eGov March 2016

MARCH 2017

VOLUME 13 n ISSUE 03

ASIA’S FIRST MONTHLY MAGAZINE ON e-GOVERNANCE

COVER STORY

LEADERS SPEAK 12 P P CHAUDHARY Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice

15 DR JITENDRA SINGH Union Minister for DoNER, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space

SPECIAL STORY

Inventive Governance for IDEAL Rajasthan

30 As Ajmer Turns New Page, No Dream Looks Far-Fetched

SPECIAL FEATURE

POLICY MAKERS

44 AJITABH SHARMA

SUBIR KUMAR

ANOOP KHINCHI

DR MANJIT SINGH

ANJU SHARMA

Commissioner Industries Department Government of Rajasthan

Secretary Home Department Government of Rajasthan

MD Rajasthan Financial Corporation (RFC)

Principal Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Govt of Rajasthan

Principal Secretary Higher and Technical Education, Gujarat

ROHIT GUPTA Collector and District Magistrate, Udaipur, Government of Rajasthan

SMART CITIES 42 SANDESH NAYAK Chief Executive Officer, JSCL

NAVEEN JAIN

RAVI AGARWAL

Secretary, Department of Medical & Health Services, Govt of Rajasthan

Managing Director RSGL

DR JITENDRA KUMAR SONI District Collector and Magistrate, Jhalawar

MUGDHA SINHA

MUKESH Kr MESHRAM

Managing Director RIICO

CommissionerCommercial Tax Dept, Govt of Uttar Pradesh

56 TUKARAM MUNDHE Municipal Commissioner, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation

PSU LEADERS

ANIL GARG

VIJAY SINGHAL

Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh

Development Commissioner, Directorate of Industries, Govt of Maharashtra

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

RAKESH SRIVASTAVA Secretary NCBC

C V ANAND

AKHILESH MITTAL

Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies department

Joint Director IT, RPSC, Ajmer, Government of Rajasthan

64 GEORGE KURUVILLA Chairman & Managing Director, Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL)

EDITORIAL

Governance Acquiring New Definition in a Transforming India

nnovation is the buzzword. Keeping in mind the importance of innovation to build a knowledge society, the 12th edition of eIndia, India’s premier ICT event, the prestigious conference is being organised in the land of Rajasthan on March 3 in Jaipur’s Taj SMS Innovation Convention Centre, partnering with the Department of Industries, Government of Rajasthan, as the host partner.

Key policymakers from Rajasthan as well as across the country were part of Elets’ eIndia conference. This special issue has tried to cover the policymakers’ perspective especially from Rajasthan, which is active in the Smart City, IT and eGovernance, Industries and CSR, security specturm. Our latest issue carries the cover story “Inventive Governance for Ideal Rajasthan” highlights how to realise the dream of ‘Digital Rajasthan’ the State government’s vision today includes good governance, inclusive growth, ICT for evolving e-governance and other initiatives. It also carries the interview of PP Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh, who shares about his ministry’s initiatives in north east and employment opportunities for the differently-abled. We have got another interview giving an overview of Gujarat’s Higher Education scenario from Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, Gujarat. Egov’s this issue also has tried to highlight the initiatives in the State of Telangana in terms of bringing accountability and transparency in its Civil supplies after focussing on major diversions of supplies and financial irregularities, through an interview of CV Anand, Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies department, Telangana government. Another important interview of Rakesh Srivastava, Secretary, NCBC, reveals how the central government has evolved a methodology to review OBC list to include them in the Centre’s OBC quota. Moving on with the rich legacy of eIndia summit over the years, we hope that it will prove to be another occasion celebrating the success of India in achieving which was considered unthinkable just four-five decades ago and exploring new scopes and challenges to scale new heights of success at the world stage. We look forward to the invaluable feedback of distinguished readers.

Dr Ravi Gupta Editor-in-Chief Ravi.Gupta@elets.in Email at subscription@elets.in to get previous issues

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

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MARCH ~ 2017 VOLUME 13 n ISSUE 03 ASIA’S FIRST MONTHLY MAGAZINE ON E-GOVERNANCE

OUR PUBLICATIONS

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Send your feedback about our interviews, features, articles, and news. You can either comment on the webpage of the story, or mail at editorial@elets.in

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GUEST EDITORIAL

Instrumenting CSR for Sustainable, Inclusive Socio-Economic Growth Most of the industries are today well-aware of the necessity to incorporate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into their business strategies and the need to nurture and include all relevant stakeholders in their growth stories.

he Indian Way of Life

India has a long tradition of philanthropy. The concept of helping the disadvantaged has been cited in several ancient literatures. In the pre-industrialisation, periodphilanthropy, religion and charity were the key drivers of CSR. The term CSR itself came into common parlance in the early 1970s.The last decade of the 20th century witnessed a shift in focus from charity and traditional philanthropy towards more direct engagement of business in mainstream development and concern for the disadvantaged section of society. In India, there is a growing realisation that business cannot succeed in isolation and social progress is a must for a sustainable growth. Today, India has made remarkable economic and industrial progress across several sectors, with an average GDP growth rate of around 7 percent. At present, though we live in an age of exceptional prosperity but there is also an appalling inequality around the world. As per India Human Development Survey (IHDS), the country is the second-most inequal country globally. The richest 1% own 53% of the country’s wealth, richest 5% own 68.6%, while the top 10% have 76.3%, according to the latest data from Credit Suisse, a leading global financial services company. The relationship between economic growth, human well-being, and the achievement of a sustainable future has a long and complex intellectual association. According to World Economic Forum’s Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2017, India has been ranked 60th among 79 developing

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

Ajitabh Sharma, Commissioner Industries Department, and Secretary, Corporate Social Responsibility Government of Rajasthan

economies. We are way behind our neighbours, including China (15th position), Nepal (27th), Bangladesh (36th) and Pakistan (52nd). Despite a remarkable growth, we are still struggling to deal with the problem of inclusive growth, social inequalities, poverty, income disparity, etc. Today, industrialisation is confined to few States and cities, and a bulk of rural areas are unaffected by industrialisation. As a result, our society classified into the ones below poverty line, and the others, who have taken advantage of all developments.

From developing to a developed nation, an overall growth of the society is pivotal. For a balanced and inclusive economic growth, it is essential for an economy to focus on the base of the pyramid; this focus makes it imperative for India to develop a robust “ecosystem” for an economic and industrial development. “Therefore, now is the time to ensure a balance between socially-linked-inclusive-economic and the industrial growth, to reduce the disparity between two categories of our society and contribute to the national development.”

What India Needs?

Rising CSR in India

GUEST EDITORIAL

In the last decade, CSR has rapidly evolved in India with some companies focusing on strategic CSR initiatives to contribute towards nation building. Gradually, the companies in India started focusing on need-based initiatives aligned with the national priorities such as public health, education, livelihoods, water conservation and natural resource management. Intensive national level deliberations on the potential role and responsibility of the corporate sector in contributing towards addressing social issues were witnessed in the last decade. In the last five years, the Government of India has also enhanced its focus on persuading companies to participate in addressing social and developmental issues, not only as a part of their social responsibility but also their business practices. There is increasing regulatory pressure on Indian businesses to integrate their CSR agendas with their larger sustainability strategies and make public disclosures on relevant policies and outcomes. In July 2011, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MoCA) launched the National Voluntary Guidelines (NVG) on the social, environmental and economic responsibilities of businesses. These guidelines focus on encouraging Indian businesses to disclose their responsible business practices, based on an apply-or-explain principle. Subsequently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandated that the top 100 listed entities (based on their market capitalisation) publicly disclose their Business Responsibility Reports (BRRs) in their annual reports, and provide relevant details about their performance against each of the NVG’s nine principles. The CSR mandate (according to Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, notified by the MoCA on 27 February, 2014) has direct and significant implications for the way businesses approach CSR. This is the first mandate for companies in India on formulation and execution of CSR policies as well as for companies expending minimal funds on such activities. More importantly, the mandate extends to as many as 6,000 companies.

Corporate Contribution And Indian Growth Story The contribution of businesses to India’s growth story is widely acknowledged. It is now time for corporate India to share in the task of nationbuilding to achieve goals of inclusive sustainable development that will enable the country’s GDP to surge beyond the expected growth.

Stressing the importance of sustainable governance at the company board level in large Indian companies aims to put in place a culture of sustainable and inclusive development in them and align their larger public and stakeholder agendas with their growth plans. The private sector must play a far greater role towards the achievement of the sustainable and inclusive growth than it did in the past 15 years with the Millinieum Development Goals (MDGs). For this to happen, however, civil society must fundamentally redefine its relationship with business, moving from confrontation to collaboration. To harmonise these efforts, the governments may now assume responsibility to develop key

Despite a remarkable growth, we are still struggling to deal with the problem of inclusive growth, social inequalities, poverty, income disparity, etc. Today, industrialisation is confined to few States and cities, and a bulk of rural areas are unaffected by industrialisation. performance indicators (KPIs) for evaluation of progress across its various functions (governance/ EoDB) and economic areas (sectors). Wherein functions will become ‘enablers’ and economic areas will become ‘drivers’ of the economy. Functions will also entail social responsibility of the government – such as employment generation, technology inclusion, environment sustainability, health conditions for the citizens, quality of life, cost of living, safety and security, education, healthy competition environment, etc. These all aspects are very critical for investor while making their investment decision.

Government Striving For Poverty

Allevation And Eradication The Government of India is also working towards eradicating poverty through expanded conventional schemes of development, along with a new era of inclusion and empowerment, turning distant dreams into immediate possibilities new bank accounts for; direct transfer of benefits; funds to the unbanked; insurance within the reach of all; and, pension for sunset years, etc. Along with Industrial growth, the Rajasthan government attaches due importance to the welfare activities that will be conducted for public well-being. In this regard, a need has been felt for optional utilisation of the CSR fund and initiatives, through facilitating the Public and Private Sector Companies to carry out their CSR activities. The State Government has been actively working to create a conducive environment for private players and implementers (such as NGOs, etc.) through various initiatives like Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan, skill development initiatives, etc. To improve on Human Development Index of Rajasthan, foundation is being laid out by infrastructure creation, reduced regulations, general facilitation and evolving policies so as to induce CSR investments in the State. The Government of Rajasthan envisages to align its projects and activities to create larger impact in global CSR ecosystem. The Government envisages to enhance and institutionalise CSR initiatives to provide research, training, practice, capacity building, standard setting, advocacy, monitoring, recognition and related support in the field of CSR in the State. The ultimate objectives of this initiative are multifold, such as: l Sustain and develop knowledge base of information required by key stakeholders for effective implementation of CSR projects l Promote social interaction between various stakeholders for overall development of social, economic and environmental economic ecosystem l Identify and develop socio-economic opportunities that lead to sustainable prosperity in the communities l Recognise implementation agencies and investors through Rajasthan CSR Awards for showcasing successful implementation of projects having maximum measurable impacts l Educate beneficiaries, investors, and other stakeholders about the value of CSR and

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GUEST EDITORIAL

within Rajasthan and across the country, to utilised their CSR budget for social projects in Rajasthan Mahatma Gandhi once said: “One must care about the world one will not see – our future generation is watching today and tomorrow will judge us by the choices we make in the years ahead.” However, it is critical to conduct a dip-stick analysis to understand the challenges of India as an emerging nation. India houses world’s second largest human population and predicted to have one of the world’s youngest and thereby the largest working population by 2026. Yet, it ranks 130 among 188 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) (Human Development Report, 2015). This implies that India has a great volume of people, who have a low life expectancy, education, per capita income and gender inequality. This itself poses a gigantic challenge for gov-

the transaction costs from the increased frequency of these partnerships. Such partnerships incur costs to both the private sector, government, implementers, and other stakeholders. The challenge is to make sure that the return on the investment—in terms of not only promoting economic growth but also providing business value to the private-sector actors—outweighs the costs. There is a dire need for continued capacity building of both public and private sector to provide the relevant groups with the skills to initiate and manage these alliances while at the same time instilling a culture within that encourages publicprivate cooperation. Lastly, there is still a need to find appropriate institutional and governance structures to administer these partnerships. Stakeholders are still struggling with the structuring of such partnerships and monitoring the impact of the same at the ground level. We recognise that companies have, in their

ernment, corporates, and other stakeholders to deliberate and pave a way forward for sustainable growth of the country. Besides, India continues to struggle with the challenges of organising multi-stakeholder arrangements. The government faces the problem of taking these partnerships to new scale. Where pilot and demonstration programmes have succeeded, these partnerships need to go beyond seed funding and pilot projects to make a real and lasting impact. The narrow impact of these programmes reflects the limitation of resources to pursue such partnerships as well as losing out on opportunities to scale such projects. There is a need for ecosystem of thought leaders and partners to pursue this agenda forward. Furthermore, there is a continuous struggle with

own ways, been contributing to the foundation of CSR in India. They have, with their desired methods of intervention, been addressing national concerns such as livelihood promotion, community development, environment, making health services more accessible, creating inclusive markets and so on. However, the efforts are not coordinated and a strategic national-level policy framework with the involvement of all stakeholders may ensure that the efforts made by companies, individuals, organisations, and the government are synergistic and create a snowball effect. Therefore, it benefits more people, utilises resources more effectively, minimises duplication and creates more value and really achieves development goals. By providing more clarity on standardising the meaning of CSR in the Indian context and provid-

sustainable development l Identify and encourage private players,

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ing a favourable policy environment, the initiatives can be strengthen. These definitive steps are being undertaken by the Government of India implying that if companies employ CSR strategically this can lead to achieving more sustainable businesses. By creating a pool of resources, whether financial or technical, a win-win situation is within reach of all the stakeholders involved. The mandatory reporting standards being introduced in the Companies Bill will aid in creating uniformity and accountability of actions and also become a measure of the impact these activities will have —and the ability measure the impact will be a step in a positive direction. Even the tools that have been developed for measuring social return on investment can be employed more effectively. The Companies Law has opened a new opportunity for all the stakeholders including the corporate sector, government, not-for-profit organisations and the community at large to evolve innovative ways to synergise efforts and contribute toward equitable social and economical development. The key to maximising returns for all the stakeholders in the given situation is to emphasise on developing effective and need-based CSR strategies so that the investments can yield intended results. Effective CSR can be achieved by aligning CSR initiatives to the extent possible with business objectives, thereby indirectly benefiting and increasing their own incentives for efficient programming. As far as possible, the CSR initiatives should be designed in a sustainable manner and should be scalable and result-oriented. Therefore, creating indirect advantages such as brand visibility, social capital, partnerships, business opportunities, long-term community relationships and most importantly nation building. Currently, the stance of CSR in India is headed in a positive direction and efforts towards “Inclusive Capitalism,” through engaging CSR at a new level of connectedness between the private sector, governments, NGOs, and civil society across three main platforms: communities, institutions, and their core business strategies, will be the game changer. With an appropriate infusion of knowledge, skill, and technology, facilitated through strong and promising partnerships amongst government, private players, civil society and other stakeholder, there is no doubt, the country will achieve full potential of economic growth in a sustainable manner.

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LEADERS’ SPEAK / P P CHAUDHARY

Our nation is taking giant strides to fast emerge as a Digital Economy and build an inclusive Knowledge Society through a series of path-breaking transformative initiatives such as “Make-in-India”, “Startup-India”, “Skilling India”, “Stand-up-India”, and “Digital India” under the dynamic leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, says P P Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, in an exclusive conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Government Building

Proactive Cyber Security Ecosystem 12

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

P P CHAUDHARY \ LEADERS’ SPEAK

P P CHAUDHARY, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice

mendous boost to digital transactions and multi-digit growth has been reported across various digital transaction platforms. The Government has also set a target of 2,500 crore digital transactions for various payment modes for the fiscal year 2017-18. The developments over the past couple of months have brought focus on the issues of cyber security and safety of digital transactions.

The Framework

ur nation is taking giant strides to fast emerge as a Digital Economy and inclusive Knowledge Society through a series of pathbreaking transformative initiatives such as “Make-in-India”, “Start-Up-India”, “Skilling India”, “Stand-up-India”, and “Digital India” under the dynamic leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The flagship initiative of Digital India stands out uniquely in many ways – in terms of stake holders in industry, academia and Government at various levels in Centre, State and UTs, in terms of its enabling nature, and consequent impact both on economy and society.

In a short span, it has enabled roll out of many new projects and products, covering the entire spectrum of e-Governance space in the country, including G2C, G2B, and G2G, with emphasis on quality in all aspects of service delivery. Aadhaar roll out with over 1.11 Billion enrollments and its successful use in several welfare schemes for direct benefit transfer, as well as for expediting business processes, is unprecedented and unique in the world. The recent successful implementation of remonetization, in a short span of a little over 2 months, to eliminate the deep rooted menace of corruption and black money, coupled with emphasis on less cash economy and digital payments has further given tre-

The Government is alive to evolving dynamic situations in the crucial area of cyber security and has taken several proactive measures to safeguard country’s sovereignty and national interest with a view to build a secure and resilient cyberspace for Citizens, Business and Government and help transform our country into a digitally trusted society. Under the overarching Information Technology Act 2000 (along with 2008 amendments), a National Cyber Security Framework is in place which takes on board all the stakeholders. It covers secure cyber ecosystem, assurance and regulatory frameworks, mechanisms for 24x7 operations, indigenous cyber security technologies, workforce development, global cooperation and gap analysis. As part of the framework, a National Cyber Security Policy has been put in place. Moreover, Indian Computer Emergency

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LEADERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; SPEAK / P P CHAUDHARY

Response Team (CERT-In) has been operational on 24x7 basis and all cyber security incidents are to be reported to CERT-In. Towards building and enhancing awareness of organizations and individuals about measures to ward off cyber attacks and securing their systems, the CERT-In provides important information such as Alerts, Advisories and Vulnerability Notes. It also prepares and periodically updates a Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP) for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism. This plan is widely circulated to all the stakeholders for strict compliance. Wherever necessary, the requisite guidance and expertise is also extended for its effective implementation. Regular workshops and drills are conducted to impart training and take stock of various measures. Towards mass awareness building, guidelines, white papers, workshop presentations, books, videos and online materials are disseminated through citizen-centric portals such as www.infosecawareness.in, www.secureelectronics.in and www.cert-in.org. The Government has also set up a number of Cyber Forensic Training & Investigation Labs for training of Law Enforcement Agencies and Judiciary. These labs also provide support for investigation of cyber security incidents and cyber crimes by retrieving and analyzing data from computers and mobiles. The Government recently announced a number of indigenous tools and solutions along with the launch of Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre (Cyber Swachhta Kendra) under CERT-In. The users can log on to the Cyber Swachhata Kendra portal and clean their systems using the free software solutions. The indigenous tools made available include USB Pratirodh, a desktop security solution, which protects from USB mass storage device threats and AppSamvid, a desktop solution protects systems by allowing installation of genuine applications through white listing. For mobile devices, M-Kavach solution addresses the security threats. As regards security assurance, the Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate evaluates and certifies IT products for security. STQC carries select key security testing and assessment activities and also conducts various security related training courses.

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

Future Steps

l Setting-up of a National Cyber Coordi-

As can be seen from above, the Government has taken several initiatives and measures to safeguard and secure our cyberspace. However, this is an ever evolving field and cyber threat perceptions keep changing dynamically. This requires constant monitoring and upgrading of our capabilities and capacities. Some of the initiatives in pipeline include the following, namely:

nation Centre (NCCC) under CERT-In which would enable anticipation and requisite preparation to counter cyber attacks and to generate cyber security situational awareness. l A Computer Emergency Response Team for Financial Sector (CERT-Fin) to work in close coordination with all financial sector regulators and other stakeholders has been recently announced. l Vulnerabilities in other sectors are being assessed and sectoral CERTs would be implemented in phased manner on need basis. l An expert panel has been setup to study and recommend the changes required in the existing laws, such as IT Act, Criminal Procedure Code, Evidence Act and IPC to plug the gaps, if any, in tackling the various forms of cyber crimes. Some State governments are also proposing to have their own CERTs. Our country will also be hosting an International Summit on cyber security issues later this year. The Government is committed to ensuring a safe and secure cyberspace for its citizens. It has a clear vision and roadmap to proactively secure the cyber space and effectively track and counter various facets of cyber crimes in the country.

The Government has also set up a number of Cyber Forensic Training & Investigation Labs for training of Law Enforcement Agencies and Judiciary. These labs also provide support for investigation of cyber security incidents and cyber crimes.

DR JITENDRA SINGH \ LEADERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; SPEAK

Reaching out to

Northeast India The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has launched a 108page coffee table book containing pictorial depiction of the exclusive features of each of the eight states of the northeast. The ministry has also increased the budgetary allocation for an overall development of the region, says Union Minister for DoNER, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in conversation with Gautam Debroy of Elets News Network (ENN). Excerpts:

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LEADERS’ SPEAK / DR JITENDRA SINGH

ver since your party formed the government at the Centre, much more emphasis has been laid on the development of northeastern states.

Yes, we are now giving much more attention to the northeastern states. Under my watch, the DoNER Ministry’s budget allocation has been increased. The budgetary estimate for the Ministry for 2017-18 has been increased by 6.2 per cent to Rs 2,682.45 crore against revised estimates of Rs 2,524.42 crore in 2016-17. The outlay for North Eastern Council (NEC) has also been fixed at Rs 925 crore against the last year’s allocation of Rs 800 crore (a 15.63 per cent increase). Rs 500 crore has been provided under budget estimate 2017-18 as ‘Grants to Autonomous Council and Areas covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.’

provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In your ministry, you have launched a massive recruitment drive. Please tell us about it. The special recruitment drive was launched in May 2015 which led to filling up of 83.50 per cent of 15,694 vacancies of “Divyang Jan”. Interviews have been dispensed with for recruitment to all Group ‘C’, ‘D’ and Group ‘B’ (non-gazetted) posts with effect from January 1, 2016. “Our Employees — Online App” will enable officers, media persons and all stakeholders to stay updated on appointments and postings of senior government functionaries on realtime basis. To improve transparency and reduce time to complete recruitment, the government has switched over from the traditional OMR (Optical Mark Reader) mode to computer-based online mode in respect of the various examinations (like CGLE, CHSL, MTS level, etc.) conducted by SSC (Staff Selection Commission).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Shillong on May 27 assumes historic importance because it was the first time after 40 years that a Prime Minister had attended the plenary meeting of North Eastern Council at Shillong which is the headquarters of the council. You have recently launched a coffee table book. Tell us about this initiative. The coffee table book contains a pictorial depiction of the exclusive features of each of the eight states of the northeast. Its special highlight is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Shillong on May 27, which assumes historic importance because it was the first time after 40 years that a Prime Minister had attended the plenary meeting of North Eastern Council at Shillong which is the headquarters of the council. The last Prime Minister to do so was Morarji Desai in the year 1977. The 108-page book is entitled ‘A Story of Sagacity and Success’ and its creation was possible because of the inspiration and patronage

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Initiatives have already been taken to implement e-Office in Central government ministries and departments under MMP. So far, 11 ministries and departments have successfully implemented e-Office and 55 more ministries and departments are expected to implement it by March 31, 2017. In the UN e-Gov Index 2016, India’s rank has improved from 118 in 2014 to 107 in 2016. DARPG in association with UNDP is working towards improvement in online service delivery and development of services portal for India. In order to enforce accountability and transparency in all offices of Central government ministries and departments except Railway, Defence, Post and Telecommunication, ‘Bhav-

ishya’ has been made mandatory for processing pension cases with effect from January 1, 2017.

Where do we stand in the field of space and atomic energy? We are doing quite well! We signed a civil nuclear agreement with Japan in November last year during Prime Minister’s last visit to Japan. We also signed on December 9, 2016 an inter-governmental agreement with Vietnam for peaceful uses of atomic energy. Mumbaibased Tata Memorial Centre Cancer Hospital which functions under the aegis of Department of Atomic Energy has achieved 100 per cent “cashless” transaction through the use of exclusive hospital-specific multipurpose pre-paid ‘smartcard.’ Two important technology demonstrations have been undertaken: The Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstration (RLVTD) and the ScramJet Engine. In addition, we have launched 20 satellites in one go on-board PSLV of which 17 were international payloads, 2 were from Indian Academia and the CARTOSAT-2S.

There was an allegation that your party used the ‘surgical strike’ issue to gain political mileage in the state elections. What do you have to say on it? In fact, the surgical strike was meticulously executed. There was confidentiality built over the operation. But they (the Opposition) made an issue out of it. They have questioned the authenticity of the operation. Here, I must tell that those who don’t dare to call terrorist a terrorist must not question the patriotism. On the contrary, they (the Opposition) can go to any extent to get political mileage from any issue. We appeal to all sections of the society not to indulge in any kind of politicking at the cost of the morale of the security forces. When the demonetisation took place, the Opposition raised the same issue. They went to the maximum possible extent to raise controversy by raising questions over the decision taken by the Prime Minister. I tell you the demonetisation decision was taken keeping in mind the interest of the common people of the country. The decision will wash away black money.

COVER STORY

Inventive Governance for IDEAL Rajasthan To achieve good governance and facilitate inclusive growth, harnessing ICT to evolve e-governance for improved service delivery and bridging the digital divide to achieve the objective of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Digital Rajasthanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; are part of the vision of Rajasthan Government, finds Team Elets.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

COVER STORY

Governance in Rajasthan has steadily evolved from computerisation of government departments to fragmented initiatives aimed at speeding up e-governance implementation across the various arms of the government at the state and local levels. These fragmented initiatives have now been unified into a common vision and strategy under the Rajasthan e-Governance Framework leveraging the Rajasthan e-Governance Architecture. The Rajasthan Government takes a holistic view of e-governance initiatives across the state and departments, integrating them into a collective vision and a shared cause. Around this idea, a magnanimous state-wide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of villages is evolving, and large-scale e-governance initiatives are taking place to enable easy, reliable access of people to the government services the e-way. Over the last few decades, evolutions in the Information Technology and Electronics (ITE) arena have emerged as the most significant enablers for improving efficiency and effectiveness of the government and non-government organisations. Rajasthan recognises the enormous potential of ITE and has made significant efforts to ensure that the benefits of these sectors percolate to its citizens. Rajasthan’s multicultural population of 6.86 crore lives and works on a land area of 342,239 sq km, and has learned to combine skills and diligence with education and technology to sustain the momentum of economic growth. There is a widespread recognition that IT is needed to leverage the intellectual capital for the state to be the leader and trend-setter for e-governance in the country. A concerted effort to harness computer power began in the early 1980s, and in a manner that has become a state formula, the government has taken the leadership reins of the race. E-governance is seen as a key element of the Rajasthan’s governance and administrative reforms agenda. The Rajasthan e-Governance Framework and Architecture has the potential to enable huge savings in costs through the sharing of core and support infrastructure, enabling interoperability through standards, and of presenting a seamless view of the government to citizens. The ultimate objective is to bring public services closer to citizens.

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

BENEFITS OF THE SCHEME l Ensuring empowerment and

independence of women l Financial inclusion for all

sections of the society l End-to-end service delivery

platform for cash and noncash benefits with complete transparency and real-time delivery l Closer-to-home banking services for citizens l A unified platform for large number of schemes l Includes both family and individual beneficiary schemes Rajasthan emphasises that creating digital opportunities in the 21st Century is not something that happens after addressing “core” development challenges, but it is rather a key component of addressing those challenges. There are three key challenges in stepping up e-governance: investments in and access to ICTs, capacity building to utilise e-governance services, and promoting people’s participation in e-democracy. It is hoped that improved access to information and services will provide economic and social development opportunities, facilitate participation and communication in policy and decision-making processes, and promote the empowerment of the marginalised groups. In its continuing endeavour of develop-

ment, the Rajasthan e-Governance, IT & ITES Policy 2015 envisages promoting citizen access to ICTs for encouraging their participation in e-governance. The policy is for the people, by the people. Though the 33 districts of Rajasthan are at various stages of development, the policy attempts to highlight the possibilities for other districts that are similar to capital in levels of development. To promote the IT/ITES Industry in the city, this policy attempts to develop a more modern and vibrant ecosystem for Electronics and IT industry to support electronic governance initiatives of the Government of India and attract investment and talent to such industries in Rajasthan. Key focus areas of the policy include pioneering e-governance initiatives, research and development in electronic system design and manufacturing, support of the Micro Small & Medium Enterprises and promotion of entrepreneurship that harnesses the huge talent pool of the people of Rajasthan, and ensuring inclusive growth – for one and for all.

Key Objectives of Rajasthan e-Governance, IT & ITES Policy Till 2025: l Make two individuals (at least one female)

in every household e-literate l Achieve up to 500,000 direct employable

professionals in the ICT sector l Develop at least 2,000 technology startups l Prioritise IT/ITeS/ESDM sector

Increase in the current investment in IT/ ITeS sector, increase IT turnover to Rs 50,000 crore and increase in IT exports from the state to Rs 5,000 crore

COVER STORY

In order to achieve the stated objectives of the Rajasthan e-Governance, IT & ITES Policy, the government has launched a number of initiatives. Some of them are as following:

Government of Rajasthan’s eMitra Committed to quick and convenient delivery of citizen services, the Government of Rajasthan had set up the eMitra platform of e-governance way back in 2004. Currently, over 250 G2C and B2C services are being provided through this platform across all rural and urban areas in 33 districts of the state. New services are added to its fold regularly. The eMitra service delivery points – centres and kiosks – are run on PublicPrivate Partnership mode. Over 1 crore families across the state have been enrolled under the Bhamashah Scheme. It facilitates direct benefits transfer into the accounts of enrolled families. The state government intends to ensure effective disbursement of government entitlements and complete financial inclusion in the state through the scheme. The next step in this direction is to

VIDEO CONFERENCING Video conference facility is an initiative of the state government with an objective to improve the responsiveness of administration. All government departments are stakeholders in this project.

BENEFITS Enables ‘jansunwai’ Enables training of various LSP’s and kiosks together Senior government officers can reach out the officers posted in remote districts of the state Helps monitoring of various schemes and projects being implemented by the state government thus leading to good governance, accountability and transparency bursement close to the residents door steps but also provide entrepreneurship opportunity to the youth in their own village.

eMitra Mobile App

ensure disbursement of cash benefits to the beneciaries close to their doorsteps. In order to facilitate this, the state government is under the process of setting up eMitra Pay Points. eMitra Pay Point is an exclusive payment disbursement kiosk network that uses point of service/sale (PoS) devices. These Pay Points will be set up by the local service providers (LSPs) to cover the unbanked areas and provide cash disbursement facility to the residents of these areas. These eMitra Pay Points serve dual purpose of not only providing the facility of cash dis-

eMitra mobile-based payment application facilitates e-payment, using any net banking/credit card/debit card, of various utility bills like electricity bill, water bill, BSNL mobile bill and landline bill by the residents of the state. The app also allows a resident to validate the status of an application/ service receipt issued against any service by any eMitra kiosk across the state. The app is available for Android, Windows & iOS platforms and can be downloaded from eMitra portal (www. emitra.gov.in) and respective app stores.

Rajasthan Sampark IT Centre A Unified Service Delivery Platform Rajasthan Sampark IT Centres set up across Rajasthan ensure efficient delivery of services to people in an integrated and easily accessible manner. Coverage up to block level has

been achieved and setting up of centres up to panchayat level is in progress with Rajasthan Sampark IT centres at each district collectorate and in all panchayat samities provides an easy approach to senior government offices/officers for the common man. These centres will enable the citizens to reach the departments of the state government for availing services and also for raising their queries and concerns, with the help of ICT interventions. Housed within Atal Seva Kendras, Rajasthan Sampark IT centres provide a centralised platform for following activities: l Service delivery to citizens l DBT through Bhamashah Scheme (banking correspondent services) l Permanent Aadhar enrollment l Work flow-enabled grievance redressal system (Rajasthan Sampark Portal) Video conferencing facility for ‘jansunwais’ (public hearing) up to block level, i.e., 33 districts and 248 ‘panchayat samitis’, review/ monitoring of government programmes/ schemes, etc.

Bhamashah Scheme Bhamashah Scheme is an end-to-end service delivery platform to transfer cash and non-cash benefits to the targeted beneficiaries in a transparent manner. The scheme aims at including beneficiaries under various government programmes like ration cards, pension, NREGS and scholarships for higher and technical education and differently-abled. The scheme is a family-based programme of financial inclusion, where each family is issued a ‘Bhamashah Card’. The card is linked to a bank account that is in the name of lady of the house as the head of the family. The card leverages bio-metric identification and core banking. Multiple benefits can be accessed through the Bhamashah Card and are directly transferred to bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Under the scheme, the family is being mapped correctly and single unique data-set for the residents of the state is being made. Thus, duplication will be checked. All demographics and social parameters have been included to work out entitlement by various state departments. The scheme implementation will be in a phased manner and eventually cover beneficiaries at all levels across the state.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / SUBIR KUMAR

Ensuring Efficient

Governance in Sync with

Technological Advancements Use of Information Technology and citizen partnership are two specifihc approaches that can help Police department in curbing crime rate. Through these efforts we are ensuring efficient governance, says Subir Kumar, Secretary, Home Department, Government of Rajasthan in conversation with Harshal Y Desai of Elets News Network (ENN). Excerpts:

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SUBIR KUMAR \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

ome Department has a crucial role to play in ensuring efficient governance within various departments. Kindly apprise us in this regard.

Home Department is responsible for handling, supervising and monitoring several other departments i.e., Police Department, Anti Corruption Bureau, Prison Department, State Forensic Science Laboratory and Public and Home Guard. We are ensuring better coordination among all these departments. The department indeed has a crucial role in ensuring efficient governance by supervising the smooth functioning of all the aforesaid departments. This responsibility is a bigger challenge. We, however, are devoting enough time in planning and streamlining the operations in all these agencies. The responsibility to manage several departments makes the role of Home Department crucial.

Education and Training for the inmates is another area where the Government of Rajasthan has given its due attention. Several education activities including literacy and elementary education, higher education, computer training, etc are conducted within the jails. Few jails are also conducting courses on Industrial Training Institutes (ITI).

Rajasthan police has also planned to recruit officials to tackle crimes against women? What are your views on this? Rajasthan Government is planning to hire protection officers in districts and supervisors in blocks to empower women by ensuring security for them. These officers will only be dealing with atrocities against women. We already have dedicated helpline numbers for women. Besides this, there are Mahila Salah and Suraksha Kendra (MSSK) in Rajast-

We have also introduced a special app through which people can lodge report about their missing documents. These reports will be treated as registered FIR. So, now people don’t need to go to police department seek the copy of the FIR – which is later submitted to passport office. By submitting the report online, they can get a registration number and get the copy of the report online. You can also submit report for other documents i.e., Aadhaar Card, Driving License, etc. Further, we have also started Sampark Portal where people can update their complaint. These complaints will be evaluated by the police department. Evaluating the nature of the complaint, police department will get in touch with person and lodge FIR.

What are your views on involving common citizens in strengthening police department?

What are the latest initiatives undertaken by your department to strengthen the Forensic Science Laboratory? The state government is quite serious about improving the Forensic Science Laboratory. We have recently added another feather in our cap by establishing an advanced polygraph centre. Prior to this, we were actually dependent on other laboratories, but with this new facility, the police department will be able to handle various cases independently. Earlier, we had set up the DNA finger printing facility at the State Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

Kindly share with us the improvements made in the Prison Department of Rajasthan over the years? Prison Department is indeed one of the major focus areas for Home Department of Government of Rajasthan. We have always ensured that the prisoners do have access to safe and humane conditions inside the jail boundaries. We are focussed on providing correctional services to the prisoners. We believe in making the prisoners better citizens after their release.

han which have been established to safeguard the interests of women across the State. Rajasthan police has also started WhatsApp Helpline Number for women in distress.

Your department had planned to buy a Geo Locator and launch the mobile app to track missing documents? Kindly share the progress on this project. We – leveraging the available technology – are planning to buy a Geo Locator, which will help us nab the culprits by identifying their nearest locations. With this service, now police department can decipher the location with the resolution of 10 meters. Earlier, we used to locate the person on the basis of tower and the range of tower would be 2 – 3 kilometres.

Citizen partnership is very important, and with the help of IT tools, we can surely make the most of this concept. With the help of smart phone and other mobile devices, reporting crime has become easy. If we do that, police department will be in better condition to control the crimes or take necessary actions. The entire nation can become our ‘community police.’ If we can integrate their efforts, we can bring a positive change in the psyche of general people.

Tell us about the challenges that the department encounter? Integrating and synergising the efforts of various departments is the biggest challenges for us, but with well-planned approach and systematic processes, the Government of Rajasthan is ensuring efficient mechanism.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / ANOOP KHINCHI

Rajasthan Financial

Corporation Providing Succour To Industries

Our sole objective is to facilitate things for the tiny, small scale and medium scale industries, ensuring they get loans to start and sustain their businesses. We assist these businesses on long-term basis, says Anoop Khinchi, Managing Director, Rajasthan Financial Corporation (RFC), in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

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ANOOP KHINCHI \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

hat is the main objective of Rajasthan Financial Corporation (RFC)?

In today’s time, progress of any state is calculated on the basis of development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), which is up to great extent correct as the development of industries generates jobs and subsequently improves the standard of living. We all know how desperately we need job opportunities in our country. The sole objective of RFC is to help tiny, small scale and medium scale industries by ensuring they get loans to start and sustain their businesses. We assist these businesses on long term basis. In additions to this, the organisation also speeds up the development process in industrial policies. As we grew, we started tailor-made schemes in order to meet the varied requirements of different units.

RFC has recently reduced the lending rate. Will you throw some light on this move? In order to make Rajasthan Financial Corporation (RFC) more competitive, we have taken few decisions; reducing the lending rate from 12 per cent to 11 per cent is one of them. We believe, with this initiative, we will be able to attract more investors. Besides, adding more

The sole objective of RFC is to help tiny, small scale and medium scale industries by ensuring they get loans to start and sustain their businesses.

flexibility to our business model, we have decided to give loans over rented property. We have also decided to provide loans upto Rs 50 lakh to those who set up their units on rented properties. Further, under flexi loan schemes and good borrower’s scheme, the rates will be 12 per cent and 10.75 per cent, respectively. Earlier, these rates were 13 per cent and 11.75 per cent, respectively.

What are the other schemes offered by RFC? We have taken all the business into consideration and over the period of time, devised and developed several loan schemes. And as I mentioned earlier, we have also considered the types of borrowers – be it service sectors i.e. hospital, nursery, tourism and information technology, textile industry, commercial projects, and many others.

Will you also brief us on the significance of Young Entrepreneurs Incentive Scheme? In this scheme, we sanction loan upto 90 lakhs. Financial assistance for projects which ranges between Rs. 25 lakhs to Rs. 1 Crore is also provided. We also offer awards under this scheme. Getting help for getting land from RIICO, guidance and assistance by department officers, etc are few other benefits extended to the businessmen.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / DR MANJIT SINGH

Rajasthan

Being In Forefront of Smart City Mission Rajasthan has always been at the forefront in implementing development schemes backed by the Centre including the Smart City Mission. The State Government aims to complete various development works in all four Smart cities â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer before the second anniversary of smart city projects celebration on June 25, this year. The works of Rs 265 crore will be conducted, while works of Rs 550 crore will be in the progress, says Dr Manjit Singh, Principal Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Government of Rajasthan, in conversation with Kartik Sharma and Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

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DR MANJIT SINGH \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

ow would you define concept of ‘Smart City’? What is the budgetary allocation for the four cities selected under Smart City Mission? The concept of ‘Smart City’ is all about making a city liveable for its citizens and bridge the gaps – be it housing, water, electricity, transport, parking or sewage. It’s also about plugging the gaps in the existing schemes and offering people IT-enabled services. Amongst all four smart cities in making — Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer, there is a healthy competition to complete various development works. Rajasthan Government has decided to spend around Rs 6,729 under smart city projects in four cities of the State. In Jaipur, Rs 2,401 crore, in Udaipur Rs 1,221 crore, in Ajmer Rs 1,948 crore and in Kota Rs 1,456 crore will be spent under smart city projects.

need to change. But for that, public transport has to be efficient and punctual. In four years, we will convert the Walled City into a smart area. We will create vending zones in ‘smart areas’. So, say, flower-sellers will have designated areas.

Can you also throw light on development plans for Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer? In Udaipur, it is planned to start functioning of 55 projects in current financial year, which will cost around Rs 1,100 crore. The projects include public transport, smart water supply, smart parking, solor rooftop power plant and construction of control and command centre. Works of Rs 122 crore will be completed in Udaipur, while works of Rs 967 crore will be under progress before the second anniversary of smart city projects celebration. In Kota, works worth Rs 90 crore will be

Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) manage a large volume and range of civic services. However, shortage of staff and other resources coupled with inability to raise capital, has been a challenge to meet growing expectations from the citizens. ULBs can improve service delivery through Information Communication Technology which is being implemented through Smart Raj project. The objective of SmartRaj project is to create a state-wide integrated system, connecting all ULBs to provide all services online through single portal. It will improve the delivery of government services to citizens and business. This is a statewide e-governance project initiated by the present government to cover all urban local bodies (ULBs) and their municipal services.

What are the goals and deadline of the project completion? The State Government has allocated Rs125 crore

What are the development projects in the pipeline for Jaipur? In this financial year, 50 development projects worth Rs 821 crore under smart city project will be completed in Jaipur. Such projects include 10 projects of smart mobility, smart heritage and tourism, 16 projects of smart infrastructure and 10 projects of smart solid waste management projects. In Jaipur, applications for tenders of four projects including smart road, smart solution, smart class rooms and smart solid waste management have already been invited.

Why was a congested Walled City area chosen in Jaipur? What are the key challenges in implementing smart projects? Under the Area-Based Development (ABD), an area of 650 acres of the Walled City (or old city), between Albert Hall and Jorawar Singh Gate, has been identified for retrofitting. Modern infrastructure that has been missing in the old city will be developed now. It’s challenging and has been selected after extensive stakeholder consultations and seeking out public opinion. First is sewerage, which is almost 50 years old. Then, traffic congestion and limited parking space. Also, people here are not very positive toward public transport facilities. So, mindsets

completed and Rs 715 crore works will be under progress before the second anniversary of smart city projects celebration. In Ajmer only, 38 projects will be carried out under smart city project, which include heritage conservation, painting project, open gym, cycle sharing project, e-bus project, LED lights project, construction of cultural park, statue-sculpture project, cycle and walking track project, heritage museum construction and smart class room project. Rs 95 crore would have been spent on development works before second anniversary of smart city projects, while Rs715 crore works would be under progress in Ajmer.

Why the need of Smart Raj project was felt and how would it benefit ULBs and the public?

to improve service delivery mechanism, transparency in governance and better information management covering all ULBs. We expect this to be completed by March 2018. Under the Smart Raj project, we have included 23 IT modules to take care of all municipal transactions, building permissions and plans, fire safety NOCs, and so on. The Smart Raj project will be integrated on a GIS platform under the GIS-mapping project. We have also deployed a state-level dedicated call centre, which had addressed more than 1 lakh complaints till March 31, 2016. It is a single window service to citizens on anytime, anywhere basis by increasing the efficiency and productivity of ULBs and would provide timely and reliable management information for effective municipal administration. It will also improve citizen experience of the interactions with ULBs.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / ANJU SHARMA

Armed with policies and schemes to promote research and innovation in the higher education and technical education sector, the Government of Gujarat is moving towards revamping the entire teaching-learning process to make the most of the existing opportunities, says Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, Gujarat, in an interview with Hemangini S Rajput of Elets News Network (ENN). Excerpts:

Heralding a New Era in Higher Education 26 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

ANJU SHARMA \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

lease tell us about important initiatives undertaken recently by the Gujarat Department of Higher and Technical Education.

Gujarat has about 60 universities, over 800 colleges and around 1.4 million students pursuing higher education. In January 2017, the Government of Gujarat has launched the Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP) in order to encourage research and innovation to solve real-life problems of industries, society, community and government at large, and also to encourage students to become job creators. Recently, an open hackathon was organised at the education pavilion during Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017. The event enlisted ‘Problem Statement’ for various sectors. It is the beginning of a new era which may replace the classical approach of parametric based research with innovative and useful minor/major research projects. In 2015, Gujarat started ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana’ – a versatile scheme to support meritorious and needy students in the state. Under the scheme, economically weak students pursuing higher education are supported financially as well as by other related facilities on equal opportunity basis, irrespective of any reservation criteria. As per the government resolution, eligible students are entitled to get support for 50% tuition fees, equipment or book purchase, and for hostel expenses at all government, grant-in-aid and self financed institutes. It is expected to extend support to about 24,000 students with Rs 110 crore this year. We have also started a novel and innovative programme for the first year students of degree and diploma engineering courses by developing a lecture series exactly as per the university syllabus and scheme with the help of eminent faculties from the state education sector. Curricula of 16 subjects of first and second semesters have been made available through the interactive lecture series, which is being telecast through DTH via BISAG.

Can you please share details of the recently launched startup and innovation policy? How is it beneficial to students? The key goals of the startup and innovation policy are to produce 1% job creators out of 1.4 million

students; enable 1,000 student-led innovations per year; create 500 student-led startups in five years; build innovation and pre-incubation ecosystem support in every university; and at least 200 institutes of higher learning. The policy aims at comprehensive implementation of activities related to innovation, pedagogy and entrepreneurship through Fab Lab, MOOC, co-workspace, pre-incubation, etc. To implement this policy, a Rs 200-crore Student Innovation Fund has been created. Under this policy, assistance of up to Rs 10 lakh will be given for prototyping support for about 1,000 innovative ideas and assistance up to Rs 25,000 will be given to each idea to file for patent. Under the policy, we expect around 500 research projects per year. Interventions at the university and institute levels will be mentored by a state-level agency for the next five years.

of 54 MoUs were signed which increased to 96 in Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015. During the recently-concluded Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017, 192 MoUs were registered in education sector out of which 143 MoUs were for higher and technical education. Due to proactive, inspiring and supportive environment in the state, there exist more than 60 universities and 800 institutes of higher and technical education today. Gujarat has become a self sustained state in terms of having adequate number of seats for each aspiring student aiming to pursue higher education. To explore collaboration with foreign higher education sector, MoUs have been signed with Embassy of Denmark, Saxion University of Applied Sciences-Netherlands, British Council, Schulich School of Business-York University, etc, during Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017.

What are the new changes the government wants to introduce in near future?

What are the major challenges you face in terms of improving the state of higher and technical education in Gujarat?

We are aiming to revamp the teaching-learning

The key goals of the startup and innovation policy are to produce 1% job creators out of 1.4 million students; enable 1,000 student-led innovations per year. process in the state’s higher education system. Introduction of an active learning mode with outcome-based programme is an important focus area. Effective robust implementation of Choice Based Credit System with flexibility to choose startup track from the first year itself and inclusion of a wide range of humanity related courses for useful overall carrier building of the students will be followed. Our universities are also in various stages of implementing online examinations for students.

Technological advancements have grown exponentially in the last decade and it is very significant to update the curriculum as per the new requirement on regular interval. Quality higher education needs to be made affordable to all. Vacancies in teaching positions, low student enrollment and low paid faculty in some Student Federation of India (SFI) are some of the problems we are facing currently. Enhancing research standards and motivating students to go for holistic learning are some other important challenges.

How many MoUs were signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit? What is the status of foreign investment in the education sector of Gujarat?

Please share your views on what more needs to be done to improve higher and technical education in the state?

The response to investment opportunities in the state’s education sector in the last three Vibrant Gujarat summits was overwhelming. During Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2013, a total

We need world class universities that have latest methods of learning with focus on research and innovation. Digital learning needs to be emphasised and education should be inclusive in approach.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / NAVEEN JAIN

e-Governance Boost

for Healthcare

in Rajasthan Backed by out-of-box ideas, the Medical and Health Department of Rajasthan has been using various management techniques to think differently in order to improve health care delivery system, says Naveen Jain, Secretary, Department of Medical and Health Services, Mission Director, NHM and CEO State Health Assurance Agency, Government of Rajasthan, in an interview with Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

ow e-governance is relevant to the Medical and Health Department of Rajasthan? What are the key benefits the department can draw from e-governance initiatives?

Rajasthan is geographically a sizable state and the Medical and Health Department has its presence in almost all villages of the state. Because of the lack of required manpower as well as to ease the monitoring part, it is very important that e-governance be used effectively and I must say it has been done religiously by the department. In the last three years, many new applications and software have been designed and implemented, and desired results have started pouring in. There is a mobile application also that facilitates recording of inspections done by all the officers of Medical and Health Department when they go to the field.

What are the new initiatives undertaken by the department to help patients? Although many initiatives undertaken are government to government, that is from hospital to their employees; for example Asha Soft. But there are also several software to cater to the needs of patients and the general public by and large. The first example of such intervention is pregnancy and child tracking system through which we keep all the records of pregnant women when they come for their antenatal check up. We follow them up for their institutional delivery and then immunisation of their children is carried

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NAVEEN JAIN \ POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE

out. It is all done through a single integrated system. Based on Pregnancy, Child Tracking and Health Services Management System, it was decided that payments for Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Rajshee Yojna, which is a state scheme, should be made to the beneficiaries directly into their bank accounts under Direct Benefit Transfer. I am very happy to reveal that the Rajasthan Government and NHM have introduced software called OJAS through which all payments are made directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries and this is happening without any problem and crores of rupees have been paid via this mode to lakhs of beneficiaries so far. The facilities available up to the level of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and even the births which are taking place in sub-centres are recorded at PHCs, so that it is ensured that all the beneficiaries get their due payments. It is also a direct benefit transfer scheme. We have also introduced e-Upkaran, an application software for internal use, to monitor performance of medical equipment so that

to think differently. We are generating out-ofbox ideas. We observed that there were various types of ambulances run by different development partners or by different PPP partners and whenever there was a disaster we could not integrate their services. Despite having a good number of ambulances, we were not able to tackle emergency situations very well. Keeping this challenge in view, we decided that it was time to integrate all ambulance and medical advisory services into one. But the system with more than 1,400 ambulances and a 100-seat call centre needed a very robust IT software infrastructure. The specifications were prepared by the team at the NHM (National Rural Health Mission) and the RFP (request for proposal) was advertised. I personally sat with my team to decide all the parameters and after putting in hard work of six months, we were able to get the desired software and application. I can assure you that now whenever there is a refusal to offer ambulance services in Rajasthan, our system can catch it. We have ensured that GPS, navigation and

Rajasthan is geographically a sizable state and the Medical and Health Department has its presence in almost all villages of the state. Because of the lack of required manpower as well as to ease the monitoring part, it is very important that e-governance be used effectively. repairs and maintenance can be carried out in time, helping the general public directly and indirectly. Many software are used by the government to ease monitoring. If we monitor our ASHAs well, if we pay them well, definitely they will provide better services in future. So in Medical and Health Department, it is very well understood that when you develop some application, directly or indirectly it benefits the masses.

Rajasthan has been the first state in India to integrate all its ambulances and IT software was built to run the show very well. Can you please elaborate on this? We have been using management techniques

mobile app, are used in a coherent manner so that the system becomes very easy for the beneficiaries, as well as there is effective monitoring of activities carried out by the vendor company.

Rajasthan has also adopted a health insurance system. You launched a scheme know as Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana in December 2015. Can you tell us about the software architecture of the scheme and how is it beneficial for the common man? Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana was launched in December 2015. The biggest achievement of this scheme was that it was

offered to one crore families of Rajasthan. It was decided that no new card would be issued and the scheme would be based on an earlier issued Bhamashah Card. So, the software was made in such a way that it captures the detail of Bhamashah Card well. Whenever a patient is referred to an IPD, the well-trained Swastha Marg Darshak who sits at the hospital reception, verifies the patient using the software to ascertain whether the patient is really a beneficiary or not. Then he selects the packages, and if required, sends the request for preauthorisation. The software is seamless. When the patient is discharged after the treatment, it facilitates submission of the claim and then the insurance company processes it and the payment is made directly to the hospital. So, it is a cashless health insurance scheme. The software has evolved over a period of one year and now it is one of the most user-friendly software. There are many reports which are generated through this software and it has been able to fulfill the demands of the scheme. I believe this scheme and the software are now very much part of discussion in other states and the credit goes to the user-friendly features of the software.

You have been serving the state for a long time to help better delivery of healthcare services and many states have replicated your ideas. How has been the journey all this while and what is in store in near future? I do not see e-governance as a separate part of governance. I think whenever there is governance, e-governance is its natural extension. In Rajasthan, which is a big state with a very limited trained manpower, e-governance is not a luxury, rather it is a necessity. I tried to simplify the systems. I also tried to convert all the registers into e-registers and make analytical reports digital. While trying to understand all the processes, I found there were many repetitions and avoidable steps. I thought like a common man who needs a service at a swift pace. We have removed all the unnecessary steps and have been able to simplify the software procedures. I will rather say I have not invented or I have not discovered anything new, rather I have reengineered the entire process - the word is business process re-engineering. If you can re-engineer your processes then definitely you are going in the direction of e-governance.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

SPECIAL STORY

As Ajmer Turns

New Page, No Dream

Looks Far-Fetched In its effort to make learning process more inclusive, District Administration and Ajmer Municipal Corporation under the leadership of Collector and District Magistrate of Ajmer, Gaurav Goyal, has undertaken two major innovative initiatives - a novel book bank to bank upon for building a promising future of thousands of children and a mobile library to inculcate a culture of reading in the historical city, writes Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

30 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

SPECIAL STORY

n 14th August 2016, Ajmer Municipal Corporation turned a new page in its efforts to nurture an inclusive learning environment in this heritage city that serves as a confluence centre of different cultures. The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, inaugurated a book bank and mobile library started under the stewardship of the Mayor, Dharmendra Gehlot and Collector and District Magistrate of Ajmer, Gaurav Goyal. After inaugurating these novel initiatives, the chief minister took a round of the mobile library and appreciated the efforts of the corporation in bridging the existing knowledge gap hinging firmly on affordability. The Chief Minister handed over several books to the students of Adarsh Girls School and also felicitated major donors for these initiatives on the occasion.

The Book Bank The noble cause driving this initiative is col-

lection of academic and non-academic books from students or people in general who do not need them, and then their distribution among the needy students or people. Under this initiative, camps are being organised in private schools of the city and many famous donors of the city are being contacted to donate their books. The collected books are kept in the book bank to be delivered to the needy, especially students of government schools, as there is limited availability of books in government-run schools. Besides, there are many schools which do not have proper libraries. Jyoti Kakwani, Deputy Commissioner of Ajmer Municipal Corporation, was appointed as the coordinator for this initiative and she tried her best to collect books from various sources and delivered it to the needy students. More than 3,000 thousand books of different

types h a v e been collected so far and delivered to students school-wise. Even some students participated in this novel cause and donated books which were later distributed in government primary schools. There was also an innovative programme launched, wherein the books were not distrib-

uted among students directly but stalls were set up so that children themselves can select the books of their choice. Many institutions and schools appreciated the efforts.

Mobile Library Ajmer Municipal Corporation is also running a mobile library along with the book bank. Through the mobile library, every fortnight the mobile library is being sent to different areas to distribute books to the needy students. Wednesday has been announced to be the weekly off for mobile library. Along with regular course books and competitive exam books, books on art and literature are also part of the mobile library. To keep the mobile library affordable for all, the annual fee is kept as low as Rs 20, allowing students to get the books issued for two weeks. Proper arrangements for students have also been put in place so that they can read the books in a comfortable ambience. Kindle, a mobile device to read books online, is already made available at the library for facilitating e-reading. Computer operators at the library also arrange soft copies for the students if need be. Besides, a list of available books is maintained and updated for easy identification. Many educational institutions are highly appreciative of the mobile library and some of them are also organising seminars on their impact on the book reading culture in educational institutes. At the Collector-SP Conference, which was organised on 24th to 26th November last year, the Chief Minister instructed the officials present to take a leaf out of Ajmer Municipal Corporation’s book to operate similar book banks and mobile libraries across the state.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / RAVI AGARWAL

RSGL signed MoU with RIICO to expand the natural gas downstream distribution network in Rajasthan.

RSGL: Ensuring Green

Development for

Sustainable Future Transforming itself from a paper company into a strategic player, Rajasthan State Gas Limited is at the forefront promoting clean energy in the state to achieve sustainable growth, says Ravi Agarwal, Managing Director, RSGL, in an interview with Harshal Desai of Elets News Network (ENN).

32 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

RAVI AGARWAL \ POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE

lease apprise us of your operations and activities in Rajasthan?

A Joint Venture Company was incorporated on 20th September 2013 by GAIL Gas Limited (A subsidiary of Maharatna Company GAIL (India) Ltd.)& Rajasthan State Petroleum Corporation Limited (A subsidiary of Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Limited) to setup retail gas infrastructure in the state of Rajasthan as a Nodal player to cater the requirement of cleaner fuel for Domestic, Automotive, Commercial and Industrial applications. Our business activities gained momentum on 22nd April 2014 when, for the first time, Rajasthan government discussed the prospects of retail gas infrastructure in Rajasthan with top management of GAIL (India) Limited led by B C Tripathi, CMD of the company. It was realised that retail gas infrastructure is the backbone for developing any state.

You are also planning to set up LNG Hub in Udaipur. Will you please comment on this? Yes. In order to cater the demand of clean fuel for existing and proposed industries, we are

planning to set up LNG hub at Udaipur. RSGL has commissioned Mega CNG stations at Neemrana and Daughter Booster Station at Kukas near Jaipur in June 2016 for opening CNG highway between Delhi to Jaipur along NH â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 8 as per chief minister government of Rajasthan budget mandate.

to biogas. Further, we have tied up with GAIL to source natural gas. RSGL has also executed MoU with Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) to promote clean energy in the state of Rajasthan in the presence of honourable Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt Vasundhara Raje.

Promoting clean energy is indeed our long term goal and we are determined to improve the same in the state. We are already exploring technologies to convert municipal waste to biogas. Government of Rajasthan has also chalked out grand plan to develop various industrial clusters around Neemrana, Ghilot, Bikaner, Bhilwara, etc.

What are your views on promoting clean energy? Promoting clean energy is indeed our long term goal and we are determined to improve the same in the state. We are already exploring technologies to convert municipal waste

RSGL gained tremendous speed in a short span of time. Please elaborate. Government was very keen to transform Rajasthan State Gas Limited, which was a paper company of Rs 5 lacs, into a strategic player. We are fortunate to receive remarkable support from government which helped us grow at a rapid speed. Usually, setting up CNG stations takes 3 to 4 years as there are several aspects pertaining to it which involves establishing techno-commercial feasibility report, identification and acquisition of plot at strategic location, enhancement of authorized capital share of the company for fund flow, placement of Project Management Consultancy besides seeking clearances from statutory authorities like PNGRB, CCOE, etc. Despite all these facts, RSGL, with limited resources, could grow exponentially within shortest possible time.

The Collaborative agreement was signed between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) & RSGL in the presence of Aparna Arora, IAS, Principal Secretary, Government of Rajasthan to augment additional CNG requirement.

How do you evaluate the

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / RAVI AGARWAL

Retail Gas Infrastructure in Rajasthan? How Rajasthan State Gas Limited is strengthening this infrastructure? Availability of gas is of immense importance for developing industry clusters. After successfully commissioning CNG stations at Neemrana and Kukas, and further receiving tremendous interest from industries enroute between Delhi to Jaipur, RSGL has entered In a step toward creating State of Art Ceramic hub at Ghiloth under Make In into an agreement with India-Make in Rajasthan- RSGL entered into MoU with M/s Global Ceramics in IOCL for setting up presence of Deepak Upreti, IAS, Principal Secretary, Government of Rajasthan. CNG facilities at IOCL retail outlet. Two number of compression facilities at IOCL outlets Rajasthan, Government has facilitated interacDespite of all enabling policies by government along NH-8 between Delhi and Jaipur are in of Rajasthan and market available for Ceramic tion with prospective customers/new investors advanced state of completion and project work industries, natural gas was a concern for develop- right from the project conceptualisation by for identified IOCL outlets along Kota – Jaipur adopting natural gas technology & in selecting ing state-of-art ceramic zone at Ghiloth. Govern& Kota – Jhalawar – Baran – are to commence energy efficient equipment for better quality ment of Rajasthan has facilitated RSGL which shortly. with lesser cost and in winning confidence for provides technical solutions for selection of working together with the existing customer equipment for gas for development of Ceramic CGD rights and assets of Kota GA presfor better productivity in switching competitive industries. Further, innovative models have ently authorised to GAIL Gas Limited is getfuel like HSD and LPG to gas. adopted to ensure timely availability of gas. With ting transferred to RSGL shortly. RSGL has

Rajasthan has facilitated RSGL which provides technical solutions for selection of equipment for gas for development of Ceramic industries. Further, innovative models have adopted to ensure timely availability of gas. drawn a blueprint to cater the requirement of clean fuel in adjoining areas of Kota and to set up inter-state CNG highway between Kota-Jaipur and Kota – Jhalawar – Devas – Mumbai.

How RSGL is creating an affordable business environment for Ceramic industries in Rajasthan?

34 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

the collaboration with RIICO, RSGL has also planned to set up similar zone near Bhilwara.

How RSGL is able to receive interest from the new investors and for the industries using other competitive fuel? As per the Resurgent Rajasthan Summit for adopting collaborative approach to create ease of business for Make in India – Make in

Can you please share with us the suggestion which can ease the way of doing business in the gas industry? A systematic development of all forms of energy with the necessary hedging on the policy framework , changed business scenario, fluctuation in currency, political scenario etc is a need of an hour besides providing proactive enabling environment to support the fast pace development of Natural gas infrastructure. An enabling environment includes providing desired policy support and the correct pricing signals for an investment in the sector, reforming the present set of regulations to adopt the changing needs and making them more robust in addressing the distortions in the fiscal regime applicable for Natural gas.

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POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / DR JITENDRA KUMAR SONI

Transforming

Learning Experience in Rajasthan

‘Project Utkarsh’ and ‘e-Gyankendra’ are the two projects which have earned Rajasthan government’s accolades. If the former project is about bringing qualitative change in mass school education via technology and quiz-based learning system, the latter, developed by Dr Jitendra Kumar Soni, District Collector and Magistrate, Jhalawar, Government of Rajasthan, is meant to facilitate and empower the community through e-learning and e-governance, examines Kartik Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

roject Utkarsh

Many government schools have access to technology infrastructure through various schemes, but its utilisation by teachers and students is usually quite below par. Moreover, there is no effective way for the government to track Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure usage or measure the impact on student learning outcome. The administration has planned to address underutilisation of ICT infrastructure and lack of teaching staff and student engagement through different tools and methodologies. Self learning, smart class, performance benchmarking, remote monitoring, infrastruc-

36 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

ture improvement and increased scientific temperament are the key objectives of this project.

Result Indicators Benefits: l Build a strong learning culture by making students more curious, confident and participative l Made curriculum-based learning more engaging and playful l Collaboration with implementation agencies (e.g. government and department of education) for consistent project implementation. As part of the Project Utkarsh, we are establishing district and school level implementation model for further replication. l Established accountability and ownership

in programme implementation. l Progress through top-down implementation and empowering stakeholders with one dashboards and remote monitoring.

Key Considerations: l 127 ICT schools selected from Jhalawar District l 80+ schools have completed smart class Teachers Training l 500+ systems used for regular practice and learning l 1,000+ teachers were trained for long term capacity building l 6,000+ e-mail ids created for students l 3,000+ students of class 9th and 10th regularly using quiz academy for studies

DR JITENDRA KUMAR SONI \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

l 22,000+ quizzes played from teachers and students id (online and offline) with an average of 1,500 quizzes per month l 2,000+ students participated in online/ offline formal assessment l 82.5% participation of rural area schools l Contents developed in local language l Revolutionary step for Digital India through digital empowerment

Enabler Indcators Stakeholders’ inclusiveness and participation: Formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Statement of Work (SoW) signed up among key stakeholders including roles and responsibility of each stakeholder, programme methodology and execution approach has been crucial in this regard.

Technology adaptations/ innovative deployment: Quiz Academy platform having exclusiveness and interactiveness of content in common parlance, smooth user interface, remote monitoring dashboard for real time status, offline solution for non-internet availability in schools have been important factors.

Role of leadership by way of policy support/direction Role of Hon’ble Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje has been most crucial in effective execution. Her regular review, motivation, feedback has worked as a catalyst. WhatsApp group has been made for continuous discussion and feedback by District Collector, Jhalawar. Stakeholders inclusiveness and participation: Informal meetings were held with all the stakeholders involved in the project. Users were shown power point presentation which covers various aspects of ICT technology.

the pollution because of travel less education concept.

e-Gyankendra Teachers and students across the globe can now access educational resources in their own language for free. But there is a big problem of internet access. Around two-third of the world population doesn’t have any reliable internet access and within India, the situation is not good as well. This can be addressed through (semi) offline educational-media servers which are present at the site of the educational deployment. Considered together, the immense growth in high quality Open Educational Resources (OER), recent advances in low-power, low-cost computing, and the fall in cost of storage devices makes bridging the gap an economically feasible and scalable solution.

Proposed Solution Open Media Server based e-Gyankendra aims to bridge that gap by providing a versatile technology solution and sowing seeds of a grassroots community around it. Let’s take a sample. l Media l Connectivity l Administration l Sample Content l Wikipedia (multilingual) l TED Talks l Worldwide maps (OpenStreetMap) l Project Gutenberg (45000+ books) l Khan Academy (KA Lite) l NCERT resources (multilingual - through the NROER project) l Toys From Trash video l Any other open-licensed content

Web Apps LMS - Moodle Local Social Network - Elgg Wiki - Dokuwiki Book Server - Pathagar Collaboration - Jabber Any other open-licensed web-app Personal use

Digital inclusion: User friendly application is made available in local Hindi language. Capacity building of all stakeholders is done through review meetings, informal gathering, power point presentation etc.

l l l l l l l

Green e-governance

Creates a home Wi-Fi network

It is an environment-friendly application because it provides paperless education on the concept of e-books. It is also helpful in lowering

l School use (Personal use features) l MManages the LAN

Value Indicators

If there is limited internet connectivity available: l Becomes the Gateway l MProvides content filtering l MOptimizes bandwidth usage l MRemote debugging and deployment through VPN

Village network use (School use features) l Wide area Wi-Fi network meshes l MDeployment l MBuilt on next generation technology l MWeb-console for push-button deployment and management of content and services

Analytics l Content access analytics - AwStats l MServer diagnostics - Munin l MAdmin console - Cockpit

Hardware options l Low end - Raspberry Pi l MMid to High end - Intel NUC, and most other generic computers and servers

Need for the Initiative In the present era of digitisation, relevance and importance of Internet cannot be under-rated but affordability, availability, security and consistency are also key aspects. The solution of open media server based e-Gyankendra is an effort to create an ecosystem for community empowerment and smart-citizen though digital learning leveraging open source technology and providing free access to best of the open source digital content for local community without internet-dependency. The solution also supports ‘Digital India’ mission through awareness, alignment and active participation of the community. It provides a future path for digital Value Added Services (VAS) like information centre for latest government schemes and serves as a knowledge hub for various learner and intellectual groups. Monitoring, reporting and student engagement, maintenance support and usage data report are also some of the objectives.

Conceptualisation Conceptualised and developed under the guidance of district administration of Jhalawar,

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / DR JITENDRA KUMAR SONI

e-Gyankendra has pre-loaded open source content on open media server comprising e-books, educational videos, animation, simulation, quiz academy app, government schemes, forms, details etc. Open media server (OM Server) empowers users to access preloaded content on wi-fi enabled device (tablet/mobile/laptop/ computer etc) without Internet dependency. Content can be periodically updated as well. First e-Gyankendra of Rajasthan has been set-up in Sunel Panchayat Samiti campus of Jhalawar district. Current set up gives access within 1.5 km of radius. To facilitate the local community, a laboratory of five tablets has also been established in Panchayat Samiti campus. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated this e-Gyankendra in July, 2016 and dedicated it to the public.

Key Features of e-Gyankendra Best of the knowledge content: e-Gyankendra can host and support open media content in the form of video, docs, PDF, animation, images etc. It has been tried to compile, curate and host best of the knowledge content especially of Indian context. There is around one Tera Byte data which includes: l Wikipedia (multilingual) l Quiz Academy (www.quizacademy.org l TED Talks l Worldwide maps (OpenStreetMap) l Project Gutenberg (45,000+ books) l Khan Academy (KA Lite) l NCERT resources (multilingual - through the NROER project) l Toys From Trash video l Any other open-licensed content Ecosystem for e-Governance: Most of the relevant and important information related to government schemes, forms and application of various departments and other e-Governance related content has been included. It can be periodically updated. Free Access: Content available on e-Gyankendra can be accessed by anybody through wi-fi device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, computer etc.) within the network and will be always be free. Network Coverage: Setting up routers and access point at important places. Most of the part of Sunel village has been covered through wi-fi mesh network to provide smooth access to community.

38 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

Monitoring of Data Usage: Monitoring of data usage, student and community engagement can be done and periodical report can be generated.

Key Steps involved l Aligning District Information Officer and National Informatics Centre teams for location identification l Location visit, feasibility study around access, density, status of civil construction, availability of basic infrastructure etc. and finalisation of location l Setting up knowledge server at mutually identified locations l Customisation and configuration including local branding and network conventions l Wi-Fi network set up with adequate access point providing accessibility to surrounding community l Server and wi-fi network mesh testing l On-site staff training to manage and administer the set up l Monitoring, reporting and student engagement, maintenance support and usage data report l Benefits to various stakeholders (Result Indicators)

Students Students are the most important beneficiary of e-Gyankendra who can access important content of their course curriculum e.g. NCERT books, quiz academy content, science video and simulation, Khan Academy etc. It not only creates ecosystem for technology-based quality education but also supports digital empowerment and skill development of students. Wi-fi network provides access of e-Gyankendra content in ICT lab of nearby two government ICT Schools where students can get direct benefit and students of other school access it through their personal wi-fi device or visit e-Gyankendra lab established in Panchayat Samiti campus.

Local Community Hotspot zone has been created through deployment of access point and routers in important public area e.g. bus stand, hospital, schools, banks, main market etc so that local residents of Sunel village can access e-governance ser-

vices through Wi-Fi device without using internet bandwidth.

Career Aspirants: Young generation planning career in government jobs, higher study etc prepare for competitive exams leveraging e-Gyankendra specially National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) content, NCERT books, TED talks, and Quiz Academy etc.

Local Administration and Elected Representatives: For local administration and elected representative, e-Gyankendra is useful in two ways. First it supports them to contribute in central government initiative ‘Digital India Mission’ and secondly it smoothens the e-governance process by providing all information about government schemes (e.g. Mukhyamantri Jal Svavlamnan Abhiyan, Swachh Bharat Mission, e-Mitra related information) and various forms and application.

Future Scope Looking towards various benefits of e-Gyankendra, it can be further expanded in the following manner; Establishment of e-Gyankendra in every block: District administration can plan to set-up e-Gyankendra in every block of Jhalawar district through local community support Path for digital value added services: Other value added services in the field of agriculture, tourism, higher education, skill development, employability enhancement etc can be included in the near future. Digital Empowerment: Government Hostels, Kasturba Gandhi Hostels, Tribal hostels and other residential schools where digital accessibility is limited, e-Gyankendra may be an ideal platform for digital empowerment. “e-Gyankendra is a revolutionary step for digital empowerment, knowledge dissemination and e-governance with minimal dependency on internet. It is a highly impactful initiative in those areas where accessibility, availability and affordability of internet services is limited.” “e-Gyankendra’s digital value-added services can also be useful in tourism, agriculture, higher education, skill development, employability enhancement etc.”

POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / MUGDHA SINHA

RIICO: Catalyst to

Rajasthan’s Industrial Growth Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd is playing a crucial role in promoting Rajasthan as an investment destination. Armed with a policy framework for facilitating and funding start-ups, the corporation plans to emerge as an active player in fostering incubators and start-up culture across the state, says Mugdha Sinha, Managing Director, RIICO, in an interview with Kartik Sharma and Harshal Y Desai of Elets News Network (ENN).

ture; provide land to industries and investors through acquisition or allotment for setting up units; and serve as one-stop shop for their infrastructure and financial needs. Services provided by RIICO to investors and entrepreneurs include site selection, acquisition and allotment of land, and financial assistance to MSMEs and large scale projects. We also promote Rajasthan as an investment destination and are instrumental in the state’s growth story. RIICO has so far developed 338 Industrial areas by acquiring around 82,000 acres of land. We have a land bank of over 8,600 hectares and we are continuously encouraging industry/investment in the state. We also promote start-ups.

RIICO has planned development of 10,000 hectares of land for investors. How will this move benefit investors? Please elaborate.

ould you please enlighten us on Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd’s operations in the state?

RIICO works as a catalyst to facilitate industrial development in Rajasthan. We plan and develop industrial areas with allied infrastruc-

40 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / MARCH 2017

Acquisition of private land is a major challenge after the promulgation of Land Acquisition Act in 2013. RIICO is constantly scouting for vacant, unencumbered and unused large chunks of government land that can be gainfully utilised for industrialisation. We are currently working on enhancing our existing land bank of approximately 8,600 hectares. Investors from across India and abroad need ready land available at competitive rates. Land being a scarce resource, RIICO provides ready-made solutions and has a streamlined procedure for procurement and allotment of land for industries.

We are keen to know about your initiative to promote start-ups in Rajasthan. Please elaborate. Rajasthan is among the few states that has pioneered a policy framework for facilitating and funding start-ups. Our start-up policy was launched in 2015 with the objective of fostering incubators and start-ups across Rajasthan. RIICO has also have set up an incubator centre called ‘Start-Up Oasis’ for mentoring start-ups in Rajasthan in collaboration with Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), which is an off-shoot of IIM Ahmedabad. The Start-Up Oasis comprises faculty, alumni and students of IIMA; mentors and service providers from the industry spanning a variety of functional areas, sectoral domains and geographies. It provides co-working space to potential startups; mentors them in crystallising ideas and in getting angel funding. Regular interface of start-up entrepreneurs is held with mentors and angel investors across Rajasthan through start-up conferences. We are committed to help disruptive innovations and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed commercially.

What are your start-up policy goals? There are five key targets, to be achieved over the period of five years, which we would like to highlight. We aim to establish 50 Incubators or Incubator-like organisations in the state. So far, CIIE has executed MoUs with seven government engineering colleges in Ajmer,

MUGDHA SINHA \ POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE

Bharatpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jhalawar to help set-up and operate incubation centres. These centres are expected to get operationalised by March, 2017. Jaipur has three incubation centres and co-working spaces that operate in the private sector â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Phi Space, Think Space and Wired Hub â&#x20AC;&#x201C; while Udaipur has one co-working space by the name, Magic Space. Similarly, the government is also planning to support and incubate 500 innovative startups. We have already incubated 95 start-ups by Startup Oasis. Rajasthan Angel Investors Network (RAIN) has funded seven start-ups till date. Over the next five years, 100,000 sq ft of incubation space is to be developed and facilitated. Startup Oasis Incubation Centre has a total of 20,000 sq ft available for incubation activities. Around 15,000 sq ft of space is available with the seven government engineering colleges where incubation centres are being set-up in collaboration with CIIE initiatives. Around 8,000 sq ft of incubation space is made available by incubation centres and co-working spaces in the private sectors in Rajasthan. Mobilising angel and venture capital of Rs 500 crore for start-ups; organising one major startup fest at Jaipur and two mini startup fests at locations other than Jaipur; and developing an innovation and problem solving culture across the state are some of the future plans which we would like to accomplish in the next five years.

Rajasthan is trying to make a mark in the bio-tech sector. Would you brief us on how the government is facilitating industrial exploitation of the sector? The nodal agency for propagating biotechnology in Rajasthan is the Department of Science and Technology. However, RIICO has also developed a small industrial zone dedicated to bio-technology units in Sitapura, Jaipur and we have about 10 bio-technology firms in RIICO industrial areas. We intend to continue to promote this sector.

What are your plans to promote renewal energy in Rajasthan? How do you evaluate the overall

scope for development of renewable energy in the state? Promotion of renewal energy may not directly fall under the ambit of RIICO as the nodal agency for this sector is the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation under the Department of Energy. However, we welcome industries that invest in solar projects or want to set up solar power plants. We ourselves are going solar by way of installing roof top solar systems across all our unit offices and eventually we aim at taking this to the industrial areas to promote eco-friendly industrial areas.

resource and providing affordable housing to them. With land getting scarce across India, Rajasthan as the largest state of India is in a unique position to fill the gap, since we already have a robust land bank. We plan to strengthen focus on sectors like ESDM (Electronics System Design & Manufacturing) primarily because they do not need water and are major employment generators. Also, we plan to continue to focus heavily on the Auto sector which requires less water and has a major multiplier effect on the economy of the state; it brings an entire eco-system of

We aim to establish 50 Incubators or Incubator-like organisations. So far, CIIE has executed MoUs with seven government engineering colleges in Ajmer, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jhalawar. What are the major challenges RIICO faces while implementing its plans? How difficult the issue of land acquisition is? Our first main challenge in industrialisation of Rajasthan is shortage of water resources. Most blocks in Rajasthan fall under dark zone with depleted ground water levels where water intensive units are generally not encouraged. Rajasthan as a land-locked state has a limitation with regard to access to sea-ports, which we hope to overcome through the dedicated freight corridors passing through the state and likely to be functional in next two-three years and by way of promoting logistics hubs. Of late, acquisition of private land has been a challenge. There is a need to promote environment-friendly industrial areas and pursue industrial development that is in consonance with environmental issues.

What are your major plans? Which are the other sectors, you are planning to strengthen further? We are committed to providing conducive eco-space for environment friendly industrial development focused on skilling our human

ancillary units with it and has huge employment potential. Rajasthan has abundant resources for the Ceramic sector and this sector shall continue to be a thrust area; apart from stones, textiles, apparels and handicraft including in the MSME & Agro sectors. Providing sector wise impetus to the industry of Rajasthan are challenges that require both incremental and revolutionary leap forward.

Would you like to share any other initiatives with us? RIICO has several finance schemes for industries, including term loans for procurement of land, project term loans, working capital financing, equipment financing, loan schemes for young and first generation entrepreneurs besides several sector specific schemes for electronics, hotels, hospitals, etc. We are also focusing on horizontal and vertical cluster development to improve economies of the sector. We have created a ceramic cluster at Ghiloth, another one is coming up in Sathana, Ajmer and Bhilwara. We also have several electronic clusters and also an auto cluster besides country specific cluster dedicated to investment from Japanese companies.

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SMART CITIES / SANDESH NAYAK

Focussing on heritage and tourism, safety and security, traffic management, efficient public transport and waste management, Jaipur Smart City Limited is leaving no stone unturned to ensure Jaipur transforms into a city of future, says Sandesh Nayak, Chief Executive Officer, JSCL, in an interview with Kartik Sharma and Harshal Desai of Elets News Network (ENN).

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SANDESH NAYAK \ SMART CITIES

hat are your views on Smart City Mission for Jaipur?

For Jaipur, we aspire to leverage heritage and tourism by incorporating innovative solutions which improve the quality of life for the citizens of the city. We have already prepared a proposal and started talking to various stakeholders within the city seeking their suggestions to implement our vision. Jaipur Smart City Limited (JSCL) is taking up projects mentioned under the Smart City Proposal (SCP) approved by the Government of India. We are considering every aspect of life in and around city while implementing our vision.

Who are these stakeholders? The SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) is taking up projects independently as well as part of con-

vergence from line departments. These include Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), Jaipur Nagar Nigam (JNN), Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRC), Ministry of Tourism, Traffic Police, Department of Information Technology and PMC Consultants. Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. (JVVNL), Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and Jaipur City Transport Services Limited (JCTSL) are the other stakeholders who will play a crucial role in developing Jaipur as a smart city.

How do you see technology as an enabler? Technology is very crucial and we are certainly

going to make the most of it, available in Jaipur. I strongly believe that we must use technology to strengthen operations and activities of all the departments. For example, if the available technology can indicate the quality of water we drink and the air that we inhale, it will boost the aim of making cities smarter. Besides technology, we are also focussing on building robust infrastructure in the city with emphasise on smart roads. Roads must be safe for citizens and we are working on plans to allow both pedestrians and vehicles move within the city smartly.

What are the challenges faced while executing the smart city plan? Sticking to our smart city vision is the biggest challenge. Developing a smart city is indeed a herculean task and there are bound to be sev-

eral challenges. But these challenges should not divert us from our goal and we must stick to our plan and move in the right direction. I believe these challenges can be sorted out with active participation from all the stakeholders. The real beauty lies in converting our ideas into reality in the best possible manner.

What are your focus areas under the smart city plan? Heritage and tourism, safety and security, traffic management, efficient public transport and waste management are some of the key focus areas. Basically, these focus areas are divided into four verticals – Smart Heritage and Tour-

ism, Smart Civic Infrastructure, Smart Transport and Smart Intermodal Mobility.

What are your plans for Heritage conservation? Two work orders amounting to Rs 14.62 crore and Rs 1.80 crore have been issued for conservation of heritage bazaars in the walled city and adaptive reuse of Rajasthan School of Arts, respectively. A project for solar roof top panelling with capacity of 100 KWP has been done at the cost of Rs 81 lakhs.

What are your views on major smart city components in Jaipur? We have already floated five-seven projects. Most of them cater to smart transportation focussing on pedestrian mobility and safety, beatification of roads, management of utility ducts and other aspects of landscaping. We are working on big junctions and trying to make them safer. Wi-Fi, routers, etc are some other components that we are focusing on. We have also introduced e-toilets facilities. Automated waste collections centre, sewerage management, 24/7 water availability and smart meter installations are some other activities we would like to streamline. Door-to-door collection (JMC), waste to energy (JMC), Tal Katora STP (JMC) and 24/7 water supply in ABD area along with smart metres (PHED) are some of the projects undertaken as part of convergence projects. We are also planning to beautify public places including Jai Nivas Garden, Tal Katora Lake, Pondrik Udyan, etc. We sincerely would like to have some good places where people can move around in their leisure time. The smart roads include CCTV cameras, Wifi hotspots, VMS, ITMS, etc. The Smart classroom includes biometric attendance, smart board and tablets for students. The smart solid waste sorting centre is also a smart intervention with smart technology to help Jaipur City overcome the waste sorting issue and reduce the transit cost and time. JSCL is taking up projects for smart parking at few identified places in the city. A project in convergence with Department of Tourism is being taking up as ‘Krishna Circuit’, which includes rejuvenation of the heart of tourism of Jaipur.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Action Udaipur Making

Swachh Bharat Mission Possible Launch of Swachh Bharat Mission by Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2nd October, 2014 evoked massive enthusiasm among citizens. However, we realised that even though people were ready to contribute in the city upkeep there was no such platform available to facilitate them. Action Udaipur project provided this much-needed stage to all, writes Rohit Gupta, Collector and District Magistrate, Udaipur, Government of Rajasthan.

aunch of Swach Bharat Mission by Honorable Prime Minister on 2nd October, 2014 led to massive enthusiasm in citizens. However, we realized that even though people were ready to contribute in city upkeep but there was no such platform available to facilitate them. Action Udaipur project provided this much needed stage to all. Action Udaipur Project was started with a vision to involve urban community in city governance. To further enhance the utility and outreach of program, Action Udaipur Mobile APP was launched in Sep, 2015 by district administration in line with vision of Honorable Prime Minister of Digital India. The main aim of this project is to provide civic community a platform to creatively engage with local government. 8500 citizens are followers of AU Facebook page. Mobile App has diverse features and about 7000 persons have downloaded the app and are using it. Jan Bhagidari: Action Udaipur project has a major focus on public participation and through “Jan Bhagidari” component in app, any group of citizens can volunteer to clean or beautify a particular area of city. The group can also request for support e.g., paints, colour brushes, or tractor/trolley etc. (in case of cleaning). Approval of project is notified through app.

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246 sites such as Public Gardens, Public Toilets and Footpaths etc. remodelled with citizen participation. Innovative campaigns launched by citizens – such as distribution of sweaters for government school children (about 26000), distribution of school bags and stationery to needy children (about 8000), distribution of toys for tiny tots in government ICDS centres (about 5000) till date.

Stay Fit: To promote health awareness among public, administration regularly organises diverse activities under the banner of stay fit. Private group are also encouraged to participate through the same feature in app; and permissions are given immediately. All stay fit programs are notified to all users who have downloaded the app. 38 events such as Yoga camps, Cycling, Free health check-up camps, marathon etc. have been organised. Three cycle banks have been created around lakes, wherein citizens have donated cycles. These cycles are available to anyone free of cost in morning and evening hours for cycling around lakes, and cycles are maintained by urban local bodies. Civic Complain: Various departments having service delivery in municipal area are working on this platform. Citizens can post day to day problems like water pipeline leakage, dustbins overflow, loose overhead electric wires, stray cattle, etc along with the GPS locations and photographs. Concerned department, after resolving the complaint, also posts the after photograph of work done. Each disposal is verified telephonically from complainant, and a group of government officials appointed as city monitors themselves go to spot in case of discrepancy reported. Recently police department has also come on board. 5705 complaints have been received from the Citizens out of which 5120 complaints have been resolved. Telephonic feedback reveals that about 90 % complainants satisfied. Go Organic: To promote household organic farming, Krishi Vigyan Kendra also provides organic grow bags of various vegetables at door step of citizens. Citizens can place the order through app also. More than 1000 families have adopted organic farming CSR: Corporates are encouraged to work with local bodies to develop and maintain assets and the shelf of such projects is available on the app under CSR tab. Apart from usual beautification projects, creative experiments such as water ATMs at public places, Green living walls in railway station and bus stand, open gym, senior citizen helpline etc have been undertaken. Smart city: Wide publicity of Smart City Project and involvement of citizens in identifying smart city priorities was done through mobile app. Udaipur had one of the highest

SPECIAL FEATURE

coverage in civic participation leading to its selection in top 20 Smart City. Latest updates of project are available on App. Under gallery tab, photographs of the projects and exemplary work done by citizens are uploaded. Two new features have been recently added: Start Up Udaipur: Gives list of innovative start ups in the city and their brief description; Ongoing City Projects: It is motivated by belief that only an informed citizen is empowered enough to take part in governance. Ongoing projects in city by local bodies are uploaded for information and transparency. For management of the project, a core committee comprising persons from all walks of life has been formed. There is a WhatsApp group also of the members, and focus of deliberations of committee members is to ensure that project is owned and executed by civic community rather than bureaucracy.

Impact Action Udaipur project has provided a stage to urban community to demand, contribute, participate in decisions and issues which are close to their heart and affect their daily life. Corporates and industries have always been at forefront of beautification projects in any city. AU project has been geared to involve masses in city upkeep, as envisaged by honorable Prime Minister in Swachh Bharat Mission. Administration also provided many a times, a little help in terms of small equipment and tools to interested group of citizens. This has led to wide partaking and program has become truly community led. Various campaigns run under the project have helped not only city, but also provided help to needy government school children in rural tribal areas as well as ICDS beneficiaries. Industries have also shown lot of enthusiasm, and apart of usual beautification projects, many innovative solutions have been launched â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as water ATMs where RO water is available at minimal cost through automatic vending machines, green living walls in public places to reduce pollution while simultaneously improving aesthetics, city plantation drives, open gyms, etc Before AU app was launched, people had to go to various government departments with

written applications for their day to day complaints. This initiative has helped them in not only sending the complaints through app but rather it also provides a chance to give their feedback which has resulted in utmost satisfaction of the citizens. With a similar motive, GoI has also now launched Swachta App. If one has to motivate citizens to work with government, it is paramount that their legitimate grievances are addressed properly. The Action Udaipur mobile app brings thirteen departments offering more than fifty services on a single platform. Essential services related to Electricity, Drainage, Dustbin, Dead animals, Fallen trees, Garbage, Police, Public

Various departments having service delivery in municipal area are working on this platform. Citizens can post day to day problems like water pipeline leakage, dustbins overflow, loose overhead electric wires, stray cattle, etc along with the GPS locations and photographs. Toilets, Public Garden, Roads, Stray animals, Streetlight and Water are covered under the civic complain of this app. Citizen can click photograph of problem area, and complaint automatically goes to the inbox of concerned officer along with GPS coordinates. The concerned department officer also has to post picture of the area post resolution. Complainant is notified of resolution via SMS and a special cell in Collector office also calls him up to know about his satisfaction. If he is not satisfied with the work done, the complaint is referred to 11

city monitors who are senior officers. These city monitors verify the complaint and can again mark it unresolved. Similarly, with the use of this app the public participation in beautification and upkeep of public places like Gardens, Parks, Government offices, Buildings, Schools, Public toilets, Bus stand, Railway Station, Taxi and Auto Stand, Roads, Playground, Community Centers, Public Libraries etc. has increased. Students of colleges, schools, NGOs, Clubs, Banks, Social workers and corporate houses have been sending their projects through APP, and all required permissions are given instantly. Moreover, the photographs of work done by them are uploaded in the gallery section of mobile app and at the Facebook page of Action Udaipur to motivate others. Action Udaipur project has given a new market to Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in household organic farming. KVK has designed innovative packages for households to grow vegetables in their backyard, and all these products are available in app for order. Action Udaipur project proved very effective during round one of selection stage of Smart City Challenge. Administration could reach out to 7000 users who have downloaded the app and 8500 Facebook followers of project instantly. This led to wide participation in drafting process of plan. In implementation stage now, updates about the project as well as list of ongoing projects are shared with citizens for transparency. Similarly, celebration of Yoga Diwas at grand scale has created lot of awareness for health in country. Many NGOs, private bodies, etc are keen to contribute by organizing various activities. Stay fit component is geared to capture this zeal by making process of permission etc easy and transparent and notifying all users about upcoming events. Most heartening has been leadership and involvement of urban youth in the project. The core management committee also has maximum youth members, and the project has given a positive framework for young aspirations to take part in nation building. In the Chief Minister Collectors Conference held in Jaipur in November 2016, the project was adjudged as an exemplary intervention in urban sector and Honourable Chief Minister directed all Districts and Urban Bodies to replicate this program.

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POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / MUKESH KUMAR MESHRAM

Creating Conducive Environment for Tax Payers in UP Good governance as a concept has evolved in recent times but governance as a relationship between the state and citizens has always been pivotal to the existence of humanity. ‘Ease of doing business’ has become a precondition for realisation of the objective of good governance, says Mukesh Kumar Meshram, CommissionerCommercial Tax Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, in an interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

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MUKESH KUMAR MESHRAM \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

lease give an overview of the Commercial Tax Department (CTD) of Uttar Pradesh. The Commercial Tax Department, Uttar Pradesh is the largest revenue earning department of the state government, having 20 zonal offices, 45 regional offices, 45 Special Investigation Branch (SIB) units, 434 sector offices and 150 mobile units spread over the state. Functioning of the department directly affects the attractiveness of the state as business destination. With computerisation of the department, dealers or taxpayers have been provided with a gamut of services which have led to greater facilitation and creation of an environment conducive to the growth of trade and commerce. These have furthered the vision of the department, which is to develop effective and efficient systems of tax collection based on progressive use of IT and ensure an environment which is congenial for prospering of trade and commerce. As a consequence of these initiatives, tax collection has registered impressive increases. The enthusiasm with which the web portal has been received by dealers and its growing popularity has been a pleasant surprise. There are both tangible and intangible benefits of e-governance. This includes a shift from regulation to facilitation; anytime anywhere services through electronic media at the doorstep of tax payers; change from assisted services to self-services; improvement in the G2B interface; building bridges with the external world; actively inducing changes in the organisational ecosystem; and following single source of truth.

Do you feel doing business in Uttar Pradesh has become easy? For starting a business, e-registration has been made available for which the threshold limit is Rs 5 lakh. Dealers having turnover below Rs 50 lakh have an option to avail the compounding scheme. Dealers who opt for this scheme do not have to prepare accounts. They have to submit the return annually and deposit tax equal to 0.5 per cent of the turnover on

MAKING RUNNING OF THE BUSINESS EASY E-RETURNS l Basic principle - A correct and complete return shall be filed. l Dealers having turnover above Rs 50 lakh must file their return online. l Return is acknowledged instantaneously. l Return can be filed anywhere any time (24X7). l Offline tool for submitting the Return hence no need of continuous connectivity. l Acknowledgement through e mail and sms. l Compounding dealers have to file their return annually hence less compliance cost for smaller dealers. KEY BENEFITS l Improved client service l Faster turnaround time l Improved accuracy and audit trails l Reduced processing costs l More secure than paper based filing l Eco friendly l Centralised data management l Acknowledgement through e-mails and SMS, hence improved responsiveness

quarterly basis. An offline tool for submitting the registration application is in place. You can upload self-attested scanned copies of documents and there is a single application form for the submission of application for both VAT and CST. TIN is granted on the same day in case of non-sensitive goods and, in case of sensitive goods, TIN is granted after survey (maximum 15 days).

What are the key amendments you have carried out for dealers? The process of amendment in registration details is completely online. Online uploading of supporting documents, online approval/ hold/rejection of the application by the officer concerned, the facility of online tracking of application with acknowledgement ID, acknowledgement through e mail and sms, are some of the key features.

What have been the key benefits of these measures? Dealers can download the offline tool, fill the data and upload it according to their convenience. There is no need to print, manually fill out and send paper forms. Secure online payment processing 24x7, completely faceless process, provision for receiving automated confirmation receipt, centralised data management, acknowledgement through e-mails and SMS are some of the key benefits for the users.

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POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / MUKESH KUMAR MESHRAM

These e-Services have led to reduced requirement of visits to the office and hence reduction in the compliance cost of the dealers. As a consequence, the discretion of officers is also reduced and time-bound disposal of documents is ensued. These transparency enhancing and time-reducing measures go a long way in creating a conducive environment for starting a business in the state.

What measures have you taken to protect small traders in Uttar Pradesh? The department has authorised NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited) facilitation centres and CSCs in order to avail e-services provided by the department. We have also done away with assessment for dealers having annual turnover below Rs 25 lakh. Commissioner, Commercial Tax selectively scrutinises 20 per cent of dealers based on risk profiling once registered dealer gets eligible for Rs 5 lakh accidental insurance. Departmental forms required by the dealers are now available online. We also provided online generation facility for TDS certificates most of the enforcement work like generation of Detention Memo, approval and sending reports of special investigation has been made online. These measures have ensured a hassle-free environment for small traders. Social security measures add attractiveness to the entire processes. This encourages entrepreneurship and protects small traders.

What are the key initiatives undertaken by the department to facilitate tax payment? Our e-payment facility is available through 14 authorised banks, SBI payment gateway (with 54 banks) and SBI debit card. More than 70 per cent of taxes in 2014-15 were submitted through the e-payment facility. This has resulted in several benefits like cost reduction in processing, increased compliance, enhanced security, improved workflow efficiencies and greater visibility into financial supply chain. These measures have also resulted in better facilitation of dealers as the requirement of any IT infrastructure on their end is elimi-

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nated. Online Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (PGRMS) leads to a more satisfying experience for the dealer. It develops a perception on the dealers’ part that they are being heard which creates trust between the dealer and the department. It is an integral component of the G2B interface. The CTFC is a first-of-its-kind initiative in UP and the same is being replicated in the GST system as well.

E-SANCHARAN l E-Sancharan has been introduced to ensure hasslefree movement of goods and curb tax evasion from 1-12-2013 l Movement of goods to be carried out by generating unique online number called “Vishisht Sancharan Number” l E-Sancharan facility available for all commodities l Dealers are to enter online details of goods on the department website to generate “Vishisht Sancharan Number” l Form-38 is not required physically l Enforcement officer can conduct online verification of “Vishisht Sancharan Number” l Facility of online tracking of application with acknowledgement ID l Acknowledgement through e-mail and SMS reflects commitment to transparency and responsiveness

KEY BENEFITS l Reduces problems of transporters l Prevent dumping of goods from other states to avoid tax l Improved customer service l Faster turnaround time l Reduced processing costs l More secure than paper based forms l Eco-friendly practices l Centralised data management l Acknowledgement through e-mails and SMS

What has been the response to your e-governance initiatives? Organisations are not just constitutive of their structures and processes but the cultures underlying them are their spirit and substance. E-governance is often looked at as a primary means of enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of governance processes. But in the course of the department’s initiatives of e-governance, it has gradually led to a transformation in the department’s organisational culture and it’s functioning. Moreover, these initiatives have enhanced transparency, responsiveness and accountability which are the building blocks of good governance – perhaps the most significant prerequisite for creation of an environment conducive for business and its growth. Thus, the Commercial Tax Department, Uttar Pradesh is committed to and is constantly working towards the realisation of Good Governance. In recognition of the e-governance initiatives undertaken in the department, Government of India conferred the Platinum Digital India Award 2016 in exemplary online services category. Department also received CSI-Nihilant Award for excellence in online services and Technology Sabha Award, for outstanding integrated e-governance project.

Can you elaborate on the IT and e-governance initiatives undertaken by the department? The department has taken many e-governance initiatives towards providing transparent, fast and efficient services to dealers or taxpayers. With the implementation of these services, the department has successfully transformed key processes leading to improved service delivery and transparency. The primary objectives of these initiatives include use of technology to alter the way services are delivered, transformation and streamlining of key processes related to Commercial Tax leading to improved service delivery, exchange of information with citizens, businesses or other government departments, speedy and more efficient delivery of public services, improving internal efficiency, capacity building of all the stakeholders, ensure synchronised implementation across the state and exploit the true revenue potential of the state.

ANIL GARG \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

IT Initiatives

Giving Boost

to UP Elections

Uttar Pradesh has come up with innovative election based mobile apps and portals which have changed the election scenario this time, says Anil Garg, Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

hat is Rainbow IT egovernance initiatives and how they have helped the Uttar Pradesh’s state elections?

We have 14.12 crore voters and approximately 1.5 lakhs polling stations in UP. The number of polling personnel attached to the election process amounts to more than 10 lakhs. The information which the Election Commission (EC) wants from us in pre polling days, polling days, and after the polling days require minute details from the polling stations, which we are able to provide efficiently due to new technologies. Earlier, there was human flow of information which was time taking. There was no real time information available. With the help of state’s National Informatics Centre (NIC), we have made many IT applications specially for the elections. Under the guidance of Shri T. Venkatesh, Chief Electoral Officer, UP and technical leadership of Dr Saurabh Gupta, State Informatics Officer, National Infor-

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POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / ANIL GARG

matics Centre, Uttar Pradesh, a dual rainbow of the applications ( 7 online applications and 7 mobile apps) has successfully been implemented for the assembly elections 2017. With the implementation of these apps, we have succeeded in reducing the time to flow this information from the polling stations to our headquarters and finally to the Election Commission of India (ECI). We have come out with the Electoral Roll Management System (ERMS) mobile app where anybody can see the names of electors who have been deleted or added. This system has led to transparency and reduction in the number of complaints, which used to be high in earlier elections. We are also providing the information online. Anybody can see the location of polling station on our website. We have also provided a view of facilities available at the polling stations. Along with this, we have come up with a very handy mobile app by the name of M-Voter where any voter can see his or her name in the voting list and they can track their polling station location on the web. During the election, there is need to establish faster and effective communication channel among the concerned officers. To make the communication faster and easy, “m Samvaad” Mobile app was developed and provided to all election machinery. Our work in this election has taken a different route altogether due to these technologies.

Do you think these IT initiatives will help in increasing the poll percentage in the elections? Information from the IT platforms have added to the ease of voting which may have added to the voting percentage and there is no doubt about this.

Do you think these initiatives will help in reaching the rural masses? The speed of flow of information from the field to the district level and from the district to the state level has increased. The supervision of the district officers have taken a new dimension. They can now easily find the areas where there is laxity and can take action to improve the same. The acceptance of these technologies is much more than my imagination. There is a perception that UP is quite backwards in IT but my experience has been totally the opposite. Our officers and field workers have taken these

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initiatives very positively and the response has been very good. This is changing the perception

Please tell us about the e-Samadhan app. e-Samadhan is an online integrated and centralised portal for receiving complaints related to election and effective management, disposal and monitoring of these complaints by district election officers. The application creates an environment where a citizen can freely and conveniently file a grievance and receive response to his satisfaction both in terms of quality and time. The complainant can track and see the Action Taken Report on his complaint.

Can you please brief us about the e-Suvidha & e-Sugam portal? e-Suvidha is an online portal to provide interface to political parties and contesting candidates to apply online for permission of various election related activities, and to the Returning Office (RO) for granting permission to the applicants

The advantages of PDMS l Enables continuous data collection of poll status from every Polling Station through registered mobile number of the presiding officer and first polling officer. l Enables gathering of accurate and timely information of poll day events, starting from the information of safe arrival of polling party at polling stations to the polling percentage on the polling day on every 2 hour.

online. This online solution has ensured transparency and timely granting of permissions for the requests made by the contesting candidates. Every activity has some specific number of forms which are to be filled by the applicant. and duly signed and scanned copies of these forms have to be uploaded by the applicant at the time of applying online for permission. These forms are exclusively available on this portal so that the applicant may download for filling and uploading. The RO grants permission to the applicant after verification of application forms and availability of facility requested by the applicant. Once the permission is granted by the competent authority, the information is sent to the applicant through SMS and the signed copy of permission is made available on the website. Till the end of IV Phase of elections, 50,000+ permissions have been sanctioned by using this application e-SUGAM is a web application for acquisition and allotment of vehicles. It provides us online platform for registration of all acquired vehicles with their registration number, owner’s name and address. We can also enter the detail of drivers of all acquired vehicles. Allotment of vehicles to all officers, zonal / sector magistrate, video teams, police etc is being done through this software. It also provides us the feature to keep track of fuel consumptions throughout the election process

Please elaborate on ERMS application. ERMS is the Electoral Roll Management System which is being used for catering of all the activities related with the electoral roll

ANIL GARG \ POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE

activities like addition, modification and deletion of the electors during the summary revision and continuous updations, printing of voter list and voter slips. This time we have launched the online search engine to facilitate the voters to search their name in electoral roll. More than 26 lakhs hits were recorded in the span of 3 months from the launch of this search engine. ERMS mobile app has also helped to bring the transparency in the revision process. This app facilitates the political parties and citizens to keep an eye on the revision process as booth wise information of addition and deletions with the name of persons are available in their hand

Please give us an overview of Poll Day Monitoring System (PDMS). SMS based Poll Day Monitoring System enables continuous data collection of poll status on prepoll day and poll day from every Polling Station through registered mobile number of the presiding officer and first polling officer. The Chief Executive Officer of UP and all the districts have been provided dashboards for monitoring the progress of voting of all the seven phases of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2017.

This System also helps the district administration to take the timely action on occurrence of any disruption like EVM failure or any issue of law and order during poll day.

Please tell us about the concept of Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF). To encourage general public to exercise their right to choose government, it is very important to assure that the place where they visit to cast vote is well equipped with

Under the guidance of Shri T. Venkatesh, Chief Electoral Officer, UP and technical leadership of Dr Saurabh Gupta, State Informatics Officer, National Informatics Centre, Uttar Pradesh, a dual rainbow of the applications ( 7 web base and 7 mobile apps) has successfully been implemented for the assembly elections 2017. The implementation of PDMS enables us to get the accurate and timely information of poll day events, starting from the information of safe arrival of polling party at polling stations, conduct of mock poll, start of poll , the polling percentages every two hour on the polling day, voter turn out at the end of poll and finally the status of deposit of the EVM at the receipt centres. Sector Magistrates have monitored the progress of information flow through the mobile app given to them.

all basic facilities. The AMF mobile app has been developed to upload the facilities including Toilet, Electricity, Shade, Ramp, Telephone, Water and Furniture of assemblyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s polling stations using a smartphone. While capturing the photograph, latitude and longitude of the location as well as date and time stamp is recorded automatically and gets uploaded on the central server. The uploaded data is available to the district officials to saturate the deficient polling stations facility wise.

How successful has been the M-Voter app? M-Voter App has been implemented to make available all the information required by voter at one place. This app facilitates citizens to search their name with the information of their polling station and voter serial number in voter list. This app helps the Citizens to locate their polling booth on map. Voters can also get the information about the assembly wise contestants by using this app. User can download the booth wise voter list on their mobile and can send the feedback and suggestions to us also.

What has been the response of Webcasting in this UP election? In the current assembly elections NICSI was assigned the task of webcasting in the critical/ vulnerable polling booths selected by District Administration. The webcasting can be viewed only by the District administration, CEO UP office & Election Commission of India officials. For the webcasting, dual sim tablets were used and webcasting was processed through the online portal. Tablet was customized in such a way that it can stream the video on 2G Network also. The data will be available on cloud upto 3 months after the election process is over so that the DM office, CEO office and ECI can view the recording of any webcasted polling stations whenever it is required This is first time in UP elections, webcasting was carried out by NICSI to maintain the quality of streaming. The cost of webcasting per booth has come very less in comparison to other states and even in the earlier elections of UP.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / VIJAY SINGHAL

Evolution of Maharashtra as Industrial

Hub

Maharashtra with advantages like good law and order and superior connectivity across various regions of the state has grown into an automobile, manufacturing and IT hub with a large number of investors drawn to the state from both domestic and international markets, says Vijay Singhal, Development Commissioner, Directorate of Industries, Government of Maharashtra, in an interview with Poulami Chakraborty of Elets News Network (ENN).

lease elaborate on the growth of industries in Mumbai and its suburbs and also enlighten us on the prospects of growth in the region?

Mumbai being the business capital of the country has its own advantages of being on the coastline, enabling it to establish business relationships with its neighbouring regions easily. Over the years, Mumbai and its suburbs has grown at a fast rate and has evolved as a business centric region – creating more and more new jobs for the residents of the region. For example, Thane, though a district, being located in close proximity to Mumbai and well connected to the city it has drawn a good number of industries and people to come and work here. Further, after the planning authority Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) adopted the region, the growth and industrialisation has happened very fast in this region. Besides, a lot of urban development work is happening in the region. Thus Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane have collectively grown into a big industrial hub, creating thousands of jobs. However, the industrialisation is gradually reaching its zenith in this region and now the focus is slowly shifting to other parts of the state like Pune, Nagpur, Satara, Nashik, etc. During the ‘Make in India’ week held last year, Maharashtra signed MoUs worth Rs 8 lakh crores with different organisations and 45 per cent of these MoUs are currently on track. Our office is constantly in touch with the MoU signatories irrespective of they being a part of a Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation project, or a MSME project or if they are related to housing and tourism sector. A report published by the Government of India last year said that 50 per cent of the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in the country is in Maharashtra alone. Maharashtra with advantages like

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VIJAY SINGHAL \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

good law and order and superior connectivity across various regions of the state has grown into an automobile, manufacturing and IT hub with a large number of investors drawn to the state from both domestic and international markets. Furthermore, the state has minimum labour dispute and extremely skilled labour available at a minimal cost. With all these factors coming together coupled with the central governments ambitious projects, Maharashtra has evolved into a pro-industries state. As a matter of fact, we are soon to introduce a one of its kind Women Industrial Policy.

How do you perceive the ease of doing business in Maharashtra? Not only a favourable ecosystem or availability of skilled man-power, the ease of doing business also includes government permissions, solution to problems faced by new industrialists and simplicity in methodology required for obtaining government permits, etc. Maharashtra has set up an example in creating a wonderful ambience to support ease of doing business. For example, earlier there were about 47 permits required to construct a building, which is now reduced to about eight permissions only. Earlier, it took about 140 days to obtain government permits for any business to start, which can now be obtained within 60 days. This indicates the state government’s keenness to support more and more new business set ups. More importantly, most of the permits and other requirements to be fulfilled for setting up a business in Maharashtra are now done online and one does not need to visit various government offices. This has brought transparency to the ecosystem. For big industries also, the Maharashtra Industries Department has opened a separate office named MAITRI, which stands for Maharashtra Industries Trade Related Investment centre. It is headed by the development commissioner of the department and there are about 44 officers from various departments including forest, pollution control, environment and several others to review and grant permits for bigger industrial projects. For this, one can apply either through a physical process or online, which in a way saves the applicants from visiting various departments for getting permits and sanctions. Furthermore, with the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) touching Aurangabad and Dighi Port region,

The Industries Department of Maharashtra has been one of the pioneers in adopting IT in its ecosystem for the benefit of the state and the industries in the region. MAITRI is one such example of digitisation initiative taken up by the department. we have acquired about 4,000 hectares of land which is again a preferred destination for investors to set up new business units in the state.

IT has been the key driving force for the functioning and growth of any sector of business. What role has IT played when it comes to its adoption in the ecosystem of the Industries Department of Maharashtra? The Industries Department of Maharashtra has been one of the pioneers in adopting IT in its ecosystem for the benefit of the state and the industries in the region. MAITRI is one such example of digitisation initiative taken up by the department. MAITRI enables businesses to obtain around half of the 44 government permits online instantly. The department is in the process of making this entire permit system online within a span of two months. One has to fill up a single form called CAF (Combined Application Form) for all the 44 government permits which automatically gets delivered to various departments and the common feeds are auto-populated. Further, one also gets to know the time frame for obtaining each permit

when applied through the online process. If the permits are not obtained on time the matter automatically gets escalated to senior authorities for scrutiny. Another key aspect is that World Bank is ranking cities across the world for ease of doing business and facilitation involved for investors, for which they have taken into consideration both Delhi and Mumbai, which we are trying hard to extend at state levels.

Skill development is one of the key initiatives adopted by the Government of India. Is the industries department adopting any skill initiative to upscale the standard of services catered? The Government of Maharashtra has established a separate department for skill development and entrepreneurship, headed by a minister and a secretary. There are several schemes and initiatives taken up by the department on a regular basis like ‘Pramod Mahajan Kaushal Vikas Yojana’, up-scaling of training institutes as per the requirement of small and medium entrepreneurs, which we adopt in our ecosystem and work closely with.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

SMART CITIES / TUKARAM MUNDHE

NMMC: Making Navi Mumbai Smarter & Healthier Applauded by the citizens of Navi Mumbai as people’s Commissioner, Tukaram Mundhe, Municipal Commissioner, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, reveals his plans of making the planned township smarter, healthier and safer, in an interview with Harshal Y Desai of Elets News Network (ENN).

hat are your views on the concept of smart city? Which are the areas that need to be focussed on primarily? When we envisage a smart city, we have to have smart solutions. These smart solutions can be developed with or without the help of Information Technology. What matters the most is that the solutions must be convenient, accessible and affordable. So, a smart city is where all civic issues and amenities are planned smartly taking into consideration all needs of the city. In a smart city, IT plays a major role. It works as an enabler, but it is not the end. With the help of IT, particularly software, computer and mobile applications, we can achieve transparency in our operations making the lives of citizens, administrators and other stakeholders easier. One thing must be noted here that unless the administrators are not involved in developing these IT solutions, they are not likely to be effective. Navi Mumbai is not in the list of smart cities, but we are working on all these fronts and leaving no stone unturned to make the city smarter.

Would you share your views on how Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is making the most of IT in its operations? As I said earlier, IT can be leveraged to

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ensure transparent governance. It can be a boon to make the governance affordable, accessible, simple and transparent and thus contribute in the overall development of the city. Technology has to be economical and viable. NMMC is making the most of available IT solutions to strengthen e-governance. As many as 21 of our services – which are end-to-end solutions eliminating the need to interact with officers – are already online. We have been able to do that in just six months’ time. Let’s take a look at a scenario to understand the role of IT in NMMC. Earlier, to apply for a trade license a person had to come to office, fill the form, submit it, pay at the counter and seek ‘No Objections Certificates’ from related authorities. The person had to visit offices multiple times meet multiple officers and

undergo multiple processes. We did not just focused on IT solutions, but also on process re-engineering. As a result, we were able to reduce the required documents. We could also eliminate the need for a common citizen to go to different departments to seek permissions. Now, No Objections Certificates and permissions can be sought online. The entire process right from applying for the licenses to getting the certificates has been made online. We also made the life of builders and architectures easier by making the entire process of seeking various certificates online. Earlier a builder, developer or architect had to submit more than 35 documents to seek certificates, but we at NMMC reduced the number of these required certificates to just seven. Thanks to process engineering. Building Plan Management System: • E x t e n s i v e business

TUKARAM MUNDHE \ SMART CITIES

process reengineering has been done and number of steps have been reduced from 30 to 4 for issuance of commencement (CC) and Occupancy Certificate (OC) • Number of steps have been reduced from 16 to 4 for issuance of Plinth commencement Certificate and the same is available through Self-certification • Document reduction for CC from 35 to 7 and from 15 to 5 for OC • Certificates and Licenses: • Extensive business process reengineering has been done and number of steps and stakeholders have been reduced from 13 to 6 for issuances of trade and industrial license • The complete process has been made electronic and digitally signed licenses are being issued, the authenticity of which can be verified at any point of time on the portal. • Single window mechanism for obtaining NOCs, medical fitness certificate and license certificate While developing e-governance solutions, you need to first streamline the processes and develop the software or systems. This system needs to be simplified and made user-friendly.

away with it completely, but it should be defined properly so that the accountability is fixed. Since we started the e-grievance system – about four months back – we have received more than 2,800 complaints, of which more than 95 per cent have been resolved. We are happy to claim that out of 100 complainants more than 95 are satisfied with the system. If the online service is not user-friendly, it will not be used by people. If the people are not using the online service, it is of no use. A citizen must be able to access the page he or she is looking for at the portal in third click and we have been able to ensure it.

How have you been able to streamline e-grievance redressal process?

Around 5,000 people have downloaded the applications. All our 21 services are online and we are going to increase the number of services to 52. We are also planning to launch another app for transportation purpose and soon, we will intergrate both the apps. The app for transportation that we are planning to launch will be first-of-its-kind in India. With the help of this app, people will be able to know the locations of their busses in real time. This system will not be lesser than the applications that you see in Western countries. My objective of e-governance is “zero footfalls” in administration offices as far as civic services are concerned. Features of NMMC e-Connect are :• Pay Water and Property Tax • Post Grievances • Online 21 civic services • Real time bus information • Nearby stops along with buses on route • Travel Information sharing through Whatsapp & SMS • Set favorite route and alarms for buses • Passenger Information System • Automatic Vehicle Tracking System • Mobile Ticket Booking • Ticketing through Debit card & Credit card

We have done a remarkable job in e-grievance redressal area. We have made the system so simple that people can lodge their complaints easily without having to answer too many questions. We not just ensured proper tracking of complaints, but at the same time, we designed a system where officers are required to address the issues within a stipulated time frame. If they do not do that, the matter is escalated to seniors. If someone fails to address the issue, it affects his or her performance. We also ensure that the complaints are resolved satisfactorily. People are authorised to submit their feedback based on the level of satisfaction. If they claim their complaints were not addressed properly; the system again escalates to the deputy commissioner level. Further, through random survey we started the mechanism to seek feedback from citizens. You see, this is called end-to-end solutions. In the system, built in accountability of officers and transparency has been ensured and that’s the hall of mark of the grievance redressal mechanism. As far as human intervention is concerned, I believe we cannot do

What is the role of IT companies in developing such solutions? IT companies can develop algorithms, but we as administrative leaders must be involved right from the conceptualisation of the software till the end product, including process re-engineering. Unless we do that, we will not be able to develop effective solutions.

How has been the response towards NMMC E-Connect mobile app?

• Smart Card Services to commuters • Real Time availability of seat • Make conductor less bus service through technology intervention and upgradation

What are your views on environment-friendly practices? Climate change is one of the most serious concerns in the world today. We want to reduce carbon footprints, and to achieve that we need to limit use of vehicles and want every citizen to use footpaths and roads up to two to three kilometres periphery. I want to design roads and footpaths, which are safe and accessible. Further, we are also increasing the frequency of public transport. We have proposed a water transport system connecting Navi Mumbai with Mumbai. We have also started segregation of waste at the source. We have undertaken an Information Education & Behavioural Change (IEBC) campaign to spread awareness about the importance of waste management and cleanliness. Awareness campaigns on the harm of using plastics bags have also been initiated.

What are the challenges you face when it comes to involving citizens in your initiatives? I emphasise a lot on citizens’ engagement. We at NMMC have started the programme ‘Walk with the Commissioner’ where I meet people and listen to their complaints. Further, I am available between 4-5 pm everyday to meet people from Navi Mumbai without appointment. We have taken several decisions on the basis of complaints and suggestions received during our Walk with the Commissioner programme. Till date, 2021 suggestions and feedback have been received till date, of which 89% issues have been addressed. 11% items have been taken up in city planning and budget for further improvement in the city.

You have been applauded by the citizens of Navi Mumbai. Some of them even call you people’s commissioner. Yes they do. I am thankful to them for appreciating my efforts. I just want to mention one thing that I believe in doing things rather than pondering over them for months and years. We aim to make Navi Mumbai a smarter, healthier and safer city for all.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / RAKESH SRIVASTAVA

National Commission for Backward Classes Revisits OBC Quota The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has evolved a methodology to review OBC list from the State to include them in the Central government’s list of OBC quota, says Rakesh Srivastava, Secretary, NCBC, in conversation with Gautam Debroy of Elets News Network (ENN) while sharing much more. Excerpts:

ow did the NCBC come into existence?

This commission was created as a result of a Supreme Court judgement. In 1992, the Supreme Court in its judgement in Indira Sahni vs Union of India case directed the central government to set up a central body and state bodies which can examine the requests of different castes and communities in the Centre’s Other Backward Class (OBC) list. The work of the NCBC is to examine the requests that are coming from the State governments, various organisations, different castes and communities for inclusion in the central list and give the recommendations to the central government. This commission also holds the responsibility, when asked by the central government, to give recommendations about removal of those castes who were earlier in the OBC list but

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RAKESH SRIVASTAVA \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

tions and as Chairman is not there, many projects are pending approval. Our chairman has retired recently, completing his three-year term. The government is soon going to appoint a new Chairman and we will speed up the work then.

over the last decade or so ceased to be backward. Therefore, they should be removed from the list of the OBC and placed in the general category.

What is required to qualify the criteria for any caste’s inclusion in the central OBC list? We go by the Mandal committee recommendations. It was the second chairman of this commission who set this criteria on the basis of social, economic and educational standing of any community. For example, in the social criteria, we see that a particular community people are involved in menial jobs or not or whether the education-level is less than the state average or where the school dropout rate is very high or where the boys and girls get married before 18. These are the criteria on which we base our recommendations. We then send these recommendations to our guiding ministry -- the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Why do you think communities, already included in the OBC list, seek to get included in the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) list? The formalities that need to be completed to be included in the Centre’s OBC list are rather simple. The state government first includes them in their own list. Then, it sends the proposal to our commission who go through various records and make recommendations to the central government. For a particular caste to be included in the SC or ST list, first it has to go to the Registrar General of India. He has to concur and then it has to go to the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes as may be the case. Then they give recommendations to the ministry. The process is more taxing. Now as per the scheme of the law,

Have you ever come across violence while working on caste reservations?

the SC and ST list. There have been instances when declared a community OBC in the Centre’s list but the same community has been declared as SC or ST in the state list. So, if such a proposal comes to us, we delete that name from the OBC list because one person cannot claim both OBC and SC quota in a particular state. We also ensure that the same community has been declared as SC by a gazetted notification in the state.

You are dealing with a very critical department of caste classification, what challenges do you normally face? Sometimes, a particular caste of a state wants to get itself declared as OBC in the Central list but they are registered as OBC in the state list. To get themselves registered as OBC in the central list, they first need to be declared OBC in the state list. People keep coming to the commission pleading their case to the commission

We have our own website where we are putting many reports online. The commission is IT- oriented and we hope to increase it in times to come. 27 % of the reservation has been alloted to the OBCs. Similarly, there are reservations alloted to the SCs and STs. More benefits are available to the SCs and STs as compared to the OBCs. So, there is always a demand from OBCs to include them in

without knowing this criteria. This is one of the biggest challenges we are facing. Secondly, at the moment, the Commission’s chairman has to be appointed. The Commission has the powers for a public hearing and making recommenda-

We have evolved a methodology in which once a report is received from the state government and a demand has come from a public community to be included in the OBC list, we fix a public hearing in the state. Then a notification is issued calling upon all to give evidence for or against the case. We have had instances where people of that particular community who want to be included in the list are present and there are equal number of people who are opposing it and situation sometimes become very very violent. So, we have public hearing in the state and based on the criteria of social, economic and educational level of the community, the commission recommends to the central government for inclusion in the central OBC list.

In case the criteria is not met, can community still appeal in the higher courts? Yes, our recommendations are always appealable in the high court and later in the Supreme Court. Our recommendations are normally binding to the Central government. But it does not prevent a person to approach the judicial courts.

What IT initiatives your commission has undertaken? As per the orders of the Government of India, not more than Rs. 5,000 are taken in cash for any purpose. Any payment more than Rs. 5,000 is made either by cheque or through Electronic Clearing Service (ECS). We are in the process of introducing e-governance to the commission. Some initial training programmes have already been held. Public grievances and Right to Information applications are fully online. We have our own website where we are putting many reports online. The commission is IT-oriented and we hope to increase it in times to come.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

INDUSTRY SPEAKS / AMIT KHANNA

NComputing solutions can reduce the acquisition cost, power requirement and maintenance cost simultaneously, says Amit Khanna, Director Business Development , NComputing India in conversation with Priyanka Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN).

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Go Greenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; With NComputing Solutions

NComputing is working with the government on different IT projects. Can you tell us something about it?

We have been working with different governments for the past 8-9 years. We have already implemented large Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects in India. NComputing deployed 15,000 ICT solutions in Gujarat, 50,000 ICT projects in Haryana and various other projects in Punjab. We started our journey from Andhra Pradesh (AP) with implementing ICT projects in 5,000 schools of AP. We have provided ICT solutions to 5,000 schools in Maharashtra, a couple of thousands school in Bihar, more than 5,00 schools in Odisha and 1,100 schools in Delhi.

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AMIT KHANNA \ INDUSTRY SPEAKS

How prepared you are to meet the government expectations from your organisation? We are fully prepared because we have done so many projects with previous governments also. We have a national distributor in India in addition to 800 partners who are working to meet the requirements of the government specially in the education field and for the large corporates. Our technology can reduce the acquisition cost to about 70 %, power requirement by up to 90 % and maintenance cost by upto 80 %. These are some of the benefits which governments, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can get by our solutions. We have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a government organisation called Centre for Deployment for Advanced Technologies (CDAC). It is an organisation under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and have solutions of open space servers, cloud computing, and online educational training. We have a desktop virtualisation sharing system which we have done on their operating system. Using CDACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Indian version of Linux Operating System (BOSS) and NComputing shared technology, more powerful features are available. CDAC and NComputing solutions have been proven at hundreds of Indian government departments and in over 1, 75,000 seats in 10,000 schools in India. Using NComputing shared computing technology, 100 users on a single server can be connected simultaneously.

Can you throw some light on your Go Green with NComputing concept in brief? Go Green initiative is very important in the IT deployment. We reduce the cover consumption by 90-95 % for our customers. The hardware solutions offered by us only consumes five racks

Using NComputing shared computing technology, 100 users on a single server can be connected simultaneously. of power. We have products which consumes only two racks of power. If a customer employs NComputing technologies to the Personal Computer (PC), which traditionally consumes 150 racks, the power consumption drastically comes down. When power utilisation is reduced, the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) requirement is reduced as well. UPS residue also decreases statistically. It starts a chain reaction of power reduction and costs saving.

What are the major challenges that you feel the government needs to address in the longterm? In India the government is focusing on IT based solutions and digital drive. It is focusing on go green initiative. But it needs to address a lot of challenges. The most important is awareness of technology to the users and also the adoption of technology. Proper training should be provided to people so that they can adopt technology easily. Support mechanism has to be in place to create

awareness. We also need to create availability of solutions. They have to be tried out with various government organisations.

What are the areas you are focussing on with this endeavourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initiation? With joint engagement with CDAC, we want to take our solutions to all the applicable market which are central government departments. From the government there is a lot of push for the adoption of Linux but the adoption is not great. By creating a joint venture we want to take this awareness to a next level where we can create more penetration for adoption of these new technologies in state and central government departments. Educational and institutes are another area where options are available but adoption is not high and it needs to be worked upon. Navy, Army are heavy users of Linux and our solutions fit perfectly for them. We also have non government segments like manufacturing segment, small and medium businesses adopting Linux. Cooperative banks are also adopting Linux solutions. Awareness is the key to adoption of these technologies which will help in shifting the mindset of users from traditional window option to Linux.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / C V ANAND

Plugging Holes of

Civil Supplies in Telangana Civil supplies department has always been a concern for the Central and most of the State governments due to major diversions and leakages of revenue, says C V Anand, Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies departmentÂ¸ in an interview with Sudheer Goutham of Elets New Network (ENN), adding how innovative measures could save hundreds of crore rupees to the exchequer.

an you share the idea behind you, an IPS officer, taking the charge as commissioner for Civil Supplies department?

I took charge as the commissioner in August 2016 and I am the first IPS officer to be posted as the officer for civil supplies department in the history of united Andhra Pradesh state. It was a surprise move and the Chief Minister was worried about the diversion and leakage of revenue in the department. Perhaps he was hopeful that something effective will be done to plug the diversion and leakages in the department. I feel the fear was real, as huge diversions were taking place in the civil supplies system of the State. The diversions and leakages have been happening at every level. Huge public money was going into the pockets of rice millers, government officers, and fare price shop dealers.

What were you prompt corrective steps just after taking charge at the civil supplies department? I took time to understand the subject which felt complex and quite new to me. It involves intervention of the Central Government in

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C V ANAND \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

a big way under the National Food Security Act that provides subsidies in addition to what state government offers. I studied in-depth on how the department functions. Fortunately, I am also the Vice Chairman and Managing Director for the State Civil Supplies Corporation which helped me identify the loose ends in the system. It is the place where the actual work of procurement and distribution is controlled. The major stakeholders of the corporations are rice millers who were holding the department to ransom almost. State Civil supplies corporation buys the crop yield from the farmers directly which is brought at the paddy purchase centers and gives it to rice millers. As per the Government of India rule, the rice needs to be milled in 15 days and given back to the corporation which will in turn be used by the State Government in public distribution system, the Food Corporation of India and other purposes. Now, as per their (rice millers) habit, which the officers of civil departments did not question indicating collusiveness and corruption, rice millers never return the milled rice to the corporation while the payment for milling is paid to them by the government through cash credit. On the other hand, government kept paying the interest on the loan without evening realising that the rice has not been returned. Rice millers were having a gala time, selling and exporting government rice without being questioned by our department.

CV Anand, Commissioner, Civil Supplies shows how vehicles are monitored through Command and Control Center while Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Civil Supplies, Eatela Rajende, and Chief Secretary SP Singh look on.

we took amnesty approach. We offered them to withdraw the cases and help them in functioning their rice mills if they return the due rice stock. Another major scam that happens in the civil supplies department is through gunny bags. Rice millers are supposed to redeposit the gunny bags given them by the department. Deposit of gunny bags did not happen since 2008. We held meetings and could retrieve gunny bags worth Rs 67 crore.

To which extent the diversions could be curbed and revenue saved for the Government through your initiatives?

You introduced a culture of innovation in the department bringing in major reforms, tell us about the inception of IT Wing, Account’s Wing and Enforcement Wing in the department for the first time.

With tightening measures we could straight away save Rs. 850 crore for the government. In the coming year, with integration of all the proposed technology, we estimate to save another Rs 1,000 crore to the government. After taking charge, I noticed that almost 1.8 lakh metric ton of custom milled rice (CMR) were pending with rice millers, which was shocking. Then we set a target to receive all the pending rice through special drive. We held meetings with all the district collector offices in the State and could collect Rs 466 crore worth rice out of Rs 480 crore till 20152016 Kharif season. In another major step, we identified that over 150 mills were defaulting on custom milled rice (CMR) worth Rs 151 crore. To retrieve the pending CMR with them,

Innovative application by rethinking over traditional practices has been instilled in our officers and in the process we created – ‘Accounts Wing’, ‘Enforcement Wing’ and ‘IT Wing’. We took up steps in plugging the revenue leakage through hidden go down rents, reducing transport cost through alternative options. There is no management of accounts for all these transactions so the receipts from the Government of India aren’t coming as expected. So, a separate ‘Accounts Wing’ has been created to look after all these accounts, further recruitments are going on. An ‘Enforcement Wing’ has been created in the process as I have observed that our officers are busy in doing routine things. For the ‘Enforcement Wing’, the recruited few of the retired officers from Civil Supplies depart-

ment with good reputation for a two months period and constituted five teams with 20 employees. We also created a separate ‘IT Wing’ as we believe major reforms can be brought in through integration of information technology.

What are some of the IT innovations undertaken in the Civil Supplies Department? We established a ‘Command and Control Center’ in the civil supplies department through which monitoring of the 1,383 vehicles that transports the essential commodities of civil supplies. GPS has been enabled in all these vehicles and if any vehicle goes beyond the Geo-Fenced route alerts will be generated putting the team on vigilance. Further, CCTVs are also being installed in the MLA godowns to keep a watch on the stock. Moreover, in the coming days, all the 17,000 fare price shops will have EPOS machines with biometric and IRIS backup. Weighing machines will be linked to it, card swiping machines, micro ATMs will come into place with Aadhaar linking which will prevent any kind of diversions. With this, we estimate to save another Rs. 700-800 crore per year to the government by preventing diversions and leakages. In addition to that, software systems have been put in place at 2000 ‘Paddy Purchase Centers’ removing human touch points (middlemen interventions) by electronic payments to the farmers for their commodity sale to the civil corporation. An amount of Rs. 2800 crore have been directly pumped into the bank accounts of the farmers.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

PSU LEADERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / GEORGE KURUVILLA

BECIL

Making digital India Dream Come True BECIL provides consultancy in the area of digital India and undertaking projects in government departments either on deposit work basis or on contract basis through tender. The projects include creation of Command and Control Centers for Social Media Management Services to various ministries like Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, says George Kuruvilla, Chairman & Managing Director, Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), in an interview with Souvik Goswami of Elets News Network (ENN). Excerpts:

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GEORGE KURUVILLA \ PSU LEADERS’ PERSPECTIVE

ive us an overview of Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL)

Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd. (BECIL) an ISO 9001-2015 certified, a “Mini Ratna” Public Sector Enterprise of Government of India under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, was established in 1995. It provides project consultancy services and turnkey solutions encompassing the entire gamut of Radio and Television broadcast engineering viz. content production facilities, terrestrial, like satellite and cable broadcasting in India and abroad. It also provides associated services like building design and construction, human resource related activities like training, providing manpower etc. it also undertakes supply of specialised communication, monitoring, security and surveillance systems to defence, police department and various para-military forces. It has to its credit planning and execution of big, ambitious, and prestigious projects like private FM Broadcasting, Private Earth Stations, HDTV, LokSabhaTV, Multimedia Studio in Rashtrapati Bhawan and Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC), NIOS, Main Press Centre & Broadcast Compounds for Commonwealth Games 2010.

What are the major focus areas of your organisation? The major focus areas are Broadcasting which includes Turnkey projects of TV and Radio Studio & Transmitters, Community Radio Station Installation, Cable TV digitisation, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), CCTV, Security & Surveillance, technical manpower outsourcing, e-Governance projects etc.

In the era of Digital India, Smart Cities how BECIL is contributing to the ecosystem? BECIL is providing consultancy in the area of digital India and undertaking projects in Government Departments either on deposit work basis or on contract basis through tender. The projects include creation of Command and Control Centers for Social Media Management Services to various ministries like Ministry

Our vision is to win tenders, which are now being floated by various State and Central Departments. Take BECIL to a Rs 1,000 crore turnover company in next five years with a sound reserve and surplus. of Information and Broadcasting, M/o Road Transport and Highways, M/o Labour and Employment. Presently executing Turnkey projects on Surveillance and Access control for three strategic buildings of Ministry of Defense, Eleven railway stations of Eastern Railways, around 250 warehouses of Food Corporation of India, 43 Airports of Airport Authority of India. Further BECIL has ventured into the fields of e-education which includes building of Studios, Learning Management Systems, Networking of Colleges/ Institutions, Virtual classrooms etc. BECIL is also participating in the safe city projects for building of Central Command & Control Center etc.

What kind of technologies or solutions are being leveraged in your organisation to help it grow?

BECIL has been integrating Command and Control Technologies in Strategic partnership with various OEMs for customising Command and Control centers including Audio and Video Analytics etc. BECIL is planning to enter into development of Digital terrestrial transmitters Receivers including DRM and also development of Set Top Boxes for Doordarshan free DTH.

What is your vision for the BECIL? Winning tenders, which are now being floated by various State and Central Departments against major private sector players. Move ahead with the development and manufacturing plans of Digital TV & Radio Receivers, DTH set top boxes . Take BECIL to a Rs 1,000 crore turnover company in the next five years with a sound reserve and surplus.

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

Shree Cement Limited

Corporate Profile About Us

People at the Helm

Shree Cement (SCL), promoted by the prestigious BG Bangur group, is a trusted name in cement across north and east India. Starting in 1985 with a small capacity of 0.6 million tons, SCL today is among the top three cement producers in India. Over the years, SCL has earned the recognition of being one of the most efficient, environment friendly and sustainable organizations creating consistent long term value for all its stakeholders. Its continued thrust on realizing higher efficiencies has enabled delivery of strong operational performances year after year while high standards of corporate governance and emphasis on transparency and timely reporting have made it a globally admired company.

Shri B.G. Bangur Chairman

Shri H.M. Bangur Managing Director

Shri Prashant Bangur Jt. Managing Director

Company Profile

Vision of the Company

Cement Capacity: 27.20 Million Tonnes Per Annum

Lead In Creating Prosperity & Happiness for All Stakeholders through Innovation & Sustainable Practices

Power Capacity: 627 MW (including 111 MW capacity of Waste Heat Recovery Plants â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Highest in World Cement except China)

Popular Cement Brands

Multiple Locations: Cement plants located across six states of the Country viz. Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

Among top 3 cement producers in India

Shree Ultra Bangur Cement Rockstrong Cement Market Leaders in the states of Rajasthan, Delhi , Haryana in North India and Bihar in East India

People -

Created world record by setting up clinkerisation unit in 330 days against industry average period of 630 days. Largest capacity of waste heat recovery based power plants in the country

Total Employee Strength: 5354 as on 31st Decâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;16 In a survey conducted by external consultant on nearly 100% employees, 86% of employees were found to have high engagement levels. This is an outstanding distinction for the Company as not many organizations have such high engagement levels

Financial Strength

Sustainability and Environment

Gross Turnover (Rs. Crore)



Highest 5-star rating by International Benchmarking firm Whitehopleman, UK. This is the first time that any cement factory in the world has attained 5 star status in the Whitehopleman star ranking system during the 18 years of Whitehopleman independent cement factory benchmarking



2nd highest on carbon-related metrics in the world cement Industry in latest cement sector report released by the CDP.



Nominated as “New Sustainability Champion” by the World Economic Forum in September 2011.



First Indian cement company to join Cement Sustainability Initiative of World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Switzerland.



First Cement Company to register its project under the CDM mechanism with UNFCCC

8325

5183

11-12 (15 Months)*

6146

12-13

6533

13-14

7163

14-15

15-16 (9 Months)*

Gross Turnover for FY 2015-16 (9 Months): USD 1.2 billion

11-12 (15 Months)*

1749

12-13

1575

13-14

1482

14-15

15-16 (9 Months)*

*annualised

Capex Program

Investor Friendliness

Set a target to become 40 million ton capacity Company by year 2020. Steps in this regard are –



 

1000

1000 800 600

220

240

201415

201516 (9 months )

400

201314



Setting up Integrated Cement Plant in Gulbarga, Karnataka with clinker capacity of 2.8 MTPA and cement capacity of 3.0 MTPA Setting up Clinker unit having capacity of 2.80 MTPA at Raipur in Chhattisgarh Setting up new cement grinding unit in Suratgarh of capacity of 3.60 MTPA capacity Setting up new cement grinding unit in Aurangabad of capacity of 5.50 MTPA

1200



Consistent dividend paying company

200

160

 

Onetime Special Dividen d 16-17

1447

1920

201617 (Interi m)

Operating Profit (Rs. Crore)

Among top 50 companies in India in terms of market capitalization (Market Cap above Rs. 50,000 Crore) Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of Shree’s stock since its IPO in year 1985 – 28.5% (as on 7th Febuary, 2017)

Contact Details Registered Office: Bangur Nagar, Beawar - 305 901, District - Ajmer, Rajasthan Phone: (91)1462-228101-06, Fax: (91)1462- 228117/119 Email: shreebwr@shreecementltd.com

Corporate Office: 21 Strand Road, Kolkata – 700 001, West Bengal Phone: (91)33-22309601-05, Fax: (91)33-22434226 Email: sclcal@shreecementltd.com

POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE / AKHILESH MITTAL

RPSC: Leveraging

IT to Build Robust Marking System The paper-based exam marking system follows a tedious and time consuming process involving several levels of sorting before bundles of handwritten scripts are delivered to the evaluators to assess the candidates. To make the process simpler and efficient, Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) has taken an initiative to adopt an on screen marking system that exploits the latest Information Technology tools to achieve the desired results. Akhilesh Mittal, Joint Director IT, RPSC, Ajmer, Government of Rajasthan, tells Elets News Network (ENN) about the system that makes awarding marks to the assesses just a click away.

hat is an On Screen Marking System?

On screen marking is the process of applying technology to the process of marking or scoring descriptive answer scripts with a view of improving quality, flexibility, efficiency and transparency while making the scoring process easier for evaluators. It involves several processes which include scanning answer scripts, indexing answer scripts, setting up and creating the marking environment, marking by evaluators and analysis of markers’ performance. The process to be adopted for an on screen

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marking system is as follows:

Bar Coding or Numbering Answer Sheets

Answer Booklet Collection from RPSC

If the answer booklets are not bar coded then a bar code will be affixed on the answer sheet, which will help in the separation of the answer sheets and also will give a unique number to the answer sheet in a particular order for tracking the answer sheets at later point of time. Since the answer scripts are barcoded and numbered, the answer booklets are received and stored in zone wise, venue–wise, subject wise and preparatory work for scanning shall be undertaken.

A resource will be deployed from the firm, who will work with RPSC official responsible for the handover of the answer booklet to firm after separation on main page containing confidential information and RPSC office secret cell would be processed this task. The firm resource will collect the documents from RPSC and will get the documents counted and then reconciled against the performa given by the department. Once the documents are reconciled then an entry into firm‘s inventory system will be made.

Packet Creation The answer booklets will be made into pack-

AKHILESH MITTAL \ POLICYMAKERS’ PERSPECTIVE

ets of 25 or 50 as per decision of RPSC. The packet details along with the details of the answer sheet series is entered into the inventory system. This will help in keeping track of the count as well as locate the answer booklet after the scanning process on need basis.

Preparation of Scanning The answer booklets will be prepared for scanning by cutting the spine (if the booklet is stitched in middle) or staple will be removed (if stapled in middle), so that the individual sheets of answer booklet can be feed to the scanner. Generally, 25 booklets shall be feed to the scanner once it is prepared for scanning.

Batch Preparation and Scanning The scanning units then prepare the batches and scan the documents.

Image Processing and Quality Check The scanned images of the answer booklets are moved to the local server and from

there it is pushed to central server located at a three-tier data centre. The images are processed and then the quality of the images is checked before they are moved for indexing. If there are any discrepancies in the images of a particular script or if the image quality is bad then those scripts are rescanned.

The answer booklets will be prepared for scanning by cutting the spine (if the booklet is stitched in middle) or staple will be removed (if stapled in middle), so that the individual sheets of answer booklet can be feed to the scanner. Storage of scanned booklets Scanned booklets are packed once again in the order of 25 each and the packets are stored in carton boxes. The boxes are numbered and have the details of the packet numbers on

them. The carton boxes are handed over to the department for reconciliation. The flow of document management is shown below.

Deployment architecture A centrally hosted solution that enables higher security/confidentiality, high levels of data

integrity, higher redundancy and most importantly, a complete automation of the process.

Post scanning process: l Answer scripts are scanned at RPSC prem-

ises and the images securely transmitted to an central image server. l The scanned copies of answer booklets are then distributed electronically and marked On Screen by evaluators. l The Client software is an application program which is downloaded onto the evaluator’s machine from a secure data center, through a secure network. l Each evaluator is provided with a username and a strong password. Following successful log in, the examiners can access the key functions of software for which they have been configured. l Software provides the evaluators with information about the subject, expected number of scripts to be marked by when, along with the tools for marking and a set of support features such as the inbuilt messaging system. l In addition, software provides the marking supervisor with additional functions allowing them to approve, review and view the marking of team members and to provide support to evaluators through a messaging system. l The marking screen displays candidate responses, the structure of marks, a mark input tool and a range of other supporting tools. It allows the Evaluator to view and mark each candidate’s response. l Question-level marks and evaluators’ annotations are captured by the software throughout the marking process, without manual intervention. l Reporting systems provides access to a wide range of reports covering different aspects of marking, supervision and administration process. Reports are tabular in format and displayed on screen, but can be exported to Microsoft Excel for further analysis and are compatible with other statistical analysis tools. l Marking window can display range of response types:Structured Responses: A candidate is expected to write the response in predefined area. The system only displays the predefine area for the evaluator. o Unstructured Responses: the candidate may

MARCH 2017 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

POLICYMAKERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; PERSPECTIVE / AKHILESH MITTAL

write their responses anywhere within the answer booklet, for example when writing essays. The system displays all of the candidateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response and provides the Evaluator with the tools to easily navigate between the images. So it is proposed that the answer booklet will have structured responses only. The firm shall adopt the process of structured answer script evaluation mode l Marking non text scripts like drawing, geometry etc., can also be marked very easily using:l Ruler tool for measuring distances l Protractor tool for measuring angles l Multi-line tool, which is very flexible for marking graph or similar questions l The system supports multiple features marking. For example, separate marks for accuracy and method. l Marks can be reviewed by the evaluator any time before the response is submitted. l Supervisor can inspect the marked scripts and post for remark if needed. l Supervisors can reallocate scripts based on needs. l Constant and dynamic monitoring of marking process is available through the administrative interface. l The system also allows for multi way messaging, allowing evaluators to communicate with supervisors for guidance, reporting complaints, etc. l At the end of the marking process, marked script with item-wise scores, annotations and summary of scores will be re-generated in PDF, submitted to the RPSC and achieved.

Training To enable a smooth transition for the evaluators, the firm will conduct an in depth training session for the evaluators as per the list given by the department. The training will be provided in a live modular training session explaining all the features of evaluation platform followed by hands on training of few scripts.

Security Security for the solution is managed at all levels - physical, user level and relevant communication. l Physical: The servers hosting the OSM software will be located at a secure data

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centre where access will be controlled and only available to authorized personnel. l User: User accounts for the administration portal are generated through secure data interfaces. Users gain access to the application through a username and password. The password is automatically generated and can be characterized as strong. l Communications: communication between applications and the core domain is encrypted to prevent eavesdropping and data tampering. Web service Extension (3.0) has been incorporated into the

To enable a smooth transition for the evaluators, the firm will conduct an in depth training session for the evaluators as per the list given by the department. The training will be provided in a live modular session. web services to ensure data integrity, data confidentiality and user authentication. The tool communicates across the secure link using secure socket layer SSL on port 442(HTTPS). The software should be designed in such a manner that people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have direct access to the database. The data is securely hidden behind multiple layers of architecture.

Evaluation Centres Evaluation centres will be provided by RPSC based on the number of evaluator required for evaluating the answer booklets with-in the project timelines. The evaluation centre must have required number of computers, uninterrupted power supply, UPS back-up,

good lighting, internet connectivity (min 8 Mbps for 25-seater) and preferably air conditioned lab or room. Sanitisation of Computer: The selected evaluation centre to be handed over to firm team one week in advance from the start date of evaluation under supervision of RPSC. The firm team shall sanitize the computers, check for the min configuration of the system, load required evaluation software and get ready for marking Setting up of DVR Cameras: In order to maintain high degree of security of the evaluation centres, firm shall deploy DVR Cameras to cover the entire evaluation centre. The recordings of the evaluation shall be done continuously; copy of the same shall be handed over to the department at the end of the evaluation process Undertaking of secrecy and security of Data: The firm must provide undertaking for maintaining secrecy and security of data and no leakage of data during evaluation or what so ever. Given the significant number of answer scripts (around 1 lakh), the traditional system is very tedious and error prone which create unnecessary burden of RTI issues and legal cases as scores totaling and re-totaling being also done manually and sometimes unchecked portions are found in answer scripts. RPSC was in search of solutions to resolve these issues since long. In this regard, RPSC has taken various presentations from firms in the field of on screen marking system which may be fit for RPSC requirements to achieve the following major benefits that include reduced risk, improved security, improved quality, efficiency, faster time to results, ensures innovation and management control. After that RPSC was of view that such answer keys evaluation process and execution through vendor is very much confidential like printing press and therefore, RPSC in principally agreed to execute the task confidentially only from best firms who are in such field with proper recording of process confidentially. It is recommended that RPSC must define proper technical and administrative process as per above suggested process for effective implementation.