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Contents
SEPTEMBER 2015
VOLUME 11 n  ISSUE 09
SPECIAL ARTICLE
URBAN LOCAL BODIES LOOKING BEYOND PRESENT
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12
CHRISTOPHER KOST Technical Director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
SMART CITY-BHOPAL SPECIAL
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SPECIAL INTERVIEW
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ALOK SHARMA
ANTHONY J C DESA
ARUNA SHARMA
Mayor, Bhopal
Chief Secretary, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
Additional Chief Secretarty, Panchaytiraj & Rural Development, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
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10
18
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KRISHAN PAL GURJAR Minister of State for Social Justie and Empowerment, Government of India
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MEHNAZ ANSARI
R K TIWARI
Country Representative-India, USTDA
Principal Secretary, Department of IT and Electronics, Government of Uttar Pradesh
EXPERT VIEW
25
20 MALAY SHRIVASTAVA
SN MISHRA
Prinicipal Secretary, Urban Development Department, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
Principal Secretary, Department of Transport, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
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38
CORPORATE
40
37
MANOJ SHRIVASTAVA Principal Secretary, Department of Commercial Taxes and Excise, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
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30
KAVAN MUKHTYAR
N NAWIN SONA
RAJEEV SAXENA
Senior Partner and LeaderSmart Cities Practice, Frost & Sullivan
Director-General, VANAMATI, Government of Maharashtra
Director-Sales, NetApp
EVENT REPORT 4TH ANNUAL SMART CITY CONCLAVE 2015 VL KANTHA RAO
HARI RANJAN RAO
VIVEK AGARWAL
Commissioner, Department of Industries, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
Secretary, Information Technology, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
Urban Development Secretary-cum-Commissioner and Secretary to Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh
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36
34
NISHANT WARWADE
TEJASWI S NAIK
M SELVENDRAN
District Collector, Bhopal, Govt of Madhya Pradesh
Commissioner, Bhopal Municipal Corporation
Managing Director, MPSEDC
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44
EDITORIAL
Pushing the City Clock
A
s the Central Government announced the list of the cities qualifying to be developed into smart cities, a number of traditionally big cities were seen losing out to their relatively smaller and younger counterparts. Smaller towns were able to find a place in the coveted list primarily because of the efficient services provided to the citizens by their civic bodies. If it is anything to go by, it speaks volumes about the importance of local governments, and the kind of role they can play in the lifecycle of a city.
In this backdrop, the smooth sail of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) into the to-bedeveloped smart cities club can be a matter of pride for any municipal body and a reason of envy for others. And, as they say in Latin, nihil fit ex nihilo, or nothing comes out of nothing, this feat of the municipal body has been an offshoot of decades of consistent performance of BMC. Thanks to its successive administrators, today the state capital is counted as one of the best cities in terms of infrastructure growth, and clean and green city. Keeping in mind the inconvenience caused to women due to unavailability of ladies washrooms at public places, BMC recently started working on a project called ‘She Lounge’. Once completed, the Lounges would be equipped with all basic amenities, like hygienic toilets, Wi-Fi connectivity, ATMs, bio-incinerator to treat sanitary napkins, sofa, etc., and a novelty shop to cater to their needs. What’s more, the service would be absolutely free of cost. After all, before becoming a Smart City, an urban space has to be citizen-friendly first. This and several other initiatives, like installing automatic timers and retrofitting energy-efficient LED lights in the streets to save electricity, encouraging people to use non-motorised transport by facilitating cycle tracks and linking colonies with BRTS to strengthen public transportation are only some of the many laudable steps the Corporation has taken to provide Bhopalites a better quality of life. With a view to highlighting the excellent work done by BMC and the local administration, Elets Technomedia is organising ‘Smart City Conclave – Bhopal 2015’, with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation as the esteemed ‘Host Partner’. The three-day conclave, being held on 20-22 August 2015 in the historic city of Bhopal will have a number of sessions on achievements and future plans of BMC to make the ‘ City of Lakes’ a smarter city. Top officials from the Madhya Pradesh Government and from outside the State will present their vision on various aspects of a Smart City, including smart education, smart healthcare, smart transportation, etc. Besides, municipal commissioners both from Madhya Pradesh and outside will also present their case studies on the role of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for building Smart Cities. Join us there. Happy reading!
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SPECIAL INTERVIEW
ALOK SHARMA
Bhopal to Wear ‘Smart’ Look Known as the heart of Madhya Pradesh, the State capital Bhopal has tremendous scope for development. So, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation has taken up the gauntlet to develop it as a Global, Digital and Heritage city, says Alok Sharma, Mayor, Bhopal, talking to Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN)
W
hat is your plan to develop the capital city of Bhopal as a Smart City?
Bhopal, the City of Lakes, has already been selected for Union Government’s Smart City programme. There is a huge scope to develop this city. We feel proud that our state capital has scored 93 out of 100 points on the basis of its capacity to generate revenue, availability of infrastructure relating to transport, expenditure, drinking water and solid waste management, among other things. The competition is going to be very tough once all cities get finalised. We are adhering to the guidelines laid by the Central Government for Smart Cities. Recently, the Mayor in Council has approved a proposal for the strategic development of Bhopal and sent it to the Government.
The BJP Government rules at the Centre, in State and the Municipality. Will it help in smooth implementation of the scheme? At Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come up with the ‘100 Smart Cities’ project, along with the launch of affordable ‘Housing for All by 2022’ scheme. On the other hand, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh Government built nearly 12,000 houses and recently allotted to the poor. We are also going to develop around 50,000 more affordable houses in the near future. So, the objective of both the Central and the State Governments is the same. We are committed to undertake development projects in larger public interests. As far as Smart Cities are concerned, BJP is in power in Madhya Pradesh and Chief Minister
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Shivraj Singh is leaving no stone unturned to make each city smart, and not only Bhopal. There is no perfect definition of a Smart City, but experimenting with something new or smart can be termed as one of its crucial components.
Can Elets Technomedia, in association with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation, play a constructive role in this context? Now that we are stepping towards developing Bhopal as a Smart City, we need better ideas, suggestions and expert view to make it a clean and green city, thereby making it a dream city. With this determination, we are working with the government. Our joining hands with Elets Technomedia for Smart City Conclave to be held in Bhopal on August 20-22 has brought the government, corporates and the industry leaders under one roof, which will throw up some very constructive suggestions and concrete conclusions. For example, we have toilets for men across the country, but it’s not the same in the case of women. So, we have introduced ‘She Lounge’ project. This idea can click with other municipal corporations also and they can learn from us. Similarly, we can also get more ideas from different people at the Conclave, and together we can make a difference.
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SPECIAL INTERVIEW
KRISHAN PAL GURJAR
If all goes well with the 100 Smart Cities project, we will have replica of Amsterdam or very much similar cities in the country soon, says Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar, in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN). Integrated social and technological infrastructure and solutions will play a vital role in developing Smart Cities, says the Minister
‘Let’s Go the Amsterdam Way’
W
hat is the action plan of government to implement Smart Cities initiative? Smart City is all about the innovation and cooperation. The 100 Smart Cities initiative
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undertaken by the Central Government is the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that aims to provide better living conditions to the citizens. Implementation of this project requires collective efforts to be made by the government as well as communities. Unlike Amsterdam, we don’t have walkways for the pedestrians or specified track for cyclists.
However, it is a must for the safety of commuters on roads. As soon as the development of an existing city into Smart City begins, our civic agencies will design the structure of roads in a way that it will have dedicated space for pedestrians and cyclists both. Apart from this, 24x7 potable water, electricity, better drainage system, transport, technology-supported solu-
KRISHAN PAL GURJAR
SPECIAL INTERVIEW
tions, along with smart education and safety of women and children, are important components of Smart Cities.
What will be the contribution of your department in PM’s dream project? Women safety and security of senior citizens remain a serious concern in the society. So, the Central and state Governments will ensure that measures for safety and security of women, elders and children are in place, and come up with more helpline numbers to facilitate them. We have public grievance redressal system in all departments, mainly those handling women-related affairs. Now, it is going online under the Digital India programme, which is also an important component of Smart Cities. The government is also focusing on child education and old-age homes to improve literacy rate and handle cases related to abandoning of senior citizens, respectively. We will educate the children living below the poverty line and make them technically sound. They will get admission in government schools as well as good private schools. We will also uplift the differently-abled or special children through our various schemes. In Smart Cities, we will not only take care of elite
positive and help implement the project in all possible ways. Contributions/suggestions of people from different walks of life matter a lot, as every individual should voluntarily come forward and put forth his ideas. We are exploring smart ways to push our system from its current level to the next. As far as the requirement of Smart Cities is concerned, we aren’t too short of infrastructure and the people. However, small modifications in the existing machinery are needed. The Govern-
Women safety and security of senior citizens remain a serious concern in the society. So, the Central and state governments will ensure that measures for safety and security of women, elders and children are in place… class people, but also deal with the weaker sections of the society. We are also modernising our security forces and equipping them with hightech gadgets for the purpose.
Do you see any challenges in implementation of the project? There is an adage ‘where there is a will there is a way’. Hurdles and challenges are always there, but it doesn’t mean we will stop thinking about good things. If the Prime Minister has decided to make Smart Cities in India, something that was never imagined before, we should think
ment is trying to identify the problems and looking for possible solutions. One major problem is non-payment of taxes. Hence, people should pay their taxes. It will help increase the revenue of the Government.
How will the Government proposes to generate awareness among the masses? The goal of Smart Cities cannot be achieved without public participation. Therefore, social awareness is a must to make this initiative a big hit. We will orgainse workshops, confer-
ences and summits to make people aware about various aspects of the programme. It will help them understand the objective of the initiative and how they can contribute towards making it a success. Multiple government departments, private sector, NGOs and media, along with communities, will have to work together to make Prime Minister’s dream project come true. For that matter, even Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) cannot be taken to its logical conclusion without the participation of communities and people at large. So, they are being educated about it. Many of us when go to abroad, we do not litter at public places, but remain least bothered about cleanliness when back in our country. It will take time but people will understand their duties and support us, we are confident.
How do you see the series of Elets Smart City conferences being held across the country? It is a great initiative of Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd to organise Smart City conferences across India. Elets is genuinely discharging its social responsibility, as such meets bring together the stakeholders to suggest the way forward for Smart Cities. People in general and the authorities concerned must take part in such activities to learn from the ideas and understand the strategies. Elets has been conducting Smart City events in various cities since the launch of programme. I want such conferences to be organised in every nook and corner of the country.
September 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov
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COVER STORY
SMART INITIATIVES
Urban Local Bodies
Looking Beyond Present As the first stage of the Smart City Challenge has already begun, every city is busy preparing smart development plan for themselves. Bhopal, the largest city in Madhya Pradesh, which already boasts some of the features of a world-class city, has taken some early initiatives, thanks to the local civic body and the administration, writes Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN)
I
n line with the 100 Smart Cities mission initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is well on its way to developing high-tech cities. Irrespective of the fact that the Ministry of Urban Development has already released a list of 98 cities for the Smart Cities project, to date, more and more small and big cities are making efforts to make a difference through their smaller but special initiatives.
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As described by Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, the essential components of Smart Cities would be ITenabled public services, clean water, clean air, assured power supply, efficient public transport, affordable housing, cost-efficient physical, social and institutional infrastructure, quality education, cheaper health care, dependable security, entertainment, sports, robust and high-speed interconnectivity, fast and efficient urban mobility, etc.
Notably, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Bhopal, Jaipur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and all Union Territories, among others, have made it to the list. The top scoring 20 cities among the 100, based on the second-stage evaluation, will be extended financial support of `200 crore each during this financial year. The Government has also invited private firms, developers and builders to contribute to accomplishment of the mission, both physically as well as financially. One of the tier II cities standing out among
SMART INITIATIVES
She Lounge initiative has been undertaken by the BMC to provide comfort and convenience to the women shoppers or working females in the cities when they are out for different kinds of activities. We are creating very specialised and sophisticated kind of toilets for ladies in different parts of the city
Example to Emulate Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC): It has developed a mobile app ‘Surat Action for Augmenting Livelihood’ (SAFAL) that acts as a bridge between service seeker and service provider. This app provides an employment opportunity to people possessing various skills, especially from the unorganised sector. Chief Project Officer of SAFAL initiative SMC RC Patel says, “If downtrodden people of a city remain deprived, the city can never be smart. We have designed the SAFAL app keeping in mind the upliftment of labourers and unorganised sector workers. A service seeker can search for service provider based on the skill they are looking for and the vice versa.” This application has complete data of plumbers, electricians, labourers, etc., online and connected with a call centre. Some other noteworthy initiatives of SMC include Sitilink Surat Bus Rapid Transit System, using LED in street lights and water recycling through tertiary plants.
COVER STORY
most others in terms of quality of life happens to be Bhopal — the City of Lakes. Many visitors over the years have opted to become settlers of the city today, in which its civic facilities have played a crucial factor, thanks to the efficient services being offered by the local municipal body.
Bhopal Municipal Corporation Amid talks of smart cities, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh Government remains committed to develop every city of the State as a Smart City. The Capital city of Bhopal, which has already entered the Central Government’s to-be-developed smart cities list, boasts of a number of initiatives of a modern city. One of these noteworthy initiatives is ‘She Lounge’ of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC). The Corporation is geared up to develop as many as eight air-conditioned She Lounges for the women shoppers or working females. The idea is to provide them a safe place to rest in various parts of the city as and when required. The locations proposed for these lounges include New Market, Bittan Market, Polytechnic Square, 10 Number Stop, MP Nagar, and MP Nagar Zone I and Zone II. Talking about the She Lounge initiative, Tejaswi S Naik, the BMC Commissioner, told Elets Technomedia, “Bhopal has been selected under the Union Government’s 100 Smart Cities programme. In keeping with the rising expectations of the citizens, She Lounge initiative has been undertaken to provide comfort and convenience to ladies in the cities when they are out for different kinds of activities. We are creating very specialised and sophisticated kind of toilets for ladies in different parts of the city.” The State Government has already launched action plans and projects for GIS Mapping, e-Municipal Corporation, improved sewage systems, Housing for the Poor, infrastructure development, water supply etc., which could help Bhopal grow into a Smart City. Speaking about the services of BMC, Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma said, “The civic body has decided to take opinions of local residents, such as senior citizens, NGOs, bar councils and chambers of commerce, among others, to make Bhopal a real Smart City. The decision to consult residents has been taken, as they know Bhopal better than anybody else.” The suggestions/objections of the people on the guidelines for making the Bhopal smart is of utmost importance and would be kept in
September 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov
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COVER STORY
SMART INITIATIVES
Footsteps to Follow
Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) The new capital city of Chhattisgarh, Naya Raipur, 18 km from Raipur, is a dream come true for the people of the State. Spread over approximately 20,000 acres and is expected to house 560,000 inhabitants by 2031, Naya Raipur is being developed in three phases. It will have a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor for smooth public transport and offer free wi-fi connectivity across bus stops, parks, office areas and educational institutions. NRDA Chairman N Baijendra Kumar says, “We are focusing on Smart Utilities, that is, SCADA-enabled (Supervisory Controlled and Data Acquisition) for 24X7 water supply, electrical distribution network, underground drainage system, solid waste management and city surveillance. Besides, IT-enabled transport and land management system, a common Command and Control Centre will also come up for smooth running of NRDA.” Moga Municipal Corporation (MMC) Spotting decent toilets is not an easy task even in metros, leave aside the smaller cities. But Moga, a small city of Punjab, is set to outshine the bigger ones, too, with its innovative one-of-its-kind mobile app— Swachh Bharat Toilet Locator—that displays a list of nearby public toilets. The toilet locator is an IT-enabled public utility app, helping one locate toilets, especially those not familiar with the city. It is the brainchild of an IAS couple in Punjab — Moga Municipal Commissioner Vipul Ujjwal and his wife Sonali Giri, the Faridkot Additional District Commissioner. The toilet locator app is going to be launched soon. The move is also aimed at free Moga municipal area of the menace of open defecation. “We are in the process of collecting data of 50,000 toilets. It will have easy and gender-specific search and users can also submit their feedback. We will get the national launch of app soon with the help of Ministry of Urban Development,” Ujjwal says.
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mind while creating world-class infrastructure in the city, he added. “Public participation is the need of the hour. For instance, if residents of a certain ward generate 50 per cent fund for any project, BMC would pump in another 50 per cent to complete the project meant for public convenience.” As the people are talking about creating smart cities, providing basic amenities to the citizens from the lowest strata should be kept in mind and that is what BMC is looking forward to, according to Sharma. The Corporation is planning toilet and water connections to each household to make people’s lives better. Toilets are going to be built soon to completely stop the practice of open defecation. Talking about the transportation facilities in the City of Bhopal, BMC Additional Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said that the Corporation is also encouraging people to use non-motorised transport, i.e. cycles, to keep the city clean and help in reducing the pollution. Cycle tracks for the riders are being developed for the purpose, he said. Additionally, the civic body is also trying to strengthen the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridors network, so that people start using public transport efficiently. Many key colonies are being linked with BRTS and service lanes are being developed to strengthen public transportation mode. “BMC is trying to ensure that more and more people start commuting in city buses to reach their destinations. For this, more parking lots would be built across the city, so that people can park their vehicles at the nearest BRTS station or Metro station and catch buses/Metro trains,” Kumar added. If everything goes as planned, BMC would like to make a small stretch of the city a beautified and well developed cluster under the PPP mode on the lines of Gujarat’s Surat city. Facilities like, door-to-door garbage collection service, night sweeping and development of service lanes would be ensured. That apart, a mega food court would also be developed in Bhopal, as it lacks the one. Many big cities do have food courts where people can go and rejoice every kind of food at nominal prices. Given the kind of initiatives being undertaken and efforts made by BMC, it looks only a matter of time when the City of Lakes would stand out as a role-model for other cities to emulate.
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SPECIAL INTERVIEW
ANTHONY J C DESA
‘Smart Cities Get More for Less’ The State Government has been making sincere efforts to educate the people of rural areas using technology to ensure better growth and employment prospects for them, says Anthony J C Desa, Chief Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh, in an interaction with Manish Arora of Elets News Network (ENN)
H
ow would you define a Smart City?
A Smart City would be a city providing public services to its citizens with the highest possible level of efficiency at the lowest possible cost in the most convenient manner.
What IT-based steps have been taken in Madhya Pradesh to deliver better public services? Madhya Pradesh is one of the leading states as far as adoption of Information Technology and eGovernance is concerned. We have introduced an online system of transferring scholarship and pension straight into the account of beneficiaries. Under this system, scholarship to the students of various categories, pension to the senior citizens and disabled, and subsidy under different government schemes are credited in the bank account of the persons concerned.
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The procurement of wheat, rice and maize is being done through an online system of registration, sale and payment. All kinds of tenders in the State, by all construction agencies and work department, are floated through electronic tendering process.
is made online, requests are processed by the Government online and the services are provided online. With such a mega infrastructure for online public service transactions, Madhya Pradesh can lead among most of the states of the country.
Tell us something about the process of e-tendering started by MP Government.
What all areas does eShakti programme cover?
Unlike most of the states, our all mining and excise-related auctions are being conducted through e-Auction system. We
We started programme training to Aanganwadi
a major digital education called eShakti for imparting the women in remote areas, workers and Asha Health
We started a major digital education programme called eShakti for imparting training to the women in remote areas, Aanganwadi workers and Asha Health workers, who can obtain relevant information by accessing internet have also started a major drive for issuance of caste certificates for SC/ST and OBCs, and keep online record of all these. That way, this becomes a permanent record with lifetime validity and can be downloaded anytime, anywhere using the digital signature. The Government of India defines an online transaction as the one in which application for services
workers, who can obtain relevant information by accessing internet. This would help them in their profession and deliver services more efficiently. We have also been able to achieve a great leap in digital literacy in rural areas.
How do the State’s best practices help young graduates of rural areas get employment? The policies of MP Government are quite apt for setting up BPOs in rural areas, where unemployed graduates can easily find jobs. Our endeavour in this direction has been very successful so far.
COLLABORATION
MEHNAZ ANSARI
MEHNAZ ANSARI
COLLABORATION
Facilitating Cities Smartly Fast-tracking India’s 100 Smart Cities initiative, the United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) will sponsor activities to develop safe, efficient and integrated energy, transportation and communications infrastructure, shares Mehnaz Ansari, Country Representative-India, USTDA, in a conversation with Prathiba Raju of Elets News Network (ENN)
W
hat is your take on the 100 Smart Cities project of the Government?
The ‘100 Smart Cities’ project is a Government of India initiative that promises a lot of infrastructure growth and development in the country. We are hopeful that it will strengthen the trade and business partnerships between the United States of America and India.
What is your view on the Government of India implementing smart cities via the smart city competition among state governments and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)? The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has come up with a very robust smart cities mission that is quite promising. State governments are also much eager to see some accelerated
growth. Indian industry and citizens are taking a lot of interest in this effort as well, which is encouraging. A lot will depend on when the projects will be rolled out, because a successful project implementation must include financing – and that is one area which requires more clarity.
How is USTDA supporting the Smart Cities programme as a whole? During his visit to India in January, US President Obama announced ‘a series of US initiatives that will generate more than $4 billion in trade and investment with India and support thousands of jobs in both of our countries’. As part of these efforts, USTDA Director Leocadia I Zak signed agreements with three Indian state governments to mobilise the US industry expertise and technologies to modernise the cities of Ajmer (Rajasthan), Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). Under these agreements, USTDA plans to sponsor activities that will help each city develop safe, efficient and integrated energy, transportation and communications infrastructure.
activities planned and undertaken so far for these cities? We intend to sponsor three high-level visits of Indian officials to the United States between fall 2015 and summer 2016. These reverse trade missions will introduce decision makers from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, as well as the Central Government, to the US energy, transportation and IT companies. We also intend to provide advisory services to guide the development infrastructure in the city of Visakhapatnam, and have begun similar discussions for Ajmer and Allahabad as well.
Any funds allocated to the state governments for Smart Cities project till now? If yes, can you give us a break-up? USTDA will sponsor a delegation of Andhra Pradesh and the Central Government officials for Smart Solutions for Smart Cities reverse trade mission to the United States this fall. The visit will focus on best practices and solutions that enable major cities to be integrated, efficient and safe.
USTDA has leveraged a social media platform for the US firms. How successful has it been?
On smart, clean energy front, what are the initiatives taken up by USTDA?
USTDA hosted a webinar on Smart Cities in March that had more than 100 US industry participants. Both before and after the webinar, we received a great number of queries about our work in smart cities.
The USTDA has long been committed to helping deploy smart energy solutions in cities across India and around the world. In fact, the agency’s investments are currently promoting lower-carbon growth in four of India’s seven largest cities by introducing ‘smart grid’ technology and solutions that can improve the quality and supply of power for millions of Indian customers.
USTDA has signed an MoU with Ajmer, Allahabad and Vishakhapatnam. What are the
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RURAL DEVELOPMENT
ARUNA SHARMA
Smart Villages Must for Smart Cities At a time when a large number of cities are putting in rigorous efforts to transform themselves into smart cities, the Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department of Madhya Pradesh is striving hard to make its villages smarter where citizens can have all basic amenities and better employment prospects. Aruna Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary, Panchayati Raj & Rural Development, throws light on some of the unique initiatives of her department. Excerpts from an interview with Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN)
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hat are the various IT initiatives your department has taken to improve citizen services, particularly in the rural areas?
As the country is progressing fast, it is necessary that the use of IT is made not only for data computation, but also for proper analysis and moving ahead of the same. When we talk of a smart city, there should also be talks about a smart village in terms of infrastructure, social sector benefits, livelihood opportunity to reduce migration to a considerable extent and the social changes. So, in this background, there is a strong role of eGovernance in the whole thing. For panchayats, we have now arranged an excellent fund flow for the coming five years. The 14th Finance Commission is going to give
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ARUNA SHARMA
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
enough money to the gram panchayats, so that they can meet their infrastructure needs. The first component of a smart city is to have excellent quality infrastructure, like roads, drains, pukka houses, piped water system, water tap in every household, panchayat buildings, financial connectivity, etc. The fund flow is going to be nearly `14,000 crore in the coming five years. Similarly, in the next five years MNREGA will also have sufficient funds, which will be used for the rural infrastructure. With this combination, there is no reason that infrastructure can’t be supported financially.
Is there any mechanism in place for keeping an account of the money being spent? It is very important to have a very strong fiscal system in place. So, we have adopted ‘Panchayat Darpan’ software where every single penny sent to panchayats is recorded. Panchayat Darpan will create a unique ID for each work and all the expenditures will be made through the software. The remittances will be cleared by the software and will go to the bank straightway, from where it will go to the accounts of labourers and material suppliers, among others. This is a major step towards eGovernance to bring fiscal discipline and transparency in the panchayats. The second software that we are working on is ‘Samagra’, which has a database of every individual of Madhya Pradesh based on the family. So, we have a family unique ID number and individual numbers. The limitation of Aadhaar is that it does not enable us to know about the family. In 90 per cent of the benefit schemes, whether individual or family schemes, one needs to know the family. Unfortunately, there was no way for us to know the family. But now, with the help of Samagra database, all individual and family scheme benefits reach directly to them. So, whether it is a house under the Indira Awas Yojana or toilets, we are tagging it with the Samagra database. Similarly, pensions and scholarships also go through Samagra. The third one is MNREGA software, which captures all the details of all the works that are happening. These three software are in the public domain, so that nobody eligible and missed out from the scheme has any doubts about community works, and individual and family benefit schemes.
It is very important to have a very strong fiscal system in place. So, we have adopted ‘Panchayat Darpan’ software where every single penny sent to panchayats is recorded How are you strengthening the citizens’ grievance redressal system to weed out problems faced by the people? As for grievance redressal mechanism, we have the CM Helpline to ensure 100 per cent compliance rate. Besides, we have toll free helpline in MNREGA and various other helpline numbers to help people get their complaints resolved. Another helpline is 181, which is very popular and the number of users is rising each passing day. As soon as one lodges complaints, we can analyse the problem immediately.
What is your opinion about the proposed Smart City project? The Smart City concept in my view consists of several components, like basic civic
facilities, drains, drinking water, sewage and access to public transport. While doing systematic planning, every city’s uniqueness has to be kept in mind; each locality has to have its own pattern of setting up things and how they are going to move ahead on that. An excellent public transport system is essential for any smart city through which people can travel in a hassle-free manner. Most importantly, transportation system in a smart city should also take care of the needs of pedestrians and cyclists, their safety and pedestrians’ movements. In addition to this, there should be a common utility duct policy, so that nobody digs up roads haphazardly. Basically, a smart city should strictly adhere to the principles which are in practice across the globe.
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EXPERT VIEW
KAVAN MUKHTYAR
S
mart cities involve deploying an ICT-enabled solution that can provide accurate, real time information and drive action. Information has the power to change societies and cultures; and we can drive greater accountability, efficiency and empowerment in a government’s service delivery by making information available to the citizens.
Citizen Engagement and Participation Every city has its own priority based on urban issues, demographics, and social and economic challenges. Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) should begin their smart city plans through a rigorous evaluation of citizens’ concerns and priorities. Projects that solve top issues affecting citizens should be prioritised. Active citizen participation in the planning process is an important element to make the community accept the development plans. Frost & Sullivan recommends that ULBs and state governments proactively engage with citizens through a two-way communication process throughout the development and implementation of the smart city plans. In this regard, a structured approach is necessary. Communication channels should be established to get feedback on various dimensions of urban issues, including healthcare, education, energy, transportation, safety, security, government service
Citizen-Centric
Smart City
Development Model Smart cities are sustainable cities for the citizens, by the citizens, of the citizens, and citizen centricity is at the core of making smart cities a reality, writes Kavan Mukhtyar, Senior Partner & Leader Smart Cities Practice, Frost & Sullivan delivery, etc. This should form the foundation of city development plans. In addition, once the draft smart city plans are ready, it
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should be made available for citizen feedback. This process can encourage out-of-thebox yet practical solutions.
KAVAN MUKHTYAR
Citizen-Centric Development Globally, smart technologies have been applied to deliver an exciting range of solutions for the urban environment. However, majority of these deployments are in cities with robust physical and basic infrastructure. Hence, globally, the focus of smart solutions tends to be on delivering efficiency in a sustainable manner. In India, we have a unique situation with significant shortcomings in basic infrastructure. In addition, we have huge differences in income levels, demographics and lifestyles within the same city limits. For instance, the city of Mumbai is home to the top tax-payers in the country, while 60 per cent of the population are the urban poor living in slums. Technology-led smart city uses cases that may be imported from overseas running the risk of being seen as elitist and not addressing the basic issues on the ground. City administrators need to be cautious to avoid this critical pitfall of trying to ‘gold plate’ our cities. Smart city development plans should be guided by the philosophy of making our cities inclusive, citizen-centric, and solving high-priority urban issues by using technology as an enabler.
Proactive Citizen Communication These days, citizens are much aware about their rights and priorities. They expect the Government delivery services to be efficient and live up to its promises. Information is now readily available, and with the spread of social networking sites/Internet, citizen activism is on the rise. ULBs should consider this trend and have a holistic and proactive citizen communication strategy. This will also help avoid misinformation and create positivity among the citizens about their Government. We recommend a structured methodology for communicating with the citizens. The underlying philosophy is that a smart citizen is the foundation of a smart city, hence ULBs should engage with citizens throughout the process of studying, designing, planning, and implementation of smart cities. This also ensures active citizen participation in bringing about a sustainable change in improving the livability of our cities.
Communication Strategy The communication strategy should vary based on the degree of engagement necessary. This, in turn, depends on the societal impact of a project or plan. Broadly, the engagement can be at the following levels:
EXPERT VIEW
The Development Model Step 1: Define key citizen segments of focus l Identify crucial citizen segments – based on macro analysis and discussion with various stakeholders l Conduct a geospatial mapping – with resident/commercial/ industrial profiles at a zonal overview level Step 2: Understand citizen’s needs, challenges and preferences l Understand the urban challenges, irritants faced by citizens, their aspirations and priorities. l Understand the root cause of the issues and build hypothesis on possible solutions Step 3: Analyse qualitative and quantitative insights l Develop insights and meaningful conclusions on top priorities of the citizens l Analyse the implementation difficulty, investments required for citizen recommended solutions Step 4: Prioritise citizen needs and possible smart solutions l Using MaxDiff analysis, identify the top priority urban challenges that need to be resolved l Map these issues on a short, medium and long-term time-scale based on constraints like investments, implementation difficulty Step 5: Design smart city plans for short, medium and long-term based on prioritised citizen needs l Design technology solutions for the top priority challenges l Prepare a holistic plan with business model, financial, legal structure, and economic benefits of the solutions l Break down the plans into project implementation components, including partnership ecosystem and other resources required Step 6: Implementation and Monitoring l Set up a programme management office to implement and monitor progress of the ‘citizen-centric smart city plan’
Notify: This involves one-way sharing of information with the citizens. This is the approach recommended for operational matters. Consult: Seek public opinion on policy matters and development plans. Can also contribute in generating new ideas and pragmatic solutions. Encompass: Get citizens’ involvement and participation to find solutions to their problems. Engage with citizens to bring about a change in the society. Partnering with nongovernmental organisations (NGO) and opinion leaders to influence policy direction. Cooperate: Get cooperation from citizen groups, NGOs, corporates and other organisations in the implementation of smart city plans. Enable: This is the most evolved level of
citizen communication where the final decision is put in the hands of the citizens. Citizens can build consensus or go with the majority opinion within the boundaries of the policy/ legal framework.
The Way Forward Making our Indian cities smart is a journey for the next few decades. Smart cities have the potential to enable economic development balanced with healthy, safe, environmentally conscious and happy citizens. The Governments cannot do this alone. All key stakeholders, including the citizens, political parties, technology providers, financial institutions, and private enterprises have to collaborate to make this a reality. ULBs will have to lead and facilitate this by making development plans that are citizen-centric with a proactive communication strategy.
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URBAN DEVELOPMENT
MALAY SHRIVASTAVA
Strengthening ULBs to Empower Citizens The Urban Development and Environment Department of Madhya Pradesh is making efforts to ensure low-cost houses for the poor and online services for the citizens at large. With the State’s seven cities poised to become smart cities, the Department is not leaving any stone unturned to make the dream into a reality. The Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department, Malay Shrivastava, shares his plans with Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN)
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hat kind of IT initiatives have you undertaken to improve citizencentric services?
The Government of Madhya Pradesh has already launched ‘Chief Minister Helpline’ as well as ‘Samadhan’ service online, which cover all the departments. The complaints are lodged online and senior officers of the department concerned take up the complaints lying pending since long. There are four levels — L1, L2 L3 and L4 — comprising senior officials to the lower rung officials for redressal of complaints. They try to complete it within a time frame, and if it is not done, then it is automatically escalated to a higher level. In order to ensure compliance, Chief Secretary or the Chief Minister, on a monthly basis, selects randomly a few of the complaints and the complainants are called either physically
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MALAY SHRIVASTAVA
to Bhopal or to the office of the Collector concerned, where the video conferencing facility is available. The Government pays proper attention to redress each and every problem.
What is the extent of IT implementation in the urban local bodies of the State? There are several IT initiatives for the urban local bodies (ULBs), because they have to work on numerous parameters to keep the city clean and shining, and provide citizen services with accountability. Of late, they have also started keeping the smart city selection criteria in focus while delivering the services. The vision of the government is to ensure and increase ULBs’ interface with the public, whether it is redressal of grievances, generating utility bills or solid waste management. So, there should be a mechanism of mobile application through which citizens are able to communicate with the municipal authorities and offer the resolution through the same channel. It would be done in the coming days to ensure not only promptness in service delivery but also redressal of the citizens’ grievances within fixed timelines. Although for the smart cities, physical infrastructure like drinking water, sewerage and roads are important, the most important aspect is that the citizens are provided the basic facilities in time — particularly solid waste disposal and potable water...only then the purpose is served in true sense. For example, there is a senior citizen, who wants to have access to a service, like public transportation provided by the local municipal body. If he is able to get all the sought information over telephone/ mobile or on internet, then he can claim that he lives in
a truly smart city.
At a time when many governments are shifting from e-governance to m-governance, do you have any plan to launch mobile apps? Some of our services are already on common portal of MPOnline that has the services related to various departments like Electricity, municipal services and many government schemesrelated forms, but stand-alone systems are already in place. Property tax system is already implemented in some of the ULBs, like Indore
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
and requirements of the local people — the actual beneficiaries of such development works. We are planning to put in place a mechanism to ensure that all the 16 municipal corporations develop plans in consultation with the people. Madhya Pradesh is one of the states, which has got a lot of funding support from the State Government for the infrastructure work, including drinking water supply, sewerage, roads and sanitation campaigns. In fact, our ‘Mukhya Mantri Swacchata Abhiyan’, styled similar to the Centre’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, has been juxtaposed with the latter, so that funds from both the Centre and State could be
The vision of the government is to ensure and increase ULBs’ interface with the public, whether it is redressal of grievances, generating utility bills or solid waste management and Bhopal, which has resulted in increased compliance as well as revenue.
used for the common goal of implementation of cleanliness campaign.
How do you propose to bring about transparency in the operations of ULBs in the State?
Affordable housing scheme is one of the key factors of the proposed smart cities project. What are your plans to provide low cost houses to urban poor?
Our effort would be to put as much information as possible, which is related to ULBs, on the portals. The development plan of the local bodies should be available in the public domain, so that citizens in general are aware of what is being planned at what cost and in which part of the city, so as to make it as per the aspirations
We have already moved a proposal to the Cabinet, seeking financial assistance from the State Government for affordable housing scheme. In addition to that, we already have ‘Atal Ashray Scheme’, under which the land is being offered at the rate of `1. Under this scheme, though the government allots the land at concessional rate, the houses would also be covered in either of the schemes that would make the viability better. Besides, the raising of the limit for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Lower Income Group (LIG) houses, which has been made as `3 lakh and `6 lakh, respectively, against the previous `1 lakh and `2 lakh, in consultation with CREDAI, is going to benefit people. The private sector is going to play a very important role. In fact, we have a Vision Document 2018, which envisages development of 5 lakh houses in Madhya Pradesh that will be implemented largely by the private sector.
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URBAN e-TAXESTRANSPORT MANOJ SHRIVASTAVA S N MISHRA
IT Drives Transport Department The Department of Transport in Madhya Pradesh is planning to roll out a mobile app through which people would be able to apply for driving licence and register complaints against errant officials. The Principal Secretary, Department of Transport, S N Mishra, shares with Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN) his vision to transform the Department
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lakhs of people are being benefitted by it. The Chief Minister has given clear instructions that all types of grievances of people, be it relating to transport, health and medical services, municipal corporation or any other department, should be redressed within a time frame. Instant messanger WhatsApp is also playing a crucial role in this regard.
ow is IT helping the Transport Department strengthen citizen service delivery in Madhya Pradesh?
The Department of Transport has been at the forefront in implementation of IT initiatives and has unveiled multiple online services, so that applicants seeking driving licences and registration certificates do not face difficulties in obtaining such documents. Right from applying for a learner’s licence to the permanent one, people need not visit the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs), as the process of applying licence and paying vehicle taxes has been made online. In today’s times, when people can avail almost every service online, from the confort of their home, the Department of Transport has also made concrete efforts to make citizen-centric services online. We have developed our own software (different from that of the Government of India’s), through which people can apply for driving licences and vehicle registration certificates. We have developed a system in which vehicle dealers collect documents from the buyers and submit these to the RTOs to ensure zero-inconvenience to the vehicle owners.
Do you have any plans to facilitate people applying for documents through their smart phones? Certainly, we do have a plan for launching a mobile app for which preparations have already started. The plan of unveiling a mobile app has been expedited and would be launched soon,
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Brief us about your plan to improve services and transport infrastructure in MP.
so that people can easily get the documents they need. Services like application for driving licence, registration certificates and payment of vehicle tax would be made available on the mobile app.
How are you strengthening the citizens’ grievance redressal system to minimise the problems faced by the people? We have got two helpline numbers—CM Helpline and Head of the Department (HOD) Helpline—to solve grievances lodged by people across the State. The CM helpline has proved a milestone for the Government, as
We want an accurate and impartial system in the transport department to ensure transparent vehicle fitness checks. Bringing a thorough transparency by using latest technology innovations in the department is necessary. In addition to it, road safety and vehicle fitness are the areas of concern and need to be taken care of. We are contemplating to set up a vehicle inspection and certification centre at Chhindwara with the help of the Government of India that would help maintain transparency in issuing fitness certificates. A driver training school is also in the offing. There are around one crore vehicles registered in MP — nearly 70 per cent of them are two-wheelers.
How do you upgrade knowledge of your employees on the latest technology innovations? Like any other department, we also conduct special training programmes for our employees to update them on IT-related developments to increase their efficiency. With the technology ruling various sectors, the Government holds training programmes at regular intervals.
MANOJ SHRIVASTAVA
E-TAX FILING
Commercial Taxes Dept Gets IT Wings The Department of Commercial Taxes and Excise has undertaken multiple IT initiatives to help traders avail crucial services digitally to minimise interface with the tax administration authorities, making service delivery more efficient. The Principal Secretary, Department of Commercial Taxes and Excise, Manoj Shrivastava, tells Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN) about some of the initiatives undertaken
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certainly a boon for the people not only in urban areas but also in rural clusters.
ave IT initiatives been instrumental in strengthening citizen-centric services in Commercial Taxes and Excise Department?
In the Commercial Taxes and Excise Department, services like registration for Value Added Tax (VAT), Entertainment Tax and TIN application, filing and assessment of business turnover, etc., have been made online. Once the trader files an online application, he immediately gets a registration number for further processing. Besides, we have also introduced e-registration and e-stamping facility for the convenience of traders. The Department has provided the facility of downloading statutory forms online as well. All mandatory declarations for movement of goods and statutory forms are automatically generated with no human intervention. The State Government has also started online payment of taxes, which was launched in 2005-06. People have been making payments through the Department’s web portal since November 2012. That apart, the dealers have also been enabled to download Waybill (e-Gatimaan) sending one SMS from their mobile number, which even does not require internet connection.
Are you also planning to roll out mobile app-based services for traders? We have launched android-supported mobile applications for dealers to request Waybills, verify Waybills, verify statutory forms (C, F, H,
What digital facilities are available to dealers and traders currently?
E-1 and E-2 forms) issued by the Department and check status of the returns filed by dealers and various other applications submitted to the Department. The mobile app has been instrumental in helping traders save their time to avail the crucial services, unlike in the past. With the advancement of technologies and increasing internet penetration, mobile app-based services have become a need and
A smart city is a city where people get all kinds of services on one platform and where all the crucial citizencentric services are available online
As of today, we have provided online facilities for application of new registration for VAT, CST, LEAAT and PT, amendments in registration, tax clearance certificates, filing returns under all Acts administered by the Department and making payments, among others. Besides, downloading of Waybills for inter-state transaction through road transport and railways have also been introduced. Other initiatives include facility to view transactions performed through his account, verification of TIN, Waybills and statutory forms, enrolment of transporters and transhipment transporters.
What according to you is a real smart city? What is your opinion on the proposed 100 Smart Cities initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi? A smart city is a city where people get all kinds of services on one platform and where all the crucial citizen-centric services are available online. Commercial taxes, excise, registration and stamps department is not directly related to the common people but to the business fraternity. The Department has already taken multiple IT initiatives to improve webbased services for the traders and introduce more services related to commercial taxes, which a smart city must facilitate. If people start availing most of the services through internet, it would be a real achievement for the Government functionaries.
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V L KANTHA RAO
INDUSTRY
MP Paves Path for Investors The Industries Department is responsible for the industrial development of a state, so as to attract domestic and foreign investment to give a boost to the industrial and social sectors of the State. In a bid to strengthen services and improve opportunities for entrepreneurs in Madhya Pradesh, Industries Commissioner V L Kantha Rao tells Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN) how the Government is striving to give an impetus to the State’s economy
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What is your vision for Madhya Pradesh in terms of the proposed Smart Cities project?
hat kind of IT initiatives have been undertaken in the Industries Department?
The Industries Department has been in the forefront of implementing IT-enabled services to improve overall experience of industrialists and investors in the State. We have made majority of approvals and facility requests online for the convenience of people across the State. We have also introduced online filing and tracking of ‘Intention to invest’ with dedicated relationship managers and implementation of single window system for investors that offers services such as online acknowledgement for entrepreneur memorandum, allocation of water, construction permission, land allotment, fiscal incentives, permission for manufacturing/ registration/ transfer/ inspection of boilers, power connections and approval to establish businesses. Besides, we have also established online grievance handling mechanism, which addresses the investors’ grievances in 24 hours. If the grievance is unresolved, it automatically escalates to the concerned officer of the respective department. The grievance redressal mechanism of Industries Department is one of the best in the State. Efforts are also being made to make remaining approvals and service requests online that helps in saving time of the applicants. The Government is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that people’s, particularly investors’, grievances are redressed to give an impetus to the State’s development.
The State Government has chosen seven cities under the Smart City project — Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Sagar, Jabalpur, Satna and Burhanpur, which shows that the Government has a very clear vision of transforming every city into a smart city
As we know that the State Government has chosen seven cities under the smart city project of the Union Government, namely Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Sagar, Jabalpur, Satna and Burhanpur, which shows that the Government has a very clear vision of transforming every city in MP into a smart city, having world class amenities for the citizens. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has already urged the Mayors to raise financial resources, improve revenue collection and strengthen quality of public amenities. The State Government on its part has launched action plans and projects for GIS Mapping, eMunicipal Corporation, improved sewage systems, housing for the poor, etc., which could help build smarter cities.
What are the challenges involved in transforming the Industries Department? The key challenges we face include dearth of manpower, primarily at the district level, to keep pace with the technological advancements, training and upgrading the skills of our employees on a continuous basis and difficulties involved in acquisition of new land parcels. However, the Government is determined to overcome challenges and devise solutions to transform industries department. The Industries Department acts as a catalyst to modernise and strengthen the industrial units of the State to make them globally competent. It requires skilled manpower.
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FACE TO FACE
HARI RANJAN RAO
Making IT Work for Madhya Pradesh The Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Hari Ranjan Rao, in conversation with Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN), throws light on some of the major IT initiatives undertaken by his Department to give a boost to citizen service delivery
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hat IT-related initiatives have been undertaken in your Department?
We have undertaken numerous IT initiatives in the recent past, which include formation of State IT Cadre, Virtual IT Cadre, strengthening of District e-Governance Society (DeGS), State Data Centre (SDC), Regional Capacity Building Centers (RCBC), virtual classrooms for over 413 government schools and more than 100 colleges, popularising Unicode amongst five lakh government employees, among others. We also achieved national rank on e-Taal portal for highest reporting of e-transactions in India. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) and Project e-Mission Team (PeMT) have been formed to create technical backbone for certified
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professionals in Madhya Pradesh. Various departments are taking up eGovernance projects to set up full-time dedicated PeMTs. So far, over 53 PeMTs and 12 CoEs by 32 State Government departments have been rolled out.
What are the upcoming initiatives of your Department? To ensure successful implementation of IT initiatives and sustained development of eGovernance in the line-departments, strong IT teams within the departments are being planned. These champions would execute, manage and monitor eGovernance project and would be given training in ICT. As many as 51 District e-Governance Societies have been formed with every district having one e-governance Manager and one Assistant Managers. Around 600 such members as representatives of the
IT Department have been placed across the districts, who reach out up to the block level. The first phase of SDC establishment has been achieved 100 per cent (II Tier), while expansion is underway. Co-hosting and Co-location are the two models on the basis of which departments are being on-boarded at SDC. In order to utilise and harness the benefits of cloud computing, the Government of India has embarked upon a very ambitious and important initiative – GI Cloud, which has been rechristened coined as ‘Meghraj’. MP will also join it. In addition to this, virtual classes are available for subjects like Maths, English and Science, among others, of higher secondary standard and colleges, by identifying one higher secondary school in each 313 blocks. The teachers of the State conduct these classes, so that students of whole state avail benefits. That apart, MP also hit a first in introduction email policy for the State, which has made it mandatory for all the Government officials to have official email IDs. Our core IT projects include Common Service Center (CSC), State
HARI RANJAN RAO
Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG), State Wide Area Network (SWAN) and SDC.
What is your vision for the proposed 100 Smart Cities programme conceived by Prime Minister Narendra Modi? The state government has already launched action plans and projects for GIS mapping, e-municipal corporation, improved sewage systems, housing for the poor, infrastructure development, water supply etc., which could help build smart cities. It is important to raise financial resources, improve revenue collection and increase the quality of public amenities. To foster economic growth in the State, the MP Government has been working on several initiatives like policy reforms, ease of doing business through online single-window system, implementation of eGovernance and a robust public service management.
CM Helpline (181) as part of the public grievance redressal mechanism, while Head of Departments (HoD) initiative has come at the instance of the Hon’ble Chief Minister to monitor the system. Over 400 Lok Seva Kendras have been thrown open to render various services to citizens. District and block level video-conferencing implementation/ monitoring center video-conferencing services has also been done. A parallel network has been created with additional video-conferencing setup by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to address district-level issues.
How do you update your staff on the latest IT developments? The IT department regularly conducts state/ district-level special training programmes to improve citizen-centric services. Regional Capacity Building Centres (RCBC) are being established in various districts to enable
The first phase of SDC establishment has been achieved 100 per cent (Tier II), while expansion is underway. Cohosting and Co-location are the two models on the basis of which departments are being on-boarded What kind of efforts are you making to improve and strengthen citizens’ grievance redressal mechanism? We have introduced Tele-Samadhan and
government employees to get accustomed to the existing and upcoming IT enablement programmes. There centres are fully equipped to impart IT trainings to the employees. Besides, the department also organises
FACE TO FACE
various open forums, wherein experts from the industry/ OEMs demonstrate the latest technology/ trends in the market. Employees attend these forums and gain knowledge from such workshops. We are also publishing IT newsletters and circulars regularly to sensitise citizens about IT activities running in the State. A state-of-the-art 25-seat computer training centre has been established at the Secretariat for continuous training of the Government officials.
Can you recount some of the projects launched by your Department for other key departments of the State? We have a very huge responsibility of extending IT support to various other Government departments, and we have done exceptionally well there. A few of the IT initiatives for other departments include smart card-based driving licences and registration system for Transport Department, computerisation of Land Records Department, MPVATIS in Commercial Taxes Department, Integrated Finance Management Information System (IFMIS), Computerisation of Mandi Board, Core Banking System for Apex Bank, E-Uparjan (procurement of agriculture crop) for the Food & Civil Department, CCTNS project for the Police Department, e-Court project for the MP High Court, E-Khanij portal for the Mineral Resource Department, implemented Samagra Samajik Surksha Mission, computerisation of Jail Management System and Implemented end to end e-Procurement system, among several other projects.
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URBAN DEVELOPMENT
VIVEK AGARWAL
IT Touch for Smart Civic Bodies The Urban Development Department of the Government of Madhya Pradesh is committed to bringing citizen-centric services online. Urban Development Secretary-cum-Commissioner and Secretary to Chief Minister Vivek Agarwal shares his plans with Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN)
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hat IT initiatives have you undertaken to improve citizencentric services in the Urban Development Department?
We have started a massive eGovernance drive for all the urban local bodies (ULBs), particularly municipal corporations, to make essential services easily available for the citizens. We have introduced automated building approval system in all municipal corporations where citizens do not have a direct interface with the officers concerned. The entire process is online, which operates on PPP model and there is an online payment gateway, too. Similarly, an eMunicipality programme is underway, where all the municipal bodies will have citizen-centric services online. By the end of current fiscal, the programme will be implemented across the State. Another major initiative is GIS mapping of all municipal towns and cities. In those cities, where mapping of properties is done, property tax collection and other user charges would be streamlined using technology.
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How do you propose to bring transparency in the operations of ULBs? In order to bring the transparency in tender allocation, we have initiated eTendering in the State. Tenders above `2 lakh are floated online, so that people can trust the system. Once our accounts get streamlined, we will also go for the ePayment system. A lot of efforts are being made by the Government to maintain transparency in ULBs.
What is the extent of IT implementation in the State ULBs? Most of the municipal corporations are using IT in a big way to make citizen-centric services online. We are going to make No Objection Certificates (NOCs) and other essential permissions online for people’s convenience. GIS mapping and online building plan approval systems consume less time of the citizens to avail the services.
Many governments are shifting from eGov to mGov. Do you have any plan to launch mobile appbased services? We are using a mobile app for site inspections by engineers, which is getting implemented
in a major way. Wherever site inspections are required, the mobile app gets the site dimensions on to the system automatically and the engineers get it in a hassle-free way. This also brings transparency, too. The app is being used by 14 municipal corporations in MP.
What is your view on the proposed Smart City project? The Smart City project is top priority of the State Government, as we have already qualified the selection process. The Centre has approved development of seven cities from MP. Now, we are in the process of forming Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as well as preparing the smart development plan. I firmly believe that MP has the potential to be the leader in the country as far as the development of smart cities and implementation of the project is concerned. Apart from the seven cities selected for being developed into smart cities, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has declared that the State Government will select more cities to be developed on the same lines, funded entirely by the State Government. 20-25 more cities could be chosen for robust infrastructural development.
CHRISTOPHER KOST
SPECIAL ARTICLE
Let’s Get People Moving, Not Cars
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mart cities embrace the fact that urban transport is about moving people, not vehicles. They prioritise transport investments in efficient, sustainable forms of mobility like public transport, walking and cycling. They accept that transport solutions like wider roads and flyovers do not provide a lasting solution to cities’ transport problems—instead, these forms of infrastructure lead to high levels of air pollution and unsafe roads, while citizens remain stuck in traffic.
What’s Needed To keep pace with its urban growth, India needs a 10-fold increase in its mass rapid transit supply. Developing countries like Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have four-five times more rapid transit
A smart and sustainable transport system plays a major role in the vision of a Smart City. Christopher Kost, Technical Director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), throws light on what all Indian cities need to do to ensure a lasting solution to transport woes than India. They are expanding their systems at significantly higher rates because they are creating surface systems like bus rapid transit (BRT) that are cheaper and quicker to implement. BRT systems feature dedicated median lanes for buses, allowing commuters to bypass congestion. They also provide features such as stepless boarding, off-board fare collection, and real-time passenger information to reduce delays and improve customer service. Rapid transit, though important, is not enough. Many Indian cities have skeletal bus services or none at all. In their absence, people depend on intermediate public transport modes that are uncomfortable, unsafe and highly polluting. The lack of reliable public transport is causing a shift to private two-wheelers and cars. Hence, a formal bus-based public transport service is a necessity in all urban areas with a population of over two lakhs. In all, Indian cities will need over four lakh new city buses and mini-buses by 2030.
Walking & Cycling In addition, streets must be redesigned to support walking and cycling — the clean modes of transport that still play an important role in Indian cities. While more than a third of all the trips in most of our cities are made by foot or cycle, public transport trips, too, start and end on foot (or cycle) — making walking and cycling integral to India’s transport systems.
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Indian cities need to build 30,000 km of wide and accessible footpaths and 20,000 km of cycle tracks over the next decade. Finally, investments promoting walking, cycling and public transport will not bear fruit unless Indian cities stop counter-productive car-centric investments, like flyovers and elevated roads. Cities need to enforce an immediate moratorium on infrastructure that is focused on speeding up travel by private cars, often at the expense of safety and mobility for other road users.
Technology in Transport Technology is key to many elements of a sustainable transport network — driving elements from the real-time arrival displays in a BRT station to cashless fee collection in a smart on-street parking system. However, technology is not a substitute for making the important political decisions that govern our transport systems: prioritising public transport and non-motorised transport when we allocate road space, or charging adequate fees for the use of road space by personal motor vehicles.
Way Forward Indian cities have tremendous potential to make transition to a more liveable future if we adopt a sustainable transport paradigm. If we focus on building cities for people—not cars— we will enjoy cleaner air, safer streets, better access to jobs and education, and less time spent stuck in traffic.
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URBAN DEVELOPMENT
NISHANT WARWADE
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hat kind of IT-based services you have rolled out and planning to launch for the citizens?
For the sake of converting Bhopal into a Smart City, we are trying to bring all the components of smart cities here. For example, through universal application of solutions, we are trying to upgrade the citizens’ grievance redressal system, which is already in place to some extent. We are also trying to open more citizen service centres across Bhopal to facilitate the masses. The administration has also identified over 200 places to make them free Wi-Fi zones to help people avail government services at ease. In addition to that, overall development and good sewerage system for the entire city of Bhopal is one of the priorities of the government. The detailed project reports (DPRs) worth `2,200 crore are ready and we are going to take up this in a phased manner.
Shaping Up the ‘Bhopal Dream’ Bhopal administration has undertaken a number of infrastructure projects to transform the city into a smart city where the residents can avail all the key services at the click of a mouse, says the Bhopal Collector, Nishant Warwade, in an interaction with Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN)
The administration has crucial responsibilities to ensure better infrastructure and civic amenities, along with creating greater employment opportunities for the educated youth
Solid waste management is a challenging task for any city. Do you have any plan to ensure scientific treatment of municipal waste? We are coming up with an innovative mechanism to dispose of solid trash, whereby we will be collecting the municipal waste at different transfer stations, which would then be segregated and treated accordingly as per the latest technology available with us. The plan for this is already in the pipeline. A huge scientific trenching ground is being established at Anandpur.
What kind of new services are you going to provide to Bhopalites in the near future? We are mulling upgradation of Bus Rapid
Transport System (BRTS) corridors, which aim at augmenting number of buses and better public transport system for citizens. The administration is also contemplating development of leisure spots, walking and cycling tracks, conversion of green belts into walking tracks and parks, among other things. I believe, in the next five to ten months, we will start getting results and in the next five years, Bhopal would be a transformed city. Besides, we are also trying to provide new avenues of employment and platforms to the people, particularly youth, to come forward
and exhibit their skills, which will add to the strength of the city in the coming times.
Brief us more about your plan for the non-motorised mode of transportation, like bicycles, in Bhopal. There are three cycle tracks planned as of today, which are at different stages of development. The cycling tracks are getting ready and we need to inculcate a sense of cycling behaviour in the citizens. For this, we are trying to integrate a system where people would be able to avail bicycle-on-rent services also. This service is going to be started soon to reduce citizens’ dependence on motorised vehicles. There is also emphasis on better public transport, so that people can reach from one point to another more conveniently.
What is your vision for Bhopal? Bhopal has 14 lakes and is one of the greenest and beautiful cities in the country. Our vision is to make it a modern and an iconic city, where all necessary infrastructure would be in place. It should stand out as the best city in the coming times.
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IT
IT
IT
IT
IT
IT
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www.eletsonline.com
CIVIC BODY
TEJASWI S NAIK
Bhopal Makeover Underway With a surge in the population and increase in the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s jurisdiction, its task to ensure impeccable cleanliness and develop adequate civic amenities has also become more challenging. In order to keep pace with the rising headcount, Bhopal’s civic body has taken several initiatives in line with the citizens’ expectations. Tejaswi S Naik, Commissioner, Bhopal Municipal Corporation tells Vishwas Dass of Elets News Network (ENN), how they are working towards transforming Bhopal into a world-class city
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hat kind of IT initiatives you have undertaken to improve citizen-centric services and basic amenities for Bhopalites? Bhopal, which is also known as the city of lakes, has seen an exceptional growth in the recent past, which has attracted many citizens to pursue their dreams in the State Capital in search of a career and better life. BMC has conceived plans for developing solid waste management (SWM) transfer stations, retrofitting energy-efficient LED lights, conserving lakes,
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TEJASWI S NAIK
CIVIC BODY
heritage zones and smart card system to bring all the essential services to a single platform for citizens’ convenience. As part of the IT initiatives, BMC is toying with the idea of installing telecom signal receivers on the street-light poles to strengthen telecom connectivity. The State Capital’s population has gone up from 19 lakh to 22 lakh, jurisdiction is up from 280 sq km to 460 sq km and number of wards from 70 to 85 after last year’s delimitation process. The surge in population has also resulted in increased burden on the BMC’s shoulders to deliver better civic services to its citizens. BMC also takes pride in being India’s only urban local body to have fully implemented the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in toto.
What steps have you taken to improve public transport in Bhopal? Do you have any plans to encourage non-motorised mode of transportation? The Bhopal Municipal Corporation is successfully operating Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), having the longest corridor of 22 kms in the city, which has given a reliable and faster mode of transportation to people. BRTS is aimed at encouraging people to use a mode of public transport, which is efficient and helps in keeping the environment clean and green. Once the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) is introduced, the city would also have Metro rail services on the lines of other metro cities. We are also developing cycle tracks and pedestrian zones to reduce people’s dependence on motorised transport and promote green mode of transportation.
Share with us some of your future plans to ensure better civic amenities for the citizens. In order to provide free potable water to citizens, BMC is contemplating to install water ATMs where people can quench their thirst. However, those who want to get potable water in larger quantities will have to pay nominal charges to the operator. Besides, it has been seen that women often face a lot of trouble because of absence of clean toilets in the city. To overcome this problem, BMC has floated tenders to engage a private firm to develop four ‘She Lounge’ complexes under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode, which would be equipped with all basic ame-
nities like hygienic toilets, Wi-Fi connectivity, ATMs, bio-incinerator to treat sanitary napkins and napkin dispensers, sofa and a novelty shop to cater to the needs of women. What’s more? No charges would be levied on the female users. Keeping environmental concerns in mind, BMC is going to replace conventional streetlight bulbs with energy-efficient LED lights to slash electricity bills and protect environment. Besides, for conservation and maintenance of all the 14 lakes, the BMC has got high-end equipment, which other ULBs rarely pos-
In order to provide free potable water to citizens, BMC is planning to install water ATMs where people can quench their thirst. However, those in need of potable water in larger quantities will have to pay nominal charges
sess, like amphibious excavator, de-weeding machines and speed boats. The civic body has also taken up several heritage works to retain historical culture of the city. Another important project is to provide smart cards to people having properties in their name and paying property tax to BMC. It aims at bringing all the essential services on a single platform to make citizens’ lives easier. People can use smart card for depositing any kind of taxes like water, electricity, land registry and property, among others, and even for travelling in the buses and Metros. The card would have people’s personal database like Aadhaar, Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) and PAN integrated to it.
Disposal of solid municipal waste is one of the biggest challenges for any civic body. How do you plan to ensure removal of solid trash in a scientific manner? Bhopal generates around 700 metric tonnes of solid waste every day, which consists of nearly 60 per cent of green waste. Efforts are on to convert water hyacinth into manure. Once it is taken on a full-fledge basis, the civic body would not charge people to convert manure from hyacinth. That apart, at least 10 garbage transfer stations would be built in Bhopal. BMC would also set up bio-methanation plants to generate methane gas from solid trash and restaurant wastes to reduce carbon footprints. It can also be used for commercial purposes. If everything goes as planned, there would be one such plant at each garbage transfer station.
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ELECTRONICS
M SELVENDRAN
Setting MP on the Digital Course The Madhya Pradesh State Electronic Development Corporation Ltd or MPSEDC is the nodal agency for facilitating opportunities for software development, supply of hardware and peripherals, networking and connectivity, web applications, e-commerce, IT training and the entire gamut of direct and indirect IT businesses. The Managing Director of MPSEDC, M Selvendran, in an interview with Manish Arora of Elets News Network (ENN) talks about the pro-active role his organisation is playing towards overall growth of the electronics sector in the State
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with the responsibilities of a nodal agency for implementation of various prestigious IT projects of both the Government of India as well as the Government of Madhya Pradesh in the State, viz. development of IT Parks, electronics manufacturing clusters (EMCs), infrastructure development for BPOs, State Wide Area Network (SWAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Common Service Centres (CSCs), State Data Centres (SDCs), State e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG), etc., which are in progress. We also have the responsibility to store and preserve the data of government departments.
hat are the primary objectives of the Madhya Pradesh State Electronic Development Corporation Ltd? The MPSEDC is an agency of the State Government working towards promotion of Information Technology in the State and implementation of eGovernance services across all verticals here. It is the single point of access to any IT business opportunity in Madhya Pradesh and encourages various players in the field of IT to come forward and invest in the State. The primary objective of MPSEDC is to develop the electronics sector across the State and provide IT-related services to all the departments of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. We aim to establish companies and associations for starting and/or taking over
How has been the response of IT companies in the State? electronics industrial enterprises of any description to develop the electronics sector in Madhya Pradesh. At present, MPSEDC has been entrusted
The response of the IT companies from the State has been tremendous. We have a special focus on developing the IT business, especially the electronics sector of the State. After we rolled out our IT and BPO policies, a number of companies came forward with positive response for setting up their businesses in the State.
According to you, what is an ideal Smart City? An ideal Smart City is where citizens enjoy a better standard of living and where government does futuristic urban planning. Also, where technology is used to provide services like water supply, sanitation, uninterrupted electricity supply, regulated and smooth traffic, and hassle-free public transport that makes movement of people easier, clean city, availability of public space for entertainment, electronic governance, etc.
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RAJEEV SAXENA
CORPORATE
NetApp Eyes Govt Initiatives NetApp is a big player in data storage and management domain with a history of innovation over the past three decades. It can help the government implement technology-based solutions for schemes like Digital India, Smart City Mission, etc. Rajeev Saxena, Director - Sales, NetApp, talks to Akanki Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN) about the key areas NetApp is focusing on
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the requirements of a system integrator, system integrator capabilities and then bringing our storage and data management together to ensure that these solutions are delivered. We have a very strong programme for their upskilling in terms of deployment and professional services.
hat are the various verticals that NetApp is active in?
We are focusing on various sectors including IT and ITeS, Education, Banking and Finance, and the government space. Our solutions may be used to educate people and skill them. For example, the initiative of Digital India is one, which has important pillars like eGovernanace, eKranti, broadband and IT skills for everybody, among others. eGovernance and eKranti aim at modernising governance through IT and focus on the efficient service delivery to the citizens, while broadband is all about connecting and building communication. A lot of IT adoption is happening across the sectors today and NetApp can provide them solutions.
Are you looking for any collaboration with the Government? We are in talk with the Ministr y of Communications & Information Technology, which is working on IT and ITeS. We work on both sides of it: policy making as well as its execution, along with the agencies which are crucial in execution of the plans. We are also closely working with the system integrators and channel partners. NetApp has a strong role to play in different initiatives including Smart Cities. The hightech cities will be built upon advanced infrastructure. It comprises domains like water, energy, transportation, waste management, real estate management, etc. The citizen will look for mediums like mobile devices, web portals and social media. These domains need to be
Besides all these, what are the other focus areas of NetApp? The big focus in the last one year was on financial inclusion, though which we also focused on rural development. Around 200 cooperative banks were there in the banking sector. Now, with the help of this, regional population, for instance, the teachers, get their salaries on time.
smart. We need smart metering, surveillance for citizens, integrated hospital management system, integrated real estate management system, etc., and IT is going to play an important role across all these layers. Also, a high volume of data will be generated. Hence, its storage and management will be on real-time basis. Thus, there is a wide scope for an organisation like NetApp, which deals with the storage and data management.
What is NetApp’s future plan to increase the market presence? Our focus is currently at all the key initiatives undertaken by the Government of India. Some of important ones include 100 Smart Cities, Digital India and Make in India, etc., where data management has to play a significant role. Data is an integral part of all these initiatives and NetApp is a big player of storage and data management.
What is your go-to-market strategy in the stream?
Apart from metro cities, are you also planning to expand in tier II/ III cities?
NetApp works through channel partners. We are close to 80 plus channels across the country, that are covering various domains required by enterprises or governments or medium and small size businesses in terms of bringing in knowledge or applications, planning communication strategies, fulfilling
NetApp in India has been offering its services for over 15 years now. We started our operations in the year 2000. We have more than 1,000 customers and more than 6,000 employees across all segments. Our GTM (go-to-market) is through channel partners. We are covering both metros as well as tier II cities.
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STATE ON MOVE
UTTAR PRADESH
UP Takes to Digital Lane The Uttar Pradesh Government intends to implement eGovernance across all departments of the State while also making a gradual shift towards mGovernance to make this easier for the people. R K Tiwari, Principal Secretary, Department of Information Technology and Electronics of the State, during an interaction with Arpit Gupta and Manish Arora of Elets News Network (ENN), lays emphasis on the need to spread IT awareness and digital literacy to make UP a tech-savvy state
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ow is IT aiding the Uttar Pradesh Government in ensuring better service delivery and improving the quality of life of the citizens?
As far as eGovernance is concerned, the State Government has done a commendable job to provide effective services closer to citizens through IT-enabled services. In fact, UP stands at third position today in terms of using electronic transactions in government processes during the last five months. We have done more than 190 million transactions through eGovernance across different departments in the State. We have undertaken very ambitious projects of providing online services to all the citizens. The basic principle has been that the physical interface between the citizens and the government functionaries should be avoided wherever it is possible. The way we are moving ahead, we might be the best State in the coming times. As one of the pioneering States in eGovernance, we have online portals in over 25 departments and more than 90 citizen-centric services are being provided in the electronic form. We have also come up with a very progressive and investorfriendly IT policy and attracted major investments at huge IT City in Lucknow. There is an investment of `1,500 crore under the PPP mode. This is likely to generate employment for over 50,000 people in the State and promote software export in a big way.
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UTTAR PRADESH
STATE ON MOVE
Government of India, the UP Government has decided to implement the new initiative of BharatNet. Under this programme, unlimited connectivity and bandwidth would be made available to the industries and the corporate as per their demand. We are planning this kind of network because we need to connect with every individual citizen up to the village level. Another challenge is the fragmented services across about 100 departments. For a common man, it is very difficult to log on to each and every web portal of the government for availing different services. In fact, it is difficult to even remember as to which portal hosts what services. So, we have introduced one-stop solution under one roof. We launched uponline.up.nic.in portal, where all the services are under one umbrella. People do not need to go to different departments or their portals to avail services of municipal corporation, development authority, excise department, water supply, sanitation, health and education, etc. Also, poor internet penetration level and connectivity is a big impediment. Although internet penetration level is rising, there are less than 20 per cent users.
As one of the pioneering states in eGovernance, we have online portals in over 25 departments and more than 90 citizen-centric services are being provided in the electronic form Do you have any initiatives for IT startups? We have sanctioned five IT parks where we will be providing infrastructure and elite ecosystem for the first-generation entrepreneurs to set up their units. This is being done in a play-and-plug model where investors have to simply come with the idea and bring the technology and capital, and rest all we will take care of. In order to supplement IT, we also have a very progressive electronic manufacturing policy where we are inviting the best of the companies in the world to come and set up
their facilities. The government is taking care of all their clearances.
Being the most populous State, what challenges do you see in bringing digital literacy to the people? The State Government has identified three major challenges in this regard. One of the challenges is to have an effective infrastructure, which would mean having direct connect of public with the government. For that, optical fibre network is being laid at a rapid pace. In association with the
What actions are being taken to cover different departments under eGovernance or mGovernance? We are working on improving public service delivery through mGovernance, along with eGovernnace, in order to address the problems of citizens. The government is creating technology-based infrastructure in the villages and far-flung areas, in the form of Common Service Centres and Common Facility Centres, where people can come and avail the services. Since more than 80 per cent of the mobile phones available with the people are not smart phones, and the penetration of smart phones would not be more than 35 to 40 per cent in the next five years, we are planning to offer eGovernance solutions in non-smart phones also. The technical staff is already available with us. We just need to work on the technologies. Our government is also working in this direction to be able to reach out to those people who do not have a smart phone.
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BIG DATA
N NAWIN SONA
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ig Data is largely understood by the 3Vs- Volume, Variety and Velocity of data, which the traditional RDBMS systems cannot handle in terms of time, energy and scale. Now, other Vs such as Veracity (validity of data), Viscosity (rate of flow and resistance), Variability (change in rate of flow) and Volatility (temporal life cycle of data) are gaining traction. With Big Data, information from Structured, Semi-structured and Unstructured data can be combined, and Big Data Analytics can give a richer understanding of what is going on in a system, across many systems, and about the system.
Big Data & Smart Cities
Big Data, IoT and GIS The Sentient City As India launches itself in the Smart Cities mode, we examine three major paradigms, namely, Big Data, Internet of Things and GIS, and see how they can be used to provide effective solutions, writes N Nawin Sona, Director-General, Vasantrao Naik State Agricultural Extension Management Training Institute (VANAMATI), Government of Maharashtra
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System Analytics: Understanding of the complex urban systems by deeper, wide data collection, storage and analysis can be done. Interaction of work/life spaces, commuting, movement of goods, service delivery points, utilities and infrastructure are difficult to capture and analyse. Inter-sector, trans-silo understanding is needed for existing cities. Systems Modelling: Where virtual models are made of say, traffic networks, water supply, public transportation, utilities, they are used as a planning tool, problem analysis and as a trouble shooting tool. Scenario-Based Systems Simulation: Complex system interactions can be visualised, like floods, emergencies. Impact of Mumbai Local stoppage on traffic, auto/taxi strike impact on traffic congestion, including emergency response can be modelled. (Cities such as London, Leeds and Bristol are exploring this). Real Time & Near-Real Time Analytics: Streaming analytics can help react rapidly to system changes. For example, using Twitter maps, public transport and traffic data to predict and manage congestion and delay. This involves tapping into data from the web, instrumentation or sensors to continuously model the system, as it happens. Exploratory Analytics, Predictive Analytics and Prescriptive Analytics: With exploratory analytics, hundreds of dimensions of data and their inter-relation can be analysed, creating correlations and causality. For example, crime spot analytics combined with utilities could lead to insights like crime and street light coverage, crime and low traffic routes, crime near colleges, schools, abandoned build-
N NAWIN SONA
BIG DATA
ings etc. Predictive analytics of same data, would involve, extracting an algorithm, or pattern recognitions. And thirdly, Prescriptive Analytics is when, an action is suggested by the system which is iterative and cybernetic, by way of feedback and validation. System benefits: Data-based system design, infrastructure design, reduction of losses, maintenance modeling leading to timely repairs, detection of faults and restoration, efficiency of system response, actionable data to field staff are some of the advantages. In the long run, a data-driven urban policy making would emerge, based on data and statistics. And, for day-to-day management, Big Data would give actionable insights.
Internet of Things IoT’s impact on the Smart City will be enormous. IoT involves sensors (RFID, wi-fi), each with its own IPv6 address, sensing and conveying data live, like temperature, vibrations, humidity, location, movement, presence, pressure, light, sound etc. Imagine street lights sending replacement signals, pressure sensors sending alerts of pipe leakage, series of sensors allowing instantaneous fault finding in wires and cables, etc. In the future, each of these sensors would interact with others, tweaking responses and creating better, seamless urban living. Systems would understand individual preferences and send alerts to citizens, like bus breakdowns would suggest different routes. Open Data/Open Government/ Participative Algorithms: India is still behind in its Open Data initiatives, which smart cities would benefit from. This entails not only creating data, but data sets, which are machine readable, and open, accessible for analysis by anyone, free of cost. By freeing data from government, we open to newer and different insights from academia, practitioners, users etc.
GIS: Less Explored Realm GIS system can be the heart of an effective city government. Building a GIS system with Big Data inputs and IoT inputs would lead to an extremely relevant and robust, action-oriented organisation. GIS could act as a Data Integration Platform. Urban Planning Module: Complete integration of land records, including Survey No. parcels, zone plans, development plan,
individual buildings, open spaces, utilities (like water, road, electricity), as well as property tax data, can be achieved. Crime Mapping Module: This was developed on top of the urban layer, involving reverse geo-tagging 5,000 FIRs, creating analytics like buffer tools (crimes near schools, religious places), time line analysis (date and time of crime) and modus operandi algorithms (for Predictive analytics). It also has probably India’s first, Mobile App for e-Panchnama, with geo tagging of crime spots, and a web application, for photos and video of the crime scene.
GIS with Big Data & IoT GIS could also be the base for Energy, Water and other Utilities network. With IoT, each spot could be remotely sensed, controlled and moni-
Big Data: Benefits to Citizens l More avenues of public participation l Interactive user interface l Efficiency in service delivery l Interoperability (trans-utility pre-paid cards, single point of contact for citizen, onetouch one-time services) l Resultant efficiency, transparency, links to banking
tored leading to greater efficiencies. The socialeconomic space can also be modelled in the GIS system, loading Big Data onto it. Technically, with multicore Graphics Processor Unit based (GPU), in-Memory computing, is bringing GIS and Big Data together. Semi and Unstructured data, like social media, sensor data can also be merged, in Hadoop ecosystems through Hive.
Challenges Some limitations include lack of data standards, data governance policies, sparse and inconstant data, lack of skills, lack of technical knowledge in newer technologies, limited use of data in policy design and evaluation, and finance/business models. Outsourcing data services is not new; but in-house skills for asking the right question and consuming relevant data is needed. Incentivising cost savings could be a business model where PPPs could come into water, energy, waste management, etc. Coordination between city police and civic authorities would lay a common technical structure.
Towards Sentient City Every city is an amalgamation of its people, its history, its ambitions and its limitations. The Smart City initiative is not to rewrite the city but to augment it, making the systems smart, offering intelligent choices, reduce waste, encourage growth, personal and as an economy. Big Data, GIS and IOT are very powerful tools, the merger of these technologies would change the way cities are run.
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BFSI
V SWAMINATHAN
Banking Services People Bank On The Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited has always been working towards providing better and technology-driven services to common people, says V Swaminathan, Senior Executive Vice President of the Bank, talking to Manish Arora of Elets News Network (ENN)
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We have now entered the mobile banking age. Do you intend to launch any new service in the near future?
hat kind of banking services does Kotak Mahindra Bank offer to the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC)?
Mobile has become a crucial banking channel today, given its high penetration across the country. Many customers prefer using mobile apps for banking-related needs, which offer customers all services in just a few clicks, that too with the luxury of doing it from anytime and anywhere. We are now working with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation to help them provide all municipal services-related banking transactions through mobile apps. This will enable the Corporation to engage with citizens in a more meaningful and productive way.
We have a long standing relationship with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation. Over the years, we have collaborated on several projects to help them offer seamless solutions, and engage better with residents of the city. In 2012, we worked with the Corporation to develop a hassle-free technology-enabled tax collection system. After the success of this project, we also partnered with the Corporation to offer a robust technologybased vendor payment system.
How do you make your services and applications user-friendly for the citizens? We have a highly experienced and dedicated team, which works closely with the
What is your take on Smart Cities as a concept? while making transactions. On the basis of our interactions with and feedback from
We (Kotak Mahindra Bank) have a highly experienced and dedicated team, which works closely with the (Bhopal Municipal) Corporation and keeps a constant vigil on its collection and payment departments Corporation and keeps a constant vigil on its collection and payment departments. The team identifies problems being faced by the Corporation as well as by the citizens
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the Corporation and citizens, we design our products and services in a way that they become user-friendly, convenient and, more importantly, resolve the issues quickly.
The Government’s vision to build ‘100 Smart Cities’ in India will change the face of the country. A smart city will offer a variety of solutions to the citizens to enrich their lives. It will use technology to simplify various aspects of life, from transport to communication to banking and what not! This will enable citizens to get engaged with the Government and other public service-oriented bodies in a better manner for continuous growth and development. One of the critical features of smart cities is cashless and technology-driven payment solutions, which we have already launched. Our Bank stands committed to offering world-class banking solutions backed by unparalleled service. We are already offering a variety of technology-driven products for seamless anytime, anywhere banking.
EVENT REPORT
Smartness W Redefined
Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay (4th from left) and Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar, along with NASSCOMM President R Chandrashekhar and other key speakers and dignitaries, release the Smart City Special issue of eGov magazine
ith a view to highlighting the urgency to develop smart cities in the country, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd organised ‘4th Annual Smart City Conference’ on 31st July 2015 in New Delhi. The event focused on various aspects of smart cities including urban development, power, energy, transport, technology, green building, network & communications technology, etc. It saw participation of major urban development and eGovernance stakeholders, who deliberated on the various models of future cities. Apart from the sessions of urban planning experts and industry leaders, the event also saw individuals and organisations being recognised through awards for their outstanding contribution to the urban cause. We bring to you the deliberations at the event in a nutshell here.
Inaugural Session
Developing Smart Cities: Driving Economic Growth Smart Society
Integrated Approach
Krishan Pal Gurjar, Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India
R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM
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he 100 Smart Cities initiative is the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which aims to provide better living conditions to the citizens. What makes a city Smart is not only smart infrastructure but also a smart society: no doubt, a Smart City requires technological infrastructure, but it also has to undergo some social changes. Some important components of Smart Cities may include 24x7 potable water, electricity, better drainage system, transport, technology-backed solutions, but smart education to the children and safety of women and senior citizens is equally essential and will surely add value to it. Further, the department of Social Justice and Empowerment will undertake safety and of security of women.
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he Smart City debate has now shifted to the next level. A competition has begun among the States in the context of 100 Smart Cities, as they have to identify the cities they would like to be developed as Smart Cities. Some of the states have already initiated the process. The cities participating in the challenge would need to prepare a proposal on ICT usage and chalk out a certain plan for moving forward. Urban management in India has huge setup challenges and the system, which is currently in place, cannot be a model. He underlined that to make cities of India Smart, there’s need for an integrated approach to modernise city infrastructure and leverage technology to improve capacity and efficiency of service delivery. Most of the states have understood the importance and significance of Smart Cities and in many of the cities, facilities like property taxes, birth and death certificates are available online.
EVENT REPORT
Smart Cities for All Tarun Vijay, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
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Smart City must be able to address the problems of health, poverty and agriculture. If technology-led cities do not serve the common people, poor, farmers, teachers, labourers and housewives alike, then it is a luxury. Rural and distant areas are still deprived of uninterrupted internet services and even basic telecom facilities. Therefore, such societal gap has to be bridged with the concept of Smart City. The concept has infused a new confidence and power and giving us a new dream for our future. The response from the States is overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The government will spend millions on the scheme and each city will get Rs 100 cr assistance for next five years for overall development of infrastructure. Water is one of our basic necessities but we don’t have mechanism of supplying good drinking water in our rural areas. We must get away with the culture of buying mineral water packaged bottle. Another need is to improve the level of school education. There has to be uniform level of education in the country, along with good faculty.
Smart Behaviour
Change in Mindset
Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Joint Secretary (Housing), Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India
Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India
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Smart City requires advanced infrastructure by using smart solutions and service delivery to improve the quality of life. Apart from adequate water and assured electricity supply, the government has been very keen to create affordable housing. People will require to have smart houses in smart cities. Keeping this in mind, the government has launched 100 Smart Cities, AMRUT and Affordable Housing schemes. The government has set guidelines for smart homes and environment. For greenfield areas, 80 per cent buildings would be energy-efficient green buildings and 15 per cent of the buildings will be in the affordable housing category. Smart housing is not all about residential buildings, LED-based lighting, and passive and active energy use, but a few other essential components are also required.
he Smart City concept is still evolving and will continue to evolve in the days to come, smart education is an important component for it. I would like to emphasise here that there is a huge difference between literacy, knowledge and education, and smart education is much beyond just being literate. Basically, smart city is a change in the mindset, i.e. a shift in the way we perceive things and follow the rules. Smart city does not require only money, but it is the concept of life that we need to change. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is looking for investments from across the world. We are also in talks with the United States to see how we can evolve business strategies. In building the smart cities, we need support and cooperation from not just the government’s side, but also from the private sector, people, society and all stakeholders. For this, we are also looking at relaxation in FDI guidelines.
The Local Angle Rakesh Ranjan, Advisor, NITI Aayog
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he main player and real stakeholders in creating smart cities would be the state governments and the urban local bodies. The Government of India will support the states and suggest the mode of development. There are four models — first is retrofit development plan for 500 acre land; second, redevelopment plan for 50 acre land; third, compact plan for 250 acre vacant area; and fourth is general improvement plan. Selection of smart cities is being done by the state governments, because people in Delhi cannot decide how Chennai should be developed. People of the cities and states concerned would have better idea of the local needs and requirements. The Central Government has decided to spend `48,000 crore to implement the 100 Smart Cities programme and another `48,000 crore will be contributed by the states. NITI Aayog, NASSCOM and the Ministry of Urban Development should sit together and find out the institutional mechanism for it. There has to be an advisory forum, forward plan of five years and intervention for approval, etc.
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EVENT REPORT
Innovation in Technology
Special Address
Alan Mitchell, Head, Global Cities Centre of Excellence, KPMG
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martness can be achieved through technological innovations alone. We need to work across different ministries to help senior citizens come out of the negative state to act more quickly; we need to have technology solutions like integrated case management to help them out. There is a technology solution, but the secret ingredient of success is that we need to talk to each other across different governments. We are trying to improve mobility, health, well-being, safety, economic prosperity, active living, etc. Those are the outcomes that we are trying to achieve, and the only mechanism to achieve these outcomes is the services that we offer. So, the focus should be more on the services that we deliver and then understand the processes. There are three things to consider: who shall measure whether a city is smart or not? If technology is enabled, what about the smart city initiatives that will make the difference? And finally, what services are we improving and what will a smart city achieve? So, who, what and why are the three major questions to be answered. Also, it is necessary to keep ourselves honest and true while implementing smart initiatives.
Preserving & Deciphering Data
Indo-US Collaboration
Manoj Aggarwal, Business Development Manager - Public Sector, India and SAARC, NetApp
Mehnaz Ansari, Country Representative-India, United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA)
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S
mart cities leverage ICT in the various operations of a city that include water supply, electricity, safety, transport, etc. In a smart city, smart people need to take smart decision based on real time data to improve the quality of life of its citizen, and NetApp has been into business of storing and managing the data for over two decades now. The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), which consists of 29 departments, deals with the state’s precious resources, including coastlines to parks, ocean resources, wildlife, energy resources and water. All of them had their own applications to serve business requirements before 2008, but when partnered with the NetApp, all the 29 departments merged under ITbased hybrid cloud together to crack problems. Now, they have access to data on real time basis to take right decisions. NetApp has also been instrumental in the creation of centralised architecture as well.
Delegates all ears to the speakers during the Inaugural Session
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mart Cities are going to be a successful venture in India. State governments and private players will play key role in implementing this project. The initiative is not only about ICTs but also sustainable transportation, clean energy, water, safety, security, telecommunications, etc. The priorities of smart cities are identified by the government, public and the private sector. US companies have been working here for so many years. USTDA takes care of physical and IT infrastructure. India, in collaboration with the US industries, should jointly undertake catalytic projects, workshops and conferences to bring investment here. It is a matter of pride that other nations have started looking at the Smart City model in India. USTDA recently signed MoUs with three state governments — Uttar Pradesh (Allahabad), Rajasthan (Ajmer) and Andhra Pradesh (Vizag) — to sponsor activities on safety, energy, communication and infrastructure. We have started working on planning and master advisory of these cities.
EVENT REPORT
Safe Cities Using Smart Technology App-smart Times Prashant Chaudhary, Senior Director, Sales-Government, CA Technologies
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CT can definitely be leveraged to make all aspects of a city’s infrastructure smart. IT plays an important role in roads and transportation, i.e. to track movement and check violations. Most of the states have been using technology-based public service delivery, but it has to move to the next level now. Citizens have to be a part of this. The communication has to be two way. If a city is able to cater to the needs of citizens, they should also participate in the activities. We are living in an ‘App world’, where every mobile user has more than 10 Apps in his/her mobile. We are moving from traditional way to smart way. In a smart city, we should get access to all Apps related to social and IT-enabled infrastructure. The application economy means opening up the business. Architecture of smart cities will include domain applications and core applications. CA Security Solutions provide ICT framework for these smart cities.
Digital Empowerment Puneet Ahuja, Senior Technical Consultant, Juniper Networks
M
aking a smart city is building a city, which is not yet developed, and empowering it with digital infrastructure. It must be connecting everything to everything and have data analytics for smart decision-making. Digital empowerment will help provide governance and services on demand. To achieve this, real time collection of data is important using technology. It will require robust, agile, scalable and automated information infrastructure. This will consist of devices, network and data centre. Gram panchayats should also benefit from smart cities. It will require an integrated and scalable infrastructure that is an enabler for all services while providing carrier-grade reliability, operational simplicity and cost-effectiveness at large-scale with excellent quality of service. In smart cities, data centre has to work on cloud system to Analyse, Optimise and Virtualise the information.
Safety First Hirdesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Government of Jammu & Kashmir
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he Smart City is presumed to be a safe city. Today, common people face a lot of hassles even in getting their caste certificates or birth-death certificates from their municipalities. They have to visit offices of the authorities concerned several times. Since everybody has smartphones nowadays, there should be Information Technology-enabled services or mobile apps, through which any person can get certificates easily. It will also curtail corruption in the long run. Kashmir is more beautiful than Switzerland and everybody wants to visit Kashmir, but safety remains a concern in the State. To reduce those routine frisking, we should use chip technology. For example, there must be some technology with the Transport Department that enables its officials to keep a track or check people without stopping them. Although several schemes have been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people should take initiatives on their own too.
Technology for Safety Saurabh Bhagat, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution, Government of Jammu & Kashmir
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ndia has the largest public distribution system, which needs to be made more efficient employing various technological tools. Movement of food grains to the Food Corporation of India storage, then making its way to various city stores to the last PDS shop, all this requires a lot of technology or GPS systems. Moreover, after the Nirbhaya incident took place, a lot of technology has come into use. The Government has made it mandatory that every vehicle that carries female passenger has to have CCTV surveillance, and no vehicle can be registered by the Transport Commissioner and RTOs unless the provision of CCTV is there. In addition, in J&K, all the other provisions of CCTNS are being implemented. So, technology will definitely make our cities smarter. The concept of Smart Cities is organic and is evolving and it is expected that more and more variables will keep joining it.
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EVENT REPORT
Making Urban Local Bodies Smart: Innovations in Governance Old Vs New Methods Bipul Pathak, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Housing & Urban Development, Government of Jammu & Kashmir
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any of the state revenue departments have done cadastral land mapping through GIS while others are in the process of doing it. In Jammu & Kashmir, there is a huge gap, so it could not be done. Old maps are based on changed survey methodology and it doesn’t match with the Electronic Total Station (ETS) methodology. If we talk about smart cities, these challenges have to be handled. There has to be a solution, which will be formulated with the technological experts and the administrative officials to mitigate the problem. I would like to thank Elets Technomedia for conducting Smart City Conference, creating such a huge platform and inviting a host of people and experts from across the country.
Technology as Foundation Sanjay Jaju, Director, National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited
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n order to make a city smart, the local government needs to implement three very strong and robust components, including smart infrastructure, smart governance and, last but not the least, smart participation from people. The basic infrastructure is all about drinking water supply, urban transport, storm water, and sewer, etc. The second aspect of smart cities is smart governance, i.e. cities need to deliver online services like birth and death certificate, municipal taxes, purchase water or electricity from municipal bodies, etc. Online services should be provided through their websites or smart phones, not citizen centres. What is more, the citizens’ participation is required not just in governance process but also to shape infrastructure. In the context of smart cities, the local governments need to involve more technologies.
Money Matters Raajiv Yaduvanshi, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Urban Development, Andaman and Nicobar Administration
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mart cities would be an area of possibilities and opportunity of growth for all the stakeholders, i.e. the government, corporates and the citizens, living in the area. Being smart is a continuous process, and in the context of smart cities, there has to be development at faster pace with balance and affordability. Costing and finance is important in making a city smart. Therefore, the Central Finance Commission and the state finance commissions have to be in tune. Also, there are various sources of funding, such as PPP and outsourced SPV that need to be opted for. In smart cities, new areas have to be developed or retrofit the old areas where the potential exist. Moreover, gaps among various departments have to be reduced. Some of the important components of smart cities are transport, health and education, but one of the neglected areas is skill. To make citizens skilled, ITIs and polytechnic colleges should be modernised and built at right places.
Citizen Participation MS Padhi, Secretary, Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department, Government of Odisha
O
ur Smart Cities cannot be just replica of European or American cities, as they have to rise from the ground. Just putting infrastructure is not going to help; citizens’ participation is required at large. The Smart City concept integrates various systems, i.e. transport, energy, safety, health, education, water and communication. It is not possible to go ahead without partnerships and collaborations. Urban local bodies have many challenges, which need to be broken down and integrated to make cities smart. In Bhubaneshwar, ‘My City, My Pride’ application is helping citizens redress their grievances about streetlights, potable water, solid waste collection and management and problems of potholed roads. It is available on smartphones and easily accessible. Hence, ICT must be applied to provide best services to all stakeholders in smart cities.
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EVENT REPORT
Smart Solutions Prof Dr PSN Rao, Chairman, Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC)
E
verything has to be smart in a Smart City. We do have technologies, whether it is smart accounting or eGovernance. There is a smart solution for everything. We have to remember that a major chunk of our GDP comes from our cities, therefore, it makes economic sense to invest in smart cities. Primarily, there are two aspects of smart cities — the first is plugging in technology, which can make the existing human settlement smart, i.e. water metering system, improved footpath, road and public transport; and the other, smart cities are also being fashioned as satellite towns that would be appended to the existing cities. The urban local bodies have to be the nodal organisation for all kinds of approvals under the Smart Cities programme. So, human capacities in the ULBs have to be improved to make the idea successful.
Infra Deficits in Past Jagan Shah, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
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hile making governance smarter in an intelligent city, what must be kept in mind that technology is not a silver bullet. No computer can replace a smart administrator, and nothing can replace human brain. We are facing the challenge of rapid urbanisation. It is actually backlog of infrastructure deficits, which have developed over many decades preceding the Independence. Due to lapses in management and planning of cities, we have accumulated chaos in our cities. Technology is a way to do things little faster. Speed can in a sense meet the urbanisation challenges of India. So, application of technology or smartness is the need of the hour. There are various ways our governance is using to get smarter based on information technology. IT-enabled services are being delivered by many of the municipalities these days. High-tech methodologies of engagement are being seen used by municipalities to become smarter.
GIS & Data N Nawin Sona, Director General, Vasantrao Naik State Agricultural Extension Management Training Institute (VANAMATI), Government of Maharashtra
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arlier, the real effective GIS map was not a digital one, it was manual. The Geographic Information System or GIS is often looked at as a standalone phenomenon. So, we created a platform, which is on the State Data Centre (SDC), the centralised GIS server, and then built apps thereon. We built the application layer and also invited others to build more, and every department was allowed to build its own. It is replicable, accessible and quite cost-effective. So, we have got it hosted on the State Data Centre and are actually integrating data from other sources, like the city data from urban agencies and from the Collectorate, and we prepared our own applications like urban planning, mining and crowd mapping on it. Let us put everything together at one place, let everybody access standardised data, clean data, geo-spatial data, which is regularly updated by the authorities, and ensure that everybody uses it for the common good in the long run.
Smarter Approach R Siva, President and CEO, Vinzas Solutions India Pvt Ltd
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e, as an architectural company, have worked and said, “We have a tool, we will repair buildings and provide you assistance.� But as we are able to repair the building plans, why not propose the building on automation? So, that was the birth of Smart DCR and it was timely tested. From 2002, we are present in Tamil Nadu, with Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. Recently, we started working with the Madurai Municipal Corporation, and now, in Delhi and Greater Noida. This Smart DCR helps in the automation of building plan through online process. Previously, architects used to hold pens, and then they started holding keyboards. So, there is a transition, though with resistance. We felt that if we can quicker scrutiny of drawing, at least the client can go back to the architect for the reversal of the drawing in case the initial one is debated. Based on his creativity, the architect will decide how exactly it has to be done. Thus, smart DCR helps there.
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EVENT REPORT
Smart Ways of Government Service Delivery Passport Services Muktesh Pardeshi, Joint Secretary (PSP) & Chief Passport Officer, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
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n context of Smart Cities, delivery of public services in urban areas is very important. Smart City is not only about infrastructure, roads, transport and buildings; ultimately, it’s about community living. With the use of ICT, delivery of public services can be streamlined and urban living can be improved efficiently. The Passport Seva Project has been delivering its services smartly for the last four years now through Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs). The project has been executed under PPP mode, in association with TCS. Initially, the pilot project was started in 2010, but within a short span of time, in two years, we have created a network of 77 PSKs all over India. ICT has enabled faster delivery of passport services.
Advantage Gujarat N V Patel, Chairman, Vadodara Urban Development Authority, Government of Gujarat
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s of today, India has seen just 31 per cent urbanization. Therefore, it is time to arise and awake. We are lagging behind by almost 10 to 15 years compared to other countries as far as smart cities are concerned. In Gujarat, almost all cities are using Geographic Information System (GIS). As many as 21 State Governments have State Data Centres (SDCs), but hardly 10 out of them are working. Microsoft has planned to set up Hyper-scale Data Centre (HDC) by the end of 2015, which the government may use as and when required. As exchange of information will be frequent, everything has to be integrated with the cloud platform. But data safety and security has to be kept in mind. As for the funding part, only `7,000 crore is not sufficient to make 100 cities smart, so private sector has to partner with the government to give shape to the dream of smart cities.
Toilet Locator Vipul Ujjwal, Commissioner, Moga Municipal Corporation, Punjab
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mart Cities must have smart services and solutions, and ‘Swachh Bharat Toilet Locator’ initiative of the Moga Municipal Corporation can certainly be one of them. Basically, we have designed a Mobile App to locate public toilets in cities across India. It is an Information Technologyenabled public utility helping one to locate public toilets. The app could be useful to the people, who are new to the city or unaware of available toilets nearby. We are in the process of collecting data of 50,000 toilets. And, what is more, it is completely a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity, as not a single penny has been taken from the government. Common issues with public toilets include lack of knowledge about the locations, inability to ask for the directions and cleanliness, which are addressed through the App to make things easier. The App will also have easy and gender-specific search, and users can submit their feedback as well.
Facilitating Utilities Kamal Maheshwari, President, Business Development & Strategy, Essel Infra & Utilities Business
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ssel Infra Smart Utilities is nurturing integrated smarter communities by undertaking projects in power distribution, water supply, municipal solid waste management, city cable and broadband with wi-fi, city gas distribution, sewage treatment, etc. We are largest power distribution franchisee in India with four cities, including Nagpur, Sagar, Muzaffarpur and Ujjain. We are India’s largest PPP operator in water distribution with Aurangabad and Bhagalpur city. If Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has to scale up, there has to be a system in place. We are recycling MSW into useful things in our plants. We have also set the target of generating 12,000MW renewable energy through solar as well as wind power. Smart energy and sustainable environment is required for creating smart infrastructure in Smart Cities.
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EVENT REPORT
Citizens First Dr Charru Malhotra, Associate Professor - eGovernance & ICT, Indian Institute of Public Administration
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mart Cities must have smart ways of public service delivery for better governance. There are three ways of developing smart cities, including new cities, i.e. building smart from start, make existing cities smart, or make purpose-driven cities. There has to be smart governance for better service delivery. What comes first in our mind, when we talk about smart city, is always technology, trends and ICT applications. Smart cities should follow the rule of citizens first, not the technology. In a smart city, focus should be given to needs and aspirations of citizens. Three-pronged tests for service delivery are: plan citizens to be happy, design them to be inclusive and implement Go G-Local.
Smart Energy & Sustainable Environment, GIS & Surveying for Smart Cities Smart Ecosystem
Spatial Data
Prem Narayan, Director, Railway Stores, Ministry of Railways, Govt of India
Dr P S Acharya, CEO, National Spatial Data Infrastructure, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India
A
smart city is a dynamic ecosystem of citizens, authorities, companies and research centres that cooperate to develop products and services for an attractive and sustainable city. Smart forces are required so as to have smart cities in place: smart economy, smart environment, smart governance, smart mobility, smart living and above all, smart people have an important role to play in this ecosystem. In addition, we also need to have proper education for our citizens. e-learning, human capital and R&D are the factors that will contribute to the same. For smart governance, three factors are very important: transparency, technology and time saving. For all these to implement well, we also need to have ICT process in place.
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f we want to synchronise urban mobility, space and location, we would require spatial data, geographical data and maps. However, having talked of that, if one is getting it into Smart City management, including management of business, rural areas, different developmental skills, etc., inaccessibility to data comes as a huge impediment. Even if the data is available, one doesn’t know where those data sets are lying and which agency is collecting what data. Thankfully, now some advancements have taken place. In addition to it, interoperability is an important aspect and is being addressed now. All this is about data and unfortunately, data is inadequate. The computer must provide the required services for use in support. That’s the future!
Stable Habitation Ritesh Arya, Director, Water & Geo Thermal Energy of International Sustainable Energy Organisation
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ll civilisations have flourished on the banks of river, but floods destroyed them. In all these civilisations, we saw that transportation of water was minimal. Also, energy required to transport it was quite less. Though these societies were architecturally very sound, geologically, they were not located on a stable habitation. With Britishers came the Industrial Revolution, along with the concept of transporting water. The invention of pumping machinery led to transportation of water for the first time, and over the years, it became a costly affair. Industrial revolution brought not only the pumping machinery, but also pollution. If we are thinking of the future generations, time has come that we think about these serious issues.
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EVENT REPORT
Sustainable City Jaijit Bhattacharya, Government Transformation Expert and Partner, KPMG
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city with self-reliant, self-renewing economic activity and ecological footprint ensuring quality of life of all the stakeholders is a sustainable city. For every rupee of economy, we are looking at the smallest energy consumption. There are a whole bunch of challenges when we look at constructing sustainable cities: the need to grow, escape from poverty and ageing infrastructure, uncertain future growth, fundamental doubts about market-led approaches, etc. Dependence on fossil fuel-powered vehicles, increasing democratisation of decision-making as well as increasing awareness of social and economic rights among ordinary people leads to the people power coming up. Whenever we talk about smart cities, it’s not just the government’s duty and responsibility; it’s for the people, civil society, NGOs and everybody out there to come together and implement what we are talking about.
Bhopal on the Move Alok Sharma, Mayor, Bhopal Municipal Corporation
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clean, green and developed Bhopal - with this determination, our representatives are working with the Bhopal Government. The sole aim is to make our city smart. We wish to see Bhopal as a Digital and Heritage City as it has got much scope for development. Across the country, we have toilets for men, but it’s not the same in the case of women. Thus, we are going to create ‘She Lounges’ in the city for the convenience of women. The Prime Minister recently launched the ‘100 Smart Cities’ project and the ‘Housing for All by 2022’ scheme. Recently, we have also constructed nearly 12,000 houses that have been allotted to poor people. In the coming days, we are going to develop around 50,000 more affordable houses in the near future. We are undertaking development projects in larger public interests.
Smart Grid Vision Anmol Sawant, Business Analyst, India Smart Grid Forum
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he Smart Grid vision and roadmap launched on 13th August 2013 talks about how we envisage the vision of Smart Grid in India. We are working on the Smart City framework and the Smart City Maturity Model (SCMM), on which we can map all assets to further plan and envisage our assets and their conditions for the next 10 years. Digitised GIS maps with electricity utility are available in 1,411 towns. Channelising our smart grid assets for smart cities is an essential step to be taken. We have zones like markets, households, industries, etc., so, we can just integrate these on GIS map. We can also have integration of billing systems and there are various domains to be talked about - gas, water, transportation and sewerage. All these can be integrated with one platform and we can call it as inter-dependency. The necessary step to be taken is that we need to integrate each and every domain.
Smart Transportation for Smart Cities Lifeline of High-tech Cities Amit Sharma, Special Secretary, Government of Jammu & Kashmir
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Smart City cannot be complete without proper implementation of smart transportation, because it is going to be the lifeline of these high-tech cities. Whether you talk about a western model or look at the Smart Cities notion, it is in the context of the concepts which are already being implemented or are under implementation in India. Already, we see Metro lines, which are working well here. In addition, we have certain concepts like Intelligence Traffic Management System, which is in place. Then, we are also looking out at GIS tracking. These days, many transportation vehicles, including DTC, are seriously contemplating and the government is also coming up with various regulations in this respect.
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EVENT REPORT
Integration of Plans B N Satpathy, Senior Advisor, NITI Ayog The Government has launched several important schemes like Make in India, Digital India, Skill India and Swachh Bharat. Smart transportation for smart cities is an integration of all these. It is not merely for transportation of a city, but also for creating jobs in the country, and of course ensuring low pollution. Moreover, it is also for building keys to manage it all. However, in the first perspective, the clear picture is that it’s not a standalone scheme. The erstwhile Planning Commission had also prepared a very comprehensive report on urban transportation.The Smart Cities can be classified into five categories: metros, emerging cities, temple cities, hilly districts and the coastal districts, having different transportation requirements. For each vertical, we need a different configuration. If you have smart transportation, obviously, there will be no traffic congestion and pollution level will be low.
IT in Transportation Namrita Kalsi, Deputy Chief Architect, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
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ransportation is a very complex topic to be talked about. By 2050, the urban population is expected to increase by up to 70 per cent and the urban areas are likely to get multiplied by three times. Also, the 75 per cent of infrastructure that is needed is still not built and that is why the notion of Smart Cities is very important. The transportation is most important and all the four pillars of comprehensive development, i.e. social, institutional, physical and economic, are fixed by a steel frame of governance, smart technology and information technology. Even in the core infrastructure flagged by the Ministry of Urban Development, efficient urban mobility and public transport connected by robust IT connectivity is a key factor. The transportation in a Smart City should be regional and jointly worked out by urban and transport planners.
Safe Transport Kamal Soi, Chairman, Punjab State Road, Safety Council
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hen we talk about Smart Cities, we talk about safer living. 150,000 people die every year on Indian roads and most of them die in these 100 cities, which we are planning to be develop as smart cities. `54,000 crore has been earmarked for Smart Cities project, but as per the World Bank, we lose `150,000 crore every year because of transportation, road accidents and deaths. Smart transportation system is a combination of intelligence, low-carbon energy and adaptable services. It’s a connected, integrated and automated system to better serve the interest of users and be responsive to the needs of travellers. Every year, we lose `90,000 crore due to traffic congestion, but with smarter transportation around, we can save a lot of energy, money and resources. If technology is used in urban transit systems, there would be various benefits like safety, convenience and efficiency.
Dependable Transportation Dr Shailendra Singh, Vice President, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS)
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mart transportation is one of the important verticals of smart cities. When technology comes into picture, we have to identify how it enters into transportation. We have GIS system, GPS, RFID, etc. All these technologies are enabling us to monitor and track our assets around the world. Then, what is smart technology for a common man? Can we get the prediction of congestion, see availability in the buses, etc. These are the things we talk about from the common man’s perspective. DIMTS is leveraging geo-spatial technology in transit. We have location-based service products, which are running in 1,300 plus buses in Delhi. We are involved in other business like identity management, driving license, etc. We also have our mobile app: ‘NextBus Delhi’ for delivering the bus-related information.
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