pratap Gupta, Kolkata, India I had taken the My IndiEye Tour out of curiosity and it turned out to be a big boon for my travel trip. Very easy to use and creatively done, I enjoyed the voiceovers, and the videos were very nice. They could tell the story in a very nice manner for each location of the fort and I could enjoy the fort at my own pace. The GPS was very effective and it kept updating itself every time. Punita Mittal, Delhi, India
2.
a.

Time and Cost Efficiency Table 3
EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT FACTORS HOW INNOVATION INCORPORATES EFFICIENCY ENHANCEMENT AT VARIOUS LEVELS The architecture of the innovation is modular and scalable and on solid technological platforms backed by top firms (Google; Samsung etc.). As history does not change, the content is not expected to change, accruing the benefits from innovation for a long time (>10 years). Faster & cheaper to build additional tours as platform is scalable highly efficient capital use Innovation is inclusive of lesser privileged populations (differently-abled hearing/ visually impaired). They can either see/ hear the stories. The solution is not perfect; however, is a step in that direction The innovation better meets the expectations of tourists and thus commands a notable price premium in the market boosting the Tourism economy towards extracting greater value from highvalue-seeking tourists (both foreign and domestic)
Business Continuity, Scalability & Resource Utilisation Efficiency
Greater Social Equity
Improved Economy
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Enhanced Employment
Boosts higher-value higher-impact and creative industries employment opportunities in the sector Reduced dependence on paper/ printed guides by providing the experience in electronic form
Superior Environment/Climate Change Handling
b. 1.
Innovative Ideas Implemented Unparalleled Application Functionality: GPS navigation enabled on 3D Artistic Map of the Fort which is on undulating terrain. Customised route generation as per the time availability (2hrs; 1.5hrs; 45mins) and preferences of the tourist (history; architecture; culture; non-climbing). Server-based QR Code scanning authentication mechanism on devices using data-cards for hassle-free experience and smooth operations and MIS. Time-tracker function to help tourists plan time. Feedback taken electronically and uploaded immediately from all tourists post tour. v2 of the product will have 3G-enabled features implemented social networking; tour-blogging; picture/audio/video capture etc. Human-factors Design & Remarkable Content - User-interface design, aesthetics and content production has been done using the human factors science approach elements such as size of touch buttons to enable easy product use for people with large fingers. Since the product uses audio and video mechanisms it is more inclusive for the hearing/visually impaired. Video stories developed by award-winning historians and film-makers on recommended points of interest across the fort. Scalability - App developed on the Google Android platform and made available both online (Android mkt) and offline (via touch-screen devices) to cater to tourists without Android phones. Anywhere; anytime (24/7) service as the app can also be used to take a fort virtual tour. Product designed in a modular manner to enable addition of languages with ease. Day-alternative to the light and sound show which happens in the evening at the Fort.
2.
3.
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1. State Policy and Strategy
Andhra Pradesh Tourism Policy Besides providing various incentives & subsidies to a private promoter, the State Government also undertakes the complete responsibility of providing land on lease, obtain all clearances & permissions and support in promotion through websites, travel fairs, etc. Andhra Pradesh is thus guaranteeing land availability and hassle free clearances to a private promoter as part of its Proactive Tourism Policy. Future Strategies 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Customized tours Development of Minimum infrastructure at most visited sites (toilets, snack kiosk, souvenir shop, information counters) Water bodies as Tourism destinations (Jalyagnam). 41 places have been identified for taking up Tourism activities. Development of Beach resorts (@ 1-2 / Coastal Districts) Development of Brindavan Gardens at Nagarjunasagar. Development of New Shilparamam at 5 locations (Medak, Puttaparthi, Vijayawada, Warangal & Nellore) Adventure Tourism Academy at Ananthagiri, RR Dist Highway amenities Rural Tourism Thematic Museum (Forts, Textiles, Tribal, Boats, British / European) World Heritage Status for Qutub Shahi precincts & Kakatiya group of monuments in Warangal District. Development of Qutub Shahi Tombs. Conversion of R&B Guest Houses into Chain of Budget Hotels Promotion of Hyderabad as Convention Capital. Promotion of Hyderabad as Medical Tourism Capital.
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16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.
Constitution of 2 separate Government driven societies with all stakeholder for above 2 to achieve synergies. Film Tourism Heli Tourism Strengthening existing circuits by bringing in new Tourism products. Southern Splendor Train Luxury cruise from Vizag to Andamans. Archaeological Museums in left over districts Shilpalayam near Shilparamam, Hyderabad. Construction of New Convention Centre with GOI assistance
The Golconda pilot fund requirement is outlined as under: Table 4

Description of Item Content scripting, filming and production (Expert estimate) Portable Mobile Device (50 pcs @ Rs.16,000 each - Mkt. Price) Total Anticipated Costs 12,00,000 8,00,000 20,00,000
Deliverables and Quality Assurance From the funding obtained from APTDC My IndiEye will create the content for Golconda and will procure 50 devices from the market for deployment. Before the devices are deployed explicit approval will be sought from the Secretary of Tourism to ensure overall content quality of the product for tourists in AP.
2.
Cost Effectiveness and Support Infrastructure
Project commissioned on a PPP model with Indian School of Business (ISB, Hyderabad) incubated company My IndiEye Travel Companions Pvt. Ltd. Plans to expand project to other Heritage properties in AP (Qutb Shahi Tombs. etc.)
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Table 5
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Figure 1: Support Infrastructure

1.
a.
Digital Inclusion
Extent to which the project has addressed the factor of eExclusion/ eInclusion Table 6
Greater Social Equity
Innovation is inclusive of lesser privileged populations (differently-abled hearing/visually impaired). They can either see/hear the stories. The solution is not perfect; however, is a step in that direction. Physically limited tourists who cannot climb ~400 steps can exercise the non-climber tour option and utilize the product as per their convenience The application has been ingeniously designed to cater for numerous customers without smartphones. Enables them to experience the benefits smartphones can potentially bring to them across domains. The project can easily be extended to include multiple languages, subtitles (for the hearing impaired), sign language in inset (for the hearing impaired and uneducated)
Bridging the Digital Divide
Scope for enhancing inclusion
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b.
1
Extent to which the project has addressed the factor of eParticipation

Table 7
Feedback mechanisms to improve products/services and features Continual feed of data from each customer has been implemented to allow direct participation for sustainable improvements and enhancement of experience Customised route generation as per the time availability (2hrs; 1.5hrs; 45mins) and preferences of the tourist (history; architecture; culture; nonclimbing). The innovation better meets the expectations of tourists and thus commands a notable price premium in the market boosting the Tourism economy towards extracting greater value from high-value-seeking tourists (both foreign and domestic) Boosts higher-value higher-impact and creative industries employment opportunities in the sector The architecture of the innovation is modular and scalable and on solid technological platforms backed by top firms (Google; Samsung etc.). As history does not change, the content is not expected to change, accruing the benefits from innovation for a long time (>10 years). Faster & cheaper to build additional tours as platform is scalable highly efficient capital use. This will enable much faster participation of maximum number of people in the e-revolution.
Choice exercised by consumer to adapt the product to their tastes, preferences and requirements Improved Economy
Enhanced Employment
Business Continuity, Scalability & Resource Utilisation Efficiency
c.
Extent to which the project has addressed the factor of eWaste Table 8
Superior Environment/Climate Change Handling
Reduced dependence on paper/ printed guides by providing the experience in electronic form
Shri. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Secretary to Government, Tourism, Archaeology & Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Email: secy_trsm@ap.gov.in & jayesh_ranjan@ hotmail.com
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CHAPTER 23
ePASS (Electronic Payment and Application System of Scholarships)*

Dr M Padma and Shri. Chakradhar
I) Overview
Post Matric Scholarships (PMS) is one of the important welfare measures of the Government aimed at providing financial assistance to students of all weaker sections such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes, economically backward class, disadvantaged classes and minorities to pursue post matric courses. The scheme is operated on a saturation basis wherein all weaker sections whose family income is less than Rs. One lakh are eligible for a scholarship. The post matric scholarship is fully administered through an online system wherein the tuition fee reimbursement is made directly to colleges and the maintenance fee is made directly to the student after due verifications into respective bank accounts. The scheme currently covers 26 lakh students amounting to Rs. 4000 crs. per year to the state exchequer. Rs. 3000 crs. goes towards reimbursement of tuition fee payable to colleges and Rs. 1000 crs. towards maintenance fee of students. This perhaps is one of the most complex and large scale project of its kind in India. The complexity of the PMS system spanning over 5 departments can be seen by the magnitude of the dimensions involved:
1. 2. 3. Total Students Total Colleges Total Fee Structures - 26 lakhs - 12000; 64000 courses - 1,44,000
Winner of CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards for the year 2010-11.
ePASS (Electronic Payment and Application System of Scholarships)
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4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Total Field Officers Total District Welfare Officers Total Treasury Offices Total Banks Total College Attached Hostels Total Department Attached Hostels Total Universities/Boards Total Disbursement Amount
- 350 - 100 - 40 - All - 2000 - 790 - 60 - Rs. 4000 Crores.
The urge to achieve improved transparency, speedy information dissemination, higher administrative efficiency and improved public services while disbursing the Post Matric Scholarships is motivating enough to design and develop ePASS (Electronic Payment and Application System of Scholarships). ePASS is web based G2C (Government-to-Citizen) and G2G (Government to Government) service, administering the online transfer of Post Matric scholarship money to students below the Poverty Line. The deployment and nurturing of this initiative has led to the overall impact of: 1. Ease of access by the students and citizens to the department through the Internet, to access the scholarship enabling speedier delivery of services and dissemination of information by the department, enable uniform set of procedures and rules for applying for a scholarship across departments. Reduction of the cases of corruption as accountability and transparency is increased and the departments activities are easily monitored. Equal opportunity to access to information is provided regardless of ones physical location and physical disability. Reach all the stakeholders who need government services regardless of their location, status, language, Enabling each application as unique through the use of the SSC certificate number and year of passing, thereby reducing double and bogus claims. Breaking the barriers of bureaucracy through systematic business process re-engineering and bring into the fore a system of registering colleges which are active in imparting education. Facilitate interdepartmental exchange of information.
2. 3.
4. 5.
6.
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7.
Reduced transaction costs for all departments as the system is operated through a central server and inter-linkage with other department servers for verification and validation of data.
Thus the overall positive impact has helped in sustaining the initiative in a transparent and accountable manner leading to good governance in the administration of scholarships. Direct payment into bank accounts, increased accountability and transparency and reduced risk of corruption has raised the perception of good government among citizens, thus bringing lot of credibility to the Governments image of making the poor students become a part of the main stream education thus contributing to overall development and making economic growth truly inclusive. The broad vision is to have low cost and fail-safe technologies that will have a more efficient, strategic and inexpensive way of 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Putting the student at the centre of operations. Expediting payments and disbursement cycle to ensure timely and correct payments to students/colleges Providing a system driven accountability mechanism, wherein there is no scope for any discretion. Ensuring open access to information to all stakeholders. Enabling reliable, timely and comparable information from the groundup. Minimizing leakages to ensure that the benefits reach the students / colleges.
Manual Disbursement: Earlier during manual disbursement of scholarships there was no scope for systematic monitoring and maintaining transparency in transactions. The whole process was cumbersome and time consuming. Checks of students were given to colleges who often collaborated to misappropriate. So misappropriation, embezzlement, fictitious claims, irregular and irrational drawals of scholarship amounts by certain unscrupulous persons resulted in depriving of scholarships to genuine SC, ST and BC students besides leading to major scholarship scams.
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Online Solution: The Online scholarship system was envisaged by the government to ensure speedier disposal of scholarships through very minimally staffed welfare departments. Given the magnitude of disbursement and the accumulation of arrears of Rs. 2183 Crs of the year 2009-10 in the year 2010-11 coupled with the demand of 2010-11 only ushered the urgent need to evolve a complete end to end student / college centric G2C ICT (Information and Communication Technology) solution will build the much needed confidence among the stakeholders and confirm the seriousness of Government in its commitment to welfare. Figure 1: ePass Workflow
ePASS has been developed as a complete workflow driven module which includes online filing, verification, sanction and disbursement. Role based logins have been created for 26 lakh students, 10,944 colleges, 4,500 verification officers, 5 departments and treasury. Under the system, the students have to apply online through the website and furnish applications to the college, which in turn has to verify the details on line and forward the documents in physical and electronic form to the verification officer. Once the verification officer does a physical and documentary verification, the scholarship applications are forwarded online to the welfare officers of the concerned department, who in turn will sanction the scholarship online and forward it to the treasury. The treasury passes the bills
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online and uploads the amounts for disbursement through the corporate internet banking interface into college and student accounts which have been registered and authenticated on the website.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
G2C: The project mainly focuses on students. Students can access from any internet kiosk online and file an application or verify the status of the application. The fee structure collected from all universities and boards are populated on the public domain. All procedures and processes have been standardized. Students can not only view the details of the fee payment to the college but also view their disbursement in their bank accounts. Application dates for fresh and renewals are well publicized. Colleges and students have been provided a comprehensive MIS to view all sort of reports on the progress of applications, sanctions and disbursements ensuring transparency at all levels. G2G: The ePASS is multi-departmental enabling access to all welfare departments, the finance department and the banking system. Standardization of procedure across departments, simplifying the hierarchy of sanctions, cutting short delays at the welfare departments and the treasury through web linkage and a comprehensive set of MIS reports, has not only reduced time but has fostered greater transparency at all levels of Government. The monitoring of the process has been made easy at all levels. The online workflow has reduced the paper work and movement of files as everything is captured on the online system. The calculations for projecting budget requirements are done within seconds and are based on actuals. The services offered through ePASS are 1. 2. 3. 4. College Registration Module for colleges Student Scholarship Application On-line Registration module On-line Verification and Forwarding module for verification officers On-line Scholarships Sanctions module for District Officers
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5. 6.
Payment release module with Internet Banking Payment system through the Treasuries and Accounts department User Interfaces (Dash Boards) to all HODs of Client Departments with various MIS reports such as Financial Report Budget received Vs Releases Status MIS- Performance Reports (Field Officers wise/DAH) and GroupWise Financial Report Reports Abstract report on Students, Amounts. Bank wise and College wise Releases
7.
Project Management Team (PMU) with necessary User Interfaces in the software to administer certain roles such as addition of new colleges, courses, fee structures, release of installments to various courses, updation of data pertaining to colleges / universities / boards, resetting of passwords of Field/District Officers and any other activity which is related to domain. General reports for public view such as Scholarship status, Application number, valid and invalid college accounts etc. to name a few.
8.
The initiative was implemented from May/June 2010 in all the 23 Districts of the state. In May 2010, the pilot for disbursing Tuition Fee into college accounts was taken up in Ranga Reddy District and in mid June it was scaled up to all the Districts. From July 2010 onwards maintenance fee was also disbursed into the students accounts. Future Plans - It is planned to bring the intermediate nominal rolls also under ePASS, have link with aadhaar database and further have direct link with CET databases through web services. Also digital certification will be introduced and the District officers will have to upload sanctions by using digital signatures. Other services include: 1. 2. 3. 4. SMS based services Mobile based services for accessing status Online customer management system Data-warehousing for digital dashboard and business analytics
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Widening e-Governance Canvas Use Aadhar compliant database for identification and authentication Computerization of the nominal roles
5. 6.
2.
a.

Time - The manual process of scholarships was not only time consuming but fraught with innumerable problems ranging from delays in hierarchical sanctions, cumbersome procedures, influence of middle men and mischievous colleges which often connived to misappropriate besides enabling the scope for bogus students and colleges. The simple and user friendly workflows in ePASS help the District officers to quickly process the applications and pay the scholarships. The introduction of web service between the ePASS & treasury server in June 2010 has enabled complete online integration thereby enabling the processing of bills by the treasury and upload of amounts into the online banking interface to disburse amounts into student and college accounts. This has led to substantial reduction of time from a month to less than a week. Cost: The transaction cost for a student is reduced to the bear minimum of paying the costs for uploading the application and documents to the internet kiosk. Middlemen are eliminated. Application by the student is directly received online and sanctions are given as per time schedule. Status can be verified online thereby saving the time, effort and money needed for such trips to the offices as was done in the past. The application is web based. Students can browse for information from their place of stay and irrespective of location or time all the stakeholders can seek information and offer their feedback for further improving the system. Personalized services through call centre and help desk at PMU has helped to reach out to the students and colleges whenever they do not have access to internet and immediately need information. Efficiency: The computer based acceptance of applications ensures that it is complete in all respects since the inbuilt validations do not allow the application to be saved unless all the parameters are fulfilled. The transaction based reports are helping in improving the efficiency of the system. As the information is
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readily available in web site and a call centre is established at PMU, the field officers are getting quality time to concentrate on their inspections and increase their output.
Improvements in delivery of services:

Fairness and equality : The student applies online without interference from any one and the onward processing of the application happens automatically without any individual discretion. Once the sanctions are given by the District officer, the sanction proceedings and the bills are auto generated based on the fee structure available in masters. So students studying in the same college, same year and same course get the same fee and all the students who applied are given scholarships unless they are disqualified for sanction. Accountability : Details of personnel and officials involved in implementation at each stage are being logged into the system increasing the accountability. Time lines for each stage of processing are set in and strictly monitored. Alerts in the individual logins and exception reports to higher officials help in streamlining the administration. Effective Decision Support System to avoid slippages in implementation. Earlier while calculating the demand under PMS programme the following projections were made.
Table 2 Annual growth % SW TW (@) BCW EBC DW MW 10% (**) 10% 10% (*) 2009-10 565134 269181 280743 3309 150842 2010-11 602161 300121 336567 3640 196000 2011-12 662382 330133 403881 4004 245000 2012-13 728618 363146 484657 4404 306250 2013-14 801369 399460 557355 4844 382812 2014-15 876056 439406 640959 5328 478515
1350392 1620470 1944564 2333476 2683497 3086021
2619601 3058959 3589964 4220551 4829337 5526285
The projection for number of students who would apply in 2010-11 was 30,58,959. But when the students actually applied online for fresh and renewal it is found that during 2010-11, the total count is coming to 24,47,168 and accordingly budget is released.
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Minimizing fraud: Since the entire expenditure is traceable to the student/ college, time and date, incidents of fraud, misappropriation are immediately identified and tracked down to the responsible persons. This has helped greatly in putting remedial measures in place and minimizing fraud. Several validations are in built into the system so that same bill cannot be passed twice. As a result during 2009-10 arrear payments being made during 2010-11, the system was able to weed out duplicates / double claims and save to a tune of 1 cr. Similarly by integrating with PMS web application of minority Dept developed by NIC, during the year 2010-11, 4,300 duplicate claims in e-PASS could be identified and weeded out. Further efforts are being made to have Ration Card link up for cross check and verification and in Making the Database UID compliant. b. Innovative Ideas Implemented
This initiative is first of its kind in India covering 5 major welfare departments (SCs, STs, BCs, OBCs, and Disabled) and linking Treasury and Banks. It is also for the First time that maintenance fee is disbursed using eZ-Pay (Pre-loaded) ATM cards of SBI for student bank accounts. 16.5 lakh accounts of eZ pay cards are being operated. Change requests from HoDs are gathered through email and call centre is established for grievance redressal of students, colleges, officers. VPN for security is established between CGG and Treasury also among the sanction level officers using APSWAN. Interface through web-services with Universities/Boards for Attendance, Performance, Fees etc and Interface with Counseling Centers is being developed for getting direct access to the data thereby minimizing data entry errors and saving lot of time that was otherwise spent for getting the data. This is a simple and easily replicable total web based initiative from Student application to transfer of Tuition / Maintenance fee to College/Student bank accounts directly. The disbursement of fees to students studying in national institutes outside the state also takes place through this system. The students apply for fresh registration and renewals online by keying their SSC/Inter Hall Ticket Number through which their name and other personal details are retrieved. They must have a bank account and those who do have an account are given eZ pay card of SBI (State Bank of India). Scanned images of photo and testimonials are uploaded, thus avoiding earlier problem of District officers not receiving the hard copies of the application forms. Students can access the site through a user id (email id) and password (sent to email accounts) and know the status of their application and the stage of funds transfer.
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Colleges must register on the website. Give details of recognitions, capacity, bank accounts, management details etc. Principals of colleges will have to verify each of the student applications, print and prepare booklets for fresh and renewal students department wise and contact the verification officer for getting the verification done for sanction of scholarships. Since the workload is heavy and meager staff of welfare departments cannot complete the work within the short time, the verification officers are drawn from other departments also and appointed by the collector. Results of verification are updated online. Recommended candidates are sent to the district officer. Rejected applications are either sent to the colleges or students for rectification. Processing & Sanction of bills online happen at the District Officer level and the bills are forwarded to treasury through the web service established between ePASS and treasury server. From treasury the money is released directly into college/student accounts through common internet banking interface and return confirmations is obtained to track the success/failure of the transactions. c. Integration with Other Systems
Web Services/SFTP established with the following Treasury for online transfer of Scholarship Bills. Minority Departments scholarship website developed by NIC for avoiding duplicates while sanctioning the scholarships. SBI For uploading the details of students needing eZ pay cards.

1.
a.
Processes
Pushing the funds directly into the account of the end user was planned and implemented by establishing web services with treasury department. In this regard, the entire process of disbursing Post Matric scholarships is automated through workflows and the treasury department does not accept the hard copy of the bill unless it is generated online and system generated TBR number is obtained. Unlike some initiatives wherein SRS is developed and strictly adhered to while implementing, ePASS is developed as per emerging needs. Whenever a policy change or a process change is proposed it is immediatley reflected in the software application and manual overrides are strictly not allowed. SMS based
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and email support is given for collecting the change requirements and are immediately attended. b. Major non-ICT back end process changes
All the backend non ICT processes are analysed and suitably re-engineered to ensure their rationality and simplicity. These process changes are followed by instructions in the form of Govt orders to give authenticity and legality to the changes. Capacity building workshops are arranged for quicker dissemination of process changes.
2.
a.

The Group of Ministers provide the policy framework for the scholarships. The Principal Secretary Social Welfare as the nodal officer for Scholarships, coordinates with all departments the Group of ministers and the PMU to Streamline and Implement the Scholarships online in the State. The PMU translates all decisions to actionable processes in the online system. Each change is backed up by relevant government orders to bring in the clarity of the process and the change. Key to the project are: 1. 2. 3. 4. b. J. Raymond Peter IAS, Principal Secretary, Social Welfare and Nodal Officer for Scholarships Dr M Padma, IAS Head, ePASS Project Management unit Mr Chakradhar, Project Manager, ePASS PMU, Centre for Good Governance Mr Madhusudhan, DD (SW) ePASS PMU, Commissionerate, Social Welfare Training -Plan and Status
At the time of roll out during June 2010 one training was given to the welfare Department officers. Thereon during each Video conference held every month the enhancements and version changes are explained and doubts cleared. Three major workshops were held with welfare dept officers and 2 workshops with Education department officials and 2 meetings with Health officers. c. Change Management strategy
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The Change Management is constantly brought about by the Group of Ministers which meet at frequent intervals, at the policy level and the Principal Secretary Social Welfare Shri. J. Raymond Peter as the agent of change who monitors and ushers in the reforms needed for the scholarship system both technically and administratively. All changes are documented and enabled through the online system with regular and frequent video conferences, press and media briefs. The design of the online workflow has mandated each department to follow only one path of the sanction and disbursement process. Capacity building at all levels through workshops, video conferences and state / district level conferences have enabled greater awareness of the departments. District wide conference with college managements and student associations have also enabled the awareness. d. Leadership Support and Visibility
Total political support is garnered by Chief Minister who reviews the outcomes as the scholarships is a flagship program of the state. The Group of Ministers review the project every month and take key decisions to streamline the administration of scholarships and take key policy decisions. Mr J. Raymond Peter, IAS, Prl Secy, SW Dept is spearheading the project, the social welfare department being the nodal agency for implementation. His inspiration, support and guidance at all stages has enhanced the commitment levels of the implementing officers, enlivened the team spirit and garnered the support of all the stakeholders. Further the officials of 5 implementing Welfare Departments of PMS programme, Departments of Education Sector and Finance Department support is available. e. Financial Model
Regular budgetary support given from GoAP. Transaction based charges are paid to the CGG where the application is being developed and hosted. Online support services and service level agreements have been entered with the CGG for delivering the service.
3.
a.
Technology
Recovery is done every day and it will be kept at remote location other than Data Centre.
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b.
To bring the overall cost of ownership to the bare minimum and also reduce recurrent costs besides having a robust system, the department has developed the online system on open source softwares. The program has been developed on Java 1.6, Struts Framework 2.0, Tomcat 6.0 is the Application server and the database is on PostGre/ SQL. c. Security and Compliance Standards
All Application level security levels are implemented. Network and client level securities are also taken care. All database level securities are implemented. Quarterly security audit is planned and done by the 3rd party agency. Weekly security audit is done for new changes. Further once a student registers, his ID and password is sent to his email. In case he forgets his passowrd he has to click on forgot ID or password and get his details through email. Dr M.Padma, IAS, Head, PMU, ePASS, Dept of Tribal Welfare, Govt of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, padmanir@yahoo.com & Mr Chakradhar, Project Manager, ePASS, Centre for Good Governance (CGG), Andhra Pradesh, chakradhar @cgg.gov.in.
National Portal of India A Gateway to Indian Government Cyber Space
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CHAPTER 24
National Portal of India A Gateway to Indian Government Cyber Space*

Neeta Verma and Alka Mishra
I) Overview
Governments globally are embracing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet and the World Wide Web, to reinvent their routine functioning, processes and service dissemination methods. As of today, there are over 7000 Indian government websites and portals existing in the internet space and this number is constantly on the rise. It is imperative to ensure that a common citizen is able to access the information and services provided by these numerous websites in the most convenient and friendly manner. And, this is where the National Portal of India (NPI) (india.gov.in), a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), has emerged as a tool to provide the much needed single window access to the plethora of online information and services by the Indian Government. In its endeavor to cater to most of the citizens needs, the NPI plays host to over 1900 services from various states/ministries/departments which are all packaged under the How Do I section of the portal. It is also a central repository for numerous Government forms, documents, acts, rules, schemes and policies. The portal receives overwhelming feedback on a daily basis through its various sections, which actively solicit suggestions, complaints and comments from users.
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With over 13 lakh visitors per month, and 24 lakh hits per day (approximately), the portal is scaling new heights of popularity and visibility. A citizens single-window access to all there is to know about the Government and its subordinate bodies and authorities, http://india.gov.in stands at the apex of Indias ICT pyramid. With numerous interactive tools, services and static content repositories, the National Portal of India, now in its sixth year of existence, can be aptly termed as the one and only cyber facet of the Indian government which is complete in all aspects. These features and achievements render http://india.gov.in a suitable nominee for CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Award for Excellence in the Project Category. In the past few years, a large number of websites belonging to various constituents of the government have been published, offering a plethora of information and services to the citizens. However, all of these websites follow different technology standards, design lay-outs and navigation patterns that in turn cause the citizens a lot of inconvenience. The end-users are required to learn a lot to be able to peruse through such a wide range of web entities. They find it difficult to access the services provided for their benefit, thus defeating the very purpose of the initiative. Keeping this scenario in mind, a need was felt to establish a one-stop source for all the government information and services. This led to the genesis of National Portal of India a gateway to over 7000 Indian Government websites facilitating a single-window web-based access to government information and services. A Mission Mode Project under the exhaustive National e-Governance Plan, the National Portal of India plays host to a huge content repository which is a culmination of collaborative efforts. Content on NPI is being contributed by varied sources right from every ministry/department in the Central Government to State Governments as well as District Administrations. The first government website designed to be accessible to all users irrespective of the device in use, technology or ability the National Portal has as of now approximately over 80,000 registered users availing regular services provided
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therein, with an increase of at least 10% per month. Apart from faring superbly in all the objectives of e-Governance, http://india.gov.in has been mandated to act as a catalyst in enabling quite a few ICT initiatives such as Sixth Central Pay Commission Public Consultation Process, NGO Participation System (NGO-PS), the Central Information Commission Online (CIC Online) and the most recent Public Partition on National Testing Scheme (NTS). The aim behind National Portal of India is to further strengthen the effort towards good governance through anytime, anywhere delivery of government information and services for the benefit of citizens, businesses and other stakeholders, both within India and abroad. By providing a unified interface and acting as a logical front-end to the e-government initiatives, the edict of the portal is to facilitate the foundation of a healthy relationship between the Government and the citizens through the conjoined efforts of various administrative units/authorities of the Government.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered: The broad scope of this project was to establish a single-window access to information and services being delivered by any Government of India constituent, enhancing interaction between Government and Citizen (G2C), Government and Business (G2B), Government and Employee (G2E), within Government Departments and acting as an integral part of the overall mission of practicing good governance. By virtue of being the National Portal, india.gov.in has nationwide coverage in terms of information even from districts and panchayats and a worldwide reach for its target audience and beneficiaries namely: 1. 2. Citizens of India of all age groups and demographic backgrounds Government ministries, departments and associated offices and the officials therein
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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
State Governments, UTs, District Administrations and Panchayats Legislative and Judicial Institutions of the Government Public sector enterprises and organizations Corporate sector and Business Establishments National and International Media Agencies Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin Public at large, all across the globe
Stakeholders and Benefactors: G2C : Government and to - citizen interaction is where electronic delivery and exchange of information and services takes place through the portal, thus fulfilling the primary objective of e-governance. Services available on the portal have rendered transactions such as obtaining certificates, renewing licenses, paying taxes/bills and applying for benefit schemes less time consuming and convenient. Also facilitated through the portal is the key component of citizen participation in the processes and policy formulation by the government. G2B : Government-to-Business interaction through the portal has not only facilitated the transaction and exchange of information between the government and the businesses regarding licenses, taxation and policies issued for various sectors, but has also led to improved and efficient procurement of goods and services by the government from the commercial business entities. The authentic information from starting a business to closure/graceful exit has been provided in simple and understandable terms. The Online Government Tender Information System has seamless been integrated the portal, which has made the entire Government tender procedure extremely simplified, transparent and convenient for the stakeholders. G2G : Government-to-Government interaction through the NPI has led to seamless sharing of data and conduct of electronic exchanges amongst various government departments and other entities. This exchange is both intra and inter agency in nature.
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G2E : Government-to-Employee interaction through the NPI has facilitated information exchange about employment opportunities, work guidelines, rules and regulations, benefits and services. A special section in the portal known as the Employee Corner caters to the specific information needs of Government employees. It provided up-to-date information/status on preparation as well as implementation of Sixth Central Pay Commission report. Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status
b.
Prime Features: One-Stop Source (Single -Window Service) : The services offered by various government bodies are spread over hundreds of websites at various levels of navigation hierarchy, and thus many of them remain largely unnoticed. The portal acts as a platform to connect all these services in a manner that these are easily accessible and available to the citizen as well as other stakeholders. To augment the huge information resource available in the portal, a state-of-the-art search facility has been provided for that is able to index and organize vast amounts of information optimally. Comprehensive Content : The National Portal presents comprehensive information on all aspects and constituents of the government whether central, state or local bodies. In other words, the portal does not belong to just one group or sector of government, its mandate includes complete and comprehensive information from the various entities including Legislature, Judiciary, Executive, Apex Institutions, Local Government Bodies, Public Sector Undertakings, Government Institutions, Organizations, etc. Citizen Orientation : NPI has been built from the users or citizens perspective, rather than from the perspective of the government. In other words, instead of presenting and categorizing the information and services on the basis of government departments, information is presented in a manner citizens would like and comprehend better. The various components of the portal have a common look and feel to ensure ease of navigation with enhanced user experience.
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Widening e-Governance Canvas Bi-Lingual Content : The content on the portal is also available in Hindi language, apart from English. The navigation interface of all the sections in the portal is available in Hindi while the process of making the same available in regional languages of India is also underway. This effectively ensures a much wider reach of the information and services being provided by the National Portal of India. Content Management System : Since NPI is the repository of a huge amount of content being sourced from as well as maintained by multiple sources and different teams at different geographic locations, a comprehensive and secure web-based Content Management System (CMS) to effectively manage the content has been developed for the portal, which is useful for not only carrying out future modifications and updations of the portal content but also allows the flexibility of a convenient change in the content architecture of the portal. Implementation Coverage The Year Gone By The year gone by witnessed many a prized development and enhancement in the overall service delivery of the National Portal of India. It consistently attracts visitors to its new and updated information and services http:// india.gov.in is in action always.
c.
Rating of Content and Services (Enhancing Interactivity) : In its endeavor to cater to most of citizens needs, the NPI plays host to over 1900 services from various states/ministries/departments which are all bunched under the How Do I section of the portal. With new services being added on a daily basis to the huge repository already available, user feedback plays an all important role. To harness the same, a Rating Module has been introduced in the How Do I? section on http://india.gov.in, which will enable users to assess the services provided therein. It would help the service provider to improve upon and gauge the service maturity to improve upon. The users are asked to rate a particular service on the basis of two main aspects, these being Usefulness and Ease of Access. A provision is also made within the same interface for surfers to be able to view the current rating enjoyed by the said service. Any comments or suggestions from the users end can also be posted within the same application window.
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Instant feedback and rating of a service or content/information published on the portal can be given by a visitor. This has been introduced to take public perception on a particular content published on the portal and enhance suitably. Universally Accessible : Making the portal universally accessible to all users, irrespective of device in use, technology or ability, was another very crucial aim that was achieved with much fanfare and success. NPI meets priority 2 (level AA) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 laid down by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Furthering Customization : Surfers can now choose from a select array of colorful theme options to lend the Home page of National Portal Of India a unique, personalized touch. Each theme comes with its own specially designed banner and background data display options. Nurturing New Initiatives : The National Portal of India has acted as a catalyst to help citizen participation in the process of governance by leveraging demand-based citizen centric initiatives like the NGO Partnership System, the Central Information Commission (CIC) Online and the most recent is on Public Opinion on National Testing Scheme (NTS). Awardees Repository : The improved version of the My India, My Pride section provides search-based access to its Awardees Repository, an exhaustive listing of all distinguished citizens of India who have been decorated with various awards for their dedicated service to the nation since 1954. Along with Gallantry Awards, NPI also provides roll of all brave children of India who have been honored for their exceptional display of courage. Guidelines for Indian Government Websites : On of the mandate of the National Portal of India is to introduce standards for government websites and portals. In view of this, Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) have been developed and published for the government departments to comply with and the same has been included as an integral part of the Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedures (CSMOP) by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). Statistics Speak : The National Portal has as of now approximately over 80,000 registered users, with an increase of consistently at least 10% per month, availing regular services provided therein. With over 24 lakh hits per
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Widening e-Governance Canvas day (approximately) the portal is scaling new heights of popularity and visibility. Presently there are around 7,300 Forms, 6300 Documents, 1,900 Services, 1,400 Schemes, 2,300 Acts, 1,500 Rules and 1,4000 Announcements uploaded to its repository from across the country on the NPI. Hit statistics, registered user trend and appreciations etc. are given in the following pages for ready reference:
Year-Wise Hits and Trend of Registered Users for the National Portal of India Figure 1: Year-Wise Millions of Hits (2006 to 2010) of NPI
Figure 2 : Year-Wise Trend of Registered Users (2006 to August 2011) of NPI
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2.
a.

Time and Cost Efficiency The National Portal of India comes adorned with unique features and technology to facilitate ease of access apart from providing convenient singlewindow access for multiple Government information and services. Query through Advanced Search module for Services, Documents, Schemes, Forms, etc. helps users elicit targeted results as per their specific requirements. An attempt has been made through the portal to provide comprehensive, accurate, and reliable one-stop source of information about India and its various facets. The information in the portal has been well classified into distinct modules, which are also interlinked at relevant places to provide the visitor with a holistic view in minimum time and clicks. The portal is developed using Open Source tools and has been hosted in the National Data Center thus drastically cutting down cost on licensing and hosting requirements. The National Portal Project has been developed in the interest of the citizens of the nation and hence is not based on any revenue generation model. The Project has been funded by the Department of Information Technology from the funds allocated for the implementation of this Mission Mode Project under the NeGP.
b.
Innovative Ideas Implemented The National Portal of India has not only ended up immensely benefiting the end-users or common citizens, but also fulfilled and continues to do so - the other basic objectives of electronic governance including enhancement of transparency & accountability in functioning of governing authorities. The Portal is gateway to scores of other Indian Government Websites and Portals and thus ensures provision of comprehensive information and services for the benefits of the citizens and other stakeholders.
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Another very important initiative of the Portal has been its Visitor Relationship Management System, where every feedback, suggestion, queries received through the portal is attended and responded to or forwarded to respective departments for necessary action and further communication to the sender directly, if they like to do so. A recently-added Rating Service for content and services available on the NPI enables surfers to directly rate each of the services provided by different sectors of the Government and its affiliated authorities. User feedback not only facilitates NPI in improving and improvising, but also aids direct Citizen to Government dialog. Universally Accessible on content on the portal ensures that people from diverse backgrounds and varied physical abilities can also make use of the services provided. Since most of the content on the NPI is available in both English and Hindi, its reach is much more widespread and exhaustive. Publication of information and documents on the Net and speedy online access to citizens on information and services such as government tenders, policies, citizen charters on the portal, as well as status of applications submitted for various government services also lead to improved efficiency in service delivery, reduced corruption and increased public participation.
c.
Integration with Other Systems The National Portal has provided a readily available base infrastructure to the government departments/organizations for launching their e-governance initiatives for the benefits of citizens, businesses and other stakeholders. The public participation in drafting the Sixth Central Pay Commission Report, NGO Partnership System, Central Information Commission (CIC) Online and the most recent National Testing Scheme (NTS) are cases in point. The feedback received by the NPI team are forwarded to the concerned ministry/department/governing body, which in turn helps them to improve and improvise upon the service delivery on their individual portals.
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1.
a. 1.
Processes
Major non-ICT front and back end process changes Front-End Processes: These processes comprise attributes that are visible at the users end, and of which the surfer is the direct consumer. Service Delivery : The National Portal has a Comprehensive Content Repository that is cohesive and ensures a single-window access to scores of services provided by different departments/states/bodies of the Indian Government. Ease of Access : The content of National Portal is not only comprehensive, but also interlinked at crucial junctures to give the user a holistic view of the information available. Moreover, usability and universal accessibility of the content on NPI ensures that people from diverse backgrounds and varied physical abilities can also make use of the services provided. It has received the Web Site Quality Certificate provided after assessment by STQC (http://india.gov.in/ images/hp/website_quality_certificate.pdf ). Citizen Orientation : The National Portal has been built from the users or citizens perspective, rather than from the perspective of the government. It is amenable to personalization and customization that makes targeted delivery of information much simpler. An effective Visitor-Relationship Management System and numerous Feedback/ Interactive Modules also ensure seamless exchange between the portal and its users.
2.
Back-End Processes: These processes comprise basic elements that go into making the infrastructure of the portal thoroughly sound and available, over which efficient delivery of the website rests. IT Architecture : NPI leverages upon open source technology being hosted at the ISO 27001-certified NIC Internet Data Center, whose state-of-the-art infrastructure ensures 24*7*365 availability of the website.
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Content Strategy : In order to populate and maintain content in the Portal a Content Advisory Committee (CAC) has been set up under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary, D/o Administrative Reforms and Public Grievance (DARPG). The committee constitutes members from ministries, departments and states. It meets regularly for formulating policies for content contribution from across the country and its subsequent approval. All information on the NPI is presented in a manner citizens would like and comprehend better. National Portal Coordinators (NPCs) at the level of Addl. Secretary/ Jt. Secretary in the Ministries/Departments and IT Secretaries in the States have been nominated to oversee content contribution and maintenance for their respective jurisdictions. NIC Coordinators for the NPI (NCNPs) have been nominated as nodal offices from NIC side to assist NPC on their functioning. Moreover, a few of the States have engaged a Content Service Provider (CSP) for content contribution to the portal. A comprehensive and secure web-based Content Management System (CMS) has been developed for the portal, which is useful for not only carrying out future modifications and updations but also allows for immense flexibility. Apart from this, various Content Management Policies, such as Access Control Policy (ACP), Content Flow Process (CFP), Content Moderation and Approval Policy (CMAP), Content Review Policy (CRP), Content Archival and Exit Policy (CAEP) and Content Consumption Policy (CCP) were devised and published as Content Framework for the NPI (http://india.gov.in/cfw), which is followed by the NPI team to ensure that the National Portal is always up-to-date on the content front.
2.
a.

National Portal of India is a comprehensive repository of content related to government services that is being contributed by a number of authorized content contributors across the country (as mentioned under Enabler Indicator->Processes>Back-end Processes->Content Strategy).
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In order to retrieve the relevant, meaningful content easily from the portal at the optimum time, certain crucial Content Management Policies have been laid down. This would ensure that the portal users extract the content in a correct and consistent manner without facing any inconvenience of having to navigate a number of websites of different look and feel. These Content Management Policies, outlined in the Content Framework of the NPI (http://india.gov.in/cfw), follow the content contribution process, the procedure of content moderation and approval, content review, expiry and archival of content as well as the content consumption process. The National Portal is hosted at the ISO 27001 certified NIC Internet Data Centre with state of art infrastructure to deliver citizen centric services with primary commitment of providing a system with high availability, scalable, secure, accessible and manageable system. Since the Portal delivers services, which are accessed by millions of users, its availability for 24*7*365 is one of the critical components. b. Training -Plan and Status
As a strategic move, a comprehensive training and was enforced during the implementation phase. Workshops, trainings, seminars were organized at the central as well as state/UT level to appraise on the web-based content management system (NPI-CMS). This is basically on information architecture (IA) of the NPI and content classification and metadata preparation for contribution content through the CMS. A comprehensive guide on the same has been prepared for the contributor as well as the moderator for getting quality content for the NPI. Apart from the above regular internal hands-on training of the content, technical teams were organized for managing the day-to-day functioning of the National Portal of India at the headquarters. NIC has developed the CMS to address the entire lifecycle of a piece of content on the NPI, right from its conceptualization to design, development, maintenance and management. c. Change Management strategy
There is a comprehensive change management process in place for updating any content within the Content Management Framework of the NPI.
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d.
Being one of the mission-mode projects under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), the National Portal of India enjoys the support and backing of the Central Government and all its affiliated governing bodies. The principal cyber face of the Indian government, NPI is a one-stop window for all that the government wishes to impart to its citizens. Following institutional arrangements are done for development and management of the NPI: The Apex Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India. Project Review and Steering Group (PRSG) is headed by the Secretary to the Ggvernment of India for the Department of Information Technology The Content Advisory Council (CAC) headed by the Additional Secretary, D/o Administrative Reforms and Public Grievance (DARPG) constituted with senior level officers from ministries, departments and states. Coordination Committee at the level of NIC constitutes domain experts from majority of sectors of the government and is headed by the Director General, NIC. National Portal Coordinators (NPCs) are nodal officers from the central government ministries/departments as well as states/UTs to oversee content contribution activity of the National Portal. Financial Model
e.
The National Portal Project has been developed in the interest of the citizens of the nation, and hence philosophically not based on any revenue generation model. The project has been funded by the Department of Information Technology from the funds allocated for the implementation of MMPs under the NeGP. This project is directly executed and implemented by the National Informatics Center (NIC) under the D/o IT, M/o Communication and Information Technology.
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Figure 3: Project Management Structure of NPI
3.
a.
Technology
National Portal of India has a huge structured central content repository and consists of very valuable citizen services and information. Thus securing them from storage/ hardware failure is another core objective of the deployed hosting infrastructure. The active components of the portal are devised to function in fail-over mode, and have built-in redundancy with an up and running BCP. Moreover, during any natural disaster, the Disaster Recovery (DR) System located at Hyderabad, ensures the portals seamless availability and takes care of data security. The portal data herein is replicated asynchronously over WAN using FC-IP protocol. b. 1. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance Multi-Layered Architecture: The portal application, database and front-end servers are fully independent of each other. Therefore bringing about change in any of the layers doesnot affect the other layers. Hence, the architecture
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facilitates high system availability by adding additional node/module with zero down time. 2. Clustered Server Components: In order to cater to millions of users and to deliver meta contents to various state portals, multiple server nodes are clustered for processing the user request simultaneously. Also, the clustered system ensures the availability of the portal during any node failure. The state-of-the-art load balancing at network level distributes the users request to the cluster nodes to decrease the system response time and increase its availability. Storage Area Network: To meet the exponential data growth of India portal, all server nodes are equipped with SAN Storage System which is accessible through high speed up to 1Gbps network ensuring that the system is highly scalable in terms of storage to meet additional requirements. Pre and Post-Production Auditing: The process of auditing the application modules of India portal before and after production includes testing security, performance, usability and accessibility hence ensuring the portals security and performance. Similarly, any new hardware component which needs to be added is also tested and tuned before integrating it in production environment. Open Source Technology: National Portal of India is developed and hosted in open source platform such as Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, XML and JavaScript. Hence, the system is completely flexible and can be easily configured/upgraded for any additional functionality. Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented The NIC Data Center at Delhi is ISO 27001-certified. The ISO certificate is available at http://india.gov.in/iso.pdf for public view. The NPI has been designed using XHTML 1.0 Transitional and meets priority 2 (level AA) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 laid down by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The National Portal of India fulfills the requirements of Software Product Evaluation and Certification Scheme of GoI. This certification covers three ISO standards, namely ISO 25051, ISO/IEC 9126-1 and ISO/IEC TR 9126-2.
3.
4.
5.
c. 1. 2.
3.
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Language, demographic and cultural differences may result in certain types of stakeholders not getting fully benefitted from e-Governance initiatives. This factor of digital inclusion is relevant to this submission. Specific steps taken to address this factor NPI has been built on the basic principle of inclusiveness from the users or citizens perspective, rather than from the perspective of the government. The content on the portal is also available in Hindi language, apart from English. The navigation interface of all the sections in the portal is available in Hindi while the process of making the same available in regional languages of India is also underway. This effectively ensures a much wider reach of the information and services being provided by the National Portal of India. The portal has also been made universally accessible to all irrespective of the device in use, technology in operation or physical ability of the user. NPI meets priority 2 (level AA) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 laid down by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor The factor of eParticipation in the decision making process of the nominee is relevant to this submission. 1. Pre-Launch Interaction: The pre-launch deliberations on the project involved the participation of numerous officials from various levels of government all over India. Representatives from various ministries, states and local governing bodies came together to advice upon and subsequently formulate the portal architecture and its prime mandates. All committees mentioned in pre-page (Enabler Indicator->People & Process> Leadership Support..) met regularly during the development of the
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Information Architecture (IA) of the portal. Inputs from various quarters of the country were considered in order to render the project comprehensive and feasible to all strata of users. 2. Post-Launch Interactivity: The National Portal of India has not only ended up immensely benefiting the end-users or common citizens, but also fulfilled and continues to do so the other basic objectives of electronic governance including enhancement of transparency and accountability in functioning of governing authorities. A very important dimension of the portal has been its Visitor Relationship Management System, where every feedback, suggestion, queries received through the portal is attended and responded to or forwarded to respective departments and tracked. A recently-added Rating Functionality for content and services available on the NPI adds manifold to user interactivity, as herein surfers can directly rate each of the information and services provided by different sectors of the Government and its affiliated authorities hereby encouraging eParticipation for evolving the Portal. The national portal has provided a readily available base infrastructure to the government departments/organizations for launching their eParticipation initiatives for the benefits of citizens, businesses and other stakeholders. The public participation in drafting the Sixth Central Pay Commission Report, NGO Partnership System, Central Information Commission (CIC) Online and the most recent National Testing Scheme (NTS) are cases in point.
3.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor: National Portal of India boasts of an intricate web-based system of connectivity and data sharing that ensures very little to zero paperwork and file transfer. A comprehensive Web-based Content Management System, User Relation Management System, Rating System, etc., enables various stakeholders to submit
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content/feedback/reviews via the online medium, hence minimizing the use of paper to the largest extent possible. http://india.gov.in is the quintessential National Portal, which offers a kaleidoscopic view into the countrys myriad affairs including all Governmental operations, citizen information and services, Indian culture and heritage, and a host of other activities - within a state-of-the art technology framework. Simply put, the strength of the National Portal lies in the assimilation of rich and comprehensive content amassed through meticulous study and investigation, and a unique user-friendly way of presenting that information. With numerous interactive tools, services and static content repositories the National Portal of India is the one and only cyber face of the Indian government which is complete in all aspects and acting as a gateway to over 7000 Indian Government websites/ portals. Neeta Verma, Senior Technical Director, HOD, National Informatics Center, Delhi, neeta@nic.in and Alka Mishra, Senior Technical Director, National Informatics Center, New Delhi, amishra@nic.in)
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CHAPTER 25
VAHAN- AN ICT-based Solution for Vehicle Registration*

Dr. Mahesh Chandra and Shri Nitin Gokarn
I) OVERVIEW
VAHAN, an ICT-based solution for vehicle registration is an application software for enabling the processes of vehicle registration and allied activities to get computerized, is one of the best examples of horizontal transfer of ICT-based best practices. The VAHAN is integrating smart card infrastructure with ICT to generate smart card-based RCs. It also integrates mobile/telephony network for status tracking, anywhere basis service delivery, etc. This project caters the need of urban as well as rural public and smoothens the functionality of department itself. The Department of Road Transport is governed by both Central Motor Vehicle Act (CMVA) 1988 and state-specific Motor Vehicle Rules (State MVR). Consequently, VAHAN was conceptualized as a workflow-based software package that takes care the functionalities as mandated by CMVA as well as state MVRs. Customization is done in the core product to suit the requirements of the states. This project has enhanced the face image of the department in the eyes of their stakeholders and citizens. It also smoothens the day-to-day activities of RTO officials/staffs. Over the past decade or so, there had been islands of e-Governance initiatives by the State Transport Authority of different states in the country. The experience with these IT initiatives had been very good and is extremely beneficial in making the Transport Department services accessible to the common man in his locality
VAHAN-an ICT based Solution for Vehicle Registration
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through various service delivery outlets. It also ensures efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man. To support these initiatives Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had envisaged a project for computerization and interlinking of about 975 RTOs/ DTOs across the country. The department of Road Transport is governed by the CMVA 1988 and State MVR. VAHAN is conceptualize the to take care of the functionalities as mandated by CMVA 1988 as well as State MVR. VAHAN can be used to issue registration certificate, fitness certificate and permit, etc.
Modules of VAHAN
1. Vehicle Registration 2. 3. 4. 5. New Vehicle Registration Renewal of Registration Certificate Transfer of Ownership Change of Address, Termination of Hypothecation, etc. Issuance of Home State Permit, National Permit and All India Tourist Permit Renewal of Permit State-specific Road Tax Calculation and Collection Issuance of Fitness Certificate Renewal of Fitness Certificate Issuance of Challan Settlement of Penalty Amount
Permit and Taxes
Fitness
Enforcement
Implementation of VAHAN was divided into four subgroups : Computerization of all the RTOs/DTOs across the country: VAHAN is being implemented at all RTOs/DTOs across the country for computerization of all vehicle registration-related processes in all the RTOs/DTOs.
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Connectivity at all the RTOs/DTOs across the country: For sharing of information between all the RTOs/DTOs across the country, adequate network connectivity is the major requirement. All the RTOs/DTOs are being connected through the Leased Line/VPNoBB.
Establishment of State Register (SR) and National Register (NR): State level data repository called State Register (SR) has been established at every state. All the information being captured at RTOs/DTOs level will entirely go to SR, so as to avoid any dependency of introducing new services on the level of information available at the state level. SR is connected to all RTOs/ DTOs through Leased Line/VPNoBB connectivity. This supports the data replication from RTOs/DTOs to SR and vice versa. SR will provide real time information to State Transport Department, RTOs/DTOs, automobile dealers, police department and other G2C services regarding Vehicle Registration. National Register (NR)VAHAN a Centralized Database for Registration Certificate has been created out of all the SRs from different states, to act as central repository for all crucial information related to vehicle registration. NR has been established at NIC Data Center, Hyderabad. Its architecture has been designed for high availability, reliability and scalability. It will also act as a database backup for State Registers and is connected through high availability NIC Network(NICNET) bandwidth. High availability network bandwidth supports the real time data replication from State Register to National Register and vice versa.
Development of web application in order to roll out the services from SR/ NR: A web portal, i.e., http://vahan.nic.in has been designed and developed by NIC to deliver G2G, G2C, G2B services related to vehicle registration from State and National Register. It also aims to provide Anywhere Anytime Basis Services to various stakeholders as well as citizens at large. It also aims to provide online services related to National Permit for Goods Vehicle.
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1.
a. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C,G2B,G2G,G2E) with benefits Ministry of Road Transport and Highways National Informatics Center Department of Information Technology, Ministry of IT, GoI Department of Road Transport DTOs/RTOs/RLAs/SDMs/MLOs, etc. Dealers Insurance Companies Bankers, Manufacturers etc. Law Enforcement agencies like Police Department, NCRB/SCRB, etc. Citizens. Agencies working on road safety measures.
1.

Government to Citizen (G2C) Services:

Application for issuance of Registration Certificate (RC) Application for change of address in RC Application for transfer of ownership Application for noting/terminating hire-purchase/hypothecation/lease Application for clearance certificate Application for No Objection Certificate (NOC) Application for issuance of duplicate RC Reservation of an advance registration number Online payment of fees, tax, etc. Application for issuance of National Permit for goods vehicle
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Status tracking of application Online search of vehicle information based on registration number and engine number or chassis number.
2.
Government to Government (G2G) Services:

VAHAN has enabled the Ministry for delivering various G2G services for departments like Police, NCRB/SCRB, etc. by sharing the information like complete vehicle information, vehicle permit details, etc through the website using the authorized login id and password. Vehicle Search: It provides a nationwide search over the digitized data of Registered Vehicles. Stakeholders may view the information based on the following parameters :
Registration Number either full or partial Chassis Number Engine Number Body Type Fuel Type Vehicle Color Name of the Manufacturer Make/Model, etc. Reports on Registered Vehicle Year and Month-wise reports of registered vehicle in various states Year and Month-wise reports of registered vehicles in various DTOs Vehicle class-wise reports in various states
3.
Government to Business (G2B) Services:

Automobile dealers may submit online application for vehicle registration, pay taxes, etc. through dealer point registration module of VAHAN.
Web Modules for Dealers
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Application for new registration Payment of fees and taxes etc Status Tracking Sharing of relevant information with insurance companies, manufacturers, banks, etc.
b.

Benefits to various stakeholders

Improved quality of services Improved law abidance Reduced turnaround time of various G2G, G2C, G2B services Anytime Anywhere basis services viz. Online application submission for issuance of Registration Certificate Online payment of Tax and other fees related to vehicle registration Status tracking of various applications related to RC Application for issuance of National Goods Permit Application for endorsement of name, address, etc. on RC Status tracking through mobile phone One time document submission Availability of hassle-free services Availability of MIS for decision making Quick and easy availability of information to other government department Quick and easy tracking of stolen vehicles Easy detection of malpractices Quick and easy availability of information related to tax due date, fitness due date, RCs renewal due date, etc. Quick and easy sharing of relevant information with insurance companies, banks, etc.
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Availability of SMS-based services.
At present 100% of VAHAN services are being delivered through computerized RTOs/DTOs etc. National Permit Portal has been implemented for issuance of National Permit for goods vehicle and has been operational since September 2010. All the National Permits are being issued online. As of now about 6.50 lakh national permit have been issued online. Integration of payment gateway has also been done for Department of Transport, West Bengal and is under process for the rest of the country. Enforcement services, dealer point registration, online application for vehicle registration, SMS-based services for vehicle information, etc are planned for release in this current financial year.
c.

Implementation Status:
100% implementation of VAHAN has been achieved in 31 States/UTs. VAHAN implementation status implemented at 945 RTOs/DTOs out of 975 RTOs/DTOs 100% connectivity achieved in 31 States/UTs State Register has been established in all the States/UTs 97% of RTOs data replicated to SR National Register has been established at NIC Data Center, Hyderabad 94% of RTOs data replicated to NR.
2.
a.

S.No. Name of the Services 1. 2. 3. 4. Information related to Vehicle Registration New Vehicle Registration Issuance of Duplicate RC Change of Address in RC
Delivery Time Through Manual System 3-4 Hours (After visiting the RTO office or through agents) > 10 Days > 7 Days > 7 Days
Delivery Time Through VAHAN Immediately from the Web 3-4 Days Same Day Same Day
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5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Re-registration of Vehicle Transfer of Ownership Hypothecation Endorsement in RC Hypothecation Cancellation in RC Issue of No Objection Certificate (NOC)
> 15 Days > 7 Days > 5 Days
3-4 Days Same Day Same Day
> 7 Days > 5 Days > 7 Days > 7 Days > 7 Days > 7 Days > 7 Days
1-2 Days 1-2 Days 1-2 Days Same Day Same Day Same Day Same Day
10. Renewal of RC 11. Issuance of National Goods Permit 12. Renewal of Permit 13. Cancellation of Permit 14. Transfer of Permit
6.
After implementation of VAHAN, the staff at RTOs/DTOs are able to produce more output in a day so the revenue generation has increased to 200% of the department. Data is more accurate and easily available to the higher authorities for decision making. Presence of agents at various RTOs/DTOs location across the country are reduced. Before the implementation of VAHAN, citizens were forced to take the services of agents or travel to the respective RTO office (3-5 times) to avail the service. Now every applicant is able to save at least Rs. 1,000 by avoiding agents or multiple visits to RTOs. Innovative Ideas Implemented Development and establishment of SCOSTA Uniform software development for the country Concept of state-based customization of VAHAN Replication of customized VAHAN using PPP model by many states NIC in association with MoRTH could extend s/w management and support
7. 8. 9.
b. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
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6. 7.
Integration with SMS gateway for information dissemination through SMS Integration with payment gateway for online payment of taxes and fees

1.
a. 1. 2.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes Detailed system study was done by NIC, report was prepared and submitted to MoRTH MoRTH organized many conferences and workshops for all the state and UT level officers in explaining the project goals and the roles of various agencies involved to achieve the final objective NIC developed the VAHAN application and customized as per the State requirement for pilot implementation. After the success of pilot implementation and fulfillment of state requirement respective state was asked to certify the same for replication of VAHAN in other RTO offices. State governments identify the agency for implementing the VAHAN using any financial model or they may ask the financial support from MoRTH for the implementation of the same RTOs supervise and implement with full effort for carrying out their daily functionality with respect to vehicle registration. Other service delivery model like dealer point registration, integration with payment gateway, etc. is worked out Online issuance of National Permit for goods vehicle has been implemented State Register and National Register of VAHAN have been established for data sharing between various RTOs/DTOs across the country as well as with other government departments, enforcement agencies, and MoRTH, etc. Unified form for vehicle registration has been introduced Unified visual design for smart card based RC has been designed and approved by MoRTH VPNoBB/LL connectivity is being used for replication of data from DTOs/ RTOs to SR and NICNET connectivity is being used to replicate the data from SR to NR
3.
4.
5. 6. 7. 8.
9. 10. 11.
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12. 13.
SR and NR of VAHAN are being used for providing the online services The RTO data are pooled at the end of the day or at a definite period at the state level by specialized software and state level services are provided on the Registration Certificate. The State Wide Area Networks (SWANs) that are developed are used for compiling the data from many RTOs at the State level for consolidation. The NICNET is used to bring the consolidated data of Registration Certificate to build the National Register of Registration Certificate.
14. 15.
2. a.
1. 2. 3. 4.
People and Resources Project Management and Monitoring

Full time project management unit has been established at NIC HQ for project monitoring purpose A nodal officer has been appointed at every state headquarters for implementation of the project Daily videoconference with all nodal officers is conducted for the monitoring of the implementation A specially constituted team within MoRTH and NIC review the progress of the implementation periodically with the help of the state transport department Honble Minster of Road Transport and Highways himself conducted these type of reviews personally with the Transport Ministers of all states and a handful of MPs. Training -Plan and Status Training has been given to the local staff of State Transport Department so that they can make the full use of it.
5.
b.
c.
Leadership support (political, bureaucratic) and its visibility Full support was given by the top authority to implement the project
d.
Financial Model (funding pattern, business model PPP, etc.) defined and implemented
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This project has been implemented in multi-mode financial model. MoRTH has funded the cost for the establishment of SR and NR, connectivity of various RTOs/DTOs with SR/NR, funded capital expenditure to about 19 States for ICT infrastructure. Business model PPP has also been opted by various state transport departments for project sustenance.
3.
a.
Technology
The project has been implemented in high availability architecture as shown in the figure 1. Figure 1 : High Availability Architecture per State
Dr. Mahesh Chandra, Dy. Director General, Transport Department, National Informatics Center, mchandra@nic.in and Mr. Nitin Gokarn, Joint Secretary (RT&H) Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Transport Bhavan, 1, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001. email: nr.gokarn@nic.in
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CHAPTER 26

Dr Hiren Joshi
I) Overview
Good Governance cannot be merely a Philosophy. Concrete Steps have to be taken to realize its goals. Says the CM who has a vision goal to implement ICT in Gujarat and adopts the Technology with embraced arms. Instituted by eGov magazine, Honble CM Narendra Modi (www.narendra modi.in) got the prestigious eGov 2.0 award for the Most innovative use of social Media. The website is largely responsible for his dynamic presence on the web and adds to his increasing influence by making Honble CM accessible to every citizen online as he adopts E-readiness initiatives and enhanced ICT that facilitates greater people participation. www.narendramodi.in - The portal provides a comprehensive portrait of Shri Narendra Modis long and illustrious social and political life. It presents his views on various national issues, his books and articles, interviews and speeches. The portal provides latest information about his initiatives, speeches, statements, etc. The portal that offers Transparency, connects the people with their beloved leader and effectively engages them with the cause Development of Gujarat for the development of Mother India.
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While many political personalities have a web presence, the portal www.narendramodi.in is Class Apart and unique with richness of content, the range of interactivity, and visual appeal. The portal has over 200 videos, 250 audios, 21 ebooks (full text), over 2000 photographs and more than 800 pages of properly categorised textual content. More importantly, this is the only website of a political leader which is available in five languages: English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Sanskrit. This is the first Sanskrit website of any leader. The accompanying blog www.narendramodi.com is in nine languages. Shri Narendra Modi has been a leader of the masses. With a feel of the pulse of the people, his website creates a live platform for People Participation where they can speak their heart directly to him without distortion and manipulation. Giving a sense of belonging to people of Gujarat and all those who believe in him and Gujarat, the site is enhanced with effective communication tools for a journey in progress of State. Goals and Objectives: Showcasing inclusive information- www.narendramodi.in showcases Complete, authentic and up-to-date information about Narendra Modi & his initiatives with Goals to reach masses and maintain Transparency, deepening Trust, Faith and Interaction as: Comprehensive Web Presence: 1. 2. 3. Web Presence with Transparency Interactive Presence Networked Presence and e Participation
www.narendramodi.in main features: 1. 2. His Biography Development Projects and initiatives in Gujarat as the CM
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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Awards His political journey His Quotes Publications (E-books) Archives of his speeches in text, video, and audio formats Photographs, and many more
As a Leader with a mass fan flow and admiration of citizens of India and being Internationally acclaimed personality, the site is enhanced to showcase the true spirit of Gujarat and its Growth Engines with Big Vision Goals for future Infrastructure and development of Gujarat. Share Idea that will Shape Gujarat and Social Media Presence are Interactive Shaping tools that research for improvising the policies and procedures for better governance.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
G2C Service: Citizen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Provide News related to CMs Development journey for Gujarat Provide Transparency Highlight Major Projects and Initiatives Show Live webcast of important Events Provide video/audio and slide show Gallery Sharing positive stories with friends and well wishers Sharing and discussing innovative Ideas that can aid governance Participating in Polls Posting views and comments Participating in contests
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11.
Allow citizens to download paraphernalia related to the CM such as Wallpapers, Screensavers, Jingles, E-greetings
G2B Service : Business Though there is no direct G2B service, the portal have a very innovative applicationToshakhana online auction of the Gifts received by Honble CM. As Shri Narendra Modi travels and attends events, he receives scores of gifts and souvenirs. Each and every gift is deposited with the government treasury (toshakhana), and sold to support the education of the girl child (kanya kelavani.). This portal also provide the facility of online auction of gifts available in Tosakhana. People can view the gifts and bid for them. He has so far received 7,994 gifts since November 2011. The nine occasional auctions of 6,634 of these gifts have fetched a sum of around Rs.10-crore. A special fund Kanya Kelavani Nidhi has been created for this cause. G2G Service : Government Not relevant directly, yet the image of a Tech Savvy Honble CM infuse motivation and inspire the leaders in their respective posts in the Government. G2E Service : Employees Not applicable. However, the Portal of CM is an inspiration to them who follow the leader and adopt best practices to entrust their duty towards the state. b. Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status
Apart from enhanced/introduced/functionally extended service like News, Live events coverage, etc, Following are operational and delivered through ICT: 1. CM Narendra Modi runs a special fund named Kanya Kelavani Nidhi to support girl child education. The gifts he receives are auctioned online through Toshakhana and the proceeds go for girl child education. Users can bid for these gifts on the website and contribute for this noble cause. http://www.narendramodi.in/pledge/toshakhana)
Online auction of gifts received by CM 2. E-book and slide-show gallery- These sections have an exquisite collection of free E-books written by and written on Shri Modi.
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3.
Inviting fresh ideas from public- Share ideas that will shape Gujarat is the initiative which acts as the suggestion box of the website!!! The active citizens share their developmental ideas for Gujarat directly with Shri Narendra Modi. Newsletters and mailers- Timely and beautifully designed newsletters and emails are sent to the subscribers to keep them updated about the recent events and developments in Gujarat. Involving citizens in public service through volunteering options available. (http://www.narendramodi.in/volunteertask): The pro-active citizens who want to contribute their valuable time for the state can register themselves as volunteers on www.narendramodi.in and choose from a myriad of activities available for volunteering such as teaching, content writing, language translations, health and hygiene, medical, finance and many more. By volunteering they earn credits and get rewards for their valuable earnings. Implementation Coverage
4.
5.
c.
The above stated activities are Implemented and covered on narendramodi.in Moreover, the Social Web Presence is enhanced for reach to masses and furthering the thought, the future plan alongwith active Blogging by CM, aims for more Transparency and portraying the correct and authentic Governance in Gujarat under the management of Honble Shri Narendra Modi. Building Trust and Relations with supporters by giving clear picture of Development Journey and engage People Participation for G2 Growth for Gujarat.
2.
a.

The Portal is Mass circulation through Web 2.0 Technology and social media networking has been a major time-saver in spreading information about the initiatives of Shri Modi. For a political leader, information hand-out in the right way and at the right time is the biggest challenge and that is what has been achieved through these initiatives. Though the conventional platforms of advertisements such as T.V, radio, hoardings are still used to meet the needs over a period of time, social media networking has enabled the circulation of information speedily and conveniently,
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and that too free of charge. b. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Innovative ideas Implemented Speedy exchange of information Increased public participation in state governance and decision-making. Transparent, direct and pro-active governance Inducing peoples trust in the state mechanisms. Success of several initiatives such as Share Ideas, Share and Grow, Volunteer, etc. where people have actively participated and contributed positive stories, ideas and their time to serve Gujarat in every possible way. Global presence staying in touch with NRGs, NRIs and International readers and to know where Gujarat stands amongst other states and other countries. Integration with Other Systems
6.
c.
Citizens are the key observers of the state and their opinions and experiences speak the most. Their ideas and suggestions are priceless inputs for improvement in governance. Hence, the Web Presence with Interactive and eParticipation nodes have been fruitful in research and work for better Governance.

1.
a.
Processes
The Portal is revamped and appears in major five Languages giving choice to readers. It is made more friendly and interactive with people participation. Bringing closer to fans and supporters, the CMs life and work reach to masses. The adoption of All round features and an eye to focus on technology development issues is the continuous process of the Portal development. b. Major non-ICT back end process changes
Honble CM devotes his precious time and focus on Time Management sparing
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moments for Technology and updating/viewing and sharing his tech skills/experience to masses through the portal and blog. Thus, known as Tech Savvy CM of most progressive State.
2.
a.

CMO is responsible for Project Management and Monitoring. Mr. Hiren Joshi is the OSD-IT who efficiently manages the affairs of the state CM Portal. Considering the services of the Web Consultants, Staff team and Volunteers, the site is on Top with continuous updates 24x7. b. Training -Plan and Status
Being a Web 2 Portal and with CMS, the Portal is easy for use and navigation. Consultants maintain and manage the back end with major front end portions handled by CMO. There is a dedicated team of personnel for the management and monitoring of web 2.0 project and social media services; a team consisting of website designers, web developers, content writers, operations and administration c. Change Management strategy
The Portal is revamped to suit readers and is made User Friendly and provide best Services to portray image of Honble Narendra Modi. Furthermore, Transparency and Interactive features. d. Leadership support & visibility
Honble Shri Narendra Modi personally devotes his precious time with Time Management schedule that he manages for Technology and understand technology upgradation and keeping with tech times. He personally blogs and makes sure that contents are fairly available and placed on narendramodi.in for this, CMO functions proactive alongwith the well wishers/ volunteers for the purpose. Shri Modi reads about 500 messages from public daily and resolves all their queries directly or indirectly. Shri Modi has used the Web 2 technology so pro-actively that it has become one of the major drivers of his work system.
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Widening e-Governance Canvas Financial Model
e.
It is developed/ maintained by well wishers of Honble CM.
3.
a.
Technology
Strategy for Disaster Recovery & Continuity
Disaster recovery is managed by Web Consultants and Back Up facility at CMO serve as savior in case of problems. b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
The website is owned by Honble CM Narendra Modi and is fully functional and maintained by well wishers of Honble CM under the guidance of CMO. Complies with NeGP Standards, Mission mode Projects are enhanced at CMO level and infuse five Es in governance: ease, economy, efficiency, effectiveness and ethics. c. Security & Compliance Standards
The Portal is strengthened with Security with services offered by Web Consultants/ Developers.
IV) 1.
Value Indicators Digital Inclusion
Steps taken to address this factor The Portal www.narendramodi.in appears in five languages English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi and Gujarati. The Blog www.narendramodi.com is supportive with nine languages.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor Online Auction Toshkhana, Volunteer services and e participating tools like Share & Grow, Social web presence with comments and promote facilities like share, widgets and add to brings about people participation and user friendly.
2.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor
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No print is taken for processing more than 500 daily emails received by Honble CM. Processing includes screening of emails, perusal by Honble CM, forwarding to Govt departments, tracking the action taken till disposal. Interaction online, through sms, email newsletter and other social media presence, etc. focus on ewaste to reduced paper and other related. Dr Hiren Joshi, Officer on Special Duty (IT) to Honble CM, Chief Minister Office, Government of Gujarat; osdittocm@gujarat.gov.in; URL of the project: www.narendramodi.in
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CHAPTER 27

Shri Dr Hasmukh Adhia and Shri R P Gupta
I) Overview
Since 1998, the Gujarat state government has organized Vidyasahayak scheme for primary schools to recruit teaching assistants. The Vidyasahayaks become regular teachers in the school after a service of 5 years. Under this scheme, since 1998-99 to 2010-11, more than 1,21,245 teaching assistants were recruited. Out of these, 85,194 Vidyasahayaks (teaching assistants) have become regular teachers. The teaching assistants were originally paid a monthly remuneration of Rs. 2,500 which has now been revised to Rs. 4,500 by the state government. After the recruitment, they are appointed in various schools and their performance appraisal is done. If they are found suitable and their performance satisfactory, Education Committees appoint them as regular teacher against the vacancy arising out of the retirement of regular teachers. Those who cannot be regularized due to inadequate vacancies are appointed as regular teachers at the end of 5 years by creating additional teachers posts. The basic qualification for Vidyasahayaks is 12th pass and P.T.C/C.P.Ed/A.T.D. Earlier, candidates were allowed to apply in one district only, not in more than one district. This left them in a dilemma as to which district they should apply for. They were required to deposit their original certificates along with the application form to ensure that they do not apply in more than one district. The entire process of preparation of merit list was manual which took a lot of time errors
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both intentional and unintentional occurred and also many instances of meritorious candidates being left out if they could not apply to the right district, leading to numerous court cases thus leading to further delay and wastage of time, efforts and money. The entire process of recruitment took around 5 to 6 months with a number of pending court cases. Later, the candidates were permitted to apply for more than one district. They could submit xerox copies of the required certificates along with the applications in various districts. Most of the candidates applied to all or many districts. There were a large number of applications in each district and most of the districts would end up with almost common merit lists. It took long time to verify the documents by each district but the errors, both intentional and unintentional, in fact increased. As the number of candidates were common in various districts merit-lists, they would take appointment letters in more than one district. Instances of these candidates contacting those in the waiting lists and asking for money for resigning (not accepting the offer) were also complained. As one could join in one district only, he would ultimately, but at his own convenience, decline offer of other districts. This necessitated many rounds of call-letters, appointments and decline of offers resulting in wastage of money, administrative time and efforts, and most importantly depriving the students of teachers for long durations. The entire recruitment process used to take not less than 8 to 10 months and sometimes even the recruitment of next year would be delayed as previous year process was not completed.
Objectives/Aim
The main objectives/aims of the new process of recruitment of Vidyasahayak scheme are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To recruit the required number of teachers in a short period of time. To eliminate the shortcomings of earlier processes and make recruitment process more transparent, efficient as well as reduction in time. To increase the efficiency by reducing time and cost of service delivery. To improve the quality as well as quantum of output. To develop a system which is transparent, corruption free and ensure that
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intentional errors are eliminated. 6. 7. To initiate a sustainable approach for future recruitments. Show casing a scheme as a best practice for other programs to follow.
Strategies Adopted: To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following strategies were adopted: 1. Centralized recruitment
In the district-based selection, with district selection committees adopting separate recruitment process for each district almost at the same time, it was not possible to eliminate the shortcomings observed earlier. So it was advisable to centralize the recruitment process and issue one single advertisement at the state level, and allot the candidates to different districts as per the position of the candidates in the merit list. This would not only eliminate the possibility of meritorious students being left out due to poor judgment of not applying in the right district, but would also do away with the possibility of many candidates getting selected for more than one district and consequently the requirement of many cycles of calling the candidates from waiting list. It would also save the time and efforts which was wasted in each district. 2. Use of ICT, and Transparency
It was decided to adopt the strategy of using the IT to the maximum to ensure transparency, speed, and reduce the intentional errors and completely eliminate the unintentional and human errors. Innovative Methods Used To give affect to the above strategies, following innovative methods were used in the recruitment process of the Vidyasahayak. 1. Using the existing data available with other agencies
As the merit list was prepared based on the marks of 12th standard examination, marks obtained at the graduation level and the marks obtained in B.Ed./P.T.C.
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examination, it would be prudent to use this data from respective agencies only rather than asking the candidate to fill this data and then get it verified from the respective examination board/universities. Accordingly, the recruitment websites was pre-loaded with the data of 12th examination board. The data from universities was either not available in the electronic format (ready to use) or could not be accessed on time. Further, as the 12th standard exam data was available, the candidate was asked to fill in only the year of passing 12th standard examination and his seat number. The website then displayed his Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Category (SC/ST/OBC/ General), subjects taken by him and marks obtained in different subjects. This eliminated the requirement of verification of this information if the same was to be supplied by the candidate. It also reduced the time and efforts on part of the candidate in filling the application form, apart from reducing the administrations time and efforts hugely. Of course, the candidate was also given an option to change any information if it was incorrect according to him. The software had a provision to keep log of such changes, so as to verify only these cases. 2. Web Display of Merit List
Once the provisional merit list was prepared by the computer, it was published on the website. The information displayed was the position of a candidate in the merit list, his Name, Date of Birth, Category, Marks obtained in various examinations and also his marks in total merit. The candidate or any other person could not only see the position and information pertaining to him but could also see the position and information pertaining to any other candidate. If any information pertaining to one was incorrect, he could contact the designated authority with required documents to prove his claim. If the objection pertained to some other person, he could fill up objection form on the website itself. But to make objection effective, he was required to take a print out of the objection and submit it at a designated centre with objection fees of Rs. 1,000 which was refundable if his objection was found to be correct and information given by a candidate was wrong. But the objection fee was forfeitable if the objection was frivolous and not sustainable. It was decided to settle the objection after hearing both the parties and considering the documentary evidence given by both. However, again to our delight, no objection was filed/taken either by any candidate for himself or by anyone against any other candidate.
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3.
Allocation of District
After the publication of final merit list, the candidates were called at Gandhinagar in batches of 1500 candidates each day to select the district. A huge online LCD screen displayed the current position of vacancies available in each category in each district. As the candidates kept on selecting the districts, the vacancies in those districts and in respective categories were reduced instantaneously. This ensures that no manipulation takes place in the allotment of districts. Table 1
Date of Advertisement in Newspapers Date of Form Submission First Merit List Interview Call Letter 12First Round (to select districts) Second Merit List Interview Call Letter Second Round (to select districts) To select city/village/school (at district level) : : : : : : : : : 28-5-2010 28-5-2010 to 6-6-2010 12-6-2010 12-6-2010 to 14-6-2010 15-6-2010 to 18 -6-2010 19-6-2010 19-6-2010 to 20-6-2010 21-6-2010 to 24-6-2010 29-6-2010 to 1-7-2010
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered:
1.
Saving of time and efforts
Huge saving of time and efforts of not only the administration but also the candidates was effected. Whereas the earlier processes of recruitment used to take minimum 4 to 6 months, this process was completed in less than one month only, in spite of 56000 applications being received. Table 2 gives the time taken for recruitment in different years. However, more significant reduction was in administrative manpowers requirement, whereas earlier process used to involve almost all the persons of Education Department at the district level for accepting the applications, verifying the documents, preparing the merit list and appointment letters, this process required a manpower of 8 to 10 persons only at
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the state level. Some manpower at district level was used for collecting the applications and verifying the information not pre-loaded on the website but it was insignificant compared to the recruitment in the earlier processes. Table 2: Yearwise Vidyasahayaks Recruitment 1998 to 2011
Year 1998-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 Total No. of Vidyasahayaks Recruited 15404 20756 13181 6900 6591 3448 15468 0 12691 0 10225 6294 10,000 1,21,358 Duration 4 to 6 months 4 to 6 months 4 to 6 months 4 to 6 months 4 to 6 months 4 to 6 months 3 to 4 months 3 to 4 months 12 months 12 months 30 days
2.
Transparency
This process was completely transparent. The use of ICT particularly displaying the information of each and every candidate and making it accessible for everyone to see and, more importantly, take objection if it was incorrect, ensured complete transparency. It also ensured that the intentional and unintentional errors which were quite large in number in earlier years and which to a large number of court cases where minimized to or were completely eliminated. 3. Elimination of Corruption
The manual preparation of merit list and verification of documents in the processes earlier had huge scope for manipulating the information, preparation of merit list and consequently for corrupt practices. A large number of complaint used to come at the state level and quite a few court cases were also filed each year. However, the transparency of the process and preparation of the merit list through computer and
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throwing it open for anyone to see, coupled with the speedy implementation eliminated the possibility of corrupt practices. 4. No Court Cases \ No Complaints \ No Grievances.
As the process was totally transparent, no court case was filed, no complaint was received and no grievance was registered at any level. In fact, the whole process was greatly appreciated and commended by the candidates, their parents and the media. Accountability Responsiveness Consistency, equity and or equality of opportunity Uniformity and standardization Operational convenience and ease Simplification of procedures and processes Showcasing of best practices Improved quality of services Target surpassing in terms of quality and quantum of results and timeliness Introduction of a unique idea or a distinctively new approach Facilitation ICT enabling / E Governance Enhanced citizen role, involvement and participation Increased efficiency (reduced time and / or cost of service delivery and / or improved quality and quantum of output) Computerization of records and access to citizens Sustainability and further improvement
The project is guaranteed of sustainability because of its huge success in effecting and showcasing the speed, efficiency, the transparency of the process, the elimination of corruption / court cases / complaints and mostly the reduction of
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time, effort and manpower recruitment. This year again the Primary Education Dept. is recruiting about 13,000 Vidyasahayaks using the same process, though this year the requirement of TET (Teachers Eligibility Test) has been added. The process has already started on 16th July and is expected to be completed by 18th August. In fact, the State Government has also advised all other Departments and Government organizations to adopt this process after suitable modifications as per their requirement. Many Government Departments and Organizations have already contacted us and studied the process and are in the process of implementing it in their recruitments. Further improvements which are required to be incorporated in the online recruitment process is pre-loading the data from Universities and also making the selection of districts online without calling the candidates at a central place. However the last point of improvement in not requiring candidate to come to the central place may not be feasible as many candidates who are not interested in joining as teachers though in the merit list, may also obtain the appointment letter and not join necessitating further rounds of calling the candidates from waiting list and also the possibility of corrupt practices by them as earlier also remained. At present such candidates who are not interested, do not come to the central place and other candidates automatically get a chance in their place.
2.
a.

Huge saving of time and efforts of not only the administration but also the candidates was effected. Whereas the earlier processes of recruitment used to take minimum 4 to 6 months, this process was completed in less than one month, in spite of 56000 applications being received. The table below gives the time taken for recruitment in different years. However, more significant reduction was in administrative manpowers requirement, whereas earlier process used to involve almost all the persons of Education Department at the district level for accepting the applications, verifying the documents, preparing the merit list and appointment letters; this process required a manpower of 8 to 10 persons only at the state level. Some manpower at district level was used for collecting the applications and verifying the information not pre-loaded on the website but it was insignificant compared to the recruitment in the earlier processes.
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b. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. c.
Innovative ideas Implemented Online / Print Media Advertisement Online Form Submission Online Merit List Online Call Letter Selection of Location / District Integration with Other Departments
The candidates database of Teachers Eligibility Test was coorelated to Vidyasahay application.

1.
a. 1.
Processes
Major front end Process Changes and Implemented Major ICT front end Process Changes Filling up the application form where candidate had to give only his roll number and year of examination of 12th Standard (for the recruitment of 2010) and the seat number of Teachers Eligibility Test (for the recruitment of 2011). Online display of provisional merit list. Receipt of online objections against data filling by other candidates. Communication of objection and date of hearing to the person against whom objection has been taken and physical objection form submitted along with fee. Display of final merit list and generation of interview call letter and date of interview. Major Non-ICT Process Changes Receipt of Physical application form along with the fee and necessary certificates.
2.
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Receipt of Physical Objection form along with fee. Selection of District as per merit.
b.
1. 2.
Major back-end process changes and implemented

Major ICT back-end process changes. Preparation of provisional merit list. Generation of intimation of objection to be sent to the person objection has been taken. Preparation of final merit list. Major non-ICT back-end process changes All back-end processes have been implemented as per plan.
2.
a. b.

Project Management and Monitoring Department of Education Govt. of Gujarat Directorate of Primary Education INDEXT B : A Government Organization Training -Plan and Status
Internal members like the employees of District Primary Education Officers of the district level and the officer of Directorate of Primary Education at State level were trained to use of the system. No external members required any training as the system was very userfriendly. c. Yes d. Leadership support and visibility Change Management strategy
There was high degree of bureaucrat leadership support and all the persons working on the project were made aware through required training.
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e.
Financial Model
The project did not require much of the funding and a small application fee was enough to cover the cost of the project.
3.
a.
Technology
Disaster Recovery and business continuity plan defined and implemented
Regular backup, Stand- by Server b. Technological solution cost-effective and maintenance over time
MS SQL, .Net Technology, Online web space higher c. Security and confidentiality standards defined and implemented
The OWASP (Open Website Application Security Projects) Security: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Injection. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). Broken Authentication and Session Management. Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF). Insecure Configuration Management. Failure to Restrict URL Access. Insecure Transport and Storage. Un-Validated Input. Application Denial of Service. Malicious File Execution. Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling.
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Extent to which the project has addressed the factor of eExclusion/eInclusion The factor of digital inclusion project is relevant to the extent of intended beneficiary, i.e., the perspective teacher needed to be computer literate for participating in the recruitment process. In fact, a minimum level of computer literacy is one of the requirement for becoming teachers in Govt. schools. The process tests the computer awareness of each participant to a large extent. The candidates who are digitally illiterate are meant to be excluded and this objective has been served up to some extent. Dr Hasmukh Adhia, IAS, Principal Secretary, Education Department, Gujarat, adhia03@hotmail.com & Shri. R. P. Gupta, Secretary, Primary Education Department (Primary Education), Govt. of Gujarat, secedu-pri@gujarat.gov.in, gupta102rp @yahoo.com
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CHAPTER 28
Online Voting System (OVS)

Shri K C Kapoor
I) Overview
Online Voting System (OVS) has revolutionized the entire voting system. It not only offers a new option to the voters to cast vote from convenience of residence but also strictly abides by the process of conduct of elections. It is implemented on the principles of fairness, accuracy, transparency and secrecy. This project is a milestone in Indian History as it is first time implemented in India. The system empowers the voter to exercise their right to vote over the internet without being unduly influenced by political parties or peers as in case of EVM Booths and thus contribute to a stronger democracy. The project implements digital encryption and cryptography protocols which makes it invulnerable to cyber-attacks and at the same time maintains privacy of voters and ballot. This system has been implemented in General Elections of 7 Municipal Corporation over a period of 6 months and has delivered the expected result of maintaining election protocol. It is also planned to implement this system in the upcoming Village Panchayat Elections in November 2011. This system is unique in terms of its processes and can be used by other election conducting authorities for conduct of elections in PSUs, NGOs, Societies, Universities/Colleges, etc. This system is a one-time investment and the benefits of which could be reaped in elections of more than 1.5 lac representatives in the
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State. The system can be considered as a green revolution as it reduces paper cost by introducing zero paper work. It is environment friendly as it allows voter to vote from his home so he doesnt need to drive to polling booth. The system is voter friendly, very simple to use, easily replicable. Because of its advantages it helps in increasing voter participation in election. Thus this system is great innovation for strengthening the democracy. State Election Commission, Gujarat (hereafter referred as SEC) has developed its prestigious project Online Voting System (hereafter referred as OVS) for its Local Body Elections. SEC had implemented OVS in General Elections of 6 Municipal Corporations (namely Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, and Jamnagar) in October 2010 and subsequently in Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation in April 2011. The key stakeholders of the system are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Voters; Local Bodies (e.g., Municipal Corporations, District Panchayats, Taluka Panchayats, Village Panchayats) Political Parties and Candidates; The State Election Commission.
The following are the concern areas which have been kept in mind while conceptualizing and implementing Online Voting System. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Free, equal and secret voting is fundamental for a democratic political system. Today elections are won on plurality basis rather than majority basis. Voters of urban areas comparatively less participate than in rural areas. Particular classes of voters including businessmen, age-old and infirm do not participate in elections. Voters find inconvenience of commuting to Polling Booths, standing in queues, etc.
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6. 7.
Association of voter to a particular booth affects mobility of the voter. In EVM and Ballot Paper, vote count statistics reveal the choice of voters at one particular booth.
SEC with an intention to encourage greater voter participation, and provide an innovative, user-friendly and convenient option of voting, has embarked up on the journey to implement OVS in the local body elections. SECs initiative shall lead an example for other States to implement similar systems and present a new medium of service delivery to voters. SEC sole purpose is to adapt a new technology with futuristic approach rather than being concerned on the immediate benefits of the system. Information & Communication Technology is deep rooted in major aspects of our lives such as banking, trading, online bookings, online shopping, etc. It gives an impetus to design/develop a voting platform on similar principles of digital security. India is one of prime which has been taking e-governance initiatives to use ICT for better service delivery to its citizens. Gujarat is at the top in experimenting and implementing e-Governance Projects in India. It comes as an aid to en-cash this rich experience of the state for OVS. By implementing OVS, SEC shall reap the following objectives for the stakeholders: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Increase voter participation, by providing a user-friendly and convenient option of voting. Strictly adhere to election protocol based on principles of completeness, fairness, accuracy and secrecy. Ensure secrecy of the ballot and privacy of voter. Should not reveal booth-wise vote count statistics. Ensure smooth, speedy and transparent execution of entire election process. Decrease cost of elections conduct to a considerable extent by implementing a centralized voting infrastructure to remove redundant cost involving EVMs purchase, appointment of staff, stationary, transportation, daily allowances, etc.
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7.
Centralized control over the election process.

1. Key Performance
a. Stakeholder services and benefits achieved through ICT interventions : Benefits Delivered: Following are the ICT services which were delivered by OVS and catered to various Stakeholders of the project: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Voter Registration Voter Approval as e-Voter Setting of Ballot and Its Approval Starting the election on Election Day Voting by voters Counting of votes Reports
As a result of delivery of these services certain benefits were reaped by the Stakeholders: 1. 2. Voters had the convenience to cast vote through internet. The system maintained the integrity and privacy of the ballot. Election Staff had a centralized control over the entire election which reduced the cost of manpower and resources which are prominent in elections conducted through EVM or ballot paper. OVS has won the confidence of political parties by displaying the integrity of the election results, strict adherence to privacy and integrity of the ballot. SEC fulfilled its obligation in delivering to voters a convenient and easy option for voting from residence. Apart from this the entire system adhered to strictly to protocol of elections.
3. 4.
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b. Services that are enhanced / functionally extended during the year 2010-11: OVS is unique in its implementation such that it can be introduced for elections conducted by various election conducting organizations such as PSUs, universities/ colleges, societies, NGOs, etc. It is also envisaged to introduce voting through Mobile Phones including IVRS in future through OVS. c. Implementation coverage till date and during the year: OVS went GO-LIVE during General Elections of 6 Municipal Corporations on 10th October 2010 in 1 ward of each of the Corporation. The Second Implementation of OVS was carried out in 11 wards of Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation Election in April 2011. More than 3500 Voters had participated in the Mock Voting Drives which were held in 7 Municipal Corporations. Though for the first time in India more than 5000 Voters had applied to become e-Voters. The success of OVS should not be measured in terms of number of e-Voters but the % of Voting through OVS as compared to that through EVM Booths. A comparative analysis of EVM and OVS percentage voting is as below: Table 1: Details of Percentage Voting for 6 Municipal Corporation Elections
Sr. Municipal Name or the Ward 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Ahmedabad 23 Bhavnagar Jamnagar Rajkot Surat Vadodara Total 16 8 10 12 Voting through EVM No. of Actual Voters 78725 25851 18034 30593 61821 16 Actual Voters Voted 23891 8247 7892 12697 23957 37809 % Voting through EVM 30.52 31.90 43.76 41.50 38.75 16024 36.73 Voting through OVS No. of Registered E-Voters 64 11 10 13 84 42.38 183 No. of E-Voters who Voted 40 6 10 9 59 1 124 % Voting through OVS 62.50 54.55 100.00 69.23 70.24 0 0.00 67.76 No. Corporation No. of
252383 92708
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Table 2: Details of Percentage Voting for Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation Election

Sr. No. Name or No. of the Ward 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total No. of Actual Voters (EVM) 13847 12275 8734 12211 11325 11571 9514 12589 11684 14223 19298 137271 Actual Voters Who Voted (EVM) 8121 6782 4912 6792 6919 6245 5068 8932 6236 8865 10344 79216 % of Voting through EVM 58.65 55.25 56.24 55.62 61.10 53.98 53.27 70.95 53.37 62.33 53.60 57.71 Total Registered E-Voters 54 75 76 76 7 33 29 50 52 72 146 670 No. of E-Voters who Voted 51 54 55 59 6 24 27 43 41 46 111 517 % of Voting through OVS 94.44 72.00 72.37 77.63 85.71 72.72 93.10 86.00 78.85 63.89 76.02 77.16
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
In future it is planned to implement OVS in upcoming Village Panchayat Elections in November 2011 in Gujarat.
2.
a.

Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT enabled services: Table 3
Sr. 1.
Impact/Benefit Description System efficiency in terms of time required for delivery of services
Before Distribution of booth-wise EVMs, allocation of staff for booths, collecting and maintaining EVM in strong rooms after election and before counting, extracting results from all EVMs of particular ward to publish
After Considerable saving of time, manpower and overhead expenditures as all such processes are eliminated in online voting.This system publishes a ward-wise result and that too within a minute and hence saves considerable time in result declaration.The sealing and
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the ward result.
security of the system is to be managed at one central location i.e. the Data Center and hence considerable time is saved as compared to managing EVMs.
2.
Reduction in Cost of resources
Cost of conducting All votes are stored in centralized election rises from vote bank at Data Center, various contributions from processes costs associated in managing EVMs/ like storing EVM in secure, EVM booths is eliminated. Also, sealed & controlled voters can cast vote from the environment, setting up & comfort of their residence using sealing of EVMs, transporting personal PC/laptop. This effectively EVMs from storage location saves the cost of petrol/natural to polling booth and resource or any other travelling vice-versa, manpower in means for visit to EVM booth. executing these processes etc. Setting up of EVM booths, requires considerable amount spent in terms of manpower, security personnel, stationary, etc. Also voters are required to use their conveyance means to visit EVM booth. Considering the average size of 700 voters per booth, this involves a considerable cost in terms of petrol or other natural resources spent during the voting day.
Apart from this the other areas that were impacted by OVS implementation are tabulated below: Table 4
Sr. 1. Impact/Benefit Description Voter Comfort Before After
Travelling to and visiting the Online registration and cast vote EVM Booth, standing in queue, from the comfort of home/office physical identification and using Laptop/PC. vote cast.
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2.
Control over the election process
Decentralized control and cumbersome management of Polling Booths and manpower for election conduct. The average voter turn-out at EVM booths is around 60%. Contesting Candidates are able to find out Booth-wise voting figures. Hence they become apprehensive towards the development of localities from where they have received lesser number of votes. Voters have to queue up at EVM booths, where they can be influenced by the representatives of the contesting candidates.
Centralized control over the entire election process hence making it more effective for election staff to manage various processes of online voting. The average voter turn-out in Online Voting System is more than 75%. The counting is done ward-wise and hence candidates will not be able to identify those localities of their wards from where they have received lesser votes. Hence they will tend to become equally cooperative and cordial with people in their. OVS enables the voters to cast vote in an uninfluenced state of mind from his residence. A voter with an uninfluenced state of mind will vote for the best & deserving candidate thus participating in building a strong democracy. With increased participation elections will have competitive edge rather than plurality. OVS provides facility of zero paper work which will in turn stop the wastage of papers. OVS allows voter to vote from his home and the centralized system is monitored and controlled from the single place no one has to travel to polling booths.
3. 4.
Voter Turnout Elimination of booth-wise vote count statistics as revealed in EVM results
5.
Strengthening the democracy
6.
Green and Environment friendly.
The hundreds of papers, manpower and other resources are used to follow the traditional election procedure that causes the wastage. Voters and other election commission officers have to travel to the polling booths, that results in increase in air pollution
b. 1.
Specific innovative ideas implemented in eGov area; and their impact on services: To ensure the vote is cast by actual voters, the passcode is sent to voters registered mobile number as an SMS at the time of voting. He has to enter the received passcode to confirm his vote.
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2. 3. 4.
After the voting is completed the mixing and tally process of votes is done. In these processes the voters identity is detached from his vote. As voting is confidential process, in order to provide confidentiality all the data are encrypted and sent through SSL network. In order to prevent mass voting from single PC or laptop, User is limited to vote from a single computer up to certain number by capturing machine uniqueness. The extent to which this e-Governance initiative is integrated with other internal and/or external ICT systems:
c.
Currently this system works independently however in future it is envisaged to integrate the system with Electoral Roll Database which would enable the voters and election staff to verify registered voter data online.

1.
a.
Processes
Following are the Major ICT front end process changes that were planned and delivered by OVS: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Voter Registration Voter Approval as e-Voter Setting of Ballot and Its Approval Starting the election on Election Day Online Voting by voters Counting of votes Reports
b.
Following are the Major ICT back end process changes that were planned and delivered by OVS:
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Maintaining e-Voter Data Election configuration Ward configuration Political party configuration Assigning returning officer and assistant returning officer Mixing of votes
2.
a.

To ensure smooth implementation of the project and that too in a stringent timeline following project management and monitoring strategies were adopted: 1. The Task Force included bureaucratic members from various fields and was basically formed to ensure greater coordination and to guide over project implementation and government approvals as and when required. Gujarat Informatics Ltd. (GIL) worked as IT Consultants for SEC. GIL drafted the RFP for the project, assisted in selection of TSP and provided necessary timely support as and when required. An Apex Steering Committee headed by State Election Commissioner, Gujarat and Secretary State Election Commission, Gujarat looked after the overall monitoring of the project and resolution of any issues and strategic decisions to be taken during project implementation. A Project Execution Committee comprising of team from TSP and team identified from SEC in executing the entire project. The Committee was responsible for the successful execution of the project and the day to day running of the project and providing all required approvals and resolution of bottle necks In order to ensure that OVS never compromised on integrity and security, a third party security agency, which is CERT-IN empanelled agency, was also appointed.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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b.
Training -Plan and Status
The following table shows the stakeholders involved and type of training conducted for each stakeholder: Table 6:
Sr.# Stakeholder 1. SEC and Election Staff Training Back Office Module: The training topics are: 1. Election Configuration 2. Digital Ballot Paper Configuration 3. Verification of e-Voter Data 4. Creation of Election Board 5. Publishing Elections 6. Conducting Mock Voting 7. Conducting Actual Elections 8. Mixing, Tally and Result Declaration E-Voter Registration & Online Voting: Mock voting exercises were conducted in Municipal Corporations to increase voter awareness of the new system. User Manual and presentations were uploaded on the SEC website. Duration This training was basically conducted for duration of 1 day. However this training is repetitive for the election staff as the staff changes in every election.
2.
Voters
Time duration not defined. However it was to be done before certain stipulated time span before the election date.
3.
Political Parties Mock Voting exercises were conducted Time duration not defined. / Candidates and political parties and candidates However it was to be done were sent invitations to attend the same. before certain stipulated time SEC also conducted in-house span before the election date. demonstrations for contesting parties/ candidates before the elections to win confidence
To support the Election Staff before and during the election and counting day, trained technical manpower were associated with them. To support the voters for e-Voter Registration and on the Voting Day, centralized helpdesk with 10 personnel was setup. c. Change Management strategy
An appropriate change management strategy becomes a vital factor in deciding the success of any e-Governance system. OVS is a major break-through in our
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history as it is being implemented for the first time in our country. Hence apprehensions of the new system were quite high. In order to curb these apprehensions SEC took the necessary responsibility in propagating and promoting the new system. SEC conducted meetings and trainings of election staff to train them on the new system and processes. SEC also conducted inhouse demonstrations of the new system to political parties and candidates before elections to win their confidence. d. Leadership Support and Visibility
OVS has overwhelmingly received necessary leadership support in terms of its incorporation as a new method of voting in existing process. It has been implemented in Urban Body Elections and in future it is planned to be implemented in Rural Elections also. e. Financial Model
The entire project is funded by State Election Commission, Gujarat.
3.
a. 1.
Technology
Strategy for Disaster Recovery and Continuity Election is a critical process and the criticality comes in to ensure 100% availability of voting services to the voter on the Election Day. To ensure 100% availability the entire system is designed in redundant mode. The system is deployed in two different sites (primary and disaster recovery), configured 1:1 so that the DR site can cope with the traffic if primary site is down. The Database is configured in cluster with redundant components and synchronized with a disaster recovery site. Continuous backups also performed. This ensures lesser possibility of data loss at the time of disaster. A Near DR was setup to ensure zero data loss during time of Data Centre failure. Also, denial of Service attacks will be mitigated by using active monitoring techniques that allow quick reaction to block attacking IPs. The system implemented SSL in order to immune against phishing attacks.
2.
3.
4. 5. 6.
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b.
Following figure depicts the overview of the proposed Online Voting System. Online Voting System (OVS) is basically classified in two major modules, duly integrated for seamless exchange of information across the two systems: 1. Pre-Voting 2. Voting Pre-Voting Module Pre-Voting module consist of various registrations and back office functionalities: Registration: 1. Voter Registration and Approval 2. Appointment of Party Representatives and Approval Back Office: Figure 1 - Overview of the Proposed -logical solution
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1. Create Election Schedule 2. Create Constituencies / Wards 3. Create RO / ARO Details 4. Create Polling Agents / Counting Agents Details 5. Create Polling Stations / Booths / Counting Station Details 6. Allocation of Symbols to Candidate 7. Ballot Paper Generation and Approval Voting Module : Voting module consists of following functions to cater online voting requirements: 1. Voter Authentication 2. SMS Password Authentication 3. Casting of Vote with Confirmation 4. Voting Receipt Generation 5. Mixing and Counting of Votes 6. Result Declaration OVS implements a specific cryptographic protocol for securing on-line elections, which ensures that elections are carried on the principles of fairness, secrecy, anonymity and in a transparent way. As per the NeGP standards OVS solution has the following features: 1. A fully accessible internet voting channel for providing common man in his locality, throughout his life ensuring efficiency, transparency & reliability at affordable cost. End to end security right from voter registration-through vote casting process-counting process-up to declaration of results and data thereafter as per the rules of SEC Strong authentication of voters to uniquely identify before casting votes Voter privacy but ensuring no audit is available between the voter and vote cast Voters verifiability to ensure that the voter would have a receipt of vote casting Integrity of election results through cryptographic techniques which would ensure that bogus votes are not counted in the end results Role based access control to restrict unauthorized access and provide access
2.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
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8. 9. c. 1. 2.
3. 4.
5.
on need to know basis OVS would provide bilingual user interface OVS will transfer information without replication through the network in order to provide less redundancy and high confidentiality. Security and Compliance Standards Implementation of robust security using cryptography, digital certificates, multiple user validation using smart card for counting process. During development process, the TSP strictly followed coding standards to make system defect/bug-free (Java Coding Standards, JSP Coding Standards, Database Coding Standards) Phishing. An SSL connection is used to prevent phishing attacks on the OVS Denials of Service: In order to neutralize such attacks the OVS solution deployment architecture comprised of DR site with the same capacity and configuration as that of DC with a high bandwidth with firewalls that would be used to block traffic from IP addresses being used to bombard the platform with requests. Virus Attacks: The solution uses proprietary data encryption technology before being sent to the Voting Server. However necessary firewalls and Antivirus commercial systems were installed to nullify virus attacks.

Steps taken to address this factor The Online voting System is basically digital conversion of traditional voting process. Voter can register for vote through portal. Voter can vote online. All the processes including candidate approval, ballot approval, starting of election, counting of votes etc. are done online on internet. On Election Day toll free telephone help line service was provided to voters to help them to resolve any technical issues faced during voting operations. The system interface is designed in bilingual interface and presents all necessary instructions in regional language (Gujarati) and English.
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5.
The system actually abled the infirm and senior citizens, who were not able to visit EVM Polling Booths, to cast vote from comfort of residence.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: Various stakeholders were involved at various stages of the project implementation so that the system was designed as per their expectations. Once the system designed, necessary training sessions for SEC and Election Staff and mock voting for voters and political parties were duly arranged to create awareness of the new system. All relevant feedbacks received from the stakeholders were incorporated in the system. After the experience of first successful election, a feedback document was prepared and necessary changes were implemented from this document to ensure that the system is more user friendly in terms of operations for voters.
3.
eWaste
OVS is based on a centralized architecture and the responsibility of the client end infrastructure rests on the voters and the election staff. Hence as such no eWaste is generated in the system. Shri. Mr K C Kapoor, State Election Commissioner, State Election Commission, Gujarat commi-sec@gujarat.gov.in, sec-sec@gujarat.gov.in
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CHAPTER 29
e-Services for Ration Cards

M S Jaya and Dr. K S Raman
I) Overview
e-Services is an important service delivery project of the Government of Kerala. The service is for enabling the citizens to submit online applications related to ration cards such as issue of new ration cards, transfer of ration cards or modifications in the existing ration cards. Citizens can also avail the assistance of the nearest service community centers like Akshaya for submitting their application forms. E-services was inaugurated by Sri. C. Divakaran, Hon. Minister for Food & Civil Supplies on July 23, 2010. In his inaugural speech, he pointed out that this service to the public is one of the most important achievements for Civil Supplies Department. With this service, citizens no longer have to take a day off from their routine work for submitting applications to Taluk Supply Office/City Rationing Office. The status of the applications submitted online will be available on the site. The new ration card will be delivered on the very next day. SMS alerts are delivered to the citizens when the processing of their applications is completed. Citizens no longer have to wait in serpent line queues before TSOs/CROs for submitting the applications and they are liberated from the manual procedural work flow followed in these offices. Transfer of ration card from one TSO to another TSO or transfer of a member from one card to another card of a different TSO is done online and thus saves the citizen the trouble of approaching both offices to get the task completed. E-Services also provide service for online verification of ration cards and sharing of data between the departments. Service for verification of ration cards is required by the Government departments like Passport Office, Water Authority, Electricity
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Board, Panchayat Office, etc. and private companies like mobile operators for verifying the genuineness of the ration cards that have been submitted by the citizens. The major achievement of the project is that it minimizes the interactions of citizens with the TSOs/CROs. Officials of the TSOs/CROs are able to speed up the processing of the submitted online applications. Citizens through e-services submit approximately 3,000 applications per day. Around 4.5 lakh online applications have been submitted by the citizens till date. Online verification of ration cards enables the officials of the government and private sectors to easily verify the ration card details. Another important e-Service delivery is the monitoring of food grains movement from the FCI depots and wholesale depots. As soon as commodities are lifted from the FCI depots or AWD depots, the details are entered into the system and SMS alerts are sent to those citizens who have registered for SMS. Thus, diversion of the commodities can be monitored and checked up to a certain extent while the food grains are being transported from FCI depots to wholesale depots or from wholesale depots to retail depots from the FCI depots.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Citizens are able to easily access the e-services and get the required service. They need not travel to the TSO multiple times and stand in the queue for long hours.The authenticity of the ration cards could be verified using verification services. b. Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status 1. 2. Percent of services covered as ICT interventions 99% Geographical Spread in the State achieved All over Kerala
2.
a.

The service is available on the website round the clock (24 X 7) and the delivery time reduced to one day from three months. The verification of authenticity of
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the ration card was a major challenge and using the e-verification service module the ration cards could be verified within seconds by the authorized users. Citizens are able to know the stock details lifted and are available at the shops without having to visit the FPS. b. Cost savings for delivering the above set of services:
The major cost saving is to the citizen who had to travel multiple times to the office for availing the service. The department could verify the authenticity of the ration cards and duplicates and fake cards, could be detected easily. c. Time saving for availing the services (reduction in cycle time):
The delivery time of ration card and other services was around three months and this is reduced to one day. The verification service of genuine ration cards which was nearly impossible, could be done in seconds by the authorized users. d. Cost saving for availing these services:
The citizen need not travel all the way to the Taluk Supply Office many times for availing the services. The travel time and cost of multiple travel is savings to the citizen.

1.
a.
Processes
The citizen could submit the application online or through Akshaya centers. They need not travel to the Taluk Supply Office and stand in the queue for long hours. The application details are captured through the e-Services module and processing them using the work flow based Ration Card Management System (RCMS) implemented in all 69 Taluk Supply Offices/City Rationing Offices in the State. The photography work was assigned to the Akshaya centres. The software has the facility of delivering the ration card through Speedpost. The process of surrendering the cards for changing the residence to another location in the same state is eliminated. Now the major process change is the transfer of the ration cards from one taluk to another.
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b.
The officials of the TSO could approve the applications in the workflow system. Various data authentications have been implemented and the senior officials of the Civil Supplies Department monitor and verify the authenticity of the data and can be approved or rejected. The surrender of ration card for changing residence within the state has been eliminated and changed to transfer of ration cards. Consolidation of the individual databases of all the 69 TSOs/CROs in the State to create the Central Ration Card database and synchronization of this data with the individual TSO/CRO database was the major challenge that was implemented.
2.
a.

State coordinator and District coordinator for each district and coordinator for each Taluk supply office. The secretary of the department himself used to hold the review meeting at regular intervals for the implementation of the system. Development has been completed and the service has been implemented. b. Training -Plan and Status
Civil Supplies officials and Akshaya center staff have been trained to use the system. Citizens were given the guidelines for using the site through newspaper media. c. Change Management strategy
The applications for various services is now being accepted online. This totally eliminates the need for data entry of the applications. The officials were trained on processing the applications accepted online and also to use the ration card management system a workflow system for processing the applications. E-learning sessions and training sessions were conducted for training the officials.
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d.
Fully supported by the Government of Kerala, The Minister, Secretary and director and officials supported the project. e. Financial Model
Funded by Government of Kerala, Technical Advice Consultancy and data center services provided by National informatics centre free of cost.
3.
a.
Technology
Disaster recovery and business continuity plan defined and implemented - The service is operational from NIC Data Center and hence utilizing the facilities and infrastructure in the NIC Data Center b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
Open Source Solution used for the central database and no extra cost for license and maintenance. c. Security and Compliance Standards
Proper User Authentications and Website Security Auditing has been implemented and the site is certified by CERT-in Empanelled security auditor. M S Jaya, IAS, Director, Civil Supplies Department, Government of Kerala, csdept@kerala.nic and Dr. K S Raman, State Informatics Officer, National Informatics Center, Kerala State Center, sio-ker@nic.in
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CHAPTER 30

Shri Ajith Brahmanandan
I)
Overview
The Department of Scholarship under Collegiate Education Directorate provides 14 types of scholarships to meritorious students of outstanding performance in the education sector as well as to the students of socially and economically backward categories. The Department of Higher Education, Government of Kerala, is entrusted with the responsibility of selection and disbursement of various scholarships to Higher Secondary, under Graduate and Postgraduate Streams. This project envisages the development and implementation of a web-enabled scholarship management system to facilitate the Directorate of Collegiate Education for an efficient, foolproof system for the selection of the students and disbursement of scholarships. The system facilitates the students to apply online for any scholarship announced by the department according to their eligibility. The system provides online verification and approval by institutions for the online applications submitted by their students. The Scholarship Department monitors and processes the online applications of the students for the selection and disbursement process. Online Scholarship Management System is a web based application which takes care of all the activities of the scholarship department starting from the publishing of Notification on scholarship announcement to the final disbursement of scholarship amount to the individual students bank account. Renewal of any scholarships awarded earlier are also monitored and processed online through
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the website. On the basis of the Government rule, multiple scholarships sanctioned for any student is identified and cancel the less beneficial scholarships for the student. This system replaces the manual procedures followed in the department and hence no manual process is maintained for the selection of scholarships neither any manually prepared registers. All the reports like preparation of award register, proceedings for the submission of Bill at Treasury, covering letter and selected students, list to institutions, etc. are generated in the system. The electronic disbursement of scholarship amount is enabled in the system by generating files compatible for e-transfer by bank and updating the system back with the transferred or rejected status with the status file returned by the bank. The reconciliation reports for the proper monitoring of multiple bank transfers for various scholarships are also provided in the system. The management of Online Scholarship System is done by the Website Administrator, who announces the scholarship dates, notifications, banners, news and makes updates on the site. The administrator opens and closes the site for online registration of scholarships and its renewals for students as well as institutions. The administrator can monitor, reply or forward the complaints and suggestions given by the students and the institutions. The eligibility of any scholarship is monitored and institutions and courses are mapped to any scholarship by the administrator. The system provides the status of applications submitted by any student at any point of time. Students can apply for multiple scholarship and select the most beneficial scholarship awarded to them through the site. Students can monitor the different stages of their application through this system. The Government of Kerala is disbursing various scholarships awarded to meritorious students of outstanding performance in the education sector as well as to the students of socially and economically backward categories. The Higher Education Department of Government of Kerala is entrusted with the responsibility of selection and disbursement of various scholarships to Higher Secondary, under Graduate and Postgraduate streams. The department collects the applications from students and verifies the details against the documents submitted. The applications will be sorted and a selection list will be prepared based on the eligible applications. Then various registers are prepared for the monitoring of the scholarship disbursement. Scholarships are disbursed to students by drawing demand drafts in favor of students or institutions. Each scholarship
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is handled independently and duplications or multiple scholarships or fake applications are not identified in this system. The scope of the project is to provide an Online Administration and Management of Various Scholarships awarded by the Higher Education Department of Government of Kerala. The project covers the development and implementation of a web-enabled scholarship management system to facilitate the Directorate of Collegiate Education for an efficient, foolproof system for the monitoring of application registration, verification of applications, selection of applied students and disbursement of scholarship to the students accounts. The system facilitates the students, various educational institutions and the Scholarship Department to update and monitor the selection and disbursement process. A general procedure is put forward for facilitating an e-submission of applications for the scholarship by online registration of students. The website www.dcescholarship.gov.in contains online submission of application by students, verification and approval of applications by the respective institutions and processing of selection list by the directorate of Collegiate Education (DCE), Kerala. 1. Online Registration for e-submission of scholarship application
Students who wish to apply for a scholarship should register online through the scholarship website www.dcescholarship.kerala.gov.in of DCE, Kerala. A unique ID is generated for all the students who are registering in the site. The ID is formed based on the Board of Matriculation Examination passed, register number and the year of passing. Personal details, currently studying institution and course details, for which scholarship is being sought and the bank details are captured in the form along with the scholarship specific details which varies with scholarship. A student has to register only once to apply for any scholarship though the eligibility details have to be added according to the scholarship applied. 2. Online verification and approval of application by the institution
The verification and approval of any scholarship application is carried out by the respective institution. Students submit the application print out taken from the site along with the supporting documents to the institution. The administrative section or the nodal officer of the institution verifies the application against the supporting documents item by item. The principal then approves or rejects the verified ones.
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Widening e-Governance Canvas Online selection process and bank transfer by the department
3.
All the approved applications are considered for the selection process. The department does the selection process online, verifies the selected students list against the various reports generated as awarded students list, eliminated students list, etc. Students selected for more than one scholarship are identified and their less beneficial scholarships will be cancelled. Further the final list of the selected students is considered for the disbursement of scholarship amount through a bank transfer procedure. The soft copy of the list to be transferred is generated from the system, which is precisely in the bank requested format and submitted to the bank. In turn bank returns a status file within a maximum period of 2 days, which is uploaded to the site and transferred or rejected status is set to the site. 4. Online monitoring of application status by the stakeholders
The status of all the registered applications is made available on the site. At any point of time, students, institutions or any general public can see the current status of the applications registered. Awarded students have a separate list provided on the site, which also shows the transferred status of the scholarship amount. 5. Goals/Objectives
The main goal of the system is to handle the increased number of scholarships and the applications received by the department in an efficient way. The system should provide transparency in the scholarship selection activities and all the stakeholders could monitor their application status. The system should enable efficiency and easiness in the scholarship renewal and disbursement. The system should avoid the disbursement of more than one scholarship to a student. The system should enable electronic transfer of scholarship amount to the students bank account directly. 6. Benefits
In addition to the achievements gained for the goals and objectives set for the system, the reachability of the scholarship increased and hence the number of applications to each scholarship also increased. All the thirteen scholarships under Collegiate Education Department are standardized with a generic form and procedure. Transparency increased which enables the students and institutions to know the status of any scholarship applied at any point of time. This carers the queries of the students and the institutions and thus minimizes the queries to be
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answered. Multiple scholarships for a student can be easily identified by the system. Students sanctioned with a fresh scholarship and renewal scholarship also can be identified and the most beneficial scholarship can be selected. The system answers most of the queries of the students and the institutions. The officials are able to speed up the entire scholarship activities up to the disbursement of the scholarship amount.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered: 1. The total number of students registered online for 10 types of fresh and renewal scholarships for the academic year 2010-11 is 1,17,502, out of which 87,285 scholarships where sanctioned. An amount of Rs. 15,99,97,245 is disbursed to 66,814 students as on date. The entire process is transparent and is available in the system to the public. The entire process happened within a short span of time, which is due to the introduction of this system. Another main achievement of the system is that around 3,000 scholarships were identified as multiple scholarships and were cancelled and another 650 scholarships were withhold as a second scholarship and disbursed after the less beneficial scholarship is refunded which would not have been even identified otherwise. A standard form and procedure is identified for all the 13 scholarships under the Collegiate Education Department. The department could complete the entire scholarship activities within the stipulated time, unless the activities would have extended to another 8 months.
2.
3.
G2C: 1. 2. Any student can apply online and submit the application to the institution without any traveling. Students and institutions can follow up the current status of their application online at any point of time.
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3.
Students are alert with SMS on the non-verification and non-approval of application. SMS alerts are also sent intimating the scholarship amount transfer. A unique ID issued for any student who applies even for multiple scholarship.
4. G2G: 1.
Government can monitor the statistics of the scholarships announced from the registered count to the total amount transferred at any point of time. The selection process time for any number of applications reduced to minutes from days or weeks. A Herculean task of drawing Demand Drafts (DD) for these many number of students for disbursing scholarship amount is made easy by enabling electronic transfer through providing soft copy of students account details to the bank. Monitoring of scholarship amount transferred by the bank is also made available on the site by uploading a status file given by the bank, which takes only a few minutes. A standard form and procedure is identified for all the 13 scholarships under the Collegiate Education Department. The entire activity from announcement of scholarship, publishing the notification, opening the site for online registration, closing the site, selection process activities, final list and reports generation, enabling for e-transfer of scholarship amount, updating the transfer status till reconciliation reports are managed and controlled by the Department administrator.
2. 3.
4.
5. 6.
b.
Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status 1. 2. Introduced a generic format for student registration to apply for any scholarship under the department. Introduced a unique ID to the registered students, which stops duplicate registrations and helps to identify multiple scholarships sanctioned to any student.
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3. 4.
Introduced online registration of students and online verification and approval of applications by the institutions. Enhanced the feature of cancellation of less beneficial scholarship by student/institution before the disbursement of scholarship. This avoids the withholding of most beneficial scholarship due to the transfer of less beneficial scholarship. Enhanced the feature of online registration, verification and approval to the students studying in the institutions outside Kerala. Enabled the online registration of three more scholarships this year Extended the functionality of online receipt/acknowledgement of scholarship amount by the institutions, which avoids the dispatching of students list with covering letter of awarded students and their amount to institutions by post and getting a reply back by post from institutions and thus avoiding the delay in it. Extending the functionality of generating notifications online and then publishing the same on the site for the initiation of any scholarship. All the 13 scholarships and their renewal made online starting from scholarship announcement till the amount credited to students bank account. Any Kerallite student studying anywhere in India or abroad can apply online for any of these scholarships under Collegiate Education Department. The site is maintained by the Administrator designated by the department and completely managed by them.
5. 6. 7.
8.
c.
Implementation Coverage 1.
2.
3.
2.
a.

Time and Cost Efficiency 1. 2. Without this system, the department could not have handled the 1,17,502 applications received for scholarship. Students need not send their application to Scholarship Office, which eliminates postal charges.
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3.
Students/Institutions need not travel for the submission of the application or for any follow ups, which avoids the time and money involved. Sending the DD to individual students and fee charges to institutions got eliminated which reduces the postal charges. The processing time reduces to a few minutes from days/weeks for any scholarship. The time required for scholarship activities like preparation of award register, proceedings, covering letters to institutions, etc. reduces drastically to the time required for taking the print outs from the system. Sending SMS to students informing the status of their applications reduces the time required otherwise and the cost reduced to 10 paise/ SMS. Introducing a unique ID for any student registering for scholarship, which avoids the duplication of registration and applying for multiple scholarships with the same ID. Renewal of any scholarship with the same Registration ID keeps track of the students historic details and checks for the sanctioning of any other fresh scholarships. Online verification and approval enables the institutions to keep track of their students who are applied and awarded with scholarships. Implementing the rule of only one scholarship to a student, which is most beneficial, is made true with the introduction of this system. The higher education scholarship awarded by the Higher Education Council and the Merit-cum-Means Scholarship awarded by Department of Technical Education are integrated to this system to identify whether any student is getting a second scholarship from this department. Since those two scholarships are more beneficial, such scholarships under the Collegiate Education Department are cancelled to enable more students to get the scholarship.
4. 5. 6.
7.
b.
Innovative Ideas Implemented 1.
2.
3. 4. c.
Integration with Other Systems 1.
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2.
For providing District Merit Scholarship, which is disbursed to students of SSLC who passed with A+ in all subjects, the data is taken from DPI and integrated to scholarship system, so that those students alone can apply for District Merit scholarship. For the Central Sector scholarship, which is awarded to +2 students on merit basis, the data of students who received more than 80% of marks is taken from the Higher Secondary Directorate and integrated to scholarship system, so that those students alone can apply for the same. Electronic transfer of Scholarship amount through bank is made possible by providing the data compatible to bank and the status file receiving from bank is updated back to our system without making any changes in it.
3.
4.

1.
a.
Processes
All the below mentioned strategies planned are implemented in the system. 1. Stopped the acceptance of manual applications and enabled online registration of all applications for any scholarship through a generic and standard format. Stopped the verification of applications by the scholarship department and entrusted a two-level online verification by respective institutions, which provides more correct data and made the process easy, since the works distributed to a larger group. Departmental verification made mandatory for unaided/private institutions, to avoid unauthorized and illegal applications. The selection process made through system, which enables a faster and more precise list of awarded students. All reports, registers, proceedings and covering letters to institutions generated through system, which reduces the time consumed and work involved. Enabled electronic transfer of scholarship amount
2.
3. 4. 5.
6.
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b.
All the below mentioned activities (other than departmental activities) planned are implemented and managed by the Departmental Administrator. 1. 2. Announcing the scholarship on the site by putting banners, notifications and news. Opening and closing of online registration of students for any scholarship and its renewal are managed by the administrator. Also provides options to institutions to verify and approve while students can only modify their registered details. The eligibility conditions for any scholarships can be decided or modified by the administrator including the decision on category of institution and course to be considered for scholarship. Identifying the application users and mapping their roles and activities are 1. 2. Providing the selection list of students for renewal of scholarship is managed Integrating the data of A+ students for District Merit Scholarship and Higher Secondary students for Central Sector Scholarship are done.
3.
4.
2.
a.

A project coordinator and a website administrator from the department are designated for the overall monitoring of the system. Nodal Officers are identified from institutions for guiding the students and doing the institutional activities. Director and Additional Director of the department monitor the statistical progress on the registration and all levels of process. b. Training -Plan and Status
All the staff of the department including the Special Officer Scholarship is given extensive training on the use of the system. Awareness programes are conducted for Arts and Science Colleges covering the entire Kerala and coordinators of other Directorates. Step by step instructions on the online registration procedure is provided on the site for the guidance of students.
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c.
Change Management strategy
Stopped the acceptance of manual applications. 1. 2. 3. d. Changed to online verification and approval by institutions rather than doing it by the department. Enabled electronic transfer of scholarship amount rather than drawing Demand Drafts for individual students. Informing the application status to students and institutions by SMS.
Fully supported by the Government of Kerala. The Secretary, Director and Department officials supported the project. e. Financial Model
Funded by Government of Kerala Technical Advice, and consultancy provided by National informatics centre free of cost. Data center services provided by the State Data Center of Government of Kerala.
3.
a.
Technology
The service is operational from State Data Center of Government of Kerala and hence utilizing the facilities and infrastructure in the State Data Center. b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
Open Source Solution used for the central database and the front end application. No extra cost required for license and maintenance. c. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
Proper User Authentications and Website Security Features has been implemented. Shri Ajith Brahmanandan,Technical Director, National Informatics Centre, Kerala State Unit, Thiruvananthapuram. e-mail: ajithb@nic.in
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CHAPTER 31
SAND: System for Attumanal Neutral Distribution*

Shri. V Sanal Kumar and Shri. Suresh K
I) Overview
A house is one of the basic requirement and dream of every family. It is also one of the basic amenities promised by the Government as echoed in the slogan Roti, Kapada Aur Makkan. Sand is one of the most essential commodities for construction of a building. But due to unhindered exploitation, especially of river sand, and considering the ecological imbalance and disasters caused the Honorable High Court of Kerala intervened for protection of the rivers from which sand is mined without any control. Subsequently, Government of Kerala introduced legislation restricting the mining of the sand from rivers. At the same time sand is one of the most essential materials for building construction. Since restriction caused scarcity, the market forces started playing and the rate of sand went up. The sand, officially available was not sufficient to meet the entire requirements and consequently unauthorized mining started flourishing. Since business in sand became lucrative, anti - social elements thrived in unauthorized mining and also in cornering all the officially available sand. The passes available from grama panchayats were amassed by brokers and middlemen. The menace graw to such an extent that person conducting unauthorized mining on transportation of sand is termed as Goonda and detained without trial. This sand was again purchased at exorbitant rate by construction firms. The cost of sand went up to Rs.20,000/per truck load on the minimum in the open market whereas what the Government received only Rs.2,000/ per load of which Rs.1000/ was
SAND-System for Attumanal Neutral Distribution
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given as wages. There was public outcry against such a situation wherein ordinary citizens especially those below BPL and below middle income group were unable to get sand at reasonable rate. Discussion with peoples representatives, trade unions, etc. it was found that a system could be worked out to ensure that sand officially mined is given only to the actual consumer with preference to those building own house. Since information technology is the rule of the day, a software package to ensure that the minimum required sand for a house building is provided to a family at reasonable rate through a centralized booking system was formulated. The SAND software is the result of district administration reinforced commitment to the citizen with the help of national Informatics Center NIC . The system aims for a transparent, online computerized booking mechanism and issue of pass for allotment of sand to citizen. The design and development of the project was done and successfully executed in Thrissur district with the technical assistance of NIC. SAND is gradually matured into a rugged and reliable product for handling sand mining related activities in the district. Due to its success, the project was successfully replicated to other mining districts like Palakakd, Idukki, Kozhikode and Kannur of Kerala. The project brought transparency and fairness in the sand mining process. SAND uses ICT tools to reach rural citizen. It also makes use of most modern technologies like RFID, barcodes and palm computers very effectively. SAND bagged best citizen - centric e-governance award by the Government of Kerala. Through this system for Attumanal Neutral Distribution, coined SAND, the allotment of river sand will be made on a first is come first is serve basis and strictly based on some norms. Complying to restrictions of allotments, which have been imposed by the Government authorities, the system will help the officers of various Taluks/Districts to control and distribute the quantity of river sand that can be lifted from various Kadavu in an organized and neutral manner.
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The SAND ensures that only maximum 8 loads of sand is given for a house construction. Even though this may not meet the entire requirement, all the people will get at least a minimum quantity of sand. Simultaneously, they can also use other alternatives to make up for the shortfalls. So, the practice of entirely depending on the scarce natural resources is reduced to a great extent. Ecologically, this is a very positive step. An individual is given sand only once for the construction of house. The individuals are identified through electoral identity cards. So there is no misuse of applications. Certificate from the concerned panchayat/municipality is required for granting the sand. These steps have drastically controlled the foul play made by the middlemen. The actual consumer is able to get the sand at Rs.2,450/ from the mining point. He can bring the vehicle of his choice to transport the sand. The key impacts/features/goals of SAND are 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Replacing market forms with equity and need. Keeping at bay the anti-social elements. Message in taken to conserve the nation. Enquiring alternatives; Overall public interest; and effective sharing of natural resources. Restricted use of natural resources; sand is available to the citizen at Government rates. Price for a truck load reduced from Rs.15000/ to Rs.3500; no artificial inflation. District administration gets full control over river sand mining. Reduction in accident rate. No middlemen and elimination of SAND mafia! Reduces the work load of the officers involved. Effective use of ICT tools (citizens can now submit their application on internet or through ICT community centers named AKSHAYA. BARCODED passes will be issued after remitting the money. At the mining points, RFID tags are used along with PALM computers to distribute the sand.
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II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered: 1. Online application for SAND over internet with vernacular language support, Essentiality Certificate, SAND pass, search facility, SMS services, KIOSK modules G2C Workflow model for stakeholders Local body and Revenue Department G2G MIS reports for Tehisildars, District Collector and Secretariesn local bodies G2G Financial reports for audit purpose, reconciliation G2G Barcode, RFID - based retrieval of data to Police department, stakeholders G2G
2. 3. 4. 5. b.
Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status 1. 2. Planned to introduce online payment, online search facility for police officers using palm computers. Started with Thrissur district. Replicated to Palakakd, Kozhikode and Idukki districts of Kerala. GOK has shown interest to roll out the project to other mining districts. Interested queries received from West Godavari District.
2.
a.

Time and Cost Efficiency 1. 2. Time and cost efficiency improvements in delivering and availing of ICT - enabled services; Citizens can apply online; the application will undergo a work flow model with the concerned local body issuuing essentiality certificate after site verification. This online certificate will be received by the revenue department through work flow model.
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3.
SAND allotment intimation will be sent to general public as SMS, through the same site. The process saves time and improves quality of service. No need of citizen to visit different offices; Citizen will receive the payment dates through SMS and internet Use of RFID and barcodes in the project saves time and prevents misuse to some extent at the mining points.
b.
Innovative Ideas Implemented 1. Online application, work flow model and SMS services. Barcode and RFID with palm computers are used under the project for better transparency and faster service. Key impact Replacing market forms with equity and need. Keep at bay the anti-social elements. Message in taken to conserve nation. Enquiring alternatives, overall public interest; effective sharing of natural resources. Restricted use of natural resources; sand available to the citizen at Government rates. Price for a truck load reduced from Rs.15000/- to Rs.3500 /-, no artificial inflation. District administration gets full control over river sand mining. Reduction in accident rate. No middlemen and elimination of SAND mafia! Reduces the work load of the officers involved. Effective use of ICT tools (citizens can now submit their application on internet or through ICT community centers
2.
393
named AKSHAYA. BARCODED passes will be issued after remitting the money. At the mining points RFID tags are used along with PALM computers to distribute the sand. c. Integration with Other Systems
It is planned to integrate with local body/revenue department front office computerization for handling the workflow model.

1.
a.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Online submission of application compared to physical acceptance of application at mining points at a particular date and time Work flow model electronic file flow model for issuing essentiality certificate against the passes amassed by brokers and middlemen. Workflow model for revenue department up to the issue of sand pass magainst the passes through contractors. Money remittance as DD in favor of District Collector by the citizens against temporary receipts and physical acceptance of money.
b.
Collection to RMF, labor charges and local body contribution automatically through bank against remittance of money physically by the stakeholders at irregular intervals. 6. Barcode, RFID and readers against manual issue of pass at the mining points. Major non-ICT back end process changes 1. 2. 3. Online submission of application compared to physical acceptance of application at mining points at a particular date and time Work flow model electronic file flow model for issuing essentiality certificate against the passes amassed by brokers and middlemen. Workflow model for revenue department upto the issue of sand pass against the passes through contractors.
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4. 5.
Money remittance as DD in favor of District Collector by the citizens against temporary receipts and physical acceptance of money. Collection to RMF, labor charges and local body contribution automatically through bank against remittance of money physically by the stakeholders at irregular intervals. Barcode, RFID and readers against manual issue of pass at the mining points.
6.
2.
a.

Project Management and Monitoring 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Project management and monitoring adopted; Project overall supervision and management by the Revenue Department headed by the District Collectors; Project monitoring by District Level Expert Committee (DLEC); Periodical review conducted on assessing feedback, value additions, and training; Training of internal and external members on the use of the system planned vs. implemented; Number of users trained LB : 100; Corporation Municipality : 10; Revenue department : 10. Master trainers selected from each stakeholders. Change management strategy defined and implemented; This is the first project in Kerala which runs vertical/horizontal data transfer between departments. The approved files automatically reach the Local body, collectorates and taluks through work flow model; Leadership support (political, bureaucratic) and its visibility;
7. 8.
9.
10. District level monitoring committees consist of elected representatives from local bodies were mining points are located. District collector is the chairman of the DLEC. Support from local body and revenue department top officials.
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b.
Training -Plan and Status 1. 2. 3. Applaud from High Court of Kerala. Bagged best citizen service project from GOK: http:// news.kerala.nic.in/imgmulti.aspx?Id=E1267 Financial Model (funding pattern , business model, PPP, etc.) defined and implemented
c.
Change Management strategy
SAND Project is self sustainable and sealable. SAND is a self - supporting venture with no funding from exchequer. Since sand is always required for the house construction, there will always be demand for the Government controlled source. So the project can be utilized for ever.SAND projects operate on self-generated income in the form of users fee. Rs. 25- @ truck load will be charged which is very nominal, but sufficient to run the project.
3.
a.
Technology
The Website is hosted at Government Owned Data Centre (SDC-Kerala), which will take care of the backup and recovery. Locally the database is replicated and DC camp office is connected through KSWAN and a replica of the database is kept at the disaster center. b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
SAND is built purely on an open source web-based technology. It was built on MySQL-PHP-based software. It works on any internet browser like IE or FireFox. Core technologies like Apache, PHP and MySQL on Linux are used. Strict SAND provides the effective use of technologies like RFID and Barcode for better security with open standards. c. Security and Compliance Standards 1. High standard USER credential setting, password using hash md5 standard;
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2. 3.
Work flow model purely on VPN; and Public module hosted at SDC maintaining secured and confidentiality standard.
IV)
1.
Value Indicators
Digital Inclusion

Citizens are provided with vernacular language support in the services. Manuals and support documents are prepared in local languages. Help counters at Grama Panchayat and Taluks formed to assist citizen. Information community centrer are trained to assist citizens (Akshaya Centers)
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: After citizens apply for SAND on line, the file is available to the local bodies automatically; they will issue essentiality certificate online. Since the document is captured at source, e-participation of authorities concerned will ensure quick decision making.
3.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor: As and when an ICT item is purchased it should meet the green standard, also a buyback policy is framed to remove the e-waste. Mr V Sanal Kumar, Ex. District Collector, Kerala, kertsr@nic.in and Shri. K Suresh, District Informatics Officer, National Informatics Center, Kerala. Shri. P M Francis, IAS, District Collector, Presented the case to the committee.
Property Tax Management System Using Geospatial Technology
397
CHAPTER 32
Property Tax Management System Using Geospatial Technology*

Shri R Vikram Singh and Shri. U N Tiwari
I) Overview
For the first time e-governance is GIS-enabled and forms a spatial decision support system in a local government. The system has resulted in enhancing the propertybased tax revenues by three times as compared to the system that existed prior to the introduction of the GIS-based application. The other positive fallouts of this endeavor have been: 1. 2. 3. 4. Transparency in governance; Reduction in delays in government processing of grievances; Online tax payment and status verification facility removes intermediary agents facilitating the same; and Better revenues for investments into civic facilities.
Kanpur is a metropolitan city, sprawling over an area of 260 sq km. According to the Census 2001, Kanpur has a population of 25.51 lakhs. It is administratively divided into 6 zones and 110 wards with an average ward population in the range of 19,000 to 26,000. As a part of the e-governance initiatives, full form envisaged development of an online web and GIS-based property tax calculation, information and payment
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system as a pioneering effort in the country. The scope of this work covered the following major activities:1. Creation of a GIS-based spatial property database involving: 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Procurement and supply of Quickbird Image (0.6 m resolution) for the entire area under the KMC jurisdiction. Georectification of the satellite image from the GCPs collected from DGPS survey. Updation of digital GIS maps of KMC with the help of geocorrected Quickbird data and preparation of data for the assessment list.
Conduct a property level survey for every property unit. Development of informative and interactive web GIS system for online property tax calculation and payment. Development of desktop application for property database repository management and tax assessment. Supply and installation of software, hardware and networking with server and additional peripherals. Training of KMC personnel Renumbering of properties with unique premises number and fixing of house number plates.
The scope of the work mentioned above could be categorized into the following two broad components based on the requirements of the KMC project : 1. 2. Property survey and GIS database creation Application development and website development
1.
Property Survey and GIS Database Creation
Quickbird satellite data was procured and georeferenced based on the ground survey conducted to collect the GCPs through DGPS. Base data of 1:1000 scale was created through digitization of satellite imagery and supplemented with secondary ground survey to capture information on covered/carpet area, land use, occupants details,
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condition of structure, etc. The mapping was done using the Quickbird satellitedata for conducting the primary contact property survey.
2.
Application Development and Website Development
The software development effort for the Kanpur Municipal Corporation included development of KMC portal and desktop application. a. Desktop Application
A desktop application was also developed as a part of the project, providing a GIS interface to perform conditional queries on database such as Tax collected by Zone or Tax collected in a financial year for a selected ward. The database is linked to spatial layers to display results of analysis and queries on GIS maps. The application also enables the KMC staff to calculate tax based on digitized areas taking into account the Unit Area Method and generate various kinds of reports required in the day-to-day operations of KMC. The primary focus of the application was to provide a server-based Geographical Information System with key spatial layers and links to the relevant textual/graphical information available in the database. b. KMC Website
An interactive website was developed for KMC to provide online information to citizens on Property Tax Details a. Property tax liabilities b. Existing status of paid taxes c. Annual taxes due to be paid Online property tax calculation based on the Unit Area Method and online tax payment.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
400
Benefits Delivered: The project provides the following services to the stakeholders (citizen/government department):1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. An overview of the city; Online property tax calculation; Hassle-free online property tax payment facilities; A facility to access different maps based on zones, wards and property ; GIS-based spatial searching and identification of properties; Online birth/death registration; Online grievance redressal module; Library of different forms for downloading; Citizen forum for interactive discussion ; Ward wise/property-wise maps with civic infrastructure details like roads, lanes, by-lanes, parks, electric poles, telephone poles, railway lines, hotels, hospitals, police stations, schools, cinema hall, etc.; and The information can be used for research/development, conceptualization of infrastructure and other projects.
11.
2.
a.

Time and Cost Efficiency 1. Reduction of time in surveying the area and mapping; 2. Time saving in tax calculation; 3. Better understanding of property tax calculation; 4. User-friendly application for day-to-day tax management; 5. Web application for hassle-free tax calculation and payments; 6. Creation of GIS-based spatial property database; 7. Map-based tracking of property tax defaulters;
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8. Basic information system available through RTI; 9. Revenue generation efficiency; and 10. Digital map already used in: Planning and revenue generation, Delimitation of KMC wards, Ward-wise Backward Population survey, BPL (Below Poverty Line) Survey, For planning, design/implementation of water supply and sewerage projects under JNNURM.

1.
a.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes information collection system changes are as follows: Kanpur City Level information collection system: Kanpur city level information, specially the basics of the city and landmark, are available online. Property Tax Data: Property tax data which was available on paper only, is now easily available through website. Tax Calculation System: Previously it was manually calculated, now it is based on software and is available on desktop through KMC server. Online Birth and Death Registration: Online Birth and Death registration facility available previously was based on paper submission, now it is online. Grievance redressal system: It is a transition from Grievance redressal on paper to Grievance redressal System on-line. Contribution of development of Kanpur through Fund your City: For active participation in the development of the City, we have started a new chapter fund your city through which any one can make financial, technical, managerialother contributions to the
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development of Kanpur. One can suggest proposals/projects in which he has personal interest. Different types of reports based on the above-mentioned facilities is always available on the server or online.
b.
Major non-ICT back end process changes A quick and always available MIS.
2.
a.

Monthly review meeting system at the highest level and day to day monitoring at project management level. Full-time Project Staff: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. b. Project Administrator One IT Officer One GIS Coordinator 20 Computer Operators 50 Computer Clerks. One-year consultant support for trouble shooting.
Training -Plan and Status The project has covered with technology support for one year. In this period there will be technology transfer to KMC staff which is already working. 1. 2. 3. Capacity building plan. Computer literacy and staff skills training of the concerned employees is being done in-house in phases. Technology transfer and training of KMC official in GIS is one of the important component of the project.
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c.
Change Management strategy 1. 2. 3. Capacity building of the present staff is being done through training and orientation. The maps need regular updation which has been integrated with the map sanctioning system. Quarterly return from the field information will be integrated with the present map to keep it updated.
d.
During the Project: 1. The project faced strong opposition from the grassroot level workers to senior officers of the corporation itself, as it exposed the gaps and revenue sharing holes. The change in the tax level directly affected the property owners wether government or private which led to many litigations in the local court as well as Honorable High Court. The issue of tax revision was grabbed by the political parties and a big hue and cry was made in the parliament elections till it was stayed by the State Government. The details of the whole project, need of the project, modality, transparency in the system, use of GIS and other techniques, its public interface, revenue generation details and the grievance redressal system to be applied in the project was explained to the Government and Government vacated its stay. It was discussed in detail at every level to clarify the confusion created about the project. To ensure the quality of the data three times filtration/field verification was done. This tax revision was made after 21 years, it resulted into many fold increase in the tax amount (from three times to ten times). The major increase was because of the increase in land cost rates and addition/alterations of the building or the change of the use of the property (from residential to non-
2.
3.
4.
5. 6.
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residential or industry). 7. Visualizing the acceptability factor, the land cost-based rates were substantially reduced. The grievance redressal system was decentralized to six zonal officers under the supervision of Deputy Municipal Commissioner to cater fast decision. This system worked actively throughout the year.
After the Project: 1. 2. 3. The system has been enforced completely. Litigation in the courts have been decided in favor. Everyone is happy because the collection is three times than the previous year.
Project has been listed as one of the best practice by PEARL (an initiative under JNNURM). A paper was presented at Map World Forum 2009, organized at Hyderabad in which the project was awarded Geospatial Excellence Award 2009 for Geospatial Application for Decision Support System in Local Government. A paper-based on this project was published in the Arc India News magazine January-March 2009, volume-3. The Indian Geospatial Award 2009", delivered by T Ramaswamy, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Kanpur Municipal Corporation was awarded for Utilizing Geospatial Technologies as a part of e-governance initiatives. The award recognizes the effort in Successful Implementation of Technology, resulting in better revenue generation. A poster presentation of the project has been awarded in ESRI India User Conference 2009-10 The project was awarded for SKOCH ICT INDIA AWARDS 2010 for Property Tax Management System, 2010 by Honorable Minister of Urban Development, Government of India Mr. Jaipal Reddy. Participation in various awards/workshops and paper presentation by Municipal Commissioner and other senior officers along with project team.
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e.
Financial Model It is a revenue generating project so it can sustain by the revenue generated on its own from property tax, advertisement tax, license, etc.
3.
a.
Technology
Strategy for Disaster Recovery and Continuity A regular system of backup and mirror server is available.
b.
Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance KMC application uses the three-tier architecture based on ESRI technology. An ArcSDE service conveys spatial data between Geographic Information System (GIS) applications and a database. The system architecture uses database management systems (RDBMSs) SQL Server with ArcSDE. It is a registered collection of ArcGIS feature classes. The application that can connect to and access spatial data from an ArcSDE service will be automatically designed in the application. The solution component for KMC application development and deployment follows three-tiered system architecture as given below:
1. 2. 3. c. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Presentation Tier or Client Tier where the users access the KMC application through internet browser. Application Tier where the KMC application business logic resides. Data Tier where the KMC application databases reside. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance Evaluation by JNNURM e-governance Project management unit. Security audit of the website whether third party by CyberQ Consulting Private Ltd., New Delhi and APPIN Labs Ltd., New Delhi. Annual audit by Auditor General, Allahabad, District Local Fund Account Auditors. User-based login system and proper log book has been maintained for each and every record.
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1. Digital Inclusion Steps taken to address this factor 1. It has triggered the forced capacity building in IT for the staff as well as the requirement of IT knowledge for the citizens and the requirement of IT infrastructure with internet. To meet the public requirements private participation has been introduced to facilitate e-participation. The 29 Cyber Cafs of the city have been authorized/ licensed to serve citizens on nominal payment of Rs.5-10 depending upon the service requirement.
2.
2.
1.
eParticipation
Apart from developing interactive website the private participation has been introduced to facilitate e-participation. The 29 Cyber Cafs of the city have been authorized/licensed to serve citizens on nominal payment of Rs.5-10 depending upon the service requirement.
3.
eWaste
e-waste is not being generated at present but compliance to the required standards will be made as and when required.
Steps taken to address this factor: 1. KMC has hazardous waste dumping site, simultaneously there are two private sites. It will be used in due course of time.
Shri. R Vikram Singh, Municipal Commissioner, Information Technology Department, kanpur_nagar.nigam@yahoo.co.in and Shri. U N Tiwari, Additional Municipal Commissioner Information Technology Department, udai_amna @rediffmail.com
SECTION VI e-Governance Success Stories

G2G & G2B Initiatives
CHAPTER 33
Census of India 2011*

Dr C Chandramouli and Shri Manish Bharadwaj
I) Overview
Census 2011 marks a milestone in the history of Census taking in the country. It has come at a time when India is perhaps at an inflexion point in history, when it sheds the legacy of the past and emerges among the comity of Nations as a strong, self reliant and modern Nation. The basic benchmark statistics on the state of human resources, demography, culture and economic structure at this crucial juncture of the countrys history would be vital to guide and shape the future course of the Nation. Indian Census 2011 is the largest peacetime mobilisation of people in the world where the countrys 2.7 million trained enumerators conducted the census for 1.21 billion people in the most economical way and helped in generating the socio-demographic profile of the country. With a rich history of 130 years behind us, our organization has been the only source for giving the countrys benchmarking statistical data for the use of the policy planners and continues to do so in its journey. Quite evidently there is no parallel in the country to conduct this worlds largest peacetime mobilization exercise and logistical handling of gigantic proportions to impact each and every citizen in the country of 1.21 billion people and collect, compile, tabulate and disseminate socio-demographic data in real time. The task is clearly mesmerizing when the linguistic, regional, rural-urban, literate-illiterate, gender-wise variations are truly and faithfully captured by
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training an army of over 2.7 million enumerators drawn from the teachers throughout the country. The rich legacy of the organization engaged in this activity since 1872 is in itself the right pointer to the solid foundation of this organization and thus the claim made by the organization in handling the technology of national importance is rightful and fully deserving. Indian Census is the single largest source of a variety of statistical information on different characteristics of the people of India. It is the most credible source of information on Demography, Economic Activity, Literacy and Education, Housing & Household Amenities, Urbanisation, Fertility and Mortality, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Language, Religion, Migration, Disability and many other socio-cultural and demographic data. With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable, time tested exercise has been bringing out a veritable wealth of statistics every 10 years, beginning from 1872 when the first census was conducted in India non-synchronously in different parts. The recently concluded Census 2011 is the 15th National Census of the Country in the unbroken series since 1872 and the seventh after Independence. It is remarkable that the great historical tradition of conducting a Census has been maintained in spite of several adversities like wars, epidemics, natural calamities, political unrest tec. Very few countries in the world can boast of such a glorious tradition! The rich diversity of the people of India is truly brought out by the decennial census which has become one of the tools to understand and study India. In a country like India, with multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural and multilevel society, the Census is much more than a mere head count of the population. It gives a snapshot of not only the demographic but also the economic, social and cultural profile of the country at a particular point of time. More often than not, it is the only available source of primary data at the level of the village and town (ward). It provides valuable information for planning and formulation of policies by the Government and is also used widely by National and International agencies, scholars, business persons, industrialists, and many more.
Census of India 2011
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In addition, the Census provides a basic frame for conduct of other surveys in the country. Any informed decision making that is based on empirical data is dependent on the Census. Democratic processes like the delimitation of electoral constituencies and affirmative action like reservation are also based on the basic data sets of the Census.
1.
Methodology
The Census of India is conducted once in a decade, following an extended de facto canvasser method. Under this approach, data is collected on every individual by visiting the household and canvassing a single questionnaire over a period of three weeks. The count is then updated to the reference date and time by conducting a Revision Round. In the Revision Round, any changes in the entries that arise on account of births, deaths and migration between the time of the enumerators visit and the reference date/time is noted down and the record updated. In Censuses until 1931, a synchronous de facto method was adopted wherein the Census was conducted throughout the country on a single night. This method, besides being costly, required the deployment of an extremely large force of Census takers. This method was given up in the 1941 Census and the present method adopted. Census 2011 has been conducted in two phases. In the first phase, known as Houselisting and Housing Census each building, house and other structures were systematically listed and numbered and those used for residential and partly residential purpose were identified. Besides, useful information on the amenities available to the households as well as the assets owned was collected. This exercise held between April to September, 2010 in different States/Union territories was used to draw up a frame for the second phase of Census 2011, known as Population Enumeration held in February 2011. The work of Population Enumeration commenced on 9th February, 2011 and completed on 28th February, 2011. During this period about 2.7 million Enumerators visited each and every household for collecting information on every person living in these households. On the night of 28 th February, 2011 the Houseless population was enumerated. Thereafter, in order to update the
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population with reference to the census moment, i.e., 00:00 hours of 1st March, 2011, the Enumerators undertook a Revision Round from 1st to 5th March, 2011, by revisiting the households and updating information on births and deaths occurring in the households.
2.
Planning for Census 2011
Freezing of Administrative Boundaries The first step towards Census taking relates to preparation of a complete and unduplicated list of all geographical entities in the country, which includes States, Districts, Tehsils/Taluks/ Community Development (CD) Blocks and Villages/Towns at a particular point of time. For Census 2011 all administrative units in the States/ UTs across the country were sought to be frozen as on 31st December 2009. The finalisation of the Rural Urban frame, by listing out Statutory and Census Towns and categorising them as Urban area and the Villages as Rural area was completed as part of Pre Census activities. The demarcation of Out Growths of Towns and Urban Agglomerations was also taken up as a part of this exercise.
3.
Cartography
The availability of accurate maps as per the latest administrative boundaries is a prerequisite for Census. The Cartographic Division of the Census Organization, entrusted with this work, has evolved over the years and is now the largest producer of thematic maps in the country. It has come a long way from the traditional manual cartographic methods used until 1981 and now utilizes the latest GIS software to produce digital Maps. The organization now has the largest repository of digital files of villages and towns. The latest addition in Census 2011 is the preparation of satellite imagery based digital maps at the street and building level in 33 Capital Cities of the country. These digital maps were used effectively to carve out the Enumeration Blocks in both phases of the Census.
4.
Consultation with Stakeholders
As part of the Census preparations, the First Data Users Conference was held in April 2008. In this conference, consultations were held with all stakeholders comprising representatives of various Ministries of Government of India and the
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State Governments, National and International Organisations, Population Research Centres, Statistical Institutions, Universities, eminent demographers and social scientists. Based on the deliberations of the Conference and other correspondences received a draft Questionnaire was developed.
5.
Finalization of Questions
The draft Schedules were pretested in the field in all the States and Union Territories from 28th June to 17th August 2009. The results and the experiences of the pretest exercise were discussed in a Conference of the Directors of Census Operations and a draft Questionnaires were finalized. These Schedules were then presented to and approved by the Technical Advisory Committee constituted for the purpose. These final Schedules on Houselisting and Housing Census and Population Enumeration were then put up for the consideration of the Government of India. On receipt of the assent the Questions to be asked in the two phases of operation were duly published in the Gazette of India.
6.
Printing
A feature that makes the Indian Census particularly complex is that the Schedules are canvassed in 16 languages and the Instruction Manuals are developed in 18 languages for use by the Census Enumerators/Supervisors and other functionaries in the country. The requirement is also mind boggling 54 lakh (or 5.4 million) Instruction Manuals and 34 crore (or 340 million) Census Schedules. To add to the complexity, the Schedules had to be printed on special grade paper, the specifications for which were evolved in India for the first time in consultation with experts in scanning technology and paper technologists. The services of the National Institute of Design, Ahmadabad were utilized to upgrade the quality and aesthetics in the designing of the Schedules. The result is that the Indian Census Schedule is comparable with the best in class internationally. Unique features that make it stand out are Bar Codes in each Schedule, Unique Form Numbers, Pre Printing of certain Location Particulars, Uniform quality of printing and colour dropout facility. This required printing in high end Presses having facility of digital printing and very high production capacity. That the
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entire quantity of material has been printed within the stringent timelines and with strict adherence to quality is a feat in itself. Approximately 12,000 Metric Tons of paper of various grades has been procured for this purpose.
7.
Logistics
The task of making available all the materials required for conducting the Census Enumerators Kits, Instruction Manuals and other training material, Census Schedules in the right quantity and in the right language to the Charge Officers (approximately 17,000 in number) as can well be imagined is a logistical nightmare. Adding to the complexity is the fact that each Charge may use material in several languages. The Census Commission availed the services of India Posts for transporting the material from the printing presses to the Charge Offices (i.e., Tehsil headquarters and Municipal authorities). For supervising and monitoring an elaborate web based management system was developed by them. Though there were operational problems, the precision with which the entire logistics operation was accomplished within a very short period of time, is remarkable.
8.
Training
The need for comprehensive training of all functionaries, especially the Enumerators and Supervisors can hardly be underscored. A three tier cascade of training was devised for this purpose. At the top of the pyramid were a group of National Trainers, 90 in number. This group was rigorously trained for 5 days at a residential training camp. They then trained 725 Master Trainer Facilitators (MTFs) at the State level. The MTFs in turn trained 54,000 Master Trainers (MTs) at the District level. The MTs ultimately trained the 27 lakh (or 2.7 million) Enumerators and Supervisors at the field level. A new feature in Census 2011 has been the utilization of Non-Governmental Agencies in the massive training effort. In order to supplement the manpower for training by the Directorates of Census Operations of the States/UTs, trained manpower from the NGOs was also utilized. In addition, volunteers from NGOs working in the field of disability and gender were associated with Census 2011 for sensitizing the trainers at National, State and District level.
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9.
Publicity
All modes of Publicity Mass media, Public Relations, Outreach activities and Digital media have been used to spread awareness and enlist the cooperation of all stakeholders. A scientific media plan was designed by a professional agency that also created the media content in both the phases of the Census. While the general theme was that of including everybody without omission, special emphasis was laid on the issue related to such vulnerable groups as women, elderly, disabled persons, infants and the homeless. Endorsements by different celebrities were also broadcast. Census messages on these issues were broadcast over All India Radio, Radio FM, Private Radio FM, Door Darshan and Private TV Channels. To reach different crosssections of the society, particularly the younger sections, advertisements using such digital media as popular websites were used.
10.
Houselisting and Housing Census
The Census Operations in India are carried out in two phases the Houselisting and Housing Census followed by the Population Enumeration. The objective of the Houselisting and Housing Census is to systematically list out and number all the buildings, houses and other structures in an Enumeration Block, identify houses which are residential or partly residential and collect information on households throughout the country for preparation of a sound frame for conduct of the population enumeration. The Houselisting and Housing Census was conducted in different States and Union Territories during April September, 2010. In addition to collecting data on characteristics of the house, information on availability of certain amenities and assets to the households were also collected in this first phase. The Houselisting and Housing Census collected information on the housing and availability of amenities and assets to households. The items of information collected were same as in 2001 Census except that a few questions were modified to elicit more accurate information. These include modifications in collecting information on: Source of drinking water, Type of latrine, Availability of computer/ laptop and mobile phone to households.
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11.
Population Enumeration
The Population Enumeration or the second phase of Census 2011 was held from 9th to 28th February 2011 throughout the country as stated above. In the snow bound areas this exercise was held 11th to 30th September 2010 with reference date as on 1st October 2010. There were a few modifications and addition in the Household Schedule canvassed for collecting information on each individual residing in the country in comparison to Census 2001. These included: Preprinting of Location particulars up to District level Printing of Bar Codes/Form Number Colour dropout in the Schedules to facilitate scanning Linking of Houselisting data with Population Enumeration data Tracking system in case of more than one form is used Collection of information on the Institutional Households Recording other Gender than male or female Date of birth Separate Codes for Divorced and Separated under Current marital status More descriptive Codes to capture information on Disability Separate codes for persons who have never attended any educational institution and persons who have attended earlier under Status of current attendance in educational institution. An additional code for recording persons attending special institution for the disabled has also been added.
Categorisation of Marginal Worker into two categories those who worked for 3 months or more but less than 6 months and those who worked for less than 3 months including a category of Others under noneconomic activities to account for commercial sex workers and persons involved in illegal activities. A new code for rentier has also been introduced.
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II)
1.
a. 1.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C,G2B,G2G,G2E) with benefits Geographical Spread of activity: States and Districts covered In the Census of India 2011 operations, the team of all the DCOs, PCOs, Charge Officers and 2.7 million Enumerators & Supervisors had mapped the entire country in the 35 States & UTs consisting of 640 Districts which were subdivided in 5,961 Sub-Districts consisting of 8,001 Towns and 640,852 Villages. Approximately, in all 240 Million Households in the country were covered twice in the course of the two phases of the Census Operations in the country.
2.
Approximate Number of people impacted Thus, each and every person in the country was impacted. In all, approximately 1.21 billion people living in 240 million households were covered in Census of India 2011 operation. In fact, all the persons residing in normal households, institutional households and even shelterless and homeless people were also covered. The team of 2.7 million functionaries effectively covered the last man standing across the length and breadth of the country.
3.
Declaration of Provisional Population Results Census 2011 After the completion of the Population Enumeration phase of Census 2011, the Provisional Population of the country and for each State was declared by the Census Commissioner, India within a month on 31st March 2011, a feat not known to have any parallel in the world. The Provisional Population Totals are arrived at by compiling the summary report (known as Enumerators Abstract) from every Enumerator. The salient points of the Census 2011 Provisional Results are as follows:
The countrys population stood at slightly over 1.21 billion as on 1st March 2011.
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1.
The population of India increased by 181 million since the last Census in 2001, recording a growth of 17.6% compared to 21.5% during 19912001. This slowing down of growth in population is seen in most of the States including the large ones, like Uttar Pradesh (from 25.85% in 1991-2001 to 20.09% in 2001-11), Maharashtra (from 22.73% to 15.99%), Bihar 28.62% to 25.07%), Madhya Pradesh. The overall Sex Ratio of population, an index to measure the sex composition of the population and expressed in terms of number of females per 1000 thousand males, showed an increase from 933 in 2001 to 940 in 2011 in the country. However a matter of overwhelming concern is the decline in Child Sex Ratio (0 to 6 years) from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011, a drop of 13 points, lowest since Independence in the country. The overall Literacy Rate (of population above 6 years of age) reached 74% from 64.8% in 2001 Census in the country. It was most satisfying to find that the number of female literates (aged above 6 years) in the country have grown by about 49.1% in the last decade. The Female Literacy Rate has recorded an appreciable increase from 53.6% to 65.4% in 2011.
2.
3.
4.
5. 6.

The scale of operations of the Census of India 2011 was truly gigantic. To cover each and every 240 million households in the country with its intrinsic cultural, linguistic diversity and to capture correctly and comprehensively the responses to the questionnaire through an army of duly trained 2.7 million enumerators and supervisors within a short span of three weeks could not have been accomplished but through a well thought out strategy as has been the tradition in the organization. Succinctly put, the success depended on the way the questionnaire was drafted to keep put any biases, discriminatory predilections of the canvasser or the canvassed. It also dwelled primarily on how the training was envisaged and delivered
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throughout the country in a cascaded manner flowing from the national level to the state and through it to the district, sub-district and tehsil level. The training material and their content along with defined pedagogy determined that the 2.7 million enumerators culled out from the primary level schools in the country were well equipped to undertake the operations. The idea was to impart a distinct identity of the enumerators so that they could easily establish a rapport with the general public whenever they visited their homes. The organizational setup consisting of the administrative machinery of the State, Districts and the Charge Officers were also equipped with due executive authority and were properly trained to oversee the largest peacetime deployment in the contemporary times. The difficulty of the task was enhanced due to the issues of naxalism/militancy in certain States which had to be tackled for the successful conduct of the operations. Moreover, the leveraging of the Department of Posts to deliver the 340 million schedules to all the 17000 charges in the country along with the training materials and stationery meant for the enumerators and supervisors and also to return the filled in schedules from the enumerators and delivering to the Data Capture Centres of the Directorates of Census ensured that the logistical nightmare was effectively and efficiently dealt with. The deployment of advanced ICR technology for scanning and digitizing the information scattered in 340 million schedules was also duly strategized and the provisional demographic details of the country were put before the people of India in a record time of 30 days. 1. Complete and Unduplicated Coverage of the entire population of India. In any Census, the most important aspect is the complete coverage of the geographic area of the country without any omission or duplication. This requires the updating of jurisdictional boundaries at all levels. In order to conduct the Census 2011, the changes in administrative boundaries of 35 States/Union Territories, 640 districts, 5,924 sub-districts, 7,935 Towns and 6,40,867 Villages were meticulously collected along with official notifications and maps. There was an increase of 47 Districts, 461 Sub
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Districts, 2774 Towns and 2279 Villages in Census 2011 as compared to Census 2001. Each of these changes was digitised using the latest GIS software. The Census of India is the only Organisation in the country with the digitised cartographic data base of the entire country with the latest administrative boundaries. In addition, digital maps of 33 capital cities of the country based on satellite imagery were prepared. These maps show detailed layout of buildings, houses, other structures, road network and important landmarks. These structures have been systematically numbered by visiting each one of them. Some basic details like type of construction of the house, number of floors, usage (residential/non-residential) and the approximate number of people living in these houses were also collected. Enumeration Blocks were then carved out scientifically. This facilitated equitable balancing of work load and complete coverage. In rural areas, a printout of every village boundary map was given to each Supervisor in the country. This ensured that no area was left out or duplicated. A geographical Directory was also prepared giving a unique identification Code to each and every administrative unit in the country. This is the only such Geographical Directory in the country. The Department of Information Technology is in the process of declaring this Directory and the methodology for its updation as the National Standard for the country. Quality of content. Designing of the Census Schedules: Two types of Questionnaire, known in Census as Schedules, are canvassed for the two phases of Census. In Census 2011, the work of designing the Schedules was entrusted to the National Institute of Design, Ahmadabad who came up with brilliant designs, which were easy to use, aesthetically developed, easy to scan and comparable to the best in the world. The Schedules had several unique features like Bar Code, Unique Form Number, drop-out color from a standard palette, edge cutting for proper alignment, pre printing of certain location particulars and many more. All these helped in collecting quality information and
2.
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better inventory management, a nightmare in the past. These features have greatly enhanced the processing of data. Training: One of the most critical elements in Census is the training of the field Enumerators who collect information. Unless the 2.7 million functionaries are clear about the concepts and methodology, the quality of data collected will suffer. In Census 2011, a three-tier training hierarchy was put in place with National Trainers (90 in number) at the country level, Master Trainers Facilitators (725) at the State level and Master Trainers (54,000) at the District level. It was the responsibility of the Master Trainers to train 2.7 million Enumerators/Supervisors at the grass root level, a ratio of just 50 Enumerators per Master Trainer. In 2011 Census, after detailed evaluation and consultation with experts in the field, the Manual was substantially improved by incorporating suitable illustrations and examples. In addition Training Guides for use by the trainers at each stage of training was prepared. For the first time detailed agenda showing minute to minute programme was prepared for the three or five day training as the case may be. The Guide not only focused on elaborating concepts and methodology in Census but also covered such aspects as communication, rapport building etc. One important addition to the basket of training aids was the introduction of eLearning modules on important census concepts. In this eLearning module animation characters representing Enumerators and Respondent(s) were shown actually delivering the dialogues and asking questions, as should ideally be done in the field. These visual and animation examples became an instant hit with the Trainees. In places where there was no electricity, trainees were asked to enact the role plays as in the eLearning Modules by enacting the scenes as per scripts included in the Training Guide. All these innovative measures helped in imparting quality and uniform training to the four levels of trainee from the National Trainers to the Enumerators. Publicity Campaign in Census 2011: For any large scale operations like Census Operations to succeed, undertaking adequate publicity campaign is an important element. Adequate sensitization of the people is a prerequisite as Census aims to collect personal information on each individual
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residing in the country at the time of Census. It is also important to focus on proper enumeration of such critical aspects as gender and disability in the population. Due to various socio-cultural reasons, it has been found that in many parts of the country, the respondents do not share information on these sensitive subjects. Consequently the information collected on these groups suffer from inaccuracies. The aim of the publicity campaign was not only to request the people to extend cooperation when the Enumerator visits them but also to make them aware about the critical issues. In absence of adequate in-house expertise, the work of devising the entire campaign was assigned to reputed advertising agencies in the country with support from the UN Agencies. Backed by a team of Resource Persons from the Census Office, they developed media plan and all the creatives to reach both rural and urban segments of the population in different age groups using different regional languages. Elaborate campaign was planned and executed by using mass media, public outreach and digital media to achieve the objectives. The basic modules in Hindi were translated in 12 languages for use in different parts of the country. The media plan was prepared using the latest reports available on reach of media in different parts of the country using different modes on a scientific basis. The total expenditure on publicity was about Rs 60 crores in the two phases. The Census Office used the media plan recommended by the Advertising Agencies and placed orders with DAVP (for print and electronic media), All India Radio and Door Darshan for execution with slight amendments as suggested by the latter wherever necessary. Census in School programme: To sensitize the school students about the ensuing Census 2011 an innovative programme was introduced throughout the country, where specially prepared and attractively designed School Kits were sent to about 60 to 80 schools in each of the 593 districts in the country. Each School Kit contained a letter from the Census Commissioner, India to the Principals of these schools requesting them to sensitize the students about the ensuing Census 2011 and also about the importance and the utility of Census. Special attention was paid to the students of Class VI, VII and VIII, for whom special lessons were sent on different
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subjects. The Census Commissioner, India also requested the Principals to designate one week in January 2011 as Census Week to develop awareness about Census 2011. To generate curiosity among the students of these three classes a pack of cards with Census Quiz and their answers were also sent with the request to hold the Quiz in the Census Week. The programme generated huge interest among school students and achieved the objective of sensitizing them so that when the Census Enumerators visited their house they were welcome. Gender Sensitization: Even though gender had been a prominent crosscutting priority in 2001 Census, data related to female count, marital status, female headed households, female disability and female workparticipation has continued to suffer from under count or under reporting. The 2001 census enumerated several villages/districts that had reported very few women, very low female literacy and no female worker. To ensure collection of accurate information an attempt to integrate gender issues into various stages of the census taking has been undertaken and briefly described in this note. Firstly, gender critical districts were identified on the basis of three criteria emerging from the 2001 Census. These were: overall sex ratio, female literacy and female work participation. The advantages of using these three indicators are that they reflect the status of the women and additionally enable analysis at the lowest disaggregated level, i.e. village level. Thus, districts with low sex ratio (less than 900); low female literacy (less than 30%) or low female work participation rate (less than 20%) were identified on the basis of 2001 Census. In this way 262 Critical Districts was identified for focused attention and training. Special steps were taken to appoint additional Master Trainer Facilitators to sensitize the Enumerator on gender issues and train them in collecting authentic information on this vulnerable section of the population. Special Data Sheets and Posters were prepared and displayed at each training class to sensitize the Enumerators on the poor status of women with reference to these three critical indicators. Extra effort was also made during the publicity campaign to sensitize the people to provide correct information about women and the girl child at the time of enumeration.
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Using Social Networking websites: With the overwhelming popularity of the social networking sites among the youth today, for the first time, in Census 2011, a conscious effort was made to reach them directly. Census 2011 Group was created on Facebook and Twitter in the first week of February 2011 and regular posts were made initially informing the visitors about different facets of Census in general and Census 2011 in particular inviting their support in spreading the message on Census. Within a short time a large number of persons, mostly from the younger sections of the population, became members and actively posted views on the wall. The experience was quite satisfactory as most of the posts complimented the efforts while a few pointing about not being covered in Census 2011. Immediate action was taken to redress their grievances. The site was also used for disseminating information on Census 2011 extensively. At present there are more than 19,000 members on this Group. Similarly on Twitter as well the members welcomed the Census in the new initiative. It may not be out of place to mention that the Census Commissioner, India was awarded Exceptional Achievement in Gov 2.0 for its innovative use of social media in the countrys biggest governance exercise by Gov2.in Award 2011. Time bound completion of field operations and timely release of data. Using State of the Art data recognition technology in data capture and data processing: The Census Office has always been in the forefront in the adoption of latest data processing technology in the processing of census data. At 2001 Census, for the first time a major technology change in the vital activity of data extraction recorded on the Census Schedule and creating associated computer data files was introduced, so as to fully computerize the subsequent data processing activities in generating output tables for use. India was the only large country in the world to have used this technology in 2001 Census. Up to the 1991 Census, more than 150 Regional Tabulation Offices throughout the country for compiling village/ ward-in-town level information to generate Primary Census Abstracts. Subsequent data entry was undertaken in 1991 Census manually. In the new technology used, the Census Schedules were scanned using
3.
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high speed duplex scanners and information read using ICR technology. When the Census Office adopted this technology in India, it was considered a risk by many as the technology had been used only by a few small countries and not tested for a large country. This innovation by the Indian Census not only saved time and money but allowed accurate capture of data as well. Another major benefit in adopting this technology was that it allowed the Census to tabulate the entire data on a 100% basis than on a sample basis as was the case till 1991 Census. Adoption of ICR technology for data capture in Indian Census is a major decision as it involved capturing information from Census Schedules in 16 languages. The Census Office developed its own checks and balances to ensure that the data capture is error free. For this purpose, the Census Schedules were freshly designed, appropriate drop-out colours were used in printing the Schedules, Bar Codes and pre-printing of location codes were introduced for better inventory management, high speed scanners were used to scan the 340 million Schedules and ICR software used to capture the numeric data accurately. Subsequently Computer Aided Coding (CAC) was used to primarily capture the alpha data or data in textual form from the Schedules. Using the ICR technology not only saved time for data capture and data tabulation thus ultimately making it available to the users early but also was very cost effective saving public money. Despatch and delivery of Census material: In Census 2011, approximately 340 million Census Schedules, 6 million Instruction Manuals, and other printed materials in 18 languages were used. The despatch and delivery of these Census materials weighing about 2000 metric tons, printed in the right language(s) from about twenty printing presses located in different parts of the country and delivering them to about 17,000 locations in each tehsil in the country was a logistic nightmare. After the operations, the filledin Schedules were to be collected and delivered to the 17 Data Scanning Centres and the 33 Census Offices. This job of collection, delivery and return collection was given to Indian Posts who used their Logistic Post Service to deliver the material in each tehsil in the country, safely and securely and in
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time. A database of the requirement of census material by language(s) was prepared by the Census Office in advance, which also had information on various other key details, like location of the press, language in which printed, place of delivery, etc. Pre-printing of location codes on the schedules also complicated matters. The material in the right languages, in the right quantity were packed in specially designed boxes supplied by Department of Posts and were delivered to the right location in time. They also introduced a web based management system to book and later track the movements of the material and also sent daily MIS on it. With their expert services the India Posts were able to complete the work in a time satisfactorily. Public Grievances and Monitoring: A Call Centre was set up to receive complaints from the public on various issues relating to Population Enumeration. Located in Pune, the facility was extended in 14 languages throughout the country. The complaints on non-coverage and other issues were quickly resolved with support from the local Census Offices. The Call Centers facility was also used to monitor the progress of enumeration work by directly contacting the Supervisions. At the conclusion of the Population Enumeration exercise, they have been assigned the job of Post Enumeration Survey (PES) in four metro cities. Outsourcing of non-critical activities: Undertaking the Census Operation requires planning and execution of a wide array of activities, some demanding serious application of mind and some other simply involving logistics and infrastructure. The scale of operations in all cases, however, was gigantic, due to the geographic spread and absence of adequate infrastructure in the country. It was decided in the planning stage itself to outsource non-critical activities in Census 2011 to allow Census Officials to focus more on Census related activities than managing logistics. Optimising Costs. The most important way of optimizing cost in Census 2011 was the adoption of data scanning and data capturing technology. Prior to 2001 Census, temporary field offices were set up for about 2 years in almost all tehsils in the country to undertake initial tabulation of the data collected by the Enumerators. This involved huge expenditure towards hiring of
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about 300 to 500 persons per location, incurring all the establishment costs while setting up of the office. In Census 2001 and Census 2011, adoption of ICR technology enabled scrapping of the requirement of setting up of temporary field offices in more than 5,000 locations in the country. Another area of optimization of costs was in availing the services of NGOs in training made available by the UN Agencies. Availing the services of reputed Advertizing Agencies in creating publicity materials and preparing media plan for use in House-listing and Housing Census as well as in Population Enumeration phases helped in getting high quality input without incurring any expenditure.

1. eParticipation
In the Census of India 2011 operations, the team of all the DCOs, PCOs, Charge Officers and 2.7 million Enumerators & Supervisors had mapped the entire country in the 35 States & UTs consisting of 640 Districts which were subdivided in 5,961 Sub-Districts consisting of 8,001 Towns and 640,852 Villages. Approximately, in all 240 Million Households in the country were covered twice in the course of the two phases of the Census Operations in the country. Thus, each and every person in the country was impacted. In all, approximately 1.21 billion people living in 240 million households were covered in Census of India 2011 operation. In fact, all the persons residing in normal households, institutional households and even shelterless and homeless people were also covered. The team of 2.7 million functionaries effectively covered the last man standing across the length and breadth of the country. The challenge was the vastness & diversity of the country where mapping of each and every inch of its territory, each and every individual and household was to be completed in a span of just three weeks. There were snow-bound areas where accessibility remains a critical issue, hence the Population Enumeration in such areas were done in the month of September, 2010 instead of February, 2011 elsewhere in the country.
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The linguistic diversity of the country also posed a challenge in the framing up of the Census Questionnaire as it had to be in the local language itself. Great care and caution was maintained so that the questionnaire was linguistically correct. In all, 340 million questionnaires were printed in 16 languages. The issue of Naxalites in States of Chattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal and difficult areas of North-Eastern States and militancy infested J&K were also important issues handled by the local Directorates of Census Operations and their foot soldiers - Enumerators and Supervisors. Besides, the other very relevant but complex issue was that of the logistics involved in the entire process. The first challenge was the design of the questionnaire. The questionnaire used in Census 2011 was specially designed with unique features, like special quality paper, bar coding, unique form numbering, special drop-out colours and pre-printing of certain data fields. These 340 million Census Schedules were printed in 16 languages at the high-endprocesses with state-of-the-art equipment to carry out digital variable printing with consistent quality. Other materials like the Instruction Manuals (5.4 million) etc. were printed in government and private presses.
2.
eWaste
Adoption of Green Technology: Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India supervised and monitored the progress of the Census Operations through video conferences with all the 640 District Collectors every week. The video conferencing technology saved huge amount of money which otherwise would have been necessary if the supervision team practically travelled to all the places or issued instructions through letters or correspondences. Availing Call Centre facility to address public grievances during census helped in spreading green technology. Shri. Dr C Chandramouli, IAS, Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, dco-guj.rgi@nic.in and Shri. Manish Bharadwaj, Director, Census Operations, Gujarat Directorate of Census Operations, Govt. of Gujarat, dco-guj.rgi@nic.in; mb_guj@yahoo.com
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CHAPTER 34
e-Panjeeyan*
Shri Deepak Goswami and Shri Devajit Bhattacharyya
I) Overview
e-Panjeeyan is designed and developed by NIC Assam State Center and is based on JEE and MySQL with an object oriented approach as per the rules of Registration Act. It is designed with function specific modules, managing the processes as per the role assigned to the user of the system. The main functionalities facilitated by the system are: 1. Automates and manages the complete workflow of sub-registrar office, which include capturing of fees and stump duty details, parties, witnesses etc. details. Scanning and storage of registered document, capturing and storage of photos, finger prints of parties involved in the process of registration and assessment of stamp duty, registration fees based on the market value of the property and various MIS reports. Interoperability with land record system, e-stamping for verification of ownership and exchange of data with land record system and verification of e-stamp and locking of the e-stamp respectively. Facilities export transaction data from sub-registrar to central server for storage. Additionally, it provides facility to register marriage as per the Indian Marriage Act.
2.
3. 4.
Winner of CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards for the year 2010-11.
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The software covers the entire cycle of a deed registration right from deed presentation to issue of the deed. It has been implemented in thirteen sub-registrar offices out of total 77; the rest will be covered by December 2011. After the implementation of e-Panjeeyan, it has become possible to deliver the original documents of registration on the same day, which used to take several years in the pre-computerization days. This is one of the most visible benefits to citizens that accrued from computerization. This has also increased the number of registered deeds in a day and has increased the government revenue. Also, the instant assessment of stamp duty and registration fee as provided in the e-Panjeeyan software, has reduced the involvement of middlemen in the registration process. The Revenue and Disaster Management Department (R&DM), Government of Assam has initiated the state-wide roll-out of computerization of Registration, which is implemented under the Asian Development Bank funded Assam Governance & Public Resource Management Project (AGPRMP). In Assam there are 77 Sub-Registrar Offices (SRO) out of which 4 SROs were covered under the Pilot Project sponsored by the Department of Information Technology, Government of Indias Horizontal Transfer of Successful e-Governance Programme scheme. After successful implementation of pilot project, it has been replicated in another 9 SROs. The remaining 64 SROs will be computerized under the current scheme of state-wide roll-out. The software solution (e-Panjeeyan) for the computerization of registration project has been provided by National Informatics Center (NIC), Assam State Center; this software is based on JEE and MySQL developed with an object oriented approach. The software is designed as per the rules of Registration Act and built with the objective of providing operational and decision-making support to all activities of SRO. The application software provides solutions for the PreRegistration, Registration and Post-Registration activities of SRO. It also supports web services for interoperability with land record system, e-stamping and exporting data to central server for data storage. The primary objectives of e-Panjeeyan are as follows: 1. Computerized system to provide services to the citizen.
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2. 3. 4. 5.
Visible enhancement of citizen services through reduction in service delivery time. Enhance transparency and accountability in the system. Increased efficiency of operations. To integrate with the land record system, e-stamping, and central server for data storage. Benefits accrued from the system to its stakeholders are as follows:
To the Citizen: 1. Transparency in the registration process by automatic stamp duty and registration fees calculation on the basis of the type of document and assessed market value for property. One-stop services related to registration and obtaining the original registered document on the same day. Simplified the registration procedures for obtaining certified copies of documents, non encumbrance certificate, and marriage certificate. mis reports for monitoring, enhanced speed, reliability and consistency of the system. Online query on registered documents and its retrieval. Digitization of photographs and finger prints to ensure genuine witnesses, executants and claimants.
2. 3.
4. 5.
To the Department: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Ease of administration. Reduced manual work. Reduced process delays. Easier tracking of all the registered documents. Online verification of land records database and e-stamping. Automatic generation of all meaningful MIS reports. Modernization of SROs. Increased government revenue.
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Some salient features of e-Panjeeyan are : 1. 2. 3. 4. Assessment of fees and stamp duty based on the document-type. Auto-generation of serial number of the document presented. Generation of enquiry slip. Scanning of documents and biometric inputs (i.e. digital photo and finger impression of the first party, second part, witnesses, etc.) after the endorsement is completed. At the end of the day, generation of accounting figures viz, the total receipt of fees, its article-wise break-up, stamp duty and additional stamp duty. Searching and printing of a document based on certain criteria. Registration of marriage as per the Indian Marriage Act. Generation of MIS reports.
5. 6. 7. 8.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered: The core (G2C, G2B, G2G and G2E) services offered by the system are as follows:
1.

Government to Citizen (G2C):

Assessment of Stamp Duty and Registration Fee based on Document type and Market Value. Registration of all type of documents. Issue of non-encumbrance certificate Issue of certified copies of documents Issue of system generated form for mutation (Form No.10) Issue of Marriage Certificate under Indian Marriage Act.
2.
Government to Business (G2B) :
The system is integrated with e-stamping system for verifying and locking of the certificate issued by Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL) by the Sub-Registrar after registering the document.
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3.
Government to Government (G2G):
The services offered by the system for the government are as follows: Various reports for the sub-registrar. Integration with the land record system for verifying the ownership details of land and exchange of registration data with land record system for mutation. Integration with central server for posting of transactional data from SRO location to central server for storage and generation of various MIS reports as per the requirement of IGR. User role to the Circle Officer for online verification of the registered deed. Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status
b.
Following are the services/functionalities enhanced during the year: 1. 2. Biometrics authentication-based endorsement of the deed/document by the Registering Officer. Integration with E-stamping system for verifying and locking of the certificate issued by SCHIL by the Sub-Registrar after registering the document. Land record system for verifying the ownership details of land and exchange of registration data with land record system for mutation. Central server for posting of transactional data from SRO location to Central Server for storage and generation of various MIS reports as per the requirement of IGR. User role to the Circle Officer for verifying the registered deed. Issue of System generated form for mutation (Form No. 10) Hindu Marriage Certificate under the Indian Marriage Act. Storage of reference document related to deed/document. Implementation Coverage
3. 4. 5. c.
Started as a Pilot Project in Sonitpur district covering 4 (four) SROs , and replicated
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in another 7 districts (covering 9 SROs). The remaining 64 SROs will be computerized under the current scheme of state-wide roll-out sponsored by the Asian Development Bank funded Assam Governance and Public Resource Management Project (AGPRMP) by the end of December 2011.
2.
a. 1.

Time and Cost Efficiency Substantially reduced the time to Issue of original document after registration from a few years to a few hours. Issue of certified copy of the document and non-encumbrance certificates from days to a few minutes. Instant assessment of stamp duty and registration fees based on document type and market value. Manual copying of the document for preservation is replaced by scanning of the document which significantly reduces the time required for copying the document.
2.
Cost savings for delivering the above set of services.

e-Panjeeyan helped Sub-registrar Offices to handle larger number of document registrations for the citizens and provide services without appointing additional staff. e-Panjeeyan is developed in Open source J2EE platform using Glassfish application server with MySQL as RDBMS which helped to save a large amount in comparison with the proprietary software. Innovative Ideas Implemented Fast and efficient scanning of registered document for storing and retrieval which replaced the previous tedious process of manual copying of the entire deed. Integrated Java applet in web - based application, e-Panjeeyan, for utilizing resources, viz., scanner, web camera and finger print devices installed at the client system. Use of biometrics for
b. 1.
2.
3.
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4. 5. 6. 7. c. 1.
Endorsement of the deed/document by the Registering Officer. Capturing images and finger prints of parties, witnesses and identifiers involved in the registration process. Supports web services for interoperability with Land record system for verifying ownership details and posting registration related data to land record system for mutation. e-Stamping issued by SHCIL for verifying the certificate and locking the certificate. Central server for posting transactional data from SRO to the central server for storage. System is developed in J2EE technology with MySQL as RDMS to maintain portability to any platform with minimum effort. Integration with Other Systems e-Panjeeyan supports web services for interoperability with Land record system for verifying ownership details and posting registration related data to land record system for mutation. e-Stamping issued by SHCIL for verifying the certificate and locking the certificate.

1.
a. 1.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes Previous versions of e-Panjeeyan were Windows client-sever application which has been replaced by web based user interface with multi-browser support and it reduces client side application configuration. Uses of Java applet for scanning and bio-metrics devices installed at client system. Flexible reporting in different printable formats like PDF and Excel using Jasper Report. Biometrics - based authentication for endorsement of the deed/document by the Registering Office. User interface for interoperability with e-Stamping and land record system. User Interface for posting transaction data to central server.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
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b. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Major non-ICT back end process changes Database changed from Proprietary (i.e., MS SQL Server 2005) to open-source (MySQL). Scanned documents, captured photos and finger prints are now stored as binary data in the MySQL database Server instead of storing in file server. Maintains un-posted transactional data to be sent to central server for storage. Configurable role - based access control, password management and session management. The previous process of manual copying of deeds has been replaced by scanning resulting in a big saving of time.
2.
a.

Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam, has constituted a Project Steering Committee at the top level which is responsible for decision on key approval points and progress reviews at all project milestones. b. Training -Plan and Status
The training of sub registrar and office staff has been implemented and planed as follows:
S. No. Training Details and Location 1. Training of Sub-Registrars, IGR Officials, Department Officials at Assam Survey & Settlement Training Center. Training of Sub-Registrar Staff at District HQs. Hands on Training at SR Offices Concerned Officials Sub-Registrars, IGR Officials, Revenue & DM Department Officials. No. of Days 5 days
2.
Sr. Sub-Registrars/Sub-Registrars and Sub-Registrar Office Staff (Clerks, Extra Writers, etc.). Sub-Registrars and Sub-Registrar Office Staff (Clerks, Extra Writers etc.).
4 days
3.
3 days
As on date (mid-August 2011), the following training programs have been completed: 1. Training of Sub-Registrars, IGR Officials, Department officials.
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2. 3. c.
Training of Master Trainers. Training of Sub-Registrar Staff at District HQs completed for twelve districts. Change Management strategy
Training on basic ICT skills and application software is used as an effective tool of the Change Management Plan for skill building and creating an interest around the project and also for providing confidence to the employees about the change process and its benefits which ensures least resistance from employees with regard to changes in the processes and systems. Feedback analysis and corrective action are used to follow-up with the employees to understand how the changes are working. The feedback gathered helps in developing corrective actions and post-implementation change management activities. d. Leadership Support and Visibility
The department is headed by Shri. V K Peparsonia, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, Revenue and Disaster Management Department. The leadership, valuable advice and suggestions given by the Principal Secretary for the utilization of the advanced technology of the ICT are incredible. He is always keen to fulfill the vision and goals of the ICT initiatives of the department. e. 1. Financial Model Funding pattern:
This is a Government-owned project implemented by Revenue and Disaster Management Department and the technical support is provided by NIC Assam State Center. The project will be rolled out under the scheme of state-wide rollout of computerization of Sub-Registrar Office sponsored by the Asian Development Bank funded Assam Governance and Public Resource Management Project (AGPRMP). 2. Business model:
The service delivery, i.e., delivery of Original Deed is on charge basis so as to make the system self-sustaining. The payment of service charges is made by the citizen. The revenue generated from service charges will be managed by a district level IT society.
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3. a.
Technology Strategy for Disaster Recovery and Continuity
The application software provides data protection via replication of data from local database to centralized network-based storage at state level. The solution is policybased replication of business-critical data from the local site to the disaster recovery site over Assam State Wide Area Network (ASWAN). The central data center maintains consistent, accurate records of database to ensure immediate, smooth recovery from site failures and achieve continuous business operations in case of disaster. The server at central data center will be connected with Storage Area Network (SAN) located at NIC Guwahati which supports data replication to remote DR site located at NIC Hyderabad. b. 1. 2. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance Technology used Presentation: JSF and Applet. Model: Java POJO classes Web Service: Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) Application Server: GlassFish Database: MySQL Community version The four layers used in the system are The client layer has web browser through which users can interact with the system. The presentation layer contains the tag libraries, Applets and JSP. The business layer contains business components, workflow components, validation and security components and the web service interface component. The data access layer contains the data access components. Security and Compliance Standards All users have been assigned user id and password (encrypted) with appropriate role to access the system to ensure reliability and confidentiality at the implementation level.
c. 1.
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2. 3.
Configurable account locking feature on multiple failed login attempts. Configurable session management with time out. Password policy implemented as follows: Minimum 8 characters with 2 upper case, 2 lower case, 2 numeric and 2 special characters. Configurable password expiry. Biometrics authentication based endorsement of the deed/document by the Registering Officer.
Shri Deepak Goswami, Senior Technical Director and State Informatics Officer, NIC, Government of Assam, sio-asm@nic.in and Shri Devajit Bhattacharyya, Technical Director, DIT, Government of Assam, devajit@nic.in
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CHAPTER 35
Integrated Online Junction on Net for Decentralised District Planning (iOjN 4 Planning)
Shri V N Maira and Dr. Hiten Parekh
I) Overview
State is keen to enhance quality of service rendered to community. To enhance the quality level, State Government is trying to bring transparency as much as possible for Developmental Projects undertaken by Decentralized District Planning programme so that various schemes get implemented timely and successfully. To meet this objective of government, iOjN 4 Planning (Integrated Online Junction on Net for Decentralised District Planning), a web enabled application operating on intranet as well as on internet is developed and implemented successfully. System designing is done with the help of Problem Analysis Technique and Stakeholder Analysis Technique having module concept. Elimination of multiple times data entry, curtail the cross checking process resulting into increasing in reliability values. Important feature of the system is it captures data in local language. Unicode font is used for such bilingual support. The other important feature of this system is to disseminate all sort of information pertaining to Developmental Project. Uploading of photograph at three stages, viz pre execution of Developmental Project, during execution of Developmental Project and after completion of execution of Developmental Project are also incorporated.
Integrated Online Junction on Net for...
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Thus this application facilitates citizen for scrutiny & monitoring of Developmental Projects, as data retrieval of all the important parameters of Developmental Projects are available online in local language within their vicinity for the purpose of social audit. This enhanced quality of Developmental Projects. Application of iOjN 4 Planning software helps in Decision Support System at District and State level. Decentralized District Planning Programme is introduced for bridging gap in infrastructure and human development sectors like health, education, roads, community development, minor irrigation electrification, water supply etc. Administrative Unit: District Planning Office is Administrative Unit at district level for Decentralized District Planning Programme funded by State Government and Member of Parliament Local Area Development Programme, Govt. of India. The scheme running under Decentralized District Planning Programme are 15 % Vivekadhin Yojana., 5 % Incentive Yojana, Special backward areas, Developing Taluka, Celebration of Rastriya Purve, Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development Scheme. State Government has recently introduced the Taluka Centric Approach. Under this approach, in 15 % Vivekadhin Yojana, every taluka get finance according to the category of taluka based upon number of villages included in respective taluka. Developing Taluka: State government has identified 30 Taluka as developing taluka with respect to topography of the taluka and low values of their Infrastructural Development Indices and 11 taluka with respect to low values of their Human Development Indices. Table 1
Schemes 15% Vive kadhin 1. Taluka Level 2. District Level 3. Administrative Authority level Taluka District District 1.0 to 1.5 crore 1.5 crore 1.0 crore Geographical Coverage Financial Lay out/ Annum (in Rs)
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5% Protsahak Developing Taluka Rashtriay parve Celebration 1. State Level - Rural Area - Urban Area - Corporation Area 2. District Level Khas Pachat MLALADS MPLADS
Taluka Taluka - District - District - Corporation Taluka
10 to 20 Lakh 2.0 crore 1.0 crore 1.0 crore 1.0 crore 25 Lakh
Identified Area Legislative Constituency Parliamentary Constituency
40 to 70 Lakh 50 Lakh 5.0 crore
Every year more than 20,000 Developmental Project under Decentralized District Planning Programme are implemented successfully. Before making system functional, in depth discussion on issues and benefits was carried out in couple of meetings. MLAs, MPs, President of District Panchayata, President of Taluka Panchayata TDOs, COs, head of departments as well as public representatives were consulted for preparing system design and flow. Starting from the proposal, system takes care up to completion of work. Submission of Proposal, Acceptance of Proposal, Details of Plan Estimate, Administrative Sanction, Allocation of Grants, Expenditure incurred and Details of UTC are the main component of the system. Unnecessary transition delay in grant or acceptance process is almost negligible. Following features make this initiative different from similar type of projects carried out before: 1. The status of the Developmental Project of interest is available through the System software from the near by place accessing through SWAN/ internet connectivity. For this reason the collection of the required information from various offices is not required now a days. This has reduced the time & cost involved for the same. As the application maintain the related parameters of Developmental Projects in the electronic storage system, quick retrieval process helps in
2.
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the timely analysis of data and need base report generation. Accordingly action will be taken. This reduces the administration cost as well as expenditure information of Developmental Project. 3. As iOjN 4 Planning software generates Monthly Progress Report & other required information electronically, redistribution of information flow has been generated automatically. And finally 1. 2. 3. Web based application accessible on internet with Gujarati Language Support. Centralised Database. Ensures more security. Uploading of photographs of work at 3 different levels of progress.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered: 1. All concerned government offices & elected representatives and citizens have the access of the important parameters of Developmental Projects sanctioned under Decentralised District Planning Schemes & MPLAD Programme. Customized report generation has been done to suffice the administrative requirement, political requirement, report writing requirement as well as citizen requirement. Bulletin Board : To broadcast instructions and important messages. Online help, Online User Manual have been synchronized in system software. Meeting Agenda as well as Meeting Proceeding for District Planning Board, a high power committee for Decentralised District Planning have been included in system software.
2.
3. 4. 5.
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6. 7.
On line review process: All sort of review process is being done online. Dynamic Query Module: Every stakeholder has access of Dynamic Query Module. By applying selection criteria, iOjN 4 Planning software gives information pertaining to parametric values of Developmental Projects of interest in main screen. Flexibility to update master viz to add the village name, implementing officer is given to District Authority while, MP MLA name master is updated by State Authority. All schemes under Decentralised District Planning are covered. Customized report generation has been done to suffice the administrative requirement, political requirement, report writing requirement as well as citizen requirement.
8.
9. 10.
Main screen of system comprise of two portion: One is different Module and other one is summary of Developmental Project having selection criteria. Various parameters of Developmental Projects included in summary are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Proposal of Developmental Projects Acceptance of Developmental Projects Rejection of Developmental Projects Pending proposals Technical sanction accorded for Developmental Projects Activity Monitoring Mechanism & Financial Monitoring Mechanism: MIS is generated in such a way that it is also utilized as activity monitoring purpose such as 1. 2. Online pendency stage wise at all stakeholder level. Online pendency run over stipulated time limit at all stakeholder level. MIS is generated in such a way that it is also utilized as financial monitoring
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purpose such as 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Grant allocation Report of the leftout grant allocation Booking of expenditure with uploading of phase wise photographs Issuance of grant utilization certificate. % of physical achievement % of financial achievement Generation of MPLAD cheque book Generation of MPLAD cash book Report of the leftout issuing of cheque
Information access to citizen : Open access is given to the citizen. To access specific information pertaining to Developmental Project, citizen has to give only identification number of Developmental Project. After submitting identification number, all kinds of key parametric values are of Developmental Project displayed. If citizens want to get information in different manner, for example what are Developmental Projects sanctioned during specified financial year, by utilising selection criteria he/she can get the summary of these Developmental Projects at district level, taluka level and village level, thereafter all related parametric values of Developmental Project. Under Decentralized District Planning Scheme, the online information about the following can be obtained by citizens and stakeholders: Table 2
Government to Citizen (G2C) 1. All functionalities are now online 2. The system has been universally accepted by district-taluka level officials and sub-taluka level functionaries including PRIs 3. Projects are being sanctioned for villages which were not adequately covered 4. There is shift in emphasis and focus towards work as per needs and ground level realities
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5. Reduction in RTI applications 6. Greater accuracy in generation of reports 7. Reduction in number of LAQs, Shift in type of questions (micro to macro) and time taken to reply 8. Facilitates social audit which leads to transparency & qualitative improvement
Government to Government (G2G)
1. Projects are being sanctioned for villages which were not adequately covered 2. Administrative order wise summary reports 3. Reduction in time taken for sanction of proposal 4. Assembly Constituency wise number of works and amount for administrative sanction given 5. Greater accuracy in generation of reports 6. Report showing constituency or taluka wise grant allocation 7. Error free submission of files for grant allocation 8. Query based Module for effective monitoring 9. Reduction in administration expenditure towards manpower, printing, photocopying, etc. 10. Timely completion of works as well as utilization of budget allocation 11. Preparation of Asset Register at village level 12. Convergence in both state level and national level programs 13. Reduction in RTI applications 14. Reduction in number of LAQs, Shift in type of questions (micro to macro) and time taken to reply
b.
Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status
Geographical Spread in the State achieved: On Pilot basis Implementation Date Roll Out Date Entire Junagadh District April-2007 August-2009 Table 3
GAD (Planning) and CMO at State Level DPO at District Level Monitoring of Developmental Projects. Formulation of policy. Fund allocation etc. For monitoring of Developmental Projects. To give principle approval, administration approval, financial approval
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Taluka Planning Committee at Taluka level Implementing Officer level
To raise proposal under various scheme Details pertaining to plan estimate, technical sanction and update status of Developmental Projects To propose the Developmental Project To know update status of Developmental Project
MP/MLA level
Summary of the Developmental Projects for Junagadh District (Rs. in Lakh) Table 4
No. Name of Scheme 2007-08 Financial Layout No. of Developmental projects 4 151 69 2008-09 Financial Layout No. of Developmental projects 6 122 0 2009-10 Financial Layout No. of Developmental projects 8 3 0
1 1 2
2 MPLAD (Loksabha) MPLAD Rajyasabha (Kesubhai Patel) MPLAD (Rajyasabha Suryakantbhai Acharya)
3 200.00 200.00
5 200.00 0.00
7 100.00 0.00
200.00
85
200.00
58
0.00
19
4 5 6
15 % Discretionary 5% Incentive Special Backward Ghed Area MLALAD TOTAL
597.94 45.59 6.09
396 44 9
447.70 45.59 6.09
422 28 9
481.81 45.59 10.44
417 28 13
500.00 1749.62
637 1391
500.00 1399.38
604 1243
500.00 1137.84
435 915
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c.
Road Ahead: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. To make full fledged implementation across the state by March-2012. Mobile Computing: To provide status of project automatically to MPs, MLAs through SMS whenever stage of proposal/work is changed. On demand, On providing Work ID, status information of project to be provided to citizens through SMS. Customization of this application for other departments Viz. District Panchayat, GMFB, DRDA, Road & Building Dept. etc. Uploading of Plan Estimate of Developmental Project. To make system full proof with biometric authenticity. Feedback Mechanism: To provide interface to public for receiving feedback Where villagers can also suggest any work which is in interest of community or society.
Recently State Government introduced Apano Taluka Vibrant Taluka (ATVT). In this perception, Block (Taluka) is divided in more than one cluster of 5-6 villages based upon geographical condition, gap in development and similar kind of issues faced. Thus this may help in making cluster level planning. e-Gram / CSCs at village level would be utilized for this purpose.
2.
a.

Tracking of project activities are required to smoothen the execution of field activities of Developmental Project such as approval of project proposal, preparation of plan estimate, technical sanction etc. Any delay in process of execution of Developmental Project can be trace out by this software application. This results into rectifications process required if any is taken care for specific Developmental Project.
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Online submission of proposal for Developmental Project, online sanction of Principle Approval, Administrative Approval, Financial Approval, online booking of expenditure occurred has reduced the time involvement for the same in comparison with the existing system. Diversion of surplus time can be utilised to enhance quality of Developmental Project. Important features are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Generation of Need base Analysis Report. Generation of Pendency Report: Activities run over stipulated time span. Dynamic Query Module for effective monitoring. Preparation of accounting reports for smoothening Treasury function.
Through Dynamic Query Module, one can get updated status of Development Project proposed during specified time span. Cost savings for delivering above set of services. The status of the Developmental Project of interest is available through the software from the near by place accessing through SWAN/internet connectivity, so that the collection of the required information from various offices is not required now a days. This has reduced the time & cost involved for the same. This facilitates social audit leads to transparency & qualitative improvement of Developmental Project. Elimination of submission process of MPR to District Authority by implementing officer has curtailed Typing & Xeroxing of MPR. Typing and Xeroxing for the purpose of submitting MPR is almost stopped due to online review process. This reduces the recurring expense say approximately Rs. 1 lakh per annum / middle size district. b. Innovative Ideas Implemented
Celebration of Rastriya Purve: Gujarat state started the Celebration of Independence Day, Republic Day & 1st May Day (Gujarat Sthapana Divas) from State Capital to District Place and District Place to Taluka Place. In the eve
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of Celebration, series of Programmes are being organised at the place where the State level Programme is celebrated. Lokarpan & Inauguration of project of CIVIC amenities which are going to be taken place on these days are also included in the system for effective monitoring and timely completion of the projects. c. Integration with Other Systems
It is integrated with the Village Asset Register which includes various development work being carried out across the various departments. Works under district planning schemes form major part of village level works and it is directly integrated to village asset register application by uploading required information from iOjN database to Village Asset Register database.

1.
a.
Processes
Process reengineering has been done. Systematic work flow designed for proposal, Principle Approval, Technical Approval, Administrative Approval Grant Allocation, and Expenditure occurred, Completion of work would eliminate unnecessary delay in implementation. Updating indicators of Developmental Project are only done by the responsible stakeholder and other stakeholders have only access to see information, system does not permit any kind of alteration by the unknown user as well as stakeholder who does not have rights for the same. b. Major non-ICT back end process changes
Depends on geographical situation & other developmental parametersly , every middle size district has approximately 70 to 100 users in all stakeholders and approximately 1500 to 1800 developmental projects in their hands in each financial year. Time span of grant utilization is at least 2 years. Due to these phenomena, compilation process becomes tedious and time consuming. For this reason, each district needs one dedicated manpower to prepare meeting agenda & proceedings of Implementing Officer Meeting, Executive Planning Committee Meeting and District Planning Board Meeting as per the requirement of district administration.
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As iOjN 4 Planning software generates MPR & other required information electronically, the requirement of dedicated manpower as well as dependency on him/her is not a question now a days. On line review process: As all sort of review process is being done online, pre schedule time slot is not required.
2.
a.

The software development is done in house with help of NIC. To help in operationalisation of software application, training for all concerned users has been imparted through interactive workshop. Table 5
Man Power Saving Before State level One dedicated typist/ Operator for planning work Envisaged No dedicated typist required Approx. man days Saved 30 Days / month
District level
1) One person for report 1) Reduction in work collection & compilation load 2) One person for typing 2) No separate report/orders etc. person required 3) Allocation for the grant 3) Reduction in work load 4) Preparation of Agenda for 4) Reduction in work load 5) DPB Preparation of 5) Reduction in Agenda for EPC work load
1) 10 Days / month 30 Days / month 2) 8 Days / month 3) 15 Days / meeting 2 to 3 meetings/annum 4) 15 Days / meeting 5) 8 to 10 meetings/annum
b.
To roll out iOjN 4 Planning, various actions have been taken 1. 2. Development of User Manual Conduct training workshop
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3.
Trouble Shooting Process
User Manual covers the objective of system, importance of bulletin board, stakeholder and their responsibilities, data entry module, dynamic query module, administration module as well as common access to the citizen to obtain speedy and accurate information pertaining to Developmental Projects. For the purpose of capacity building, Talim programme has been arranged at 3 stages 1. 2. 3. At state level Regional level District level
In the interactive Talim workshop, emphasis is given to interest of stakeholder. It covers the objective of system, data entry & system effectiveness. Trouble shooting Process : Interactive help menu has been synchronised to resolve any kind of query arised by stakeholder. The help menu is reviewed periodically by the planning office to ensure it is updated according to last changes made in the system. Trouble shooting is also done remotely through Net Meeting technology. Before rollout the application in entire state, interactive workshop is conducted at state level, regional level and at district level. Some of the important suggestions which are incorporated after this workshop are as under: 1. 2. 3. c. MIS development at GAD (Planning) and CMO level Synchronisation of Meeting Agenda & Proceeding Physical Inspection report of Developmental Project by authority Change Management strategy
All responsible stakeholders are instructed to use the software application and give their feed back on result and utility. This approach with continuous followup and imparting training has helped for the acceptance of the system. Responsibility has been assigned to update status of only related parameters by responsible stakeholder only & rest of the things taken care by system itself.
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On line review process: All sort of review process is being done online. All activities are required certain minimum time span for their completion. To expedite field level activities of Developmental Projects it is more important to pin point activities of Developmental projects which are run over stipulated time span. Keeping this in mind Pendency Report is incorporated in system software. MLA, MP and other people representatives are interested to know update status of Developmental Projects Proposed during specified time interval. It is difficult to give proper response to such kind of questions, as existing system does not support query with multiple conditions. Therefore dynamic query module is developed to fulfill such kind of requirements. d. Leadership Support and Visibility
Holder group to utilise the software & update relevant parameters of the Developmental Project has helped both, administration and stakeholder, as utility of the software has reduced their time involved for monitoring & reviewing the Developmental Projects allocated to them. e. Financial Model
As project is operationalised in house, no additional finance is required so far, but utilization of the software application has reduced the recurring expenses required for the same f. Project Sustainability
Project is operationalised through SWAN as well as internet. The storage of Database kept with State Data Center. All important offices at district level as well as taluka level are connected through SWAN. Villages are also connected through SWAN. For this reason the accessibility of any kind of information regarding parameters of Developmental Projects is made available at 24 x 7 hours a week. User friendly approach in the development of Software Application and imparting training to all stakeholders has increased the acceptance of the changing environment.
3.
a.
Technology
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As the database is stored at Gujarat State Data Center, it provides central repository and secure data storage. It also provides disaster recovery and better operation and management control and minimize overall cost of data management b. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. c. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance User friendly approach Easy to retrieve information Reduction in recurring expense Reduction in time involved for data management at all stakeholder level Easy accessibility of required parameters of Developmental Project. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
All stakeholders have been assigned to user id & password with appropriate rights. As soon as proposal is made, unique identification number is generated. Only responsible stakeholder can update the information pertaining to parametric values of developmental projects. This ensures reliability and confidentiality at implementing level.

Steps taken to address this factor: Important feature of the system is it captures data in local language. Unicode font is used for such bilingual support.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: Organize interactive workshop for all stakeholders Shri V N Maira, Additional Chief Secretary, Planning Department, Gujarat secplan@gujarat.gov.in and Dr. Hiten Parekh, District Planning Officer, Planning Department, Gujarat, dpo-amr@gujarat.gov.in; URL of the project: http:// iojn.guj.nic.in
e-Governance of Mineral Administration
455
CHAPTER 36
e-Governance of Mineral Administration*

Shri Vinay Vyasa and Shri Jagdeep S Kochar
I) Overview
(n)Code Solutions, a division of GNFC is the Total Solution Provider for Commissionarate of Geology & Mining (CGM), Government of Gujarat. (n)Code has offered integrated software development and portal application modules such as e-payment, e-Royalty pass, e-return, Demand Register and other related modules covering in one single portal for stakeholders of Geology & Mining in Gujarat State. The primary aim is to replace the traditional manual processes by a web-based application which is faster and more efficient. Certain business processes have been reengineered to be suited in a virtual atmosphere where they are quicker and more transparent. The project has played a crucial role in reduction of malpractices such as royalty, theft and illegal mining. The former process of issuing royalty pass to leaseholders was manual. The leaseholders had to get physical challans, get them signed from district geologist office, stand in queue to deposit in an authorized bank and wait for the day of week decided by district office for allotment of royalty pass booklet and get each triplicate passes stamped. To overcome a big challenge in mineral administration, CGM has concentrated on e-Solution and decided to provide the genuine e-Services to leaseholders and other stakeholders of Geology & Mining. (n)Code has developed a system through which a leaseholder can generate the royalty pass online once the payment is reflected in his virtual account. The system has created the centralized database containing the information
456
related to leaseholders, payment transactions, updated mineral rate, royalty pass issuance, demand register information and weighbridges, mineral stockist for better automation. The system has reduced the scope of illegal issuance of Royalty Passes and has also made monitoring and tracking royalty a convenient and accountable system. The challenge was to cover the approximate 7000 leaseholders in entire state. (n)Code, in conjunction with CGM drew a systematic plan for adequacy of system. To educate the leaseholders about the benefits of e-System, various training sessions were organized at micro level, operational manuals were designed, and demo cases were prepared and presented to stakeholders. Goals: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Effective and Hassle free mineral administration Facilitation of e-Services to all stakeholders belonging to Geology & Mining Dept. Real time accounting of mineral transportation Reduction in illegal mining through automated system Increase in State Mineral Revenue Transparency and accountability in mineral administration Figure 1
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Benefits: Table 1
To Government 1. 2. 3. Information on demand Automation of many processes to reduce dependency on manpower Data consolidation To Leaseholders 1. Automation of manual processes through electronic services 2. Anytime, anywhere issuance of royalty pass 3. Decrease in cost of capital as there is no need to pay royalty in advance at the beginning of every month 4. Easy access to services 5. E-Payment 6. E-Royalty pass system 7. E-Return 8. Monthly record verification / automatic reconciliation for submission of returns
4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Increased revenue to state Integrity & accuracy of data Increased speed Improved Service Delivery and easy access for stakeholders Real-time accounting of minerals excavated and royalty collected

1.
a.
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered: G2C 1. Information dissemination: To provide for information dissemination associated with various minerals, mines, leases, operations, policies and guidelines as well as other related details required to be made publically available or available to a selected set of stakeholders based on access rights. Any-Time Royalty Pass System: A web-based interface for leaseholders to issue royalty passes having a unique barcode/QR code based id and having certain mineral transport parameters such as mineral weight, duration of journey, destination details etc to enable effective monitoring of the process of royalty pass issuance with respect to the lease and the leaseholder information.
2.
458
3.
E-Return: All leaseholders have to fill up the applicable Mineral Return Form configured by system on monthly basis in the prescribed format by GMMCR / MCDR act describing the production, dispatch, labour and employment details, royalty paid, mineral consumption, sale in domestic/ export market etc with specific reason within the prescribed time limit decided by online system. Online Application for New Mineral Lease/Permit: To provide leaseholder with a facility to file an application for mining lease, quarry lease, quarry permit and work permit through an online software module as well as facilities to renew, transfer and surrender a lease. GIS based Mineral Atlas: To provide a GIS-enabled solution to the users to view and search information based on pre-defined parameters along with layered GIS maps.
4.
5.
G2B 1. E-Payment System: Interface the existing funds management system to act in an integrated manner with other modules of the web portal. Facility to transfer 9 types of payments through RTGS/NEFT from leaseholders bank account into CGMs Virtual Account.
G2G 1. Demand register: Provision of online/offline information transaction recording framework to maintain leaseholders account details of production, dispatch and payments etc as per rules of GMMCR 2010. Mobile / System based Royalty pass tracking: Provide facility to authorized users to review and track an online royalty pass using mobile devices
2.
Benefits Table 2
To Leaseholders 1. Savings in cost and time taken To Weighbridege Operators 1. Retrieval of unloaded weight of a registered vehicle from the central database To Government 1. More Transparent process
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2. 24*7*365 facility of royalty pass issuance
2. Automation of weight collection process for mining vehicles
2. Elimination of redundant processes
3. Significant reduction in 3. Real time registration of weight 3. Reduction in incidents of the time taken to fetch for each vehicle passing through illegal mining privy necessary details about the respective weighbridges. 4. Increase in mineral revenue various minerals due to 5. Reduction in the effort and availability of a central time spent to fetch database necessary information 6. Better administration
b.
Following manual and traditional Govt. services are converted into electronic mode to provide ease of use to CGMs stakeholders: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. c. Royalty & Other mineral concession collection Issuance of TPS (Triplicate Pass System) Return on mineral Semi Auto frame work for Demand Register transactions recording system Online new lease application for QL/ML/QP/PL/RP Monthly Progress Report Mineral Atlas information dissemination Registration of Mineral stockist / Weighbridges Delivery Challan establishment Implementation Coverage Figure 2
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Future plans: CGM plans to implement M-Pass system, where unique Royalty Pass number shall be sent to mobile of the vehicle driver through SMS. This MPass shall be used in lieu of paper based royalty pass. CGM also plans to have a command and control center for monitoring mining activities for Gujarat State.
2.
a. 1. 2.

Time and Cost Efficiency A leaseholder doesnt need to visit the district office regularly to get the challan signed to apply for Royalty Pass booklet and enquire about its status. A leaseholder can now get the royalty pass issued from the ATR webportal by depositing money in his bank which will be transferred to CGMs account on request Online Royalty Pass issuance system has resulted in considerable reduction in effort; cost and time spent by stakeholders to get a Royalty Pass issued Now a pass can be issued any time and print out can be taken in the mine itself Innovative Ideas Implemented Hand Held Terminal (HHT) Devices and Integrated Software To facilitate Leaseholder to avail Royalty pass for: Remote areas Low Connectivity Irregular Power supply
3. 4. b. 1.
2.
The software application for HHTs to communicate with the existing Web Portal Barcode Based Royalty Pass Validation Application To validate the authenticity of the royalty pass in field Integration of mobile devices with the server to enable the Flying Squad to verify authenticity of the Royalty Pass
461
3. c. 1.
Integration of weighbridges To allow the user to gather required data from the ILMS on entering the Royalty Pass Code To capture weighing scale data directly through serial port To read weighing scale data for automatic calculation of weight To generate weighing receipt and send real time data to central server Integration with Other Systems Weighbridge Integration: The system is able to capture the gross weight of vehicle from weighbridge, generate weighing receipt and send real time mineral weight data to central server. Integration with Legacy System in Leases: The special web service / DLL component is also developed to integrate with legacy system working in mineral industries.
2.

1.
a.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes Table 3
Front End Processes E-Payment
IT Enabled Process Money Transfer through RTGS / NEFT / Internet Banking Procedure through ones own bank Confirmation through Internet Accurate MIS is generated for all Transactions Real Time issuance of Royalty Pass through computerized web based system or HHT device Optimize cost and time saving Effective report mechanism for royalty pass issued Barcode based validation application Integration with Weighbridge/Stockist
Status (Implemented) Implemented
E-Royalty Pass
Implemented
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Timely Submission of online e-Return by leaseholder as per MCDR (Mineral Conservation & Development Rules) Integration with Demand Register Statistical Report Generation Online Submission of New Application Availability of Online Status of New Quarry/Mining Lease Application Information Dissemination GIS based Mineral Atlas Monthly Progress Report Implemented
E-Return
Online Lease Application Portal Development
Implemented Implemented
b.
Major non-ICT back end process changes Table 4
Back End Processes Removal of Challan Sign Process
Manual Process
Status Successfully Replaced by e-payment
Lessee had to get Challan from District Office Get Signature and Stamp on the Challan Pay the Royalty/Other amount to designated bank Royalty pass Present the Paid Challan/Note down the stamping/validation Challan details in manual register Issue the Royalty pass - serial number wise Stamping on each page of Royalty Pass Book by CGM officials Manual checking of parameters of royalty Pass by CGM officials Monthly return Monthly Return forms (J,F9,F3,F8) submitted on simple paper (typed or handwritten) New lease Physical Submission of New Quarry/Mining application Lease Application Manual Tracking of Status of Application Demand register Manual entry of various information transaction recording Difficult to calculate the interest / royalty system difference, adjustment of various dues etc. into manual demand register Tough task to carry forward all entries / calculations month-wise
Partially Replaced by e-royalty pass
Successfully Replaced by e- return Successfully Replaced by online form submission Partially Replaced by online semi auto generated demand register
2.
a.

463
Figure 3
b.
Training -Plan and Status Table 5
Training On
Internal
External
Participants Imparted By 300 Outsourced
Status Planned
General IT District Staff Awareness and Refresher training on use of the system Royalty Pass System District Staff E-Payment System E-Return System Weigh Bridge System Stockist Management Demand Register District Staff District Staff District Staff
Leaseholders 1000 Leaseholders 1000 Leaseholders 750 Weighbridge Owners 250 100
(n)Code Bank Officials and (n)Code (n)Code (n)Code (n)Code (n)Code
Implemented Implemented Implemented Implemented
Implemented Implemented
District Staff
250
c. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Change Management strategy All changes are requested through a predefined format Log sheet of the same is maintained as per predefined format The feasibility of each change is identified The prior approval is sought to bring in change Any change made is communicated to CGM through official email/hardcopy and the acknowledgement is obtained
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d.
CGM is a State Government organization. This IT initiative was encouraged by the Honable Chief Minister and subsequent Ministry, Secretariat and Commissionarate officials for the benefit of Geology & Mining stakeholders. Various Industries and Mineral Association have proactively participated for this e-Governance initiative. Moreover, the Central Ministry of Mines has directed other State Governments to adopt the same solution implemented in Gujarat. The Govt. of Karnataka has already taken initiative in adopting the solution such as ePermit system for transportation of Iron Ore minerals. e. Financial Model
State Government has made IT budget provision for project implementation on turnkey basis for conceptualization of e-services, software development, Hardware provision, Network infrastructure management, Post implementation support etc. to successfully implement the project. For weighbridge integration, (n)Code shall adopt PPP model, in which it shall deploy the software at weighbridges at its cost and charge lorry or leaseholders on per weighment basis.
3.
a. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. b.
Technology
Strategy for Disaster Recovery and Continuity Application and Database servers hosted in clustered and load-balancing environment, to provide for fail-over and performance Transactional Replication of Database to enable service continuity in case of database server crash Redundant internet bandwidth to ensure disaster recovery in case of bandwidth failure Link load balancing to ensure business continuity in case of bandwidth failure Periodic backups of database, application files and configurations Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
Cost of Ownership: Approx. INR 3 Crores (Capital Cost: IT Hardware Procurement, Development of Integrated Webportal) (Operating Cost: Application Hosting, Management and IT Services)
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Technological Solution Adopted: The project has been built on 3-tier architecture. There is a presentation tier, which provides the front end for the site. Theres a business logic tier, which handles several tasks including authentication, authorization and workflow management. Lastly, there is a database tier, which is used to read and write the data from its database. The business logic has been kept separate from the presentation logic by design. This makes the system more scalable allowing new departments to be incorporated into the system. All workflow and navigation code have been abstracted from the user interface for achieving this. Maintenance Model: A proactive approach is taken at various stages of application lifecycle. Four approaches are used to ensure an efficient and allencompassing maintenance model: 1. Preventive approach is taken in restructuring, revitalizing, and rewriting code for better maintainability, to avoid future problems based upon past incidents, for anticipation, feedback and continuous improvement, Perfective approach is taken to add functionality (new modules, new reports) and to improve performance, Adaptive approach is taken for modification to keep application usable in a changed or changing business or technical environments, and Corrective approach is taken for reactive modification to correct discovered problems, bug fixing.
2. 3. 4.
Compliance to NeGP Standards

1. Open Standards: The application adopts XML based message exchange through SOAP Web Services. The web services can be used for data exchange and process automations through other application, based on access privileges and business rules. This ensures that the data is not contained in a silo. Localization Standards: The application inherently supports UNICODE format for fonts and designed keeping multi-language support and localization in mind.
2.
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3.
Digital Signatures and Interoperability: The application inherently supports x.509 Digital Signature Certificates. Use of standards web service allows future integration with SSDG (State Service Delivery gateway) and NSDG (National Service Delivery Gateway). Security and Compliance Standards Authentication And Authorization Strong and configurable password policies Secure password recovery mechanism Role based access privileges Encryption Strong encryption for sensitive data including configurations IT Act 2000 And X.509 Digital Signature Certificates Infrastructure is housed in an IT Act 2000 Compliant Tier IV datacenter. The infrastructure is by design equipped for physical as well as logical security, redundancy, and disaster recovery and business continuity. Wherever required, X.509 Digital Signature Certificates are incorporated to ensure privacy, authenticity, integrity and Non-Repudiation of content. OWASP The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is a 501c3 notfor-profit worldwide charitable organization focused on improving the security of application software. OWASP releases common security threats to software applications. Enough security measures are in place to protect against these threats. These measures are tested against at regular intervals to ensure they are still effective.
c. 1.
2. 3.
4.
Shri. Vinay Vyasa, Commissioner, Geology and Mining, Industries and Mines Department, commi_geomine@gujarat.gov.in and Shri. Jagdeep S Kochar, Executive Director, (n) Code Solutions, jskochar@ncode-solutions.com; URL of the project: http:/ /www.cgm.ncode.in
Maharashtra Plan Schemes Information Management System MPSIMS
467
CHAPTER 37
Maharashtra Plan Schemes Information Management System MPSIMS*

Shri S J Kunte and Smt S M Aparajit
I) Overview
The Planning Department, Govt. of Maharashtra (GoM) is responsible for formulation of Five Year Plan (FYP) and Annual Plan (AP) of the State as per the guidelines of the Planning Commission, Govt. of India. The FYP and APs are required to be prepared so as to address developmental issues of the State as a whole. The plan size is around Rs. Forty thousand crore. There are approximately 1,100 state level schemes and 800 district level schemes through which developmental issues are addressed by the State. The plan process is complex in nature as the demands for the funds are very high on one side and on other side the resources are limited. The draft plan prepared by the state is required to be submitted to the Planning Commission for approval. After approval the plan is implemented by the line departments of the state and districts. The implementation of the plan is also required to be monitored by the Planning Dept. To address the complexities of the plan process and achieve transparency, the Planning Dept., GoM, took an initiative to develop and implement Maharashtra Plan Schemes Information Management System (MPSIMS) using the IT infrastructure of Directorate of Economics and Statistics. The computerization of the plan process is a pioneering effort in India. The project is G2G, G2C covering all the districts. The mandatory reports as prescribed by the Planning Commission (Vol. III & IV) were generated through MPSIMS in
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Widening e-Governance Canvas :
English and local language Marathi without manual interventions. We feel that the efforts of the Planning Dept. in conceiving and successful implementation of MPSIMS, certainly deserve award in the Project Category. The details of the project are submitted herewith. After independence, the Government of India has adopted a policy of framing Five Year Plan to address the developmental issues. The Planning Department, Government of Maharashtra is responsible for formulation of Five Year Plan and Annual Plan for the State and monitoring thereof. Strategically, the Government of India has identified 13 sectors of development viz. Agriculture & Allied Activities, Rural Development, Special Area Development, Irrigation & Flood Control, Energy, Industry & Minerals, Transport, Communication, Science, Technology & Environment, General Economic Services, Social & Community Services, General Services and Other Programmes. Each sector has sub-sectors and under each sub-sector various schemes are conceived, formulated and implemented by the State Government. The Annual Plan for the year 2009-10 and 2010-11 was Rs.38,153 crore and Rs. 37,916 crore respectively, while for 2011-12 it is of Rs. 41,500 crore. Looking at the administrative convenience in the State, there are 43 departments which are responsible for implementation of the plan through planned schemes. The State Plan is classified as a General Plan, Tribal Sub Plan and Special Component Sub Plan. Further, State Plan is also classified as State Plan and District Plan. Approximately, the District Plan is 10 to 15 per cent of the total State Plan. Every year, considering the resource estimates for the next financial year, the draft plan is prepared by the Planning Department and the same is submitted to the Planning Commission for approval. The whole process of departmentwise, schemewise, sectorwise planning is complex in nature. A care is also required to be taken to address the developmental issues over the geography of the State. The whole process was manually done by the Planning Department involving lot of manpower & time. The manual system had inherent lacuna of integration with computerised Budget Distribution System developed by Finance Department. This often resulted in mismatch of the outlays provided by the Planning Department and the amount budgeted by the line departments. In addition to this, financial monitoring could not be done using the Budget Distribution System (BDS) expenditure data.
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In view of the above, the Planning Department decided to use IT infrastructure available with its subordinate office i.e. Directorate of Economics & Statistics to develop sophisticated system for plan formulation and monitoring. A project Maharashtra Plan Schemes Information Management System (MPSIMS) (http:// mahades.maharashtra.gov.in/MPSIMS) was conceived. At the fag end of 2008-09 it was decided to computerize the plan process in a modular manner on rapid prototype model. Initially, it was decided to computerize some part of the plan formulation process for the year 2009-10. Accordingly limited modules for capturing demands of various departments / districts and plan allocation module were developed so that whole plan documents as per prescribed formats of Planning Commission can be generated in English and local language Marathi. This module was successfully implemented in 2009-10 and the draft plan was submitted to the State Assembly and the Planning Commission for approval. Subsequently, the process was revisited to have robust database, better user interface and to have various other modules. The details of the same are given in subsequent paragraphs.
Features of MPSIMS
MP-SIMS software is a web enabled centralized planning tool to strengthen planning process being pursued by various state level departments and District Planning Committees (DPC) leading to consolidation of state plan through interactive workflow. MPSIMS enables Planning Department to capture demand of funds from various departments, allocation of funds to the departments as per availability of resources (funds). The funds (outlays) are given to the departments and are further distributed at scheme and work level. Plan funds so made available to the departments are broadly used for following purposes: 1. 2. Creation of infrastructure like roads, dams, hospitals, schools, etc. Providing benefits to various categories of citizens e.g. backward community, senior citizens, disabled, handicaps etc. 3. Providing services established for seamless execution of the schemes. The MP - SIMS features are detailed below:
Functionality aspects of MPSIMS 1.
Profile creation
Scheme information Plan type, sector, subsector, Scheme description, nature of scheme, Implementing agency, Coverage area, GR details.
MP-SIMS enables various departments to create scheme profile. The profile consists of
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2.
Component of expenditure CRC (Cross Reference Code), source of funding, object code (objects of expenditure). Expected physical output vis--vis financial inputs Target and unit of measurement Impact of the scheme on Education, Health, Income generation, women & child. Upload relevant Government Resolution Outlay Demand, Assessment and Allocation MP - SIMS helps all the Departments to demand funds prioritizing the schemes that have been identified for the plan year under consideration. The demand of funds is required to be raised under different types of statements as follows GN2 Financial details of all the funds GN3 Physical targets GN4 Financial details of Centrally sponsored / Assisted schemes GN5 - Financial details of Externally Aided projects GN6 - Financial details of projects supported/Aided by Domestic Financial Institutes Boardwise statutory development board wise distribution of outlay Naxal - outlay proposed for development of naxal affected area PPP & PSUProjects to be undertaken through public private partnership and by PSUs
3.
District Plan MP - SIMS facilitates consolidation and integration of all plan schemes in the district including General Plan, Special Component Sub Plan, Tribal Sub Plan & Other Tribal Sub Plan schemes and generate a consolidated District Plan. Other Important Modules Physical and financial performance Re-appropriation and re-allocation of outlay
4.
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5. 6.
Module to monitor receipts of funds from sources other than states own sources Supplementary demands. Integration with Budget Distribution System (BDS) MPSIMS is integrated with BDS for generating various reports required for financial monitoring. Report Generation MPSIMS enables to prepare categorywise reports by selecting sector, sub sector Scheme level, Department, Plan type, source of fund. The categories consist of reports like GN2, GN3, GN4, GN5, GN6, PPP, Boardwise, Naxal, Women & child, HDI etc. Report stimulating the planner to think in systematic planning process of the state rather than isolated department. Sector, Subsector wise summary reports. Set of Plan Document of the State as per directives of the Planning Commission. Dynamic home page for viewing & generating exceptional reports Ad-hoc reporting facility using SAS for prime users
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
Benefits Delivered: 1. G2G (Government to Government) - MPSIMS is browser based software with work flow management. All the line departments and the districts are given specific login/password for entering in to the plan process, for viewing completed & incomplete tasks, generation of reports, exclusive reports etc. G2C (Government to Citizen) At every stage in the Planning process, the Plan is readily available to the general public through web link www.mahades.maharashtra.gov.in . This helps in transparent plan preparation.
2.
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3.
MP - SIMS is an application that is developed to specifically meet the needs of the planning department of Maharashtra. It has simplified plan monitoring functioning of various administrative departments in Government of Maharashtra. The application also has to lend itself easily to additional goals of ensuring transparency in government operations, along with efficient record keeping. These objectives are achieved through the collection and assimilation of all attributes of all schemes in one place. Additionally, through the use of different role-based login credentials, MP - SIMS allows different officials at the state and district levels to administer and monitor relevant schemes. The application follows a modular design with each module (and sub-module) aligned to a broad functionality in the planning process of the state.
2.
a. 1.

Time and Cost Efficiency The plan document was generated through MPSIMS and printed volumes were submitted in the budgetary session of State Legislative Assembly within 48 hours. Physical and financial monitoring of plan schemes is now possible through MPSIMS. Assessment of cost efficiency over the manual system can not be compared as MPSIMS has addressed much wider issues than the manual system. Innovative Ideas Implemented MPSIMS is designed to enable states existing planning processes in such way that it can be effectively used by any other state within the country. Flexibility to add / remove functionalities and data based on the need of the governing officials and decision makers. Linking of physical performance to object of expenditure. Integration with Other Systems The MPSIMS has been integrated for plan monitoring purpose with the BDS developed by Finance Dept. of GoM.
2. 3. b. 1. 2. 3. c. 1.
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1.
a. 1.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes As stated above a limited module of demand assessment of outlays and allocation thereof was successfully implemented by eliminating manual process. The MPSIMS was revisited and various functionalities were incorporated without losing data. The list of various modules developed and implemented is already given under Functionality aspects of MPSIMS. The work-flow functionality of MPSIMS has streamlined manual process.
2.
2.
a. 1.

Project Management and Monitoring MPSIMS has been implemented using the IT infrastructure available with the DES. The EDP cell of the DES has been entrusted with the project management and project monitoring. The core team working on MPSIMS has imparted training to all the staff members of the EDP cell. Further all the stakeholders were imparted time to time training at Mantralaya. The district level officials were also trained at the respective Division level. The extensive training programme facilitated in successful implementation of MPSIMS in a short time. The EDP cell took active role in the change management with the formal understanding. The project is implemented under the guidance of Principal Secretary, Planning. The status of the development and implementation was continuously monitored by the Principal Secretary. Various reports generated through MPSIMS were submitted to the Planning SubCommittee, headed by Honble Chief Minister. The Chief Secretary also conducted series of meetings during 2010-11 for monitoring implementation of the state plan. Training -Plan and Status The IT infrastructure available with DES was used in development and
2.
3. 4.
b. 1.
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implementation of MPSIMS hence no cost was incurred in procurement of hardware or softwares. As a development model is collaborative system design and implementation issues were addressed by EDP staff of DES. The JAVA programmers were hired from M/s Blue Star Informatics Limited on manmonth rate basis. The IPR of the system is with the Govt. of Maharshtra.
3.
a.
Technology
It may be kindly noted that the DES has undertaken technology upgradation project in the year 2007-08 on the lines of e-Gov policy of Govt. of Maharashtra. As such it was envisaged that the servers procured for the DES project shall be hosted in the common server farm / data centre. The IT dept. of Govt. of Maharashtra has already taken IT security measures for access. The data centre of the state is expected to commence shortly and the servers used for MPSIMS and DES project will be relocated in this upcoming data centre which will have the disaster recovery site. In the meantime complete back-up of servers is being taken on weekly basis using two sets of magnetic tapes. One set is kept at M/s BSIL developmental centre and one set is kept at EDP centre of DES. An incremental back-up is also taken everyday. Complete mirroring of the system has been done at M/s BSIL office which is having technical expertise for recovery and it is a part of the contract with M/s BSIL. b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
The project is in confirmation with the guidelines issued by IT dept. of Govt. of Maharashtra. MPSIMS is an augmentation of DES computerization project for which M/s BSIL has been appointed as a Turn Key Solution Provider for a period of five years. This appointment is on TCO model. c. Security and Compliance Standards
The servers are hosted behind the IT security arrangements made by the IT department of Govt. of Maharashtra. The MPSIMS is developed on three tier architecture. The stakeholders have been given specific login and passwords which are encrypted.
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1. eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor The stakeholders of MPSIMS are mostly government departments and district level offices. Sufficient training has been imparted for the usage of MPSIMS. The home page of MPSIMS is dynamic and available to the public at large.
2.
eWaste
As no hardware / software were separately procured for MPSIMS, therefore, the question of addressing e-waste issues under this project does not arise. Shri S.J.Kunte, IAS, Principal Secretary, Planning Department, Government of Maharashtra, sec_planning@maharashtra.gov.in and Smt S. M. Aparajit, Director, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra, email: edp.des@hotmail.com; URL : http://plan.maharashtra.gov.in/index.php
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CHAPTER 38

Shri Shreekant Deshpande and Shri Balakrishnan Nair
I) Overview
In recent years, governments across the world have been investing considerable resources in applying ICT tools to transform the way in which public services to citizens and enterprises are delivered. This wave has been popularly known as eGovernance. There was a time when even availing simple services from the government was a task fraught with delays, long queues and inconvenience. Whether it was getting copies of Land Records, applying for a vehicle registration or driving license, getting Stamp papers or Court fee stamps, or applying for benefits under social services schemes such as pensions, it would usually take days or even months to get the paperwork and files moving and actually get the job done. Today, however, it has become a breeze to do many of these tasks, without the hassle of standing in serpentine queues, in uncomfortable conditions. At the heart of Indias national eGovernance strategy, in fact lies the NeGP, which has a vision of taking public services closer to the common man both in urban and rural India at affordable costs. NeGP is a multi-stakeholder program which primarily focuses on making critical public services and information available, empowering the citizen at the grass roots level and promoting rural entrepreneurship. It marks a paradigm shift from a government-centric and processcentric, to a citizen-centric approach. Clearly, eGovernance is gaining considerable
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momentum in India, with several high impact projects being implemented in both Government-to-Citizen (G2C) and Government-to-Business (G2B) domains, across central ministries and state departments. eGovernance is being increasingly viewed as an enabler and facilitator of good governance, where the scope of good governance includes attributes such as a service-centric approach, citizen-centricity, anytime, anywhere delivery of services, integrated delivery of services, focus on outcomes, accountability, promoting right to information, inclusion of disadvantaged communities and a focus on awareness and communications. To translate these values into operational terms, there is a need of a methodology to ensure that eGovernance systems adequately reflect user centric quality characteristics, which has necessitated this project. Government Receipt Accounting System (GRAS) is a secure web application which provides a facility to the Citizens, Business Community to pay taxes / non tax receipts to the Government of Maharashtra electronically. Using Banks internet payment gateways citizens can pay their taxes / non tax receipts at any point of time and from any location. The facility is available on a 24 / 7 basis. It is a G2C, G2B, G2G and G2E initiative of the Government of Maharashtra. It is the first Virtual Treasury established in the country. The jurisdiction of the Virtual Treasury is across the state whereas in the case of the Physical Treasury it is restricted to a geographical location. Effort has been made to convert the entire manual process of Government Payment right from the payer selecting and making his own data entry for preparing the receipt, making the payment, Fund Transfer, Accounting, Reconciliation, generating and submitting receipt reports electronically. Its a complete end to end solution! Finance Department (FD), Government of Maharashtra, has decided to receive its tax and non-tax revenue receipts electronically. For this purpose the State Government has established a new treasury called Virtual Treasury which dedicatedly handles all the online transactions across state centrally. The transactions take place through a web-portal named as Government Receipt Accounting System (GRAS) i.e. https://gras.mahakosh.gov.in
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ePayment is a mode of payment in addition to the conventional methods of payment offered by the Government of Maharashtra. GRAS has been integrated with the independent payment gateways of participating banks. This mode of payment is offered by the banks under specific security norms of Reserve Bank of India. It provides the convenience of making online payment of any of Maharashtra State Government Tax/Non Tax Payments through Banks Internet banking service. The existing procedures of the executive and accounting agencies of the Government Departments can easily continue with this system as an alternate channel of receiving government receipts This scheme facilitates anytime, anywhere payment and an instant on-line payment receipt is generated once the transaction is complete. The department users can Deface the Receipt once the service is given. Electronic accounting, electronic reconciliation of Receipts are the major strengths of the System. One of the biggest strengths can also be noted as liquid fund availability to RBI/ government on T+1 basis which helps the government to predict the Cash Flows and adjust the liquidity or overdraft positioning of the State Government Funds. No transaction cost or any other cost to be borne by the payer or the Government Features: 1. To avail of this facility the taxpayer is required to have an Internet-banking enabled account with any of the banks listed by the government on this site. This is a 24x7 facility and citizen can make the State Government Tax/Non Tax payments any time of the day. On-Line Filling of single challan form facilitates minimum fields of the challan to be filled. Instant online receipts for payment made and instant online banks transaction number becomes available. One can pay personal taxes as well as on behalf of the firm, company and others. Payment Timing: All payments effected up to 20.00PM will be accounted for the day itself and all payments effected after 20.00PM will be accounted as next working days receipt.
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2.
Advantages: Ease of operation and convenience Facility is available on 24x7 basis One can pay on behalf of the firm, company and others On-line payment of taxes (No more queues and waiting) On-line filling of single challan form Minimum fields of the challan need to be filled. Most of the fields are populated automatically. Selection of appropriate tax-type from drop-down menu Instant online receipts for payment made Instant online receipt with banks transaction number becomes available The existing manual tax accounting system requires the taxpayer to file three copies of challan. But, E-Challan would require a single challan for payment of any state government tax. It would cover all the essential information required from the assessee in relation to his tax payments. Online reconciliation of receipts Real-time accurate receipt data availability on central portal
3.
Value proposition for the project:
Goals/Objectives to remove the hurdles in the existing system of payments to the Government: Physical visit to the Treasury, Treasury bank or respective Department mandatory: Before the system was implemented the physical visit to the treasury or to the treasury bank or to the respective department was a necessity. In order to make payment to the government it is necessary, get the Challan verified by the govt official even for the regular periodic payments Manual system of payments with loopholes and prone to mistakes, misappropriations and frauds: The manual system of payments is subjective and prone to human mistakes and misappropriations and frauds
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Too much of manpower deployment: In the manual system of payments there was a huge need of manpower like cashiers and accounts clerks and related staff. In the new system this has been reduced.
Proof of Payment i.e. Receipts misplaced or worn out or damaged: The payment receipts are prone to get damaged with the passage of time, getting misplaced or worn out due to mishandling, leading hurdles in establishing the proof of payment, claiming refunds etc.
Single Receipt format for the Entire State: Before deployment there were around 100-150 different Challan formats used by the various government departments for accepting payments and it was very inconvenient for people to get access to the specific formats for paying the receipts
Single Electronic Receipt Scroll format for the State: Since the process of computerisation started; the various departments of government started inventing their own systems to suit to their requirements; this made the interdepartmental data exchange nearly impossible due to the use of various technological platforms
Establishing the Points of Collection for the User Departments: The governments receipt collection was distributed and there was no common platform to compare the receipts collected at one place and in one goes.
Immediate Credits to the Government Account: One of the biggest strengths of the system is the liquid fund availability to RBI/government on T+1 basis, also the system helps the government to predict the Cash Flows and adjust the liquidity or overdraft positioning of the State Government Funds.
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1.
a. 1.
Key Performance
Service Delivered (G2C,G2B,G2G,G2E) with benefits For Citizens: (Government To Citizens) One Single Government Portal wherein the citizen can pay any type of Tax/Non Tax Payment to the Government of Maharashtra Ease of payment to the citizens, 24x7 ability to pay Saving in travel time, travel expenses No more queues to pay government payments Payment from home, Anytime, Anywhere! The Electronic proof of payment i.e. Government Receipt available online for minimum of 5 years Quicker Services from the government Departments Savings in Paper work Replacement of Court Fees stamps in High Court and District Courts with e-challan.
2.
For Business: (Government to Business) One single portal where all types of taxes can be paid No need to carry huge currency avoiding risks in cash handling, thefts etc No need to visit government offices for routine payments Faster service delivery Hassle free permits and licences Savings on the paperwork
3.
For Government departments: (Government to Government) One single portal wherein all the government Receipts can be accessed
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b.
Instant Verification of receipts with the Banks Less people to handle cash transactions at the counters Less manual work for receipts, less no. of registers to maintain, less no. of counterfoils to maintain Less paper work Less manpower requirement; the manpower can be deployed in more productive works Real-time online accurate data of the receipts available to the government departments Effortless reconciliation of Receipts with Banks and Accountant General Immediate Credit of Funds facilitates liquidity Predictability of Funds Flow position or Overdraft positioning Defacement of Challan after service is provided Avoidance of inappropriate Re-use of Challan
The System has been implemented for the following Departments RTO, Excise, and IGR, High Court, District Courts. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. In the RTO department, New Registration Payments by the dealers is routed through the online mode In Excise Department, the excise duty and other taxes can be paid online In the IGR department, the stamp duty and registration fees can be paid online In the High Court and the district courts e-Challan has been enacted as a replacement of stamp court fees. In department of Co-operation, Marketing and Textiles, the repayment of loans can be made online
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6. 7. c.
In Food and Drugs Administration department, the drugs licence or renewal fees can be paid online In the DAT, the interest payments for delayed remittances to the Virtual Treasury can be paid online. Implementation Coverage
Department Wise No. of Offices which receive Receipts through GRAS so far is as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Virtual Treasury Office (For entire Maharashtra ) RTO All RTO offices in the Maharashtra State Covered (45) Excise 45 Offices across the State IGR 56 Offices across the State Courts High Court all 3 benches (9 Courts) District Court (9 Courts) Department of Co-operation, Marketing and Textiles (For entire Maharashtra) Food and Drugs Administration (9 Offices) Directorate of Accounts and Treasuries (35 Offices) Total Offices Covered at Present 210 From 01/04/2010 to 20/08/2011 Total Revenue collected so far - 2100 crores Challans Generated 50000 No. of Users: Virtual Treasury Officer 1 Admin Virtual Treasury Officer 1 Departmental Users 185 Registered Users 2736
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Widening e-Governance Canvas Guest Users 1 Bank Users 5 Treasury Officer 34 Total 2961
12.
Banks All the Nationalised Banks to be integrated with GRAS SBI and its subsidiary banks will be integrated in one months time Punjab National Bank will be integrated in one months time
13.
Payment Gateway To Internet GRAS with Payment Gateways to accept payments using Debit Cards, Credit Cards
Stakeholders: 1. The Virtual Treasury, an independent treasury of the State of Maharashtra administers the overall functioning of the application Can view all the electronic receipts, verify payments, accepts the scroll data electronically, review the Defaced Challans after service is given to the tax payer/refund is processed, gets the bank reconciliation done electronically, gets RBI receipt reconciliation done electronically, gets the MIS reports, and gives reconciled downloadable data to the user departments
2.
The User Departments- Departments of the State Government-(IGR, Excise, RTO, High Court, District Courts, FDA, DCM) Can view their respective receipts, verify payments, Deface the Challan after service is given to the tax payer/refund is processed, gets the MIS reports, gets downloadable data, dont need to worry about the receipt reconciliations with banks and treasury
3.
The RBI The apex bank for handling the entire receipts of the State has been reduced with the Transaction burden, for RBI its single transaction for one bank per day
4.
The Participating banks-
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GRAS has been integrated with the following participating banks namely, Bank of Baroda (BOB), Bank of India (BOI), Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and Union Bank of India (UBI) who can now accept government revenue.
5.
The Accountant General The accountant General can now accept the receipt data electronically
2.
a.

Procedure Payee gets Challan authorized by Department Payee makes Payment Across the Bank Counter Bank confirmation of Payment Agency Bank Remitting Funds to RBI Scroll Submission by banks to Treasury
Actual Time Taken at Treasury 1 Day 1-2 days Cash- Same Day Cheque/DD- 7-15 days Standard decided T+3 for local & T+5 for outside (actual time taken varies) Standard decided- Next working Day (Actual time taken +30 days in many cases) 4 2 days Approximately Rs.300 1% approx. Yes
Actual Time Taken at GRAS Virtual Treasury Immediate 5 Minutes max Immediate, on the spot Standard decided T+1 (Including Put Through Date) Standard decided- Next working Day electronically
Trips to various offices (bank, Government office, treasury) Loss of wages of user Remittance Cost involved per transaction Mistakes in transaction Requirement of payment of non-formal charges for speedy service
2 Nil Nil 0% No
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b. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Integration with Other Systems Integration with Bank of India payment Gateway Integration with Bank of Baroda payment Gateway Integration with Indian Overseas Bank payment Gateway Integration with Industrial Development Bank of India payment Gateway Integration with Union Bank of India payment Gateway Integration with the SARITA software for the IGR department Integration with the VAHAN software for Transport/RTO department Integration with the High Court software Integration with the District Courts software
Figure 1: Workflow
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1.
a. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Processes
Major non-ICT front end process changes Single Challan format across the State, across the departments Single e-scroll format i.e. reporting from the banks to the Government across the State Electronic Scroll from the RBI Process definition of ePayment or eChallan for the State Process definition and electronic Data Transfer to the Accountant General Figure 2: Post-Deployment Workflow
Payee
Prepares Challan GRAS Portal
Participating Banks
Fund Transfer
RBI
Uploading Daily Scroll & DMS T+1
Uploading Daily Scroll & DMS T+1
Virtual Treasury
Error Reporting
Electronic Reconciliation (Bank Scroll vs RBI Scroll)
Error Reporting
Electronic Reconciliation (Bank Scroll vs. System
Uploading Daily Scroll & DMS
Account Generation & submission to AG Electronically
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b. 1.
Major non-ICT back end process changes In High Court and District Courts Processes have to change to accept e-challan as replacement of Court Fees stamps -Planned and Implemented
2.
In Transport Department Process flow changes in RTO to accept e-Challans Planned and Implemented
3.
In IGR Department Processes have to change to accept e-challan as replacement for Registration fees Process to accept eStamping receipts through eChallan Planned and Implemented
2.
a.

Project Management and Monitoring 1. 2. Fully Owned and Managed by the Virtual Treasury, DAT, Finance Department, Government of Maharashtra in Collaboration with National Informatics Centre, Government of India Pune Fully Managed by the Virtual Treasury, DAT, Finance Department, Government of Maharashtra in Collaboration with National Informatics Centre, Government of India Pune Fully Managed by the Virtual Treasury, DAT, Finance Department, Government of Maharashtra in Collaboration with National Informatics Centre, Government of India Pune
b.
Training -Plan and Status 1. 2.
c.
Change Management strategy 1. 2.
d.
Bureaucratic Support from Finance Secretary, Secretary IT, Director-Directorate of Accounts and Treasuries and from Various Secretaries and Commissioners of Different Departments and National Informatics Centre
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e.
Financial Model 1. 2. Entire Project is Funded by Government of Maharashtra No Cost to Citizens / Business Community for the services on GRAS site.
3.
a.
Technology
The system has been hosted on a professional Data Centre with Load Balancer and Multiple Web Servers and Database Servers with Proper Backup Mechanisms with proper DC and DR sites. Data Centre is in Mumbai and the Disaster Recovery Site is at Hyderabad. b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. c. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Web Based Architecture Operating System RHL 5.5 (Red Hat Linux) Web Server Apache Database DB2 9.7 Source Code PHP 5.3 Source Code Encryption - Zen guard 5.5 Digital Signature SSL Certificate Extended SSL Certificate (Green Bar) Encryption of sensitive, Critical Data in Database Encryption of Source Code Periodical Functional Testing Periodical Security Testing Performance Testing Periodical Penetration Testing Periodical Vulnerability Testing- All carried out through certain empanelled agencies Use of Digital Signatures for Uploads/Downloads
Security and Compliance Standards
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9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
Use of Digital Signatures for critical functions like Refunds Use of Digital Signature for document signing and reports Hosting at the Professional data centre with proper agreements Extensive use of SSL layer over the Network Periodic Drills of DC to DR.
Shri Shreekant Deshpande, Secretary, Accounts and Treasuries, Finance Department, Government of Maharashtra, secretary@mahakosh.in and Shri Balakrishnan Nair, Scientist D (Principal Systems Analyst), National Informatics Centre, bk.nair@nic.in
SEVAARTH (SEVA+ARTH): A Web based...
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CHAPTER 39
SEVAARTH (SEVA+ARTH) A Web based Integrated Package of Personnel Information and Pay Roll
Shri. Sunil Vyas
I) Overview
Sevaarth is a centralized web based, integrated system of Personnel Information & Payroll, developed by NIC, Pune for Govt. of Maharashtra. It is an important component of IFMS (Integrated Finance Management System) with data exchange with other modules of IFMS, namely TreasuryNET and BEAMS (Budget Expenditure & Monitoring System). It is the first step in the direction of achieving paperless Electronic Payroll System i.e., paybill generation, electronic submission, electronic audit and electronic payment to the employees. Maharashtra is a large state having 693 Controlling officers spread over 35 districts and 310 talukas and 12,506 Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs), out of which 5,964 DDOs are at tehsil level. The Sevaarth system has been running smoothly for quite sometime now, which is indeed a creditable achievement considering the magnitude and complexity involved. Now, a central database of employees and posts is available for ad hoc queries for decision making.
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Similarly, a provision to incorporate UID number into the database which will enable the State Government to analyse and use the data recorded in UID, especially for making e payment to the employees directly into their accounts. Considering the above factors and the future plans the State Government has in ensuring various MIS reports and paperless system, it is felt that this system is one of its kind and hence most eligible for the Award. In the Government SEVAARTH plays an important part in maintaining personnel information and payment history. SEVAARTH, which consists of two components: 1) SEVA meaning personal and service details of employees and 2) ARTH meaning personal payments made to the employees, helps in keeping basic record of employees as well as in generating pay and other bills relating to personnel of various departments. With the increase in the number of employees over the years, the Government of Maharashtra was finding it difficult to have a centralized information base of all employees, as also to generate pay bills manually after incorporating all the changes and pay employees on time. Thus a need was felt to introduce computerization to achieve both the objectives. However, non availability of connectivity to all government offices, which are located in far flung areas of Maharashtra, posed a major problem. Therefore, a model was evolved wherein the original data was posted to a central server and an offline utility for pay bill generation was given to the user offices. It was envisaged that the updated information available offline would be transferred to the central server so that the data is updated. However, although many offices started using this version, it was experienced that updation to the central server was not being done regularly. This experience led the Government to look at alternatives and the one which is currently in place was devised with a central server model, wherein all the offices work online.
The Goals set out for Sevaarth were :

1. To have a centralized employee database which can be used to build eService Book and facilitate online generation of pay bills and other employee related bills. To build a database of various offices, government quarters and DDOs. To create an effective MIS for use of various departments of the government and the Accountant General.
2. 3.
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SEVAARTH was designed with the following sub-objectives : 1. 2. It should be possible to quickly & accurately gather personnel data for all the government offices in the State. The prevalent system of incorporating changes manually and preparing different pay bills for different employees grouped under a scheme was to be eliminated and more effective controls were to be exercised over the expenditure. The system was to enable each Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) to prepare pay bills on time. Simultaneously, the system was to ensure all allowances and all deductions were made correctly and accurately. The system was also required to provide a statewide information system to monitor various aspects of the personnel system thereby ensuring financial discipline & correct decision-making. The system was designed to avoid manual labour required for preparation of monthly and other pay bills, thereby reducing the time and energy. Another objective was to build a credible system to capture the bank details of the offices as well as employees so that the system to transfer funds electronically could be put in place. Finally, the system was to provide a transparent and open information system for the use of various offices, departments and other entities as well as the common citizens to know the information about various offices, etc. Due to more accurate information being available, better decision-making and control was to become possible at the level of the Cabinet, Ministers and each and every tier of the government. To provide a facility to individual employees to access the system to view their own data/profile. To provide a transparent tool to common citizens to monitor how much money government is spending on pay and allowances from their tax money.
3. 4. 5.
6. 7.
8.
9.
10. 11.
In order to be effective and to achieve the desired results, the system had to be implemented simultaneously in the whole state, and cover, to the extent possible, all the offices in the shortest possible time.
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Sevaarth has already covered 11,525 (93%) of the DDOs with data of nearly 5.49 lakh employees out of a total of around 7.5 lakh employees. Online pay bill is regularly being generated for around 4.42 lakh employees. Now, a central database of employees and posts is available for ad hoc queries for decision making. Stakeholders of the System are DDO, Treasuries Finance Department, Heads of all Departments, Accountant General, SRKA, Employees.
II)
1.
a.
Result Indicators
Key Performance
The services delivered under Sevaarth use the ICT to bring benefits to various government offices. Hence the services rendered fall in the category G to G. The Finance department, GoM is channelizing its efforts to integrate finance & accounting operations. SEVAARTH is a part of forthcoming integrated financial management system (IFMS). It is recognized as the drawing & disbursing officers module. It is planned to replace the physical bill with the e-bill. This shall eliminate the need for all preprinted stationery and pave the way for paperless bills. The detailed bills will only be available in electronic form while the summary change statement can be printed and signed by the DDO before it is submitted by him to the PAO/Treasury. Of course, this module is not presently available. However, the Government is planning to move toward this direction. SEVAARTH caters to the needs of all users as user friendly online up to date MIS is available. There are various readymade reports displayed on the click of a button. The effective MIS supports decision making process, tracking of expenditure, generation of pay bills, etc. However, it is planned to create various MIS reports for different authorities in the Government. This will be taken up in near future. SEVAARTH has facilitated a momentous improvement in the personnel information system. The departments/offices are able to save huge amounts of
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time that was spent earlier in generation of pay bills. With saving in time and consequently the manpower, they can now focus on developmental activities. Maharashtra is a large State having 30 Administrative Departments, 693 Controlling officers spread over 35 districts and 310 talukas and 12,506 Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs), out of which 5,964 DDOs are at tehsil level. Sevaarth has already covered 11,525 (93% of the DDOs) with data of nearly 5.49 lakh employees out of a total of around 7.5 lakh employees. Online pay bill is regularly being generated for around 4.42 lakh employees. The Sevaarth system has been running smoothly for more than a year. This is indeed a creditable achievement considering the magnitude and complexity involved.
2.
a.

The process of data entry and generation of pay bill has to be done by the DDO and his assistant. Therefore, every DDO has to participate and do his part of the process as otherwise he can not use the system effectively. Therefore, participation by every DDO has been ensured for the system to be used universally. Gradual training and handholding of DDOs has brought results. Sevaarth has re-engineered the whole process of monthly pay bill generation. It is a system which has simplified the complete cycle for making changes taking place during the month (e.g., transfer, promotion, demotion, increment, leave, absence, suspension etc.), updating information and generation of pay bills for establishments of various offices. It has put in place an effective management information system for the employee data, office details, bank details of office as well as employees and history of payments made to the employees. This system involves minimum of paperwork, yet is totally accurate & reliable. b. Innovative Ideas Implemented
The convenience of users has been the prime focus while designing and implementing the system. 1. SEVAARTH has effectively made use of Internet, it is available 24x7 on Internet (web), as well as through intranet. Thus it can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
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2.
Although the system uses on-line mode, an off line utility has been given to those DDOs who have relatively large number of employees on their establishments, e.g., Police, Health, etc. The DDO can make off line data entry as per his convenience and then upload the data to the central server in one go. It is recognized as the drawing & disbursing officers module in an Integrated Financial Management System. Separate facility for State level Administrator to create or update various Masters has been made available. Maintenance module has been provided for all the users. This module gives the user utilities for maintaining the system such as password related activities, resetting password, changing password etc, creation of assistant users, undoing transactions, logs of various transactions and users activities on the system. Effective grievance reprisal mechanism has been established which includes: Continuous monitoring of the system at apex level State level help desk in DAT, Finance Department is available Facility centers at treasuries & sub treasuries Integration with Other Systems
3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. c.
SEVAARTH has helped in improving communication across departments and created scope for integrating systems across the department. It is a project launched not only for automation, computerization or making use of technology but the project also emphasizes that various stakeholders such as Accountant General, treasuries, Drawing & Disbursing Officers can interact with each other and can share a common database. Centralised database at the State level, Integration of Payroll with PIS have been ensured through Sevaarth. Data entered in PIS (Transfers, Promotions, leaves etc. is automatically reflected in the Paybill generation. Service book gets automatically built up. The central database facilitates development of other related sub-systems around the main system (like Quarter Allotment system, Loan Bills,
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LTC bills, Employee Corner etc). Sevaarth achieves rule based pay bill calculation, which makes it easily replicable for other States. d. Integration with other External ICT Systems
Sevaarth has capacity to integrate with other systems of the Government used for different purposes. These systems are BEAMS (For Budget), TreasuryNET (Treasury Processes), DCPS (New Pension Scheme) etc.

1.
a.
Processes
Changes communicated through the coordinator from the Accounts & Treasuries Directorate to the NIC team leader. The team leader then gets the changes effected through contract programmers. Expertise of personnel (in technical matters) from NIC is often used for resolving technical issues. A massive program for training all the users of the system was launched. The simultaneous training and handholding for over 12,000 odd users spread over 35 districts and 302 talukas was a gigantic task. It was not enough just to arrange few classroom sessions & explain the whole system. The more important thing was giving hands on training in real environment. However it was a challenge considering the large number of users. The training was organized as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Apex level training sessions arranged at Mantralaya for Administrative departments periodically. Separate follow-up training sessions and Hands on Training sessions at Mantralaya & regional training centers. Regional level training at each region with continuous training every week on Friday at 6 regional places. Periodical trainings at each district by State level trainers. Special training arranged for DDOs and their assistants at Yashada, Pune. Special training sessions for High Court staff.
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Apart from this online training manual & presentations are available on the Internet and updated regularly so that the users can refer to them as and when required. There is a separate link provided for presentations and manuals. Simultaneously, it was decided to allow exemptions, concessions in certain cases initially wherever it was difficult to make system applicable due to either lack of certain features in the application software or due to technical/operational difficulties faced by the user. 1. 2. Enrichment of system by adding new features based on feedback from users: Additional Re-engineering: The next step was to add more and more features into the software. The implementation of the system coupled with continuous training sessions and effective feedback mechanism helped in adding various new features in the application. 3. Setting up of Facility centers: Despite the intensive training, the DDOs did face problem in using the system. Each office did not always have computers. There was a problem of power shortages due to which the computers did not work. Finally, connectivity provided by BSNL still leaves a lot to be desired. Also the constant up-gradation and new features that were added required a constant system to communicate new features to all concerned. Since all the DDOs have to come to the treasury to submit their bills and to pick up the cheques facility centers have been set up at each district treasury & sub treasury at taluka level. The facility centers provide infrastructure as well as handholding support to the users. Every facility center at district has been equipped with computers, printers, assured power supply and a broadband connection. Specially trained staff has been deployed at these facility centers. In addition qualified and trained personnel are deputed at each regional treasury by appointing staff on contract basis for handholding. 4. Sustainability of the initiative : The initiative has the backing of the High Power Committee of Maharashtra
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Govt. and is sustainable in view of the following :
2.
a.

Project Management and Monitoring 1. The technical support for software maintenance is being given by NIC. 2. Trainers training has been given by NIC. The officers of the Directorate of Accounts and Treasuries organize training programmes for DDOs regularly. 3. For the handholding and operational support to DDOs, staff has been hired on contract basis. 4. System is accessible on SWAN as well as Internet. 5. Broadband connectivity is available at most of the field offices. 6. Presently the coverage is more than 93% DDOs and proves the sustainability.
b.
Initially the idea was floated by the then Secretary (Information Technology), Government of Maharashtra. However, since the persons working under the Directorate of Accounts & Treasuries were much more e-literate, having already implemented Finance applications like Treasury Net and the above referred off line model, the task of co-ordinating the development of software for this purpose was assigned to the Finance Department of the Government with National Informatics Centre, Pune as the actual software developer. The Directorate of Accounts & Treasuries worked as the facilitator and gave domain knowledge. The Secretaries of the Finance Department working from time to time were instrumental in gearing up this activity by guiding, promoting and making available the required resources and infrastructure. c. Change Management strategy
The System has been developed in house, by involving NIC, Pune. The NIC has been doing the work of development of various software since a long time and
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without any charge. The only expenditure that had to be incurred is on technical infrastructure like severs, Hosting space, etc., and on the remuneration being paid to the programmers appointed on contract basis for development and handed over to the NIC. All the systems belonging to the Finance Department of the Government of Maharashtra (relating to the Directorate of Accounts & Treasuries) have been hosted in a managed environment of service provider.
3.
a.
Technology
As far as development of software is concerned, the NIC has used open source technology. Linux, Apache, PHP have been used. At the backend DB2 is used considering the technological advantages this software has as compared to other technologies. b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
The Finance Department, Government of Maharashtra has entered into contract with M/s Tata Communications Ltd., Mumbai for three years for managed hosting. All applications have been hosted in Data Centres of M/s TCL located at Mumbai and Hyderabad. Three systems including Sevaarth are hosted from Hyderabad as primary site (with DR site at Mumbai), whereas other four applications are running from Mumbai (with DC site at Hyderabad). The services under Managed Hosting conform to the standard necessary specifications prevalent in the industry. The process of selection of service provider was done through open tender process. The total value of contract is Rs.9.5 Crore. Ofcourse the Finance Department has hosted all seven applications apart fromSevaarth. It is ensured through the contract made in this behalf that all security measures are taken and all confidentiality standards maintained by M/s TCL. The compliance in this regard is scrutinized by qualified and trained personnel appointed by the Department of Information Technology. It has been agreed that M/s TCL will handover the whole set up to the Government of Maharashtra at the end of the contract period.
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The highlights of the system solution are 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Data is not shared with other organisations. Physical security of the server Server installed in well guarded premises of TCL data centre. Server behind TCL firewall. Only authorised and authentic users can access the system. Login with user id and password Role based access Data locking mechanism provided. After locking, data is updated through change module which logs all changes. Maker-Checker method used for approving changes.

1. 2. Digital Inclusion eParticipation
Since this is a system under G to G category, the users are government personnel. Each DDO has been assigned a specific 10 digit DDO Code. Also since the system is web based, each DDO has to work online. The system also provides utility for feedback. Shri. Sunil Vyas, Joint Director (Reforms), Finance Department, Government of Maharashtra, Directorate of Accounts and Treasuries, Maharashtra State, Mumbai, jd.reforms@mahakosh.in
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CHAPTER 40
Integrated Orissa Treasury Management System (iOTMS)*

Shri Patita Pawan Nath and Shri Siddhartha Das
I) Overview
Orissa Treasury Management System (iOTMS) which brought the process of Centralized Budget and Treasury Management System in Orissa has been revolutionary in the field of e-governance. iOTMS has incorporated several modules which have helped in smoothening the entire treasury functioning to a great extent. The main aim of e-governance, viz. transparency in the governing process, accuracy and accountability on the part of the officials, is ensured through iOTMS. Since the work flow in the treasury is entirely system-based, it has helped in ensuring accountability, responsibilities and transparency in the process through services like bill tracking facility, pending bill status, pension payment status, etc., These are monitored by the higher officials of the Directorate of Treasuries and Inspections since well as the Finance Department. The e-payment facility of iOTMS has greatly helped the taxpayers as well as the Government as it is hassle free. Besides this, the project also provides several crucial citizen-centric services like pension payment status, bill status, and challan query. iOTMS can be regarded as a bright instance of promoting e-governance in the state. It has now been a challenge for every Government to ensure that e-governance is delivered to its citizens through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Various projects have been undertaken in various fields by
Integrated Orissa Treasury Management System (iOTMS)
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different governments in this regard. One such important endeavor undertaken by Government of Orissa is the computerization treasury process. The history of treasury computerization dates back to 2007 with the launching of Orissa Treasury Management System (OTMS) in the entire state in association with Department for International Development (DFID). However, some serious limitations were experienced in OTMS. They were: 1. 2. The system was based on a distributed architecture due to which real time data was not available at the central location. Access to OTMS was restricted to the intranet users only.
These limitations led to the development of Integrated Orissa Treasury Management System (iOTMS). Unlike the existing system, the present system is based on a completely centralized architecture which maintaining data of all the 39 District/Special treasuries at central location in Bhubaneswar. The present system provides a tool to the Finance Department for budget forecasting on the expenditure, payments, etc. at a single click of the mouse. iOTMS makes available real time data without any time lag which is highly crucial for the financial management of the state. iOTMS is a web - enabled service which allows the users to access it from anywhere across the globe. Some of the crucial services provided by iOTMS includes e-budget distribution, online payment of commercial taxes, citizen services like bill status, challan query, pension payment status, etc. The users/stakeholders of the system as well as the objectives which iOTMS was expected to bring to them are described below in detail: 1. Officials of the Administrative Department (AD), the Controlling Officers (COs) and the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) and Divisional Officers : iOTMS is aimed at simplifying the system of budget allotment and making it more efficient. Unlike the previous system where the allotment was distributed manually, iOTMS allows the ADs to allot funds online to the COs who in turn distribute them to the DDOs. Officials of the Treasury : iOTMS was mainly developed to benefit the treasury officials. The aim was to reduce the frequency of delay of submission of accounts and to bring accuracy in account compilation.
2.
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3.
Pensioners drawing their pension from the treasury : For the pensioners, it was expected that the project would help in providing various crucial services like pension payment status, pension slip generation, etc. It was also expected that since the entire process of treasury functioning would be simplified, the passing of pension bill and subsequent payment of pension would be less time consuming compared to the existing system. Taxpayers (commercial taxes in particular) : iOTMS expected to help the taxpayer in paying the taxes without much hassles which would be in turn beneficial to the government as well. The e-payment facility of iOTMS, which has been implemented through Cyber Treasury, launched specifically to handle the online transaction with PSBs, has helped the taxpayer to pay taxes without his physical presence and without paying any transaction cost. Officials of AG (O) : iOTMS is aimed at submitting e-accounts from all the treasuries to the office of AG (O). This helps in timely compilation of accounts. Higher management from ADs and Finance Department for monitoring of expenditure and revenue : It was expected that the project would help in rendering the higher management from AD and Finance Department to monitor the expenditure and revenue. The Decision Support System (DSS) of the Treasury Portal provides the expenditure and receipt data on a year to year, month to month and quarter to quarter comparative basis in a graphical mode.
4.
5.
6.
iOTMS is economical and also cost-sensitive in the sense that less number of servers are required to cater to the needs of the entire state. Further, the existing hardwares are utilized to its maximum extent in the new system. Any change in the software is deployed at only one location thereby eliminating any chance of mismatch. Another important benefit of the system is data integrity, i.e., no piece of data is repeated within the database.

1.
a.
Key Performance
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Benefits Delivered: 1. G2C Services: The various G2C services delivered currently and the benefits obtained from these services by the stakeholders are: Online bill status enquiry service helps citizens and DDOs (Drawing and disbursing Officers) to know the status of bills along with the voucher details submitted to the treasury. This facility saves time and travelling cost of stakeholders. Challan query service enables the stakeholders to know their challan status as well as the treasury challan number online through the web portal of DTI. Pension payment status helps the pensioners to get crucial informations like the status of their pension bill, pension amount, pension calculation parameters and voucher number without physical presence in treasury. Public grievance facility enables the citizens to lodge complaints online. An online grievance reference is provided for future reference/ status query. A dedicated team of officers of DTI looks into the grievances and tries to redress them at the earliest. Other services: Available include download facility of important forms, important notices and circulars, feedback space, etc.
2.
G2B Services: The various G2B services delivered currently are: Online payment facilitates deposit of government taxes, duties online through VeriSign secured and Appin audited web portal. Payments can be made by net banking facility anywhere without the physical presence of the depositor. The Cyber Treasury, created specifically to deal with online transactions, receives and accounts for the e-payments entirely through electronic mode reducing treasury workload. Bank interface link facilitates treasury-linked banks of Cyber Treasury to upload daily electronic credit scrolls (MIS for payment receipt) in portal for preparation of accounts simultaneously. The government prepares errorfree account in time for revenue reflection of treasury. Manual entry of numerous challans and checking the same with the scroll is dispensed off thereby saving time and government manpower.
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3.
G2G/G2E services Monthly pension bill generation automated the process of pension disbursement. Centralized monthly pension bill is generated in bulk mode through the system, which is available to treasury for passing and approving the bill. This saves time and helps generating pension bill at the same time for all the treasuries in the state without any manual intervention. In addition to this, revised pension disbursement process has been piloted in 4 treasuries which would automatically credit the pension amount in the pensioners bank account. The process would be operational throughout the state by 1st September, 2011. Centralized budget distribution system Through centralized budget distribution system : The Administrative Departments (ADs) can allot funds to their respective Controlling Officers (COs). The COs can further distribute the allotted funds to the Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs). COs can surrender, redistribute and re-appropriate funds as per the requirements. COs and DDOs are intimated about their respective allotments through e-mail. Different types of reports relating to distribution and expenditure of the allotted funds are available to help the ADs and COs in taking informed decisions. For the DDOs, reports of DDO-wise allotment and expenditure against allotment are available. Online distribution of works expenditure: Through the Works Expenditure Module, the allocation by the Grant Controlling Officers and the Budget COs to the Divisions/Irrigation projects is made. The Divisions log into the Orissa Treasury Portal in the internet and enter their cheque details and the amount of expenditure to be incurred with the available allotment which gets deducted in the system. While honoring cheques issued by the Divisions, the bank uses the Bank Interface of the Treasury Portal to verify the appropriateness of the claim. Online bill submission (e-billing) is a web-enabled functionality of iOTMS through which DDOs can prepare different types of bills through online/ offline bill format (e-form). After submitting the bill at treasury end it passes through different levels; a SMS will be triggered to DDO at the submission of bills in treasury application online. Subsequently, treasury officer will process the electronically submitted bill (e-bill).
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Decision Support System (DSS) and Dashboard : The Decision Support System and the Dash Boards available in the Treasury Portal reveal the expenditure as well as receipt data major head-wise, scheme-wise, COwise and DDO-wise for various kinds of expenditure analysis. The Decision Support System of the Treasury Portal provides the expenditure and receipt data on a year-to-year, month to month-and quarter-to-quarter comparative basis in a graphical mode. Services Enhanced/Introduced Plan vs Status
b.
Services enhanced during the year are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Exclusive portal for the Directorate of Treasuries & Inspection. Online Budget Distribution and Expenditure Monitoring System. Online Works Budget Distribution and Expenditure Monitoring System. Online Payment of Commercial Taxes. Centralized Treasury Management System. Centralized Pension Processing System. Online Bill Submission (e-Billing). MIS, Dashboard and Decision Support System (DSS). Citizen Services : Bill Query, Challan Query, Pension Query. Budget Planning and Preparation. Implementation of e-billing system across all the DDOs. Asset & Liability Management System. Internal Audi and Inspection by DTI. Centralized Pensioners Database. Pensioners Portal. SMS Service. Integration with HRMIS (Human Resource Management Information System). ECS (Electronic Clearing System) for payment of all types of bills passed through treasury.
Services planned to be delivered in subsequent stages are:
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10. 11.
e-Scroll (Cr/Dr) for online transfer of banks scroll to treasuries. Collaborate with Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS) in order to monitor expenditure relating to the flagship schemes of Government of India and Government of Orissa. Integration with NSDL for implementation of New Pension Scheme in the state. Facility for eTDS. Integration with Mining and Excise departments for online payment of taxes. Implementation Coverage
12. 13. 14. c.
The entire implementation period of iOTMS can be divided into 2 phases. Phase I : In this phase, the e-budget interface module was piloted across all the 38 administrative departments and 170 COs in the state. In addition to this, Orissa Treasury Portal, e-Challan, e-Billing, Citizen Services: Online Status Enquiry (bills, pension, challan) System, Dashboard and MIS Reports for Departments and COs were executed. Phase II In this phase, the centralized treasury management system was first piloted in 2 treasuries (District Treasury Khurda and Special Treasury No.1). Subsequently, after successful piloting, the system was rolled out throughout the state across all the treasuries in the state over a period of 3 months in a phased manner. Further, other important modules like Online Distribution of Works Expenditure, Interface with AG, Banks, DSS for Finance Department was also completed in this phase.
2.
a.

The treasury computerization in the State has enhanced the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery system in many ways. The allotment through the Budget Interface module of iOTMS is electronic and immediate, for which the direct and indirect cost and the overhead cost has
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reduced to a substantial extent. Similarly, the data regarding the drawal of expenditure at any particular corner of the state is available on real time basis for the Administrative Department as well as the CO to keep an eye over the expenditure. A fully enabled audit trail with archiving facility, makes it possible to store and monitor the history of data changes. In addition to this, the ePayment facility through Cyber Treasury has been beneficial for both the taxpayer as well as the Government. From the point of view of the taxpayer, it is easy, convenient and also the payment is made without any transaction cost. In respect of revenue earning department, the tax comes to the State account in T+1 basis whereas in case of payments made through any demand draft or cheque, it takes longer time for credit of the tax into the Government account. Increasing revenue figure through online payment has been provided in the supporting document. Other noticeable improvements are : significant progress in bill processing time, reduction in delay of submission of accounts, and increase in accuracy in terms of account compilation. The most vital improvement among all is the closure of the yearly account on 31st March instantly without having any pendency. b. Innovative Ideas Implemented
The treasury computerization through iOTMS has facilitated several innovations in the field of treasury transactions, Government receipts and payment process. Some of the notable innovations are: 1. Online payment through Treasury Portal: The e-Payment facility of the Treasury Portal has started a new era in the receipt process. The electronic transactions are not merely convenient for the taxpayers but also help the treasury in preparing the accounts accurately and efficiently. Multiple Link Banks for Cyber Treasury: For the purpose of Cyber Treasury which prepares the account for all e-receipts, the Government in Finance Department after due consultation with RBI and AG (A&E), Orissa has notified that it would be linked to multiple banks. This has facilitated the convenience for the taxpayer to make the payment from any of the bank account. Facility of payment gateway through the Central Bank of India : At present, 7 banks are participating in the e-Payment system. To facilitate the taxpayers
2.
3.
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who do not have account in designated 7 PSBs, the iOTMS has been integrated to the payment gateway facility offered by Central Bank of India wherein payments made through 48 nos. of both public and private sector banks are accepted. A taxpayer paying tax through the Treasury Portal has now got the choice of making payment through any of the list of 48 banks. 4. 5. 6. Allotment processing for works expenditure: Already mentioned under G2G services. E-budget distribution: Already mentioned under G2G services. Revised pension disbursement procedure: The pension bills will be generated from the central server before the end of the month and would be approved at the treasury level. The treasury would advice the bank to credit the pensioners bank account through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) or Core Banking Solutions (CBS) as the case may be. This has already been implemented in 4 treasuries on a pilot basis and the rest will be covered within 1st September, 2011. Online bill submission through e-form: Already mentioned under G2G/ G2E services. Integration with Other Systems
7. c.
iOTMS is integrated with different external ICT systems like AG (Accountant General), other government departments and public sector banks. 1. AG, Orissa: iOTMS makes it possible to submit the monthly treasury accounts electronically to AG, because of its centralized database. This minimizes the time of submitting monthly treasury accounts, and also helps AG to download the electronic form of data directly to their database. Integration with the Voucher Level Compliance (VLC) system of AG helps reducing human intervention of entering a huge volume of data, and prevents from human error at AG end. Public Sector Banks: iOTMS application is integrated to different PSBs through its Cyber Treasury. This helps to import the electronic scrolls of different banks in iOTMS and generate the accounts. It saves the time and manpower for entering such number of scrolls into the system. It also provides a link to the banks to verify the cheques authenticity issued for
2.
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works expenditure through iOTMS which eliminates the possibility of excess expenditure and also helps bank to minimize the effort of maintaining all the details to eradicate excess expenditure. iOTMS is integrated with payment gateways of a wide range of banks, which helps a depositor to deposit his/her government dues online. 3. Other departments: iOTMS is capable to produce different formats (XML, PDF) of MIS, related to department-specific revenue and expenditure data. This in turn helps the department to directly download the data into their database.

1.
a.
Processes
The project of iOTMS aimed at introducing various ICT processes that would help in serving the purpose of smoothening the treasury functioning in the state. Orissa Treasury Portal is the main front-end process which was planned and was subsequently implemented. The portal gives access to various modules of iOTMS as well as interfaces with external agencies. Since the portal is web-based, it can be accessed from anywhere across the globe. The modules available through the portal includes e-payment, online budget interface, works expenditure module, online challan status, etc. Similarly, the interface includes bank interface and AG interface. b. Major non-ICT back end process changes
While planning the user interface onto an ePlatform, it was realized much earlier that it was important to have modules that seamlessly integrate the front-end and the back-end processes to be able to fully harvest the gains. The idea was to carry over the manual process onto an e-platform. This has led to significant amount of innovation, simplification and process reengineering. Today, the full cycle of operation starting from import of state budget in iOTMS, budget distribution to DDO level and allotment availability at treasury, process of approving bills against allotment, receipt of challan, e-Payment, etc. is conducted on an electronic platform, which has significantly added to efficiencies for the user and the government and is explained below.
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iOTMS is a full-fledged information system software that enables the automation of various functions of the treasuries. It runs on an advanced infrastructure fully hosted within the central location located at DTI premises Bhubaneswar. It is developed based on the System Requirement Specifications and System Design Document. iOTMS has been developed using JAVA-J2EE, which is a platform independent language. It is based on 3-tier architecture, and is browser independent. The application is segregated into internet and intranet version. The intranet application is accessible only to the treasuries. The internet application is accessible to the citizens, more than one lakh pensioners, 38 Administrative Departments, 170 COs, 6,680 DDOs and 386 Divisional Officers. Important software modules of iOTMS are e-Budget, Works Expenditure, Centralized Treasury Management System, Bills and Challans Query, Pension Payment Status Query, Interfaces With Various Agencies, e-Payment, e-Bill etc. iOTMS is a VeriSign secured site having 128-bit encryption. Network equipments like firewall and load balancer have been employed to maximize the security as well as availability. The entire arrangement of iOTMS focuses to deliver two things firstly, the timely availability of data to enable the users to analyze the same and secondly, the ease it provides to the top management in seeing a comprehensive picture enabling them to take a timely and correct decision.
2. a.
People and Resources Project Management and Monitoring
iOTMS is an instance of the coordinated efforts of various agencies as well as efficient project management. The responsibility of developing and implementing the entire project lay in the hands of Directorate of Treasuries & Inspections (DTI). For this reason, a Project Management Unit (PMU) is in place in DTI where a dedicated team of competent officials headed by the Assistant Director look into the project management of iOTMS. An instance of efficient project management is that the software developer of OTMS (CMC Ltd.) was again given the task of developing the software in iOTMS. This arrangement led to the completion of the project in record time of less than a year, much before the target date of completion. This was possible due to two major reasons firstly, a lot of time was saved since no tenders were invited and secondly, since CMC Ltd. was already well versed with the domain knowledge of treasury functioning, it
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was comparatively easier to develop the new software. Also the constant support provided by the network support provider, BSNL, cannot be ignored. Regular review meetings are held between CMC Ltd. and the Director of Treasuries and PMU of DTI. Regular monitoring is done by the PMU so that there is no technical problem as well as problem relating to its usage. In case any problem is faced by the user, it is tackled by the PMU on a priority basis. Users are given a facility of lodging their complaints relating to iOTMS through a call logging system named Mantis. There is also a highly efficient Help Desk system with Toll Free call facility in DTI comprising of an Asst. Director, a System Analyst and two Asst. Software Engineers. To make the Help Desk system more effective, CMC Ltd. has positioned two personnels to manage the Help Desk. The Help Desk with the Toll Free call facility is available during working hours. During holidays or non-working days, the mail IDs and telephone numbers of the designated officials have been provided in the Portal for the users to contact in case of any difficulty. An effective version management (managed through CollabNet Subversion) and deployment policy are in place as a part of effective project management.
b.
Train the trainer was the training policy adopted for implementation of iOTMS. Resultantly, a resource team comprising of officials working in the treasury was set up. The resource team was involved in the project development stage and was associated in all matters relating to the preparation of System Requirement Study (SRS) on Treasury Application. After extensive training was imparted to the resource team in the DTI, CMC Ltd. also deployed an Engineer in each of the Dist. Treasury for one month hand holding support. The district Treasury Officers conducted training programs for the officials of the Sub-Treasuries with the help of the resource person of the DTI and the CMC Engineer. In this way, the staff of all the 166 treasuries (nearly 1700) were trained in the new system. In addition to this, separate training programs were conducted for users of different modules like e-budget distribution and works expenditure. At the outset, the users were quite skeptical about the new centralized system and were reluctant to use it. To remove these doubts, a full-fledged change
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management strategy was adopted. The resource team, which consisted of treasury officials who were trained by the DTI on the new system, went to different treasuries and clearly explained the benefits of iOTMS and also familiarized them with the same. For instance, they explained that since iOTMS is a java-based application system, tab key would be used instead of the enter key. Users were convinced, by means of training sessions, of the usefulness and benefits of the project. Resultantly, users are now comfortably using the system. The PMU based in DTI regularly look to the needs of the users and address issues, if any, faced by them. c. Change Management strategy
iOTMS owes its success to perpetual leadership shown at the highest level in the Government. At the policy level, a Committee comprising of the Principal Secretary to Government in Finance department, Secretary of IT Department, Director of Treasuries and Inspection, representative from AG (O) and representatives from other Departments decided the basic outline of the project. At the Directorate level, a group headed by the Director of Treasuries, Addl. Director, Deputy Director, Asst. Director (PMU), Asst. Director (T&B), Asst. Director (Computer), OSD-cum-Cyber Treasury Officer, and Treasury Officers from selected treasuries decided the implementation plan and the rollouts. The support which the project received from the political sphere cannot be ignored. Honorable Minister of Finance was actively involved in all important developments of the project. The web portal of DTI was launched by the honorable Chief Minister of Orissa. d. Leadership Support and Visibility
Going by the Mission Mode Project standard under NeGP, the Government of India aims to fund all the e-governance promoting projects. However, till now central assistance has not been received and the design, development of the project of iOTMS is entirely funded by Government of Orissa. The Detailed Project Report is being prepared to be submitted to the Government of India on the basis of which funds are likely to come for the project in the future.
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3.
a.
Technology
The DTI is in the process of shifting the data center to State Data Center (SDC), Orissa and will use their disaster recovery site located outside Orissa. In the interim, DTI has made the necessary arrangements to build a near backup site at Special Treasury, Khurda. Data Guard is implemented to replicate the production data to physical standby database located near backup site. Daily RMAN level 1 cumulative incremental backup of data and a full backup once in a week are taken and shifted to a removable storage like LTO and kept the same outside of the premises on daily basis. b. Solution Adopted and NeGP compliance
iOTMS has been implemented at central server in DTI office at Bhubaneswar. The end-user, irrespective of locations, work with the central server database through a web-based application. This web-based application is available on internet as well as intranet. The developed application is deployed on Weblogic Portal and Weblogic Application Server, Jasper Report Sever and database is Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition. The application is built upon Java/J2EE technology to provide high level of compatibility, portability as well as security. The centralized architecture of iOTMS houses a database server at central location to store all the finance and treasury data. This database server accesses data through the application server where web application resides. Web server provides service to the end user for working on the web applications. Users are connected to application server, through web server hosted on a separate machine with adequate security including firewall, SSL, certificate etc. The application server is also inside the secured De-Military Zone. Multiple application server and web server provides service in a parallel mode. Here load balancer shares the total load among the servers and gives high level of availability. All these servers are separated from the outside network or internet through a firewall to provide high level of security. iOTMS has used the existing hardware and therefore expenses are incurred only for the license of application software, upgradation of network connectivity and upgradation of existing hardware. The detailed list of costs incurred in the project is given in the supporting document (Page 17).
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iOTMS has now entered into maintenance phase. To provide technical support to the application, the Government of Orissa through the DTI has signed an agreement with CMC Ltd. Presently, CMC has deployed eleven personnel for technical support (including two call management persons) for technical support. Further, Wipro is providing hardware and networking support and BSNL is providing maintenance of intranet and internet connectivity of the system. The DTI has a technical team comprising of one System Analyst and two Assistant Software Engineers. iOTMS fully complies with NeGP standard, as it has implemented the modules like e-Budget, Accounts, Pension, Receipt, Virtual Treasury (Cyber Treasury) for on line payment, Bank Interface, AG Interface, E-Status Enquiry, etc. The details of the compliance of iOTMS with the NeGP standard is mentioned in the supporting document (Page 15). c. Security and Compliance Standards
iOTMS operates through the Verisign (SSL-128 encryption) secured web portal. Site security has been audited by Appin, database and application servers are behind firewall, regular systems checks are done to test firewall strengths for identifying potential weak points. MD5 hashing algorithm is used to encrypt and send data while transferring over net to third party agencies like PSBs in case of online payment. Care is taken to see that no net banking user name, password or HPIN is collected and stored in the web portal; sufficient logs are maintained for all transactions to help establish a clear audit trail and assist in dispute resolution. User account is locked after five consecutive failed attempts.

1. Digital Inclusion Steps taken to address this factor: iOTMS application is operational for the last one and half year and most of the services have been enhanced or newly introduced. The project has a plan to implement bilingual (English and Oriya) support in near future. Due to this, the database has installed to support Unicode characters. Presently, iOTMS is providing e-mail facility for necessary events, through its own mail server. As a plan to integrate SMS service in near future, phone numbers of the concerned
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beneficiaries like, DDO, CO, Pensioners, etc. are being collected. First level discussion with service providers like BSNL for sending bulk SMS from iOTMS application has already been completed.
2.
eParticipation
Steps taken to address this factor: iOTMS is a team work involving officials and stakeholders at all levels. The officials of the treasuries have been consulted in the process of software development and their views have been taken to make necessary modification in the treasury application for facilitating a user friendly system. The users were consulted during the process of development of different modules.
3.
eWaste
Steps taken to address this factor iOTMS is a recent development and till now has not come across any problem relating to eWaste management. However, to frame a planned document of managing eWaste, discussions are being held with Government bodies like the IT Department, OCAC and academic institutions like IIIT. A full-fledged plan would be materialized well before the project starts facing the situation of managing eWaste. Shri Patita Pawan Nath, Director of Treasuries and Inspections, Finance Department, Government of Orissa, patitapawan.nath@orissatreasury.gov.in & Shri Siddhartha Das, Assistant Director (PMU), Finance Department, Government of Orissa, siddharthadas@orissatreasury.gov.in
SECTION VII e-Governance Success Stories Sustainability
CHAPTER 41
Sustainability of e-Governance Projects

Dr. Ashok Agarwal and Prof. Sanjiv Vaidya
There have been a number of studies over the years highlighting successes and failures of various e-Government Projects. e-Government - also commonly referred as e-Governance in India - generally means Electronic Government. The eGovernment definition varies from person to person and place to place. A few examples are: Use of Information and Communication Technology to make Government more efficient Use of ICT to facilitate citizens access to various Government services and improve the services to citizens, businesses and other Government departments Use of ICT to make Government more transparent and accountable to citizens
In each case, the key parameter continues to be citizen centricity and making government services available to common citizens easily, with quick response and without corruption. In India, through the National e-Governance plan (NeGP), significant strides have been made across the country to implement egovernance projects to meet the underlying objectives of satisfying the needs of a common citizen. It is often observed that many IT projects in general, and many e-governance projects in particular, fall into a state of disuse or cease to serve any meaningful
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objectives, over a period of time. This obviously leads to failure of the project in the medium to long run. Various studies have been conducted to define success and failure of egovernance projects. The important questions that remain are - why do many eGov projects fail? And how can e-Gov projects be made more sustainable and effective over a long period? Literature on Success, Failure and Sustainability of e-Gov projects Heeks and Bhatnagar (1999) proposed an analytical framework to understand the critical success factors (CSF) and critical failure factors (CFF). Through this analysis, they have proposed ten critical factors responsible for the success or failure of an e-Gov initiative. These are - Information, Technology, People, Management, Process, Culture, Structure, Strategy, Politics, and Environment. Heeks (2003a) developed the DesignReality Gap Model for defining failure of e-Gov projects. This involves answering the following questions. Where are we today? What was the ultimate objective to reach? (based on the initial design of the project) What is the Size of the Gap between the two items above? The answer to this question defines the relative success or failure of a project.
Kumar & Best, (2006) addressed the issue of why some of the e-Gov projects succeed initially in delivering the desired services to their communities and fail subsequently. They looked at long term sustainability along multiple dimensions. Based on their study the following factors were highlighted by them as key to sustainability of e-Gov projects. This was based on a study of the SARI project in Tamilnadu. Lack of Adequately Trained Personnel Lack of Sustained Public Leadership, Commitment, and Institutionalization Lack of Consistent Evaluation and Monitoring
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Lack of Involvement of All Stakeholders Shift in Existing Power Relationships due to Kiosks (CSCs)
They also emphasized that in their study, among all the critical failure factors, information (the content, data, forms, etc) did not appear and neither did technology (the hardware, network, software) appear. This is particularly interesting since it is these factors that are so often discussed when considering egovernment interventions (how you get the right hardware out there, how you design the software system, how you develop the local content, etc.). It is important to understand that success of a project and sustainability of a project are not the same. A project may be successful, but not sustainable. Success of an e-Governance project implies that the defined objectives of the project have been met to certain degree. However, it is very much possible to sustain a project without meeting the defined objectives (which is basically a failure) of the project. While un-sustainability definitely leads to failure of a project, this may be viewed as only one of the causes of failure of a project. Failure to achieve any meaningful objectives or failure to make significant positive impact on related performance parameters is obviously a very important cause of the failure of a project. However, even a project making significant impact in its initial stages fails, if it is not able to sustain itself. Thus sustainability of a project becomes a very important aspect of effective management of projects in the long term. Sustainability becomes an important consideration, especially in the case of e-Governance projects, as non-sustainability will be clearly classified as failure. From various studies done, it is apparent that sustainability is a necessary condition to be successful, but not sufficient. It is because only sustainable ICT initiatives can support long term socio-economic development of a community, especially in developing countries Computer Society of India has been recognizing good efforts in the area of eGovernance for the last 7 years through CSI-Nihilent e-governance awards. A need to look at the award winning projects in the past and examine their sustainability over years was felt and thus the award winning projects during year 2006 were taken up as case studies to evaluate where they are after a gap of
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five years, in 2011. Four projects, viz., Bhoomi (Karnataka), BangaloreOne (Karnataka), e-Dhara (Gujarat) and National Portal of India (Government of India) have been considered. There were a few award winning projects which were either not found to be sustainable over the years or the data submitted was not sufficient for determining the sustainability. Based on our evaluation framework used in the awards process and various studies conducted in this area; we used the following six factors to evaluate the sustainability status of each of the projects over the last five years. Accessibility and Usability Trustworthiness/Credibility/ Transparency Project Monitoring Leadership and Administration Financial Sustainability Integration with related systems in the Government Brief status of each of the projects against these five factors is given here.
Bhoomi
Bhoomi is the Land Records computerization effort by the Government of Karnataka. Work on the project commenced in 1999. In 2001, the first online services were provided to the citizens and other stakeholders of the project Bhoomi has not only sustained its commendable levels of service achieved in 2006, but has also made very significant progress over the past five years, i.e., from 2006 to 2011. Currently, as many as two and half crores of property records are being issued to citizens every year, under the Bhoomi programme. The Record of Rights (ROR) is now made available at the doorsteps of farmers also through as many as 800 tele-centres, in addition to the erstwhile centres at the taluka level. The mutation process on an FIFO basis has now been extended to the village as a unit from the erstwhile sub-taluk level unit.
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Initiatives contributing to the sustainability success of Bhoomi The success of Bhoomi at sustainability has been ensured by several initiatives undertaken by the Bhoomi management team. The different initiatives have been discussed below, in a brief manner. Accessibility and Usability It was observed that many of the common farmers were not comfortable with the idea of having to collect a computerised copy of the ROR, from the Taluk level centres. In response to this observation, tele-centres have been established in rural areas to deliver the ROR at the doorstep of farmers. This scheme called Nemmadi - was initiated in 2007 and now boasts of as many as 800 tele-centres. This has been implemented in a public-private partnership mode. Nemmadi has now become the Citizen Service Centre scheme now, running on Bhoomi as its core application. This widening of services out of the Nemmadi centres has contributed to the financial viability of the individual centres, thus ensuring the sustainability of this mode of operation, and hence ensuring the sustainability of Bhoomi itself. A further initiative by Bhoomi to increase its accessibility and usability of the system by the village accountants, a majority of whom are aged and computer illiterate, is manifested in the form of adoption of technologies like Universal Handheld Devices and e-Pens., for updating the crop data. Many of the major stakeholders the farmers - are illiterate or poorly educated. They are kept informed of progress on each major stage of the processing of their transaction, through sms. Trustworthiness/Credibility/Transparency Bhoomi has also implemented initiatives aimed at increasing the trustworthiness and credibility of the system, which include initiatives to increase the accuracy and security of data and reliability of the overall system. They have achieved this through several initiatives like creation of a central repository of all RTCs at the state data centre. This database aggregates and replicates databases at the local taluk/block levels. Bhoomi also implemented systems to
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ensure consistency of data among databases at local levels and the central database and implemented Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) enabled system in more than forty taluks. Under this PKI system, they have provided digital signatures to more than 11000 village accountants, 2000 revenue inspectors, 1000 deputy tahsildars and 200 tahsildars. They have also implemented Active Directory (AD) to effect Centralized Authentication in Bhoomi. Biometric credentials have been integrated into the AD to prevent any unauthorised access to Bhoomi. At the local administration levels, passwords are maintained. Effective virus protection has been provided at the State Data centre and local databases levels. To increase transparency, information about the progress on each major stage of the processing of their transaction, is disseminated to farmers, through SMS. Project Monitoring The Bhoomi team has also employed effective project monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the project runs smoothly, project continuity is ensured and enhancements are implemented effectively. The specific initiatives include establishment of a separate Bhoomi Monitoring Cell, establishment of a Bhoomi Technical Wing and implementation of a proper Exit Management Plan to ensure smooth running of the project, in case a technical resource or a technical partner leaves the project. Leadership and Administration Bhoomi has received constant support from the top political leadership of Karnataka. It has also received constant and consistent support from the bureaucracy. The government has created a special post at the secretary level called Secretary (Bhoomi & UPOR). The project has been under the supervision of the same individual for more than the past five years. The concerned official is responsible for computerisation of Land Administration in Karnataka. This is also expected to facilitate the IT based integration across different activities related to Land Administration in Karnataka. Further, to strengthen the concerned administrative set-up, the post of a director and two posts of special deputy commissioners have been created.
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Financial Sustainability The project is self-financing. The Government is earning around 20 crores from Bhoomi, a major share of which comes from fees charged to citizens for distribution of RTCs. This has actually resulted in a significant amount of surplus. This has enabled the Government to actually reduce the fees from Rs 15 per copy to Rs. 10 per copy. However, the Bhoomi management has been careful in keeping the share of the tele-centre operators the same, keeping in view the need to keep these centres financially viable too, if Bhoomi is to sustain itself on this large scale of operation. Integration with related systems in the Government Bhoomi has achieved many successes at integrating itself with related Government systems. Most fundamentally, it has achieved a high level of integration with the registration system in Karnataka, called Kaveri. Any land property registration now requires what is called as a pre-mutation sketch. The programme of getting these sketches and integrating the same into the registration process is called Mojini. Mojini makes it imperative for any land registration transaction to submit a pre-mutation sketch. This entailed the need to modify the concerned law. Full integration of Bhoomi with Kaveri has been further achieved through linking the two systems electronically and making it mandatory for the sub-registrar to ensure the ownership of seller over the property that is being transacted. A successful registration automatically results in the concerned mutation and the Bhoomi records get updated. This in turn results in absolutely accurate data in the Bhoomi database, which further increases the credibility and trustworthiness of the system, which in turn further contributes the sustainability of Bhoomi. An additional degree of integration of Bhoomi has been achieved by subsuming the Land Acquisition activity by the Government into Bhoomi. BangaloreOne BangaloreOne (henceforth called B1) is the Citizen Service Centre Project of the Government of Karnataka in Bangalore. It is operated using the PPP model. It
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gives citizens tangible benefits by providing one-stop solution to activities like bill payments, submission of applications etc. The different government departments, in addition to the common citizen, benefiting by B1, are BESCOM, BWSSB, BMP, RTO, BSNL, the Police Department, KSRTC, Bangalore University etc. Even private organizations like Telecom companies, Insurance companies, etc. are benefited. Thus, while B1 is primarily a G2C initiative, it is also a G2G and G2B project. Over the past five years, the number of B1 Centres has gone up from 14 to 77. A total of 46 million citizens had availed themselves of the services till September 2011. The total number of transactions on B1 has gone up from 19.3 lakhs in 2005-06 to 108.7 lakhs in 2010-11. In addition, B1 has also been giving services to multiple organizations, including both Government and private sector organizations, thereby significantly increasing the utility of B1 to the common citizen as well. Initiatives contributing to the sustainability success of B1 The success of B1 at sustainability has been ensured by several initiatives undertaken by the Government of Karnataka. The different initiatives have been discussed below, in a brief manner. Accessibility and Usability As has already been mentioned above, the number of centres has gone up from 14 to 77. This has definitely increased the access to B1 services by several times. In addition, B1 has taken measures to ensure uninterrupted services to citizens through deliberately building redundancy into the system. The different aspects into which redundancy is built include specific measures like maintenance of 15% leave reserve in manpower, UPS and diesel engine generator for power, load balancing and fail-over mechanism for systems, offline server at each of the centres in case of network disconnection and a disaster recovery site at the State Data Centre at Bangalore. The database here replicates transactions at the various B1 centres. However, the DR site is not in a different seismic zone. B1 has also improved response time very significantly through implementation of AJAX based interface.
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B1 has also implemented mechanisms to monitor the quality of services to citizens. These include implementation of EQMS (Electronic Queue Management System) in all centres to monitor waiting time for citizens under varying conditions of load, which includes generation of MIS reports to monitor the overall performance of B1, based on data analysis by data analysis software. All this also helps significantly in taking suitable actions like technology up-gradation or addition of centres. In addition, operator attendance monitoring has been automated to ensure availability of services to citizens on a 24 x7 basis. B1 also generates automated reports about bounced cheques, for consumption by its institutional customers. In addition, B1 has established a payment grid which tracks the flow of payments to the institutional customers and monitors whether the payments finally reach their intended destinations or not. Trustworthiness/Credibility/Transparency B1 employs the concept of digital signatures to achieve authentication, authorisation and non-repudiation. Public and private key methodology is adopted to ensure that all transactions are digitally signed. Internal transactions are secured using SSL technology. Also B1 employs leased lines from the centres to the B1 centre and the State Data centre to ensure better security. Project Monitoring and Management and Leadership& Administration A separate directorate under the e-Governance department has been established. An all-India cadre officer is in charge of B1 operations. This ensures continuity of management supervision. Financial Sustainability The established centres are financial self-sufficient under the PPP model. The Government provides annual budgetary support for new centres. Integration with related systems in the Government B1, considering the type of services it renders has to be integrated with the different institutional customers of its and intermediaries like banks. Technical integration with these customers is effected through use of various web service models and middleware.
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National Portal of India (NPI) NPI is a Mission Mode Project under the NeGP. The portal serves as a one stop source for all Government information and services. It is a gateway to over 7000 websites of Government of India (GOI). Thus it provides a single interface to access any of these websites. It contains a huge repository of Government information. It encompasses all ministries and departments of the GOI and the state departments, as well as district administrations. It is developed entirely by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Performance and recognition of the NPI The number of hits to the NPI has increased from 135 million in 2006 to around 915 million in 2011. Also, the number of registered users has gone up from 4940 to 81431, during the same period. NPI content has grown significantly richer over the past five years, in respect of both its breadth and depth. In addition to viewing information, the citizens can also carry out transactions using the portal. The number of such services offered has also grown over the years. NPI has been recognized virtually every year for its superior performance, since 2006 in various forums. NPI has also introduced a facility for users to register their feedback on individual features and services offered by the portal. The users have been quite enthusiastic in giving their feedback. From the feedbacks it seems that a large number of users are highly satisfied with the portal.
Initiatives contributing to the sustainability success of NPI

Accessibility and Usability The NPI portal has been designed in a citizen centric manner. Information has been presented keeping the citizens point of view in mind, rather than the departments viewpoint. The NPI is supported by a highly effective Content Management System (CMS). The CMS renders continuous update of the contents easily possible. It also allows flexibility for easy modifications in the content architecture of the portal.
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Query facilities through an Advanced Search feature have been provided on the NPI. Also the NPI incorporates relevant linkages across different modules to provide the user a holistic view. Both the features above aim at providing better information to the users in less time. The content is also presented in two languages, viz., English and Hindi. Unicode compliant Hindi version of the NPI was released in 2007, thereby further increasing the possibilities for an enhanced use of the portal. The NPI design complies with the WCAG guidelines which define accessibility requirements. This has made the portal universally accessible, usable even by differently-abled persons. The NPI provides users with a facility to provide feedback on individual services offered. This feedback and suggestions are taken into consideration while incorporating improvements and new features into the portal. The portal provides users with facility to customize the home page to a certain extent, thus making it more attractive to use for the citizens. The portal has also provided citizens with the opportunity to participate in nation-wide opinion polls etc, thereby facilitating citizen participation in the process of Governance. The State-of-the art load balancing implemented at network level, ensures low system response times for users. Trustworthiness/Credibility/Transparency The Content Management System also ensures security of the data contained on the portal. The active components of the portal are devised to function in a failover mode and have built-in redundancy. The Disaster Recovery site is located at Hyderabad. The deployment of clustered server components ensures simultaneous service to millions of users and availability of the portal during any individual node failure. Project Monitoring and Management The feedbacks received on the NPI, are managed by using the User Relations Management (URM) System of the NPI.
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A Content Advisory Committee has been set up, under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary, DARPG, which concerns itself with populating and maintaining content on the portal. It consists of members from different ministries, departments and states. It meets regularly for formulating/revising policies regarding content distribution from across the country. The monitoring and management of the project are further aided by the Content Management System. Content Management Policies have been laid down to ensure that users are able to extract the needed information quickly and easily. Leadership& Administration The NPI is backed by very strong institutional arrangements which consist of an Apex committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to the GOI himself, a Project Review and Steering Group headed by the Secretary to DIT, GOI, a Content Advisory Committee headed by the Additional Secretary, DARPG, a Coordination Committee at the level of NIC itself and National Portal Coordinators from different ministries and departments. Financial Sustainability The NPI project has been launched under the MMP scheme and thus is funded from the funds allocated for MMPs. Entire implementation responsibility is shouldered by NIC. Integration with related systems in the Government The very nature of the NPI requires it to integrate information from across different government bodies into the portal. This integration is achieved through the constitution of the different committees which have a representation of members of the different ministries/departments. e-Dhara/e-Jamin e-Dhara is the computerized system of land records in the state of Gujarat. National Informatics Centre (NIC) Gujarat has developed the software for data entry, mutations and issuance of ROR and its implementation. The e-Dhara centres were initially at the taluka places. All 225 Talukas of 26 districts were equipped with a server and clients, with UPS, AC and other necessary equipments.
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Gujarat state wide area network (GSWAN) is also available at all 225 talukas of 26 districts across the state. Now e0Dhara has been integrated with GARVI (the registration system) and is now e-Jamin. Over the period from 2006 to 2011, the number of property records issued from e-Dhara has gone up from 1.58 crores to 2.65 crores per year. Also, during the same period, the number of mutations has increased from 8.39 lakhs to 12.72 lakhs per year. Also, in 2006, property records were being issued only from e-Dhara Centres located at Taluka places. In 2007-08, these RORs started getting issued from eGram centres at village panchayats. Through centralization of all the 227 land record databases, which was effected in 2010, the RORs can now be delivered from anywhere.
Initiatives contributing to the sustainability success of e-Dhara

Accessibility and Usability In 2006, villagers had to come to their Taluka place to get a copy of ROR or to make any type of change in the ROR, as e-Dhara Centres were only at these places. In 2007-08, VSAT based e-Gram centres were established and villagers could get their ROR copies through these centres. Now, through centralization of all the 227 land record databases, which was effected in 2010, the RORs can now be delivered from anywhere. e-Dhara also supports the Gujarati language, for farmers and villagers who are not comfortable with English. Trustworthiness/Credibility/Transparency e-Dhara incorporated a feature to capture photographs and finger-prints of owners to enable secured transactions under registration. Finger Print Scanners have been provided at the taluka level for verification by the Deputy Mamlatdar. These and other measures have increased the security of data manifold. In 2011, all transactions/mutations were centralized by bringing data from all the 227 e-Dhara centres to a central server. This increased central control over data.
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Project Monitoring and Management Process changes and changes to the Bombay Land Code of the Revenue Act have been effected in order to integrate e-Dhara with the Garvi system for land registration. During the same integration effort, arrangements have been made for the SRO to sit in the Mamlatdars office, in order to ensure full integration, including integration at the physical level. Similarly, facilities for e-Stamping have been provided at each Taluka centre of the e-Jamine (e-Dhara) project. Monitoring MIS has been made available to concerned officials right from the state-level to the taluka-level for better administrative control of the entire activity. Leadership& Administration Computerisation in the Gujarat Government in general and e-Dhara in particular, has enjoyed high levels of commitment from highly placed leaders and bureaucrats in Gujarat. Financial Sustainability E-Dhara is generating around Rs. 2 crores per month from the fees charged for the RoR copies being issued from the e-Jamine (erstwhile e-Dhara) system. Thus, it is financially self-sustaining. Integration with related systems in the Government e-Dhara has been integrated with the Garvi system for registration. This has made it possible to generate mutation entries and Notice 135-D on the same day as the transaction. The new integrated system has been named e-Jamine. The eDhara centres and SRO office have been collocated now, in order to bring in a full degree of integration. In the RESURVEY that was started in Gujarat under the NLRMP project of the GOI, data from e-Dhara was heavily used and preparatory work was done on the same database. Auto mutation has further increased the degree of integration between eDhara and relevant banking transactions, revenue order transactions, survey settlement mutations and inheritance transactions.
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Concluding Remarks The above four cases illustrate situations where a significant degree of success in respect of sustainability has been obtained. All the four projects have put in substantial efforts in the six management aspects that have been examined in this study. Interestingly, a few of these parameters can also be used to study the shortterm success/failure of an e-Gov project. However, efforts have to be invested in these aspects in a consistent manner if the project has to sustain itself over a long time. One additional difference between evaluation of short-term success and that of long term sustainability is that in these cases we have not explicitly considered the achievement of initially stated objectives. Success of a project primarily needs the project to achieve its stated objectives while sustenance mainly refers to continuation of the project. Thus we have not considered, at least explicitly, achievement of stated objectives while evaluating sustainability performance of the above projects. In the above cases, we also see that the specific manifestation of efforts on the six parameters differs from one project to another. For example, the specific measures taken to ensure trustworthiness or usability may differ in the case of Bhoomi from what NPI has done and so on. Thus, the specific initiatives taken by individual project managements have to be identified and evaluated considering the nature of the project under consideration. Finally, this study can be further enriched in terms of its rigour and findings by considering a few additional parameters like, scalability, manpower support to end users, etc. Possibility of using the celebrated Technology Adoption Model (TAM) and its extensions can also be investigated into. These models may throw up additional valuable insights into the factors responsible for success/failure of e-Gov projects, in respect of sustainability. Another field of research which may be looked at in this light is the theory of Diffusion of Innovations. This field is particularly relevant for G2C projects. Thus, bringing in further insights from relevant fields is expected to result in a much richer and more rigorous framework for evaluating the sustainability of e-Governance projects.
536
References Bhatnagar, S. (2000). Social implications of information and communication technology in developing countries: Lessons from Asian success stories. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 1(4), 1-9. Heeks, R. (2002). Information systems and developing countries: Failure, success, and local improvisations. The Information Society, 18, 101-112. Heeks, R. (2003a). Most e-government-for-development projects fail: How can risks be reduced? <http://idpm.man.ac.uk/publications/wp/igov/ index.shtml> Heeks, R., & Bhatnagar, S. C. (1999). Understanding success and failure in information age reform. In R. B. Heeks (Ed.), Reinventing government in the information age: International practice in it enabled public sector reform.London: Routledge. Kumar, R., & Best, M. L. (2006). Impact and sustainability of e-government services in developing countries: Lessons learned from Tamilnadu, india. The Information Society, 22(1), 1-12. Ashok Agarwal Adjunct Professor BITS Pilani; Chairman, Engineers Without Borders (EWB) India & Past Chairman, CSI Special Interest Group on eGovernance (CSISIGeGOV) email: agarwal.ashok.k@gmail.com and Sanjiv Vaidya Professor MIS Indian Institute of Management Diamond Harbour Road Joka, Kolkata (Calcutta) 700104 West Bengal, INDIA. email: sdvaidya@iimcal.ac.in
SECTION VIII About CSI-SIGeGov and Publications

Khairiyyah Binti Mohd
CHAPTER 42
About CSI SIGeGov

Maj. Gen. Dr R K Bagga and K S Vijaya Sekhar
Background
Computer Society of India (CSI), has implemented the concept of Special Interest Groups to promote activities and research in major focused areas. Special Interest Group on e-Governance (SIGeGov) has been formed in Hyderabad during 20062007 with Dr Ashok Agarwal (Adjunct Professor BITS Pilani; Chairman, EWB India & Past Chairman, CSI-SIGeGOV) as Chairman with support from CSI HQ and CSI Hyderabad Chapter. The basic perceived objective has been to focus on an important area where Information Technology can be leveraged and bring like-minded professionals together to add value by bringing out recommendations relevant to various stake holders. CSI is the only professional society covering individual users and citizens as members and is most appropriately suited to focus and add significant value to the successful implementation of the e-Governance initiative in our country. Because, e-Governance has the capacity to take our country to next generation as developed nation and therefore, mission of CSI SIGeGov is to play an important role in that process.
Objectives
CSI-SIGeGov objectives include Knowledge Sharing with all stake holders through holding conferences, Knowledge sharing summits, e-Governance Awards etc. CSI has instituted CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards and SIGeGOV is expected to organize the Awards event and implement the award judging process; SIGeGov also to act as the Secretariat for e-Governance awards and maintain updated databases of all
540
relevant stakeholders in this area; Support research in selected areas like Assessment Framework and Implementation Strategy for e-Governance Projects; Participate in the processes for evolving standards in Technology, Processes and Databases; Conduct National and International conferences in e-Governance individually or by joining hand with other reputed institutions; Interact with international bodies like IFIP and SEARCC to benefit India by sharing our experiences with other nations.
Activities
I.CSI Nihilent eGovernance Awards
(http://www.csinihilent-egovernanceawards.org/) CSI-SIGeGOV has instituted a series of awards for recognizing the contributions made in the field of e-Governance in the country. These awards have been sponsored by Nihilent Technologies Ltd. The awards are given for recognizing the efforts made in e-Governance area, specifically for State, Department, District and Project levels. There is active participation for these awards from State and Central Government establishments, Departments, District authorities and many Undertakings, research establishments. Participation by many of these Central and State level organizations have made these Awards an awaited event, every year, since 2002. Concept of Field visits and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was implemented to make the Awards process transparent and acceptable to Government officials. Publication of all nominations received during CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards in form a book with University Press and ICFAI University Press (IUP) for wider circulation and knowledge sharing. II. Knowledge Sharing Summit (www.csi-sigegov.org) The National Level e-Governance Knowledge Sharing Summit (KSS) is an annual event organized by CSI-SIGeGOV. The summit aims to provide a forum for policy makers, practitioners, industry leaders and academicians to deliberate, interact and develop an actionable strategy for transparent and good governance. To grow rapid and successfully, there is a need to respond proactively to the changing environment. This essentially calls for strengthening the capabilities, seizing and exploiting the opportunities. There is an inherent need to explore and share success stories, best practices and achievements spread across the country
About CSI SIGeGov
541
for better implementation of e-Governance initiatives. The KSS intends to provide a forum for discussion on the e-Governance initiatives of Government of India, implementation strategies & challenges and to share learnings from National best case studies in the area of e-Governance. In 2009, the first KSS was held at Hyderabad with support from Government of Andhra Pradesh. In 2010, second summit was held in Bhopal with support from Government of Madhya Pradesh. In 2011, third summit was held in Gujarat with support from Govt of Gujarat. SIGeGOV launched a website to act as knowledge portal for all e-Governance initiatives in India. All major activities including e-Governance Awards database is maintained and updated, regularly.
III. International Conference on e-Governance (www.iceg.net)

International Conference on e-Governance (ICEG) was founded at IIT Delhi in 2003 to address the growing need for furthering our knowledge in e-governance. It is organized under the umbrella of International Congress of e-Government (ICEG) which is a forum for the advancement of knowledge in the discipline of e-Governance and promotion of the same in the various levels of governments across the globe. ICEG is to serve as a premier global organization where various stake holders (academics, government officers, industry, professionals, NGO, citizens, government and international agencies) can participate and share ideas and resources for the knowledge creation, skill development, networking and spread of e-government at various levels. It became a beacon for e-Government policy makers with its very first conference in 2003 when the then Honble President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam guided the conference as the Chief Guest. SIGeGOV jointly organized ICEG series at University of Hyderabad in 2008; at IIT, Delhi in 2009; at IIM, Bangalore in 2010; and at Institute of Management, NIRMA University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2011, which was inaugurated by Shri Narendra Modi, HonBle CM-Govt. of Gujarat.
IV. CSI SIGeGOV Publications

Each year SIG brings out a book on e-Governance coinciding with the Awards function. The book mainly contains selected Nominations of that year along with contributed articles by subject experts from Industry, Government and Academia. There are six SIGeGov Publications, covering Research and Case Studies on Governance, which are available free to download from SIG Website. Details of these publications are provided separately in the following section.
542
V. CSI Hyderabad Chapter (http://www.csihyderabad.org)

Computer Society of India was born on 6 March 1965 in Hyderabad at DRDO. CSI Hyderabad Chapter (CSIHC) has very good strength of Life Members and Student members apart from many student branches in engineering colleges in and around Hyderabad. CSI Hyderabad Chapter has conducted many certification courses which helped most of the students and employees in their career growth. The activities include conducting workshops, seminars and tutorials on emerging technologies for the benefit of all cross sections of the society including the new entrants to the IT society. Recently, CSIHC conducted an International Conference on Lean Six Sigma in Feb 2011 where participation was mostly from Industry , Academia and Government. CSIHC heading towards a maximum number of institution memberships and is having many corporate and academia collaboration. CSI Hyderabad has tied-up with corporate organizations to provide in-depth training and live projects for students in the final year engineering colleges, as a part of their curriculum. The program starts off with an intensive training program that is customized based on the live project, covering Programming Language, Different Platforms, Database Management, Software Development Life Cycle, Project Management, Documentation, Team Work and Communication etc. CSI-SIGeGOV, officially located in CSI Hyderabad chapter premises, had been interacting in regular basis to assist the Chapter Office and affiliated Student Branches for enhancing quality of their activities.
VI. CSI Students Branch (CSISB) at IIIT, Hyderabad (http://csi.iiit.ac.in/)

Today, CSI has 358 student branches and more than 70000 members including Indias most famous IT industry leaders, brilliant scientists and dedicated academicians. The mission of the CSI Student Branch at IIIT-Hyderabad is to facilitate research, knowledge sharing, learning and career enhancement for all categories of IT professionals, while simultaneously inspiring and nurturing new entrants into the industry and helping them to integrate into the IT community. Based on recommendations of a SIGeGOV, a syllabus on eGovernance suggested for Universities/Engineering colleges. As a pilot, successfully introduced and completed a two semester equivalent courses at IIIT-Hyderabad.
CSI-SIGeGOV Publications
543
CHAPTER 43
CSI-SIGeGOV Publications
CSI-SIGeGOV has been publishing a book each year, coinciding with the annual CSI Nihilent eGovernance Awards ceremony. Presented below were some of the books that were published and they can be ordered from CSI-SIGeGOV Secretariat for reference and use. Few of these books are also available as downloads at http:/ /www.csi-sigegov.org/publications.php.
Enablers of Change:
Editors:
Piyush Gupta, R K Bagga and Ayaluri Sridevi by ICFAI University Press (2010)
Fostering e-Governance:
Compendium of Selected Indian Initiatives
Editors:
Piyush Gupta, R K Bagga and Ayaluri Sridevi by ICFAI University Press (2009)
544
Transforming Government:
e-Governance Initiatives in India
Editors:
Dr. R K Bagga and Piyush Gupta by ICFAI University Press (2008)
Compendium of eGovernance Initiatives in India

Editors:
Dr R K Bagga and Piyush Gupta by Universities Press (2007)
eGovernance Case Studies

Editors:
Dr Ashok Agarwal by Universities Press (2006)
Contact: K S Vijaya Sekhar, CSI-SIGeGOV Secretariat, International Institute of Information Technology, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500 032. Andhra Pradesh, India. Tel: +91 40 6653 1119; Fax: +91 40 2300 0044. sigegov@gmail.com

Khairiyyah Binti Mohd Ajith Brahmanandan, 377, 387
Author Index
Alex Paul, 116, 132 Alka Mishra, 305, 323 Ashok Agarwal, 521, 536 Ashutosh Apte, 162, 176 Atul Patne, 192, 215 Avinash Pathak, 177, 191 Balakrishnan Nair, 476, 490 C Chandramouli, 409, 428 C Madhukar Raj, 71, 79 Chakradhar, 292, 304 Chandra Prakash, 243, 261 Deepak Goswami, 429, 439 Devajit Bhattacharyya, 429, 439 Dhrupad Mathur, 3, 6 Dr Hasmukh Adhia, 344, 355 H S Yadav, 234, 242 Harish P Iyer, 12, 19 Hiren Joshi, 80, 93, 335, 343 Hiten Parekh, 440, 454 Jagdeep S Kochar, 455, 466 Jayesh Ranjan , 280, 291 Jungin Choi, 35, 44 K C Kapoor, 356, 371 K S Raman, 372, 376
550
K S Vijaya Sekhar, 20, 34, 45, 57, 539, 542 Khairiyyah Binti Mohd Noor, 45, 57 M Padma, 292, 304 M S Jaya, 372, 376 Mahesh Chandra, 324, 334 Manish Bharadwaj, 409, 428 Mayur Maheshwari, 243, 261 Meshram, 192, 215 Mohd. Ilyas Rizvi, 265, 279 Namjae Cho, 35, 44 Neeta Verma, 305, 323 Niraj K Pawan, 234, 242 Nitin Gokarn, 324, 334 Nityesh Bhatt, 157, 161 P K Sharma, 71, 79 P Narahari, 177, 191 Patita Pawan Nath, 502, 517 Prabhu Gollamudi, 20, 34 Prabhu Gollamudi, 61, 67 R K Bagga, 45, 57, 539, 542 R P Gupta, 344, 355 R Vikram Singh, 397, 406 Rafiq Dossani, 7, 11 Rajesh D Bhusari, 216, 313 Ram Kumar, 94, 103 Rita Teaotia, 94, 103 S J Kunte, 467, 475
Author Index
551
S M Aparajit, 467, 475 S Vijayakumar, 133, 154 Sandip Jacques, 162, 176 Sanjiv Vaidya, 521, 536 Shreekant Deshpande, 476, 490 Shrikar Pardeshi, 216, 313 Siddhartha Das, 502, 517 Sunil Vyas, 491, 501 Surendra Kapoor, 20, 34 Suresh Chanda, 104, 105 Suresh K, 388, 396 T P Senkumar, 116, 132 U N Tiwari, 397, 406 V N Maira, 440, 454 V Sanal Kumar, 388, 396 Vinay Vyasa, 455, 466

Widening E-Goveranance Canvas

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Widening e-Governance Canvas

Selected e-Governance Initiatives in India

Widening e-Governance Canvas

Surendra Kapoor Prabhu Gollamudi Nityesh Bhatt

The Icfai University Press

Widening e-Governance Canvas

m-Governance future in Indian context

Widening e-Governance Canvas: Invited Papers

A Values based Approach to e-Government

CSI Nihilent e-Governance Awards Nominations Assessment 2010-11: Process Overview

m-Governance future in Indian Context

Section II e-Governance Success Stories - State Level Initiatives

Section III e-Governance Initiatives Success Stories Department Initiatives

eGovernance at Chief Ministers Office (CMO)*

Gujarat State Watershed Management Agency

Commercial Taxes, Government of AP: IT Initiatives in VAT Administration

Motor Vehicles Department, Kerala Services through ICT

Health Management Information System, Tamilnadu

Section IV e-Governance Success Stories - Districts Initiatives

157 162 177 192

South Goa, Goa

Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh

Gadchiroli District, Maharashtra

18. 19. 20.

216 234 243

Pali District, Rajasthan*

Ramabai Nagar, Uttar Pradesh*

Section V e-Governance Success Stories G2C Initiatives

Tourism Project Government of Andhra Pradesh

ePASS (Electronic Payment and Application System of Scholarships)*

National Portal of India A Gateway to Indian Government Cyber Space*

VAHAN- AN ICT-based Solution for Vehicle Registration*

Honble CM Narendra Modis website: www.narendramodi.in

335 344 356 372 377

27. 28. 29. 30.

Online Teachers Recruitment

Online Scholarship Management System, Kerala

SAND: System for Attumanal Neutral Distribution*

Property Tax Management System Using Geospatial Technology*

Section VI e-Governance Success Stories G2G & G2B Initiatives

e-Governance of Mineral Administration*

Maharashtra Plan Schemes Information Management System MPSIMS*

Government Receipt Accounting System (GRAS)

Integrated Orissa Treasury Management System (iOTMS)*

Section VII e-Governance Success Stories Sustainability

Section VIII About CSI-SIGeGov and Publications

* Winner of CSI-Nihilent e-Governance Awards for the year 2010-11.

Transparency Key for a Systemic Change

SECTION I Widening e-Governance Canvas Invited Papers

New Frontiers of Service Delivery: e-Gov. Focus Maturity Model

Widening e-Governance Canvas

STAGE 1 focus Computerization o o Application focus Hardware centric

STAGE 2 focus - Process re-engineering o o Procedural changes Information Systems approach

STAGE 3 focus - Web-enablement o o o o Online Presence Interactions online Transaction online

New Frontiers of Service Delivery: e-Gov. Focus Maturity Model

Widening e-Governance Canvas

Widening e-Governance Canvas

Meeting the Demand of e-Governance Professionals...

Widening e-Governance Canvas

Meeting the Demand of e-Governance Professionals...

Prof. Rafiq Dossani, Stanford University, Contact: dossani@stanford.edu

Widening e-Governance Canvas

A Values based Approach to e-Government