eGov Magazine May 2019 Issue

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MAY 2019 | VOLUME 15 | ISSUE 05

Knowledge Exchange Summit, Lonavala 2014

Igniting minds, Impacting lives Knowledge Exchange Summit, Goa 2013

Knowledge Exchange Summit, Udaipur 2012

Knowledge Exchange Summit, Goa 2015

Knowledge Exchange Summit, Goa 2017

Knowledge Exchange Summit, Goa 2016

Knowledge Exchange Summit, Kovalam 2016

Elets Journey of Creating Knowledge sharing platforms on Innovation continues...

Knowledge Exchange Summit, Srinagar 2013

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KEY FOCUS AREAS  NBFCs and its Diversifying Role to meet the Financial Inclusion  Recent Lending Threats and its Preventive Measures in NBFCs  Role of Regulatory Bodies  Modifying Credit & Liquidity Risk Framework  Technology and its Significance in NBFC Sector  Growing Role of CISOs in NBFCs  Action Plans for Fraudster Attacks in NBFCs

TARGET AUDIENCE  Government Officials  Key Dignitaries of RBI, NITI Aayog, NABARD, UIDAI & IBA  Officials from Reputed Non-Banking Finance Companies  CxOs of NBFCs  Small Finance & Payments Banks  Micro Finance Institutions  Housing Finance Companies  Assets Reconstruction Companies  Consultancy & Brokerage Firms  Technology Service / IT Solution Providers  Core & Digital Banking Solution Providers  Security Solution Providers  Private Equity Players and many more…

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Editorial

Knowledge Shared is Knowledge Gained

MAGAZINE It compiles ICT-related advancements being introduced, exercised by various government organisations via eGovernance module.

The 9th edition of Knowledge Exchange Goa is upon us again, sending us down the memory lane when the late Chief Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar underscored the significance of knowledge in transforming our destiny.

Even though Mr Parrikar is no more with us, the words of wisdom he uttered at this very forum resonate with us even today. That's the power of sharing knowledge, which also serves as the main theme of this edition of eGov Magazine.

NEWS

Our cover story, 'Sharing Knowledge Key to Transform India', navigates through the journey of Knowledge Exchange forum as a unique platform for policy makers, industry leaders, innovators and thought leaders to express, share and deliberate on new ideas that are so critical to take India closer to become a knowledge-based society. It also delves into how experiences, innovative ideas and knowledge shared at the forum have been shaping up the developmental path of the country and its people.

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This issue of eGov carries interviews of some of the leading proponents of innovation for public good, who are effecting change through their brilliant ideas in policy making and are hands-on when it comes to providing effective, fair and accessible governance to the people of the country.

The names of these change makers include Debashis Sen, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Information Technology & Electronics, Government of West Bengal; Dr B Janardhan Reddy, Secretary, School and Higher Education Department, Government of Telangana; Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary (Mission Director Smart Cities), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India; Dr Rakesh Varma, Special Secretary, Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Joint Executive Director, Udyog Bandhu, Uttar Pradesh; Peeyush Kumar, Secretary, Finance, Government of Andhra Pradesh; and Andra Vamsi Additional Registrar (Banking), Cooperative Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, among many others.

Dealing with various key developments and policy-related decisions that define Indian governance style at large, this section throws light on the most important aspects.

With a reach of sixty lakhs, the website is pushing the Digital India campaign of the Government of India. It highlights various dimensions of anything and everything related to the changing trends of governance in India .

EVENT REPORTS

This segment narrates the discussions and deliberations of participants at the occasional conferences held nationally or internationally.

CASE STUDIES It deals with in-depth detail of various projects being implemented in any part of the country, worth inspiring others in providing solutions.

VIDEOS The youtube channel ‘EletsTv’ deals with live recorded versions of techexperts and key decision makers who participate in key debates or discussion of Elets knowledge conferences.

The May edition of eGov has also included international perspective this time to help our readers get better insights into how India’s relations with the countries around the world is evolving as India continues on its growth path. The article, 'India-Afghanistan Relations: Moving from Strength to Strength' and an interview with Melba Pria, the Ambassador of Mexico to India, in particular, stand out in this context.

I hope the bouquet of interviews and articles in this issue of eGov will keep our esteemed readers updated on the progress made in the fields of governance and innovations in India and serve as a powerful resource for them to bank upon.

INTERVIEWS This section highlights various stakeholders, bureaucrats and policy makers influencing governance in the country.

DR RAVI GUPTA Editor-in-Chief, eGov magazine, and Founder Publisher & CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd

S H A RI N G KN OWLED G E K EY TO

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COVER STORY

The past eight editions of Elets Knowledge Exchange, which took place in cities like Udaipur, Srinagar, Goa, Lonavala and Kovalam carried forward its legacy of providing a platform to thought leaders to express their views and ideas and share their experiences to underscore that transformation is what one can expect to happen when right ideas through honest deliberations are allowed to flow freely, writes Vivek Ratnakar of Elets News Network (ENN).

T

he first eGov Knowledge Exchange took place in Udaipur, Rajasthan in 2012 and subsequently in the picturesque city of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, serving as a forum to catalyse the implementation of e-Governance initiatives in the state.

The Forum provided a friendly and supportive environment for the key decision makers to interact with each other and exchange knowledge on the crucial area of e-Governance.

“Forums like eGov Knowledge

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Exchange - Srinagar are important as they serve as an opportunity for deliberations that will lead to the evolution of better systems for e-Governance implementations in Jammu and Kashmir,” said Omar Abdullah, the then Chief Minister of J&K. The 2nd edition helped the Government of Jammu & Kashmir formulate a road map for implementing various ICT initiatives to improve lives of the people of the state. It proved to be a milestone by bolstering the state’s efforts to

develop a clear vision and proceed ahead on the path of innovation.

The subsequent editions of Elets Knowledge Exchange, which took place in cities like Srinagar, Goa, Lonavala and Kovalam carried forward its legacy of providing a platform to thought leaders to express their views and ideas and share their experiences to underscore that transformation is what one can expect to happen when right ideas through honest deliberations are allowed to flow freely. As American author

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The evolution of this unique forum is also the story of how deliberations on technological developments have changed our lives in a very short span of time. For example, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, DDG – UIDAI, Mumbai, while addressing the Knowledge Exchange forum at Lonavala, Maharashtra in August 2014 had said: “With the UID, the state government has built a robust eKYC system which is rolled out to various state government departments; as a result when a resident walks into a government office, he does not carry any document or proof of identity with him. All he has to give is his fingerprint or the iris and the UID Number for identification, and the identity is confirmed or declined based on the details with the authority.

The best part is that it can be done even on the mobile devices which have android operating system, making the services easy to deliver and to use.

The government has also started to link the various beneficiaries database like scholarship, pension, etc with the Aadhaar numbers.”

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What Pandey had shared on the Knowledge Exchange platform has today become a reality across India.

The eKYC system developed by the UIDAI is now being effectively used to provide a plethora of government services to the citizens in a transparent way, thus further reducing the scope of corruption and pilferage in the government endowments while also addressing the issue of accessibility – driving India towards the goal of inclusive growth for all.

On the same platform, Sujata Saunik, the then Principal Secretary, Public Health Department, Government of Maharashtra, said that m-Governance is emerging as the next big wave of information and communication technology (ICT) use in the public sector. “It ensures innovations in service delivery by increasing access to existing services and enabling design and delivery of new services. It empowers digitally deprived citizens by providing them access to information and services. Besides, it intensifies partnerships and exchanges between public and private sectors,” she added.

Today, we are beginning to see how mGovernance with seamless integration and linkages is empowering people

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through mobile Apps like Umang to access important government services “24 hours a day and 365 days non-stop”.

During the 8th Knowledge Exchange in Goa, the late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had aptly defined that why knowledge exchange was so significant for us. “When I was thinking about knowledge exchange, my mind went back to a very old saying that I heard in my childhood, which says that there is always a question that what is it that grows despite giving away? If you give away the money it becomes less. If you give away property it reduces. The answer which the wise men always gave us was that it the knowledge which if you give away, it increases.”

COVER STORY

Napoleon Hill had aptly put it: “First comes thought; then organisation of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality.”

Now in its 9th edition, the Elets Knowledge Exchange forum has grown from strength to strength to help India benefit from the common wisdom of hundreds of policy makers, industry stakeholders and innovative thinkers who chose to share their ideas and innovations on this unique platform to inspire each other and drive the change that India is desperately looking for to transform herself into a knowledgebased society.

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Smart Cities Mission is not only about the implementation of projects. The Mission aims to build capacity of cities to think strategically about Urban Development, says Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary (Mission Director Smart Cities), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India, in conversation with Ritika Srivastava of Elets News Network (ENN).

SMART CITIES MISSION SETTING THE PACE & DIRECTION OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA Kunal Kumar

Joint Secretary (Mission Director Smart Cities), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

have constituted their SPVs, appointed PMCs, and established their city level advisory forums. As part of their SCPs, 100 cities have proposed 5,151 projects worth Rs. 2,05,018 crores.

The pace of implementation of the Mission has increased significantly and is one of the fastest in terms of progress.

From projects worth 33,970 crores tendered, and those worth 19,041 crores under implementation/completed in January 2018 the corresponding figures have increased by 288 percent and 355 percent as on March 2019.

But Smart Cities Mission is not only about the implementation of these projects. The Mission aims to build capacity of cities to think strategically about Urban Development. It is setting a template for future development, establishing new institutions, concepts and developing institutional and professional capacity to make Indian cities cater to citizens needs in the best possible way.

The Government of India has embarked upon the ambitious ‘Smart Cities Mission’ to transform India’s urban landscape. Please share the progress of this programme?

All 100 cities covered under the Mission

How technology and innovations are playing an important role in providing services to the citizens under the Smart Cities Mission?

A MISSION OF MANY FIRSTS l For the first time cities were

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Smart cities are envisioned as cities that focus on improving the quality of lives of their citizens, thereby creating a robust environment for sustained economic growth and innovation. The cities have

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selected through a process of competition under the guiding principles of cooperative and competitive federalism.

Cities created their proposals based on an extensive exercise of citizen consultation and therefore the proposals truly reflected the hopes and aspirations of their citizens.

For the first time, an independent institutional mechanism in the form of an SPV has been created to ensure integrated implementation of urban projects.

Convergence with various other Missions within the Ministry as well as other Ministries and leveraging of resources through various sources like PPP, debts, land monetization etc. was built into the design of the Mission.

The Mission marks a paradigm shift in the thinking on urban development in the country. We are doing things for which we haven’t had templates or standard procedures chalked out in the past.

Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) are helping cities in better urban planning and management. ICCCs function as single source of information and point of resolution of the civic functions of the city. They are bringing transparency through information sharing, a step towards becoming an inclusive city.

Sustainable financing, Smart Cities Fellowship Programme, open data policy, Indian Urban Data Exchange, National Urban Innovation Hub, Data Maturity Assessment Framework, etc. are some of the initiatives to name a few which are at advanced stages of maturity. Each one of them will contribute towards making Indian cities comparable to the best in the world, not in decades, but in a few years time.

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first and last mile connectivity in conjunction with public transportation, they can act as feeder services and improve access to metro/rail or bus services.

We are aiming to make public transportation robust and accessible through multi-modal shared mobility, so that citizens can choose it for all their commuting needs be it travel for work, travel for daily needs or for leisure. This can help move people away from private vehicles, which can contribute to lowering congestion and pollution.

initiated projects to confront the major issues faced by the citizens and are at varying levels of progress.

In a very short period the results are very encouraging: Rajkot recorded an increase in on-line issuance of birth/death certificates, and through surveillance, crime rate has gone down; Improvement in traffic challans in Ahmedabad; Pune has installed flood sensors at key points around the city which feed data to the smart city centre, thereby, enabling timely warning and response mechanism; In Vishakhapatnam, CCTV and GPSenabled buses are being tracked online through the Smart City Centre; and Bhopal has seen a rise in its property tax collections and is able to track its transport services online.

Smart cities leverage ICT-based technologies and digitalisation to make governance citizen-friendly and cost effective; bring about accountability and transparency; provide services without having to go to municipal offices; form e-groups to listen to people and obtain feedback; and use online monitoring of programs and activities with the aid of online tools. By now, 16 Smart Cities have operationalised ICCCs; and work is in progress in another 55. Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCC) are helping cities in better urban planning and management. ICCCs function as single source of information and point of resolution of the civic

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functions of the city. They are bringing transparency through information sharing, a step towards becoming an inclusive city. Some of the ways ICCCs impact citizens’ lives are: l Improved decision making for (local and other levels of) governments l Improved environmental sustainability and climate change outcomes. l Improved quality of services to citizens l Safety of citizens l Making cities more inclusive

How smart transportation is contributing towards urban growth of cities?

Smart transportation leverages smart infrastructure that includes multi-modal connected conveyance, automated traffic signals, tolls and fare collection. Data integration—incorporating weather and traffic data, linking emergency services data as well as information from government agencies— drives the system. A central command centre ties together the smart transportation ecosystem, with real-time and updated data, handling passenger information, traffic signals, incident management and vehicle health monitoring.

The optimised ‘on-demand services’ ensure that citizens use all modes of transport according to their needs.

Shared mobility solutions help provide

Cities under the Mission are using technology to develop such seamless and connected transportation systems.

Technology driven smart public transportation offers more attractive, reliable, convenient and complete choice of mode to commute. This reduces dependency on cars, arrests urban sprawl, and enables city authorities to develop compact cities with more focus on moving people rather moving cars.

Fewer cars on roads will also reduce city’s air pollution levels. Moreover, with the continuous advancement in development of electric vehicles, smart transportation is destined to transform cities to zero emission mobility smart cities.

In the Mission cities till date, a total of 734 smart transportation projects worth Rs. 28,000 crores are under implementation/completed. Electric mobility projects worth Rs. 601 crores are under implementation/completed in 21 cities. As many as 16 smart cities have operationalised ICCCs worth Rs. 2,927 crores; and work is in progress in another 44 cities worth Rs. 4,170 crores. Public transport operations and traffic management are integral part of all ICCC enabled cities. Some cities have independently created Integrated traffic Management Systems (ITMS) to better manage their public transport operations. Smart Roads worth Rs. 5,146 crores are under implementation/ completed in 35 cities.

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MoHUA often talks about integrated urban development as the answer to rapid urbanisation in India. Can you please explain this approach?

Due to rapid phase of urbanisation and sheer concentration of people and assets in cities, their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, disasters and conflicts increases manifold. This will result in unsustainable development, rising inequality and exclusion within cities.

However, when planned and managed with a well-defined vision, cities become engines of growth, inclusive and sustainable. Such cities attract talent and investment. While a few new cities might need to be built, which could be ‘specialist cities’ along the new industrial/transport corridors and satellite towns in proximity to existing big cities, a renewal of all cities is a must.

Our government saw these challenges and the big opportunities to improve citizens’ lives as well as drive the economy forward. Investments in infrastructure create jobs, improve ease of living and employ citizens the best of their abilities in service of the nation.

Traditional interventions have mostly focused on physical improvements such as slum upgrading, making flyovers and roads etc. But we at MoHUA have taken a holistic approach that integrates all

dimensions of urban development – social, economic, environmental and governance. Therefore, a three-level strategy is now being implemented: l At the first level government programmes related to poverty alleviation, affordable housing and cleanliness are implemented in all, more than 4,300, urban local bodies. l At the second level the government programmes tackling the issues of basic infrastructure like water supply and sewerage/septage projects and green parks are in the focus. This covers 500 cities and over 65 percent of urban population. l At the third level, 100 cities are being developed under Smart Cities Mission (SCM).

What were the new initiatives taken by the Ministry?

To ensure that optimum development takes place across all cities we have recently initiated new path breaking initiatives, which include India Urban Observatory, National Urban Innovation Stack (NUIS), DataSmart Cities Strategy, DataSmart Cities Assessment Framework, National Urban Learning Platform (NULP), Ease of Living Index 2019, Municipal Performance Index 2019, ClimateSmart Cities Assessment framework 2019, National Urban Policy Framework (NUPF), India Smart Cities Fellowship (ISCF), Smart Cities Digital

Payment Awards-2018, among others.

What are the main challenges of this Mission?

Any Mission of this scale is going to come across several challenges of different nature. At the start of the mission, one of the biggest challenges was to create an institutional framework at city level. We are very proud to say that in a short span, all 100 cities have incorporated their SPVs for program implementation. This is for the first time, city level SPVs have been created for comprehensive urban development in India.

Another challenge was to build the capacity at city level to take up innovative technology solution. Smart Cities have created an ecosystem wherein technology providers, innovators and urban experts have come together towards the realisation of smart city objectives.

Another major challenge is to leverage the grant being provided by the governments. Innovative financing models like issue of municipal bonds, developing PPP projects and formulating value capture policies are required. As you are aware the cities have taken the first step by leveraging the government grant by 2–2.5 times (average) in their Smart City proposals.

Finally, as you are aware, during planning of the smart cities we had one of the most intensive citizen consultations ever. It is however a challenge to continue this engagement process during the implementation phase, which is now been addressed by the selected 100 smart cities. There is no transformation which happens without facing any challenges. We are today witnessing true transformation of the urban sector. I believe that these challenges are opportunities towards a better future.

Caption: MoHUA's three level strategy for urban development

Caption: MoHUA's three level strategy for urban development

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What are the steps taken towards mitigating these challenges?

Zero Emission Mobility is the Way Forward

The road ahead for improving the present scenario of the transport sector is to make way for electric vehicles and ensure zero emission, says Abhay Damle, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, as he puts spotlight on the challenges faced in introducing green mobility solutions and measures taken by the government to mitigate those, in an interview with Souvik Goswami and K C Mishra of Elets New Network (ENN).

What are the major challenges in the public transport sector in India?

Abhay Damle

Joint Secretary Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India

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Public transport has always been a major challenge. We are growing very fast when it comes to metros and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) solutions. When it comes to buses, we are unable to take the lead.

Firstly there are regulatory issues as the private sector has not been allowed to play a major role in this area, whereas the capacity of the state road undertakings is limited. Secondly, the state road undertakings are burdened with huge losses. If you look at the last 20 years, public transport has witnessed hardly two percent growth whereas the private mobility sector has seen a huge jump of over 10 percent on a yearly basis. There is a need for improving public transport and getting the private sector on board and making them follow rules and have a congenial environment.

The ministry has come up with the guidelines of shared mobility and this has been an area where we have seen massive transportation whether it is the taxi or e-rickshaw segment. Wherever we have been able to generate the permit, which in itself is an artificial scarcity, then there is no challenge. There is another issue of availability of good quality buses.

The ministry has recently come up with the standard where the quality of buses in India has been upgraded with a considerable user experience in mind. We hope that the new buses will have better acceleration, power and comfort for the users and that is something that will draw the customers to the buses. It must also be noted that the two-wheelers offer major competition to the public transport in the urban sectors and cards in the inter-city sectors.

Is there any plan for global collaborations?

We have recently teamed up with TFL i.e.

Transport for London and World Bank and have started deep diagnostic studies with Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

The result of the study will give us areas to focus, i.e. digitisation, passenger services and passenger information systems, bus quality and good contractive model for hiring the buses. The requirement in the country is three times of what is available today. This number will come from the sources such as government and private sector. So we need to have a contracting model which should be a win-win situation for the SRTOs as well as the operators and customers. That is something we hope that the World Bank and TFL project will help us in.

What is your take on the electric vehicle ecosystem and the road ahead?

The road ahead is towards the zero emission mobility. To achieve this, the

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power generation process also has to be on the greener side. Large number of new players is also coming in the E-mobility sector. From the ministry side, we have taken certain measures on mobility.

Firstly, we are providing green number plate to the electric or battery operated vehicle which would give it an instant recognition. The implementation of the e-mobility policy will become easier with the distinct identity. Secondly, all the electric vehicles are exempted from the permit system in the mobility sector. We believe that this would do away with the physical restriction and delay in process caused to generate permits. Thirdly, to promote Make in India, we have allowed certain players to get some of the models in India, sell them and check the customer feedback and execute the production in India. In the two-wheeler segment also we feel that there is an immense scope of mobility. That is where we have brought certain changes to connect the equivalence of 50 CC IC with electric vehicle.

What is the plan to provide infrastructural support for the electric vehicles?

A large number of cities are now coming up with the e-vehicle charging stations.

Lot of liberalisation has taken place with regard to the policy of setting up of charging stations. Several private players are also showing interest in this area and the Ministry of Power has issued norms regarding this as well. This is expected to create business opportunities as well. We have observed that 85 percent e-vehicles are charged at homes or offices. The presence of public charging stations will provide comfort to the users that there will be options to charge vehicles on the go if need be.

How can private and public sector collaborate to build a better transport infrastructure ecosystem?

The state road transport undertakings

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need to follow and implement best global practices in the transport sector. There are more than two million three-wheelers operating on the road today and over 400 e-rickshaw manufacturers are there.

They play an important role in terms of last mile connectivity and a silent revolution is going on.

How can the technology and innovation leverage in the transport spectrum?

While looking at technology and innovations, we first aim to improve the technology and assets. If the assets are better utilised then the cost of overheads get distributed over larger miles, and that is what brings optimisation of the cost.

Technology has been an enabler in terms of reducing inefficient practices in the operators’ domain and helps in identifying areas where they can improve and provide better passenger information services and digital ticketing system.

The incidents of road accidents are on the rise. Although the government has taken initiatives on road safety, what are the other ways to prevent such incidents?

This is a huge area and the stakeholders are the government, motorists, pedestrians, and the industry. With regard to the vehicles, a large number of standards have been framed. We have recently been awarded by Global NCAP,

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an organisation that works for vehicular safety on a global level, for innovative regulations in the field of motor cycles.

We have mandated Anti Lock Braking System (ABS) and Combi Braking System (CBS) motorcycles to ensure greater safety. A lot of work has been done with regard to automobile standards. Apart from that, we have to sensitise the citizens as well.

The quality of roads is improving but that has put additional challenge on speed management. In order to control the speed, we are coming up with certain regulations in cars, which would indicate the drivers to reduce the speed when it is on the verge of crossing the limit. This is likely to be implemented from July 1, 2019. Few other measures include mandatory airbags, audio reminders to fasten the seat belt and putting reverse sensors.

A lot of states and cities are introducing e-enforcements. IT driven enforcement techniques have also been put in place and they are being replicated. Our campaigns and advocacy in terms of road safety have also been boosted.

More than 250 NGOs have been sanctioned for taking up road safety activities. Government is also investing in road safety campaigns which have created an impact on the masses. Still a lot of work has to be done. All the states have to come together to achieve this.

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‘OUR MAIN FOCUS IS TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF EDUCATION’

Dr B Janardhan Reddy

Secretary, School and Higher Education Department, Government of Telangana

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Starting from June 2019, a massive campaign will be launched to increase class attendance in schools, as in each class quality of education depends on the knowledge from the previous class. This will be a non-financial intervention that would be taken up by involving parents, NGOs, media, self-help groups (SHGs), says Dr B Janardhan Reddy, Secretary, School and Higher Education Department, Government of Telangana, in an interview with Sudheer Goutham B of Elets News Network (ENN).

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What are your plans to improve quality of education in the state?

I fully concur with Indian economist Amartya Sen’s observation that physical absence of students in government schools is rampant due to poverty, ill-health and festivals among other reasons. Physical absenteeism leads to mental absenteeism which results in poor quality of education. As per a study by an annual certification agency, ACER, in the government schools of India, a Class 10 student has knowledge equivalent to a student of 5th standard and a Class 5 student has the knowledge standards of a Class 1 student. Even an international agency’s (PROBE) study in Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh as also in other countries, the same results were found to be true. In their ranking on quality of education, India stood 71st.

“Across the government schools and educational institutions, I am forming exclusive committees of students in each class on five different subjects.

One of the committees will be on health & hygiene.”

The point I want to make is that we are spending so much in education, for instance, Telangana government spends Rs 12,000 crore directly and Rs 2,403.76 crore in the form of scholarships and other ways. The state government spends around Rs 50,359 per student in government school per annum and Rs 1,00,000 per student in residential schools. Telangana state has the highest number of residential schools as it is committed to provide quality education to the students from the poor financial backgrounds. But how do we get the value for the money spent and improve the quality of education is our major focus.

Starting from June 2019, we will launch a massive campaign in the state to increase class attendance in schools, as in each class quality of education depends on the knowledge from the previous class. This will be a nonfinancial intervention that we would take up by involving parents, NGOs, media, self-help groups (SHGs) headed by government agencies involved in elimination of poverty in urban and

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rural areas. We had detailed discussion on this with these agencies of SHGs. Over one lakh SHGs would be involved in this programme to sensitise the poor on consequences of not attending the school classes.

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What are the initiatives you would take up for school infrastructures, education access in the remote areas and girl child education in the states?

The Central and state governments’ efforts in the last few decades to increase number of schools and class rooms, toilets, computer and science labs, sports facilities among other infrastructure have resulted in adequate number of schools and access to education even in small hamlets.

Even the girl and boy student ratio is in good numbers at enrollment stage and also at various stages of school education. Unlike earlier, the girl student ratio in the schools has improved.

What are the reforms you are planning to bring in the education systems right from the foundations?

Since we have increased the expenditure in education; the main focus is to bring about the improvement in quality of education.

We intend to make students feel that they are part of the system. The

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intelligence quotient varies from one student to the other; some may be good at academics, some in sports, music and other extracurricular activities but average in academics.

Hence, the group committees of students I am forming would be for five different purposes with defined roles and responsibilities. One committee would be on attendance monitoring, second on academic monitoring, third on science and technology, fourth on health & hygiene and fifth on sports and culture. After a period of one to two months, the students of one committee will be transferred to another committee. This initiative will

improve their participation and performance irrespective of their intelligence quotient. Many students feel inferior given their illiterate parental background, less IQ, not able to understand what is being taught in the class, and hence they avoid the classes at the slightest available opportunity. The above mentioned reforms would bring in significant improvement.

What are your plans in place for educators to bring reforms in the education system and improve education quality?

government system. Their potential to contribute to the education system is hidden. I plan to bring in certain exercise in the work system that would encourage them to love their work or jobs and deliver the best. These exercise and methods I introduced in GHMC and previous departments that I headed and yielded best results. It mainly involves the reminder stickers at their workstations to love their jobs and introspection to improve the education system. Monitoring and biometric systems on working hours of educators would not help much in bringing the change.

Most of your initiatives are about bringing the reforms at the primary and school level education. What are your plans for Higher Education?

ensure that at a given stage each student will be part of one committee.

This way the student would feel a part of the system. For instance, the student in attendance committee would visit the houses of absentee students and counsel them and their parent. In this process, the student becomes a teacher and will develop a sense of responsibility and bring the change in him or herself. A student of Attendance Committee would see that he is not an absentee. Similarly, the student of Health & Hygiene Committee would maintain hygiene conditions. Not following the norms and conditions, he or she would be questioned by their conscience or by others. This will

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Usually the teachers in government schools are the most qualified and meritorious as they are brought into the government system after intense efforts and thorough examination methods. For instance, recently the Telangana State Public Service Commission has recruited over 7,000 members out of 2,77,374 applicants who were merits in their graduates and post-graduate studies and also could secure top ranks in certain national and state level tests. Basically, there is no mystery about the potential of teachers in government schools. However, the general impression is that they do not contribute as much as they are supposed to once they enter into the

In our analysis, it is found that the quality of education at the research, post graduate, graduate, intermediate and school level education has an organic link with the foundation of its previous level of education. Recently, I happened to interact with the directors, and teaching staff at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT). They had to tell that the knowledge foundation of the student streams, (required to excel in the research education) coming from universities to the research institutes are not up to the mark.

When I had review meetings and interacted with vice chancellors and teaching staff of universities on the matter, they had to say the same thing for the education foundation at intermediate education level, and intermediate education staff had to say similar things about the school level education standards. Eventually it is boiling down to the basic foundation of education at school level. However, since the school education, higher education and research level studies come under my limits; we will be taking up holistic approach for the solution as

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the problems are different levels of education. We are planning to increase the biometric solutions at various levels, besides digital libraries and classes among other online solutions for the students who miss out classes.

“Usually the teachers in government schools are the most qualified and meritorious as they are brought into the government system after intense efforts.”

In your stint as the GHMC Commissioner, you also tried to involve the students of school and other educational institutions in Hyderabad for the Swachh Bharat Mission. Now, with all the educational institutions from the primary to research level education under you, how do you see the opportunity for cleanliness campaigns?

Since you mentioned about waste management, a lot can be done with regards to sanitation. There are over 38,000 government and private schools in Telangana. Furthermore, over 11 universities and several intermediate and degree colleges with over 10 lakh students studying in them are functioning in the state. Now, we can universalise the cleanliness campaign. Earlier, I was struggling to involve the students in the mission of cleanliness.

It is my duty and obligation to indoctrinate the principals of ‘Swacchata’ in the students and make them ‘Swachh Doots’ (cleanliness campaigners). Across the government schools and educational institutions, I am forming exclusive committees of students in each class on five different subjects. One of the committees will be on health & hygiene, which will have a group of five students. For instance, 30 students in each class will be part of different committees and one of the committees would be on Swachata to be called as health committee.

These committees will ensure cleanliness in class rooms, school, their individual houses and also at least 10 houses in their neighbourhood. After

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two to three months of training, the members of one committee will be transferred to another committee. So, by end of the year, all the students will become Swachh Dhoots. As an education secretary, I can take up the cleanliness campaign not just in Greater Hyderabad but also across the state. I tried this earlier as the GHMC Commissioner and was partly successful in my efforts.

What is the integral link you see between ‘Swachhata’ and quality of education?

In one of the researches on Indian education, it was found that on any given day, 33 percent of students and 20 percent of teachers in government schools are found absent. Out of 365 days in a year, 220 are working days.

And in those working days, about 50 percent of the time students and teachers do not come across eye-toeye. Even in those teacher-student contact days there would be festivals and elections among other distractions.

It has been estimated that out of 365 days in a year only for about 50-55 days

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students and teachers are together in the class rooms. There are varied reasons for absenteeism. One of the main reasons is ill-health of either students or the teacher. About 50 countries across the globe have eradicated most of the diseases which we continue to encounter and suffer from like pneumonia, dysentery, tuberculosis, typhoid among other communicable diseases, which are caused due to unhygienic practices and passed on through contaminated water, air or touch.

Through sensitisation drives on health and cleanliness, the downsides can be dealt with effectively resulting in improved class room attendance, education and of course decreased financial distress caused to the families of students and teachers due to health ailments.

Waste Management and cleanliness has been the subject of your passion. Several of your initiatives as the Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and Commissioner & Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) in this regard have been exemplary and been recognised and adapted nationally. How do you see the subject education?

Education has always been a subject of my passion ever since the beginning of my career in 1990 and it is still close to my heart today when I have become the Education Secretary for the state. It was purely out of my passion that so far I have visited over 2,000 schools in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and also in other states in India and abroad. As our former president and scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had said: ‘If you have time, money and other resources invest them in education of children as it will help them shape their lives, become self-sufficient and support their family, friends and the country.’ I believe and live by that philosophy.

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NIVESH MITRA: BOLSTERING RISE OF UTTAR PRADESH IN EASE OF DOING BUSINESS Dr Rakesh Varma

Special Secretary Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh

“Uttar Pradesh has implemented Ease of Doing Business (EODB) reforms in around 23 departments and government agencies which are directly related to starting and operating businesses.”

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More than 34,000 enterprises have been registered on Nivesh Mitra to get required NOC/licenses. We are providing completely online end-to-end 70 services across 20 departments through the single window system, says Dr Rakesh Varma, Special Secretary, Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Joint Executive Director, Udyog Bandhu, Uttar Pradesh, in an interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

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Can you please elaborate on the progress made by Uttar Pradesh in Ease of Doing Business during the past few years?

With the recently concluded evaluation of the Business Reform Action Plan 2017, Uttar Pradesh has become one of the high achieving states in the country. Securing the 12th position in the 2017 evaluation, the state has jumped two positions from 14th in 2016.

The state has been categorised as an “Achiever State” with a combined score of 92.89 percent by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

We have been consistently performing upwards starting with 47.37 percent in 2015 to 84.52 percent in 2016 to 92.89 percent in 2017-18.

We have come a long way and continuously aspire to be a leading state in the Ease of Doing Business Index.

Can you name few departments wherein you think the State has implemented Ease of Doing Business reforms?

Uttar Pradesh has implemented Ease of Doing Business (EODB) reforms in around 23 departments and government agencies which are directly related to starting and operating businesses. These include Commercial Tax, Energy, Excise, Food Safety and Drug Admininstration, Fire Services, Forest, Housing and Urban Planning, Labour, Law, Pollution Control Board, Registrar-Firms and Societies, Revenue, Stamp and Registration, Transport, Urban Development, Weights and Measures, Public Works Department (PWD), Pradeshiya Industrial & Investment Corporation of UP (PICUP), Lok Seva, UP State Industrial

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Development Authority (UPSIDC), Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority and Noida Authority Industrial Development Authority.

Please highlight few key reform areas wherein according to you Uttar Pradesh has done a remarkable job?

We have further strengthened our single window portal to enable online application submission from anywhere anytime through a Common Application Form. This enhanced version of Nivesh Mitra was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on February 21, 2018.

I would like to highlight five key reform areas where the state has done remarkable job as part of the Ease of Doing business exercise.

As identified by DPIIT, Government of India, Uttar Pradesh has been among the top five top performing states in six of the 12 reform areas, namely: l Single Window System l Land Availability & Allotment l Environmental Registration Enablers l Obtaining Utility Permits l Paying Taxes l Access to Information & Transparency Enablers

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What are the features of Nivesh Mitra, the Single Window System?

Nivesh Mitra is an online single window clearance system which provides No Objection Certificates (NOCs), clearances, etc required for setting up and running a business in UP. We have further strengthened our single window portal to enable online application submission from anywhere anytime through a Common Application Form. This enhanced version of Nivesh Mitra was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on February 21, 2018.

Currently, we are providing more than 70 services (NOC/clearances) of 20 government departments. We are further in the process to integrate around 30 more services with Nivesh Mitra portal.

Comprehensive checklists, procedures for applying, departmental procedure for grant for all pre- and postestablishment NOCs, licenses, registrations and other mandatory approvals have been made available online on Nivesh Mitra to improve access and transparency.

It’s a completely end-to-end online system which acts as a one-stop solution for online application, consolidated fee payment and monitoring the status.

The system has provision to download final approved digitally signed certificates/licenses. It also has a feature of online third party verification of certification/licenses.

Have you devised any mechanism to know what and how many types of approvals are required to start/operate a business?

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Please highlight few reforms implemented in the area of land allotment and land records?

To begin with, we have made a provision for online land allotment and building map approvals through the Nivesh Mitra portal, wherein UPSIDA, NOIDA, Greater Noida and Yamuna expressway Industrial Development Authorities are being provided these services through our single window system only.

Further, we have made available online the information regarding availability of land banks for industrial use at one place.

Yes, we have come up with an online tool called ‘Know your Approvals’. This facility is available on our Nivesh Mitra, single window portal. Through it an investor can identify what all approvals/ NOCs/licenses are required to start or operate a business in Uttar Pradesh post answering few basic questions on the nature of business.

Can you please elaborate on Nivesh Mitra’s achievements till now?

As on February 19, 2019, we had received more than 29,000 total applications on Nivesh Mitra since the launch of the single window system around a year ago on February 21, 2018.

Out of this, more than 22,000 applications have been granted approvals (NOC issued) while remaining applications are well within stipulated timelines.

More than 34,000 enterprises have been registered on Nivesh Mitra to get required NOC/licenses. We are providing completely online end-toend 70 services across 20 departments through the single window system.

In addition to this, we have further

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Land records of the last three years at all land record offices have been digitised and are available online in public domain.

taken several measures to strengthen our single window clearance process, which are as follows: l We have mandated that the

applications are to be accepted on Nivesh Mitra only, No manual/ offline application shall be accepted.

Even applications are not allowed through concerned departmental portal. All applications have to be completed through online single window portal only. l Departments have been asked to make completely online system starting with online application to online fee payment to final digitally signed NOC clearance. l Department can only seek queries once within seven days of receiving the application not more than that. l All services are bounded with Janhit Guarantee Act to meet the stipulated timeline in granting these services.

Valid master plans/zonal plans/land use plans for all urban areas have also been made available online in public domain. Land record databases have been integrated with judicial database (revenue) to provide a complete picture of current land disputes.

Besides these, property registration and verification process has also been made easy and is available online.

Please highlight few reforms implemented in the area of labour reforms?

In the area of labour reforms, we have mandated online single integrated return filing under all labour laws third party certification for boilers inspection by authorising Boiler Operation Engineer (BoE)–Labour Regulation Enabler.

Final registration is granted within one day from the date of application under Shop & Establishment Act. In order to avoid unnecessary hassle to businesses, the department has also

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mandated that inspections (except in case of complaint-based inspections) shall be limited to the checklist only.

These are some of key areas wherein the Labour Department of the state has done a remarkable job.

Getting pollution related licenses are also considered as critical for any businesses. Can you please elaborate on action taken to strengthen UP Pollution Control Board services?

Getting electricity connection is another area which is closely associated to our businesses.

What kind of measures have been taken in this area?

First of all, we have eased out on the requirement of number of documents in obtaining an electricity connection.

Now only two documents are required for obtaining the connection.

UP Pollution Control Board has implemented “Online Consent Management and Monitoring System (OCMMS)” to offer online service for Consent to Establishment (COE), Consent to Operate (CTO) under the Water and Air/Hazardous Act. Now you can directly avail these services through Online on Nivesh Mitra. This system has reduced the application processing time by about 50 percent.

In case of getting ‘Right of Way’ approval, electrical connections for all voltages along with Electrical Safety Department and PWD is provided within seven days where ROW is not required and within 15 days where ROW is required.

Data related to past and planned outages (for next one month in advance) are being displayed on the department portal for all DISCOMs to notify businesses in planning their work accordingly.

Conducting Inspections have also been part of area of concern for many businesses. What have you done to make inspection process business-friendly?

To increase transparency in identification of cases, computerised risk-based inspection process has been implemented in critical departments such as Forest, Housing, Labour, Pollution Control Board, etc.

Now online and randomised allocation of inspectors are being done through system. Online availability of inspection reports within 48 hours of the inspection have been made mandatory.

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In addition, departments have also mandated inspections to be limited to the checklist only. So, these are the key steps which we believe are going to be instrumental in reinstating inspection process in the state.

Getting tree felling related permissions are also considered as an area of concern. Can you please elaborate on the steps taken to address it?

The Forest Department has already mandated that all tree species on arable holdings/intractable except 16 (10 species found naturally) in 46 districts are exempted for cutting, i.e. there is no need of tree felling permission.

Besides this, online tree felling permission and tree transmit related permission are also being provided through the online single window system.

What have you done to support pharma and drug industry in Uttar Pradesh? Can you please throw some light on that?

The Food Safety and Drug Administration department has created an online system to grant NOC for drug

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retail/wholesale licences. These services are already being provided through Nivesh Mitra portal.

But now the department has further developed an online system for obtaining licenses for drug manufacturing which is in the process to be integrated with Nivesh Mitra.

This online facility will ensure that there are no physical touch-points for our pharma and drug manufacturing investors.

Has the government taken any step to ensure timely resolution of disputes arising out of commercial contracts/ transactions?

The Government of Uttar Pradesh has already notified 13 commercial courts to be set up in major industrial districts. In this regard, five commercial courts in Lucknow, Kanpur, Faizabad, Aligarh and Moradabad have already been setup.

Paying taxes is another area where industries seek support from the government. Can you please elaborate on this?

As mandated by the Government of India, under tax enabler area for Goods and Services Tax Act (GST), the Government of Uttar Pradesh has constituted an authority for advance ruling/appellate authority under the State Goods Service Tax and has published details of application procedure and checklist on the department’s website.

The department has also set up service centres to assist taxpayers in e-filing of returns under the GST Act. The department has also established a helpline providing basic services such as assisting users in preparing and filing returns under the GST Act.

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Andhra Pradesh Using IT for Last Mile Delivery of Government Services Andhra Pradesh has been ahead of other states when it comes to IT technology. The PDS system in the state has become accessible to most of the people because of the technology reaching to one and all, says Peeyush Kumar, Secretary, Finance, Government of Andhra Pradesh, in an Interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Peeyush Kumar

Secretary, Finance Government of Andhra Pradesh

What is the Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMS) and how is it helping the Government of Andhra Pradesh in data visualisation?

The Comprehensive Finance Management System is an end-to-end IT solution for all finance approvals starting from the budget sanction to the budget release order to actual utilisation to the payment of bill system. Many states have their own integrated finance systems but those are not as comprehensive as CFMS. They are not end-to-end in the manner in which Andhra Pradesh has designed CFMS. Government of India also has the Public Finance Management System (PFMS) but that too falls short of what we can do in the CFMS. In CFMS, what we have done is that we have made all the departments as user groups, both for the budgeting exercise and for the payments, on a single platform. So, all the DDOs and the account officers are also on the main system. For Direct Benefit Transfer also it is integrated using the MPCI system, then linking

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with the PFMS and linking with E-kuber of the RBI. It is a comprehensive financial solution.

What efforts have been initiated to improve tax collection in the state?

A tax collection system usually depends on the drive and larger the tax base and compliance the better it is. With Government of India introducing GST, the entire effort has been to provide IT platform to various businesses to file their Returns. At each stage all the billing systems are getting automated.

Andhra Pradesh has been ahead from other states since the initial stage itself.

In the last 20 years, we have taken a lead in IT, so we were in better position

to implement the Government of India’s initiatives in so far as GST is concerned.

Besides that we have also integrated other things like Excise with the IT— thanks to the CFMS. So, now all tax collection is directly coming to the treasury due to this end-to-end solution.

Andhra Pradesh saved Rs 2,585 crores through Aadhaar seeding in PDS. How did you deploy the technology to prevent leakages?

Government of India started streamlining PDS on the IT system from 2015 onwards, but Andhra Pradesh achieved this much earlier. Somewhere around 2010, we had the first generation of IT system in the PDS and

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in the last five years we have improved it. In 2015, when Government of India introduced its PDS system, we were the first to adopt it. The solution is very comprehensive and well designed. What we did is that in the initial phase itself we created the SRDH database. At one point of time when our system was coming up there was a facility of State Resident Data Hub, and based on the SRDH database we could integrate all the ration cards with the Aadhaar number.

So, while many states were struggling to do that because of the problem of mismatch, in Andhra Pradesh because of the comprehensive survey we had done in the field in which we had captured almost 95 percent of the population covered under PDS, we could capture the databases and the number of units which are there. In fact, new cards are also being created through the online system where the application is submitted and verification is done.

Based on the verification report, new cards are generated on the system then the phone number of each card holder is integrated so that they can receive text messages when the ration is available at PDS shops.

Through the e-PoS devices we have achieved a high success rate as the quality of Internet connection and the equipment is very good. Where we face the biometric verification problem, we have introduced an alternate system.

So, the entire release of the ration is done through the IT system.

In some exceptional cases where there is a single woman, destitute lady or an old woman who is not able to come to the PDS centre to collect ration we have deployed self-help groups to help them.

Andhra Pradesh has a very strong network of women self-help groups who are very active in the field and we have trained them to use the technology.

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Through the e-PoS devices, we are able to reach to the last mile. Our exception mechanism is also very strong that ensures that we reach out to the people. The success rate is over 99 percent with few exceptions. We don’t have any place in the state where the manual PDS system has been resorted. The integration of the system with biometrics ensures that the ration reaches to the right person in a timely manner.

Earlier when the manual system was in place, if somebody would not collect the ration it would normally be reported as collected. The new system ensured savings that we could upload into the system and that’s how we were able to save Rs. 2,400 crores.

The State has utilised 72.4 percent of total budget on developmental programmes.

What are the major areas of investments?

After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, despite all the progress we have made there is a lot of scope for work on parameters like education, infant mortality rate, and health. Of course, relatively the per capita spending or social parameters in North India might be good but within the South Indian states Andhra Pradesh has a lot to achieve. Therefore, we have been focusing on developmental work especially in the health and education sector where we have been using IT. We provide comprehensive help to the deserving people under concepts like cradle-to-grave, which covers people from early childhood to education to health and jobs through IT interventions. That’s why our expenditure on developmental programmes is on the higher side.

What measures have you taken to improve debt management in the state?

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After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, we have been running revenue deficit budget for the last three to four years because of the liabilities we have taken from the erstwhile combined Andhra Pradesh. This is an area of concern and we have been focusing on it. One of the major decisions has been the shift towards the open market borrowings.

So, we have reduced the small savings or the high cost debt and we have been trying to replace it with the lower cost debt. Our proportion of the market borrowing or open market borrowing has been increasing and also from the stock of debt we have been replacing some of the expensive debts and replacing them with lower cost debts. We are making a deliberate attempt to move towards (i) open market borrowing and (ii) to replace the high cost debt with the low cost debts. Active swapping and repaying the debts are the instruments we are using.

Tell us about the future plans of the state?

Andhra Pradesh being a new state, we have lost Hyderabad which was earlier a major attraction for service sector.

On agricultural front we are doing well with focus on irrigation. We have been able to achieve a double digit growth— thanks to the agri sector. But a lot of effort has to be made in the industrial sector and service sector as well.

We are developing the Amravati town, not only as a capital city but also as a major IT hub to attract investments and people in the service sector. Apart from that, Vizag can be an industrial corridor because we have a long coastline. We are trying to develop different coastlines so that industrial hubs can connect the northern part of the coastal Andhra to the southern part. We are also working on developing some industrial pockets like in Vizag area where we are looking to develop pharmaceutical sector and med-tech zones.

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‘UPCB will be brought on par with the Nationalised or Rural Banks with a healthy balance sheet’ The process of District Cooperative Banks merger with UP Cooperative Bank (UPCB) under a common Umbrella has been visualised. UPCB will be brought on par with the Nationalised or Rural Banks with a healthy balance sheet, says Andra Vamsi, Additional Registrar (Banking), Cooperative Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, in this interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN). He talks at length about the different sectors of the Cooperative Banks and the technological deployment in the corporate banking sector of Uttar Pradesh.

Additional Registrar (Banking) Cooperative Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh

What is the State Government vision for Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Bank?

challenges have you witnessed in terms of its implementation?

The process of District Cooperative Banks merger with UP Cooperative Bank (UPCB) under a common Umbrella has been visualised. UPCB will be brought on par with the Nationalised or Rural Banks with a healthy balance sheet. Proposal for liquidating the worst performing banks is also taken into consideration. Right now, the talks were being conducted with all the participants say shareholders, employees and unions to get a proper merger proposal. Merger streamlines the command and control ensuring a unitary Banking Policy with DCB s functioning as Regional Branches of UPCB.

The State and District Co-operative Banks are computerised with Core Banking Solution (CBS). We are Implementing Delivery Channels line RTGS/NEFT, ATM Network, SMS Banking, Mobile Passbook and wallet, AEPS, DBT etc. All Prime Minister Benefit Schemes are live in the CBS branches. All the Primary Agriculture Societies (PACs) are being computerised. So far, the number is 1276. As many as 626 PACSs are linked to District Cooperative Bank (DCB’s) Core Banking System and exchanging Data in Real-Time. RuPay Debit and Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) are being distributed in all the Districts to enable Digital Transactions. Major challenge faced for the computerisation is to train the entire

Would you like to tell us about the recent technology deployments in UCBs across the state? What

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manpower. The inertia is to be contained.

organisation with the absorption of contingency to regular employees which is ready for implementation. The best manpower is regularised out on the basis of their performance with respect to recoveries.

What role is Information Technology playing in ensuring transparency within the Cooperative Banks of the state?

Financial Inclusion happens on its own with a robust Cooperative System. The process is simple to weed out the non performing loan takers and absorb the new loan takers with good credit ratings.

Farmers are the primary base for whom the agri-loans are done through Cooperative & Recovery on the basis of their crop purchase. If this cycle is completed without any pilferages, then the Financial Inclusion happens on its own at the rural areas.

We are working to bring the RTGS, NEFT, Switch Technology and Cheque Truncation under a common banner.

After each transaction in the banks, the data is automatically updated in the software through our aggregator.

How is it helping in the recovery of bad loans? What is the status of Financial Inclusion in Uttar Pradesh?

We have summarised the recoveries database Ameen wise. The top and worst performers are figured out using a centralised database at the Head Quarters. Say the 7,000 crore overall recoveries across the state also presented an Imbalance of 1,200 crore.

The ultimate challenge is to weed out the worst performers which are beyond redemption. As many as five pilot banks had been identified to erase these imbalances on the lines of Satara and Raigarh Bank. The Modus Operandi is to freeze the Imbalance amount, not charge the interest further and recover the amount in 10 installments.

“The primary objective of PACs is to cater to the farm credit and income generation activities of farmers, artisans and other members.”

The problem is to restructure the

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What are the objectives of PACs? The primary objective of PACs is to cater to the farm credit and income generation activities of farmers, artisans and other members. PACs also aim to implement Kisan Credit Card (KCC)/Rupay KCC scheme for providing timely and adequate farm credit to members.

The PACs also aim to take up marketing of agricultural produce of member farmers and to create awareness among farmers to adopt improved farming practices.

Catering to the need of dispensing of various government sponsored citizens’ welfare services such as procurement of food grains, Public Distribution System etc. is another objective of the PACs. The other objectives include business of selling fertilizer, seed, Pesticides etc. and dealing with other agriculture business such as supply of Agriculture Machinery to farmers etc.

What are your plans for 2019?

We have in pipeline 6,000 Micro ATMs sanction to all the PACS. We are also in the process of streamlining Rupay KCC with good percentage of distribution and activation.

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ARTICLE

Uttar Pradesh Taking Government Services to Citizens’ Doorsteps Rishirendra Kumar

Special Secretary, IT & Electronics Department and State Coordinator, Centre for e-Governance, Government of Uttar Pradesh.

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ommitted to deliver government services to the citizens at their doorstep in an efficient and transparent manner, the Government of Uttar Pradesh has undertaken various steps both on the policy as well as execution fronts through various e-governance initiatives. Besides successfully implementing the various Central Government flagship schemes, the state government has also conceptualised and launched a number of flagship schemes spanning various areas. Various projects, such as the State Wide Area Network (SWAN), State Data Centre (SDC), Common Service Centre (CSC), State Portal and various mission mode projects such as e-District, CCTNS (Police), etc, are being implemented in the state. These initiatives have ensured making the administration quick, responsive, transparent, hassle-free and accessible to all while reducing the inefficiencies and costs. Some of these initiatives are as follows:

Common Service Centre (CSC) l

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Common Service Centres are the

MAY 2019

The Government of Uttar Pradesh is making an all out effort to improve the quality of governance through various e-Governance initiatives, with the vision to deliver various government services to the citizens at their doorstep in an efficient and transparent manner, writes Arpit Gupta of Elets New Network (ENN) with inputs from Rishirendra Kumar, Special Secretary, IT & Electronics Department and State Coordinator, Centre for e-Governance, Government of Uttar Pradesh. front end IT-enabled kiosk located in the urban as well as in rural areas up to Gram Panchayat level for delivering online services to the common people, i.e these centres are face of e-Governance for the citizens of Uttar Pradesh. l CSC 2.0 is completely state owned, which was started on January 1, 2016 with eight District Service Providers (DSPs) functioning in all 75 districts of the state. l DSPs have been selected through open tender process and MSA is signed between DeGS & DSPs. CSCs are established through DSP under supervision of respective District e-Governance Societies (DeGS). l Over 76,000 CSCs are established across the state. The scheme is self reliant and no financial aid/subsidy/ support is provided by the government. The stakeholders are DSP, District e-Governance Society (DeGS), Department and the CeG.

State Wide Roll-Out of E-District l

Uttar Pradesh is the first State in the country to roll out e-District project in all the 75 districts of the

state.

Presently, 254 Government to Citizen (G2C) services of 34 departments are operational in 75 districts through the e-District portal. l Till date, more than 19.40 crore applications have been processed through e-District and the number of applications, as well as number of services is increasing day by day. l Looking at the overwhelming response of the citizens, the state government is in the process to bringing 224 services of 34 departments under Janhit Guarantee Act, UP and integrating them with the e-District portal. l

UP-State Wide Area Network (SWAN) l

UP-SWAN is one of the major core infrastructure project under National e-Governance Plan in which a network of 885 nodes connecting all the blocks, tehsils and districts to the state capital over a 2 Mbps bandwidth. l State Wide Area Network (SWAN) project is being implemented as a core infrastructure project under

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National e-Governance Plan in Uttar Pradesh.

A total of 885 PoPs have been established – One at SHQ (State Head Quarter), 70 at DHQ (Districts Head Quarter), 240 at THQ (Tehsil Head Quarter) and 574 at BHQ (Block Headquarters).

Core sites are connected with 34 Mbps bandwidth while all other sites including DHQ, THQ and BHQ are connected over 2 Mbps bandwidth.

Since December 2016 BSNL is providing AMC services.

In need of better technology and high speed UPDESCO has selected a new system integrator i.e Airtel under SWAN 2.0 and work order was already released to establish the network including DHQ, THQ and BHQ which will be connected with 10 Mbps bandwidth.

UP State Data Centre l

UPSDC went live on August 6, 2012. SDC is envisaged to establish a robust infrastructure to enable the Government to deliver the services quickly and effectively to its stakeholders. l A Tier 3 data centre with ISO

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27001 & ISO 20000 certification in line with international best practices and uptime 99.741 percent.

150 services of 45 departments are hosted in UPSDC. It has Dual Internet Service Provider with State of the Art Storage, Backup & Data retention facility.

Power backup by 3 High capacity Generators.

The capacity of UPSDC has been consumed, as per the increasing demand of departments the enhancement of UPSDC is under process.

lockers have been opened in Uttar Pradesh. l The e-District portal (Income, Caste, Domicile, Birth /Death Certificates) of Government of Uttar Pradesh has been integrated with Digital Locker System. A total of eight crore documents are made available on DigiLocker.

UMANG, Uttar Pradesh l

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Digital Locker, Uttar Pradesh l

An initiative launched under the Digital India Programme aiming to eliminate usage of physical documents and enable sharing of e-documents. l The Beta version of Digital Locker (https://digitallocker.gov.in) has been launched on February 10, 2015. l The citizen who has an Aadhaar card can use the e-locker facility by logging in on https://digitallocker.gov.in. l Till Date, a total of 7,44,117 Digital

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UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is envisaged to make e-governance.

It is developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), GoI and National e-Governance Division (NeGD), GoI to drive Mobile Governance in India.

It enables users to access all government services through a single mobile interface.

Users do not need to install different mobile apps to avail various government services.

In first phase, services under e-District portal will be on-boarded on UMANG platform.

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SPOTLIGHT: NAMAMI GANGE

‘Our focus is to rejuvenate Ganga and its tributaries along with maintaining biodiversity’ The Namami Gange project of NMCG not only focuses on rejuvenating and restoring river Ganga but its tributaries as well with focus on maintaining bio-diversity, says Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga in an interview with Ritika Srivastava Elets News Network (ENN).

Rajiv Ranjan Mishra

Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga

“By planting sapling near the banks of the river that can generate better rain, more water. The focus should be on improving the water quantity in the river which is popularised by the name of Aviral Ganga.”

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MAY 2019

Shed some light on the Namami Gange project.

When we talk about Namami Gange, we would like to tell you exactly what this mission and this is an integrated mission.

This is not a mission limited to Ganga but its tributaries. So it may be Yamuna, Gomti or river Damodar.

Ganga cleaning has been going on and people have been attempting for a very long time. Earlier there used to be Ganga Action Plan, Gomti Action Plan, Yamuna Action plan and for each river there used to be a plan. For each plan there used to be a phase like Ganga Action Plan1,

Ganga Action Plan2 and for Yamuna River there used to Yamuna Action Plan 1, Plan2.

We brought all of them under one umbrella mission because earlier we used to have system thinking, combined thinking, and it became very difficult to work in the fragmented way. Therefore to solve all these problems collectively, the Namami Gange was originated and integrated everything.

When we look at industrial pollution, sewage pollution and then we also find a component for sustainable agriculture which is processed through chemical

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SPOTLIGHT: NAMAMI GANGE

fertilizers that further leads to the propagation of pollution.

Afforestation is the need for today in bringing a huge impact that can lead to a cleaner and greener environment.

By planting sapling near the banks of the river that can generate better rain, more water. The focus should be on improving the water quantity in the river which is popularised by the name of Aviral Ganga.

This mission aims to not only clean Ganga but all of its tributaries.

The next target is improving the connectivity of the rivers through river-front development, modernising of the ghats, better amenities and thus that is one aspect. There is a lot of life within the river that is aquatic life and people generally ignore in witnessing the difficulty faced by aquatic species and so we also need to conserve them. Thus, we have huge support from the constitution supported by IIT. A lot of these things are reversed with science based, and events based.

The two STPs which are under construction will also be completed by this year. One is at Jagjitpur at 68 and the other one is at Sarai. The projects in Sarai and Jagjitpur are likely to be completed by May and July respectively.

What are some of the recent initiatives taken by NMCJ in cleaning the river Ganga and how are those being executed?

The overall approach of this mission lies in cleaning all the tributaries of Ganga.

We have taken some initiatives which can make Ganga pollution free. The primary source of pollution is sewage and we looked at what happened earlier in the past five years and tried to understand the reason why we couldn’t do it at that time. The major reason why previous mission remained incomplete lied due to the lack of financial funding.

In the states of Uttrakhand and Jharkhand, complete infrastructure is ready. This project is not going to be maintained for one or two years but for 15 years. Same situation is in Kanpur, Patna, Prayagraj and many other cities.

But as of now, we have got funding for mission of Rs 20,000 crore for five years.

The social structure is such that money does not lapse and it stays with the NMCJ so that we can plant for five years.

We looked at all the towns surrounding Ganga and looked at the sewage profile

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and scrutinise that how much is generated and how much is left. Our primary focus is on some of the major cities for the complete project. Almost all the advanced projects are there in Uttrakhand and 19 out of 30 projects have been completed. All the projects are likely be completed this year. The major cities are Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Then take-over operation of all the STPs includes maintaining and operating them for fifteen years. So that has been done because sewage from treatment plants used to directly pour into the Ganga.

That has been completely diverted. We have started utilising the capacity of STP because many of them were starting at low-STP or one-third-STP. These are some of the initiatives which are even implemented in the Prayagraj.

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These are some of the initiatives which led the completion of projects on time and by maintaining the quality of projects for 15 years. In Patna also, a similar strategy is implemented. We have got projects for all 18 towns in Bihar. The state does not have much sewerage capacity along with Ganga term. With our projects, we are already increasing it 10 times. So almost all the things are being created in Namami Gange and three STPs will be created in Patna.

Our other initiative is on bio-diversity sector wherein we are focusing on bio-diversity colourisation along with the wildlife ritual.

In order to treat the industrial pollution in Kanpur, we are starting the construction of common effluent treatment plant. Another initiative has been monitoring and enforcement on the industries. We are involving third party agencies and institutes like IITs, NITs etc.

How is NMCG working towards making the areas, through which river Ganga flows, attractive for tourists?

Ganga, the holy river changes its shape and beauty whenever it passes through different cities. Even the name by which river Ganga is known among the people

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SPOTLIGHT: NAMAMI GANGE

faced by you while planning and executing these initiatives?

Owing to the magnitude of the project, the gravity of the challenges is also large.

Mapping of all the villages and towns around Ganga and in understanding what sort of work is required and expanding the forest area are major challenges for us. Through the help of various reputed institutions we were able to complete all the sets of requirements needed for initiating this mission.

The other big challenge that lies in front of us is bringing this entire mission is in making people realise that their contribution can lead to the withdraw of pollutants and create it a pollutant free river.

changes across the states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or West Bengal. We are working on reviving the good water quality because it works as one attracting constituent for mesmerising tourists.

Facilitating better amenities like clean ghats and pure drinking water has led this place to gain tourist destination and has summed up a very pleasant experience.

We are also trying to bring a floating museum on the Ganga and in Varanasi there is a floating museum. The two advantages of creating this museum apart from attracting tourists’ lies in educating them about the holy river of India and on other hand will generate a sense of responsibility among them to keep it clean.

A similar strategy was planned while organising the Kumbh Mela and one can observe it did wonders in attracting tourists and was celebrated with much

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MAY 2019

enthusiasm and joy. For creative promotions of Kumbh Mela we partnered with different agencies for painting the ghats and cities and this creativity fascinated a quite large proportion of tourists as compared to the previous years. This thinking of ours also strike a spark in the Patna and one can see it how beautifully the painters crafted their art on the antiquated buildings and now they look like renovated forts and has added more to the national glory.

In Patna, people can walk around the river-front which has been developed under this project. Our organisation has even done some painting over there and has created audio-visual centres over there. In addition to all these, we have a beautiful Ganga anthem which is played along with Ganga aarti.

What are the major challenges

Supposedly if today a sewage treatment plant (STP) is created, then for another 15 years it would be the job of local bodies to reassure that it functions properly. The role of local people living along the banks of Ganga River is bigger because they visit the ghats for recreation, cremation, performing other ritual activities and owe a big responsibility on their shoulders to keep it clean during these durations. Making everybody a Ganga lover was our major target and we successfully let it complete.

Another challenge for us was to keep the river in the middle of the urbanisation.

Our history has told us all cities develop on the bank of river. But cities turned into megacities and somewhere led rivers to disappear and Yamuna River is one such example.

Reservation and conservation of drinking water is another challenge. When Ganga comes to Haridwar, around 70 to 80 percent of its water is used for the agriculture purposes only. Thus we need to convey farmers to use water effectively. Our water efficiency is not even 40 percent and if we increase it to 20 percent, then not a single drop of water will go back into the river.

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MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GURUGRAM PERSPECTIVE

MCG TRANSFORMING GURUGRAM INTO A WORLD-CLASS CITY Focusing on strengthening Gurugram’s civic infrastructure by providing more multi-level parkings, better quality roads, better sewage system and better drainage system, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram is trying to rope in ward committees, NGOs, RWAs and members of the civil society to create win-win infrastructure and services for the residents, says Yashpal Yadav, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, in an interview with Ritika Srivastava of Elets News Network (ENN).

Yashpal Yadav

Commissioner Municipal Corporation of Gurugram

Could you throw some light on some of the important projects undertaken by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram?

As per the mandate given to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, we are expected to take care of the city’s basic infrastructure need and provide various civic services to the city residents. In the last one year, we tried to map the whole city and its requirements for road construction and basic services like water supply, drains, sewage line, electricity and specifically street lights. We have laid a lot of new

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MAY 2019

roads and we can claim that all the available land under the corporation which is meant for road laying has been utilised. We will be developing the remaining roads by the next year and providing better connectivity to the people of Gurugram. We have chalked out a plan, under which, we will be cleaning storm water drains. We are hiring agencies to do this job for the next two years.

All the streetlights in the city have been converted to LED lights. EESL, which is a Government of India company, has undertaken the infrastructure

development related work for streetlights, which will be connected to the smart grid.

As vehicle parking in the city is a major concern, we are creating three multilevel parkings, especially in congested areas. We are also creating community spaces like banquet halls and sports facilities along with some commercial spaces within that. We have also installed a large number of water ATMs in the city and plans are underway to install 43 more by end of this year.

In all the four zones of the city we have

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MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GURUGRAM PERSPECTIVE

started creating office spaces. Since in the past 10 years we have not been able to build a fully centralised office of the corporation, we are in the process of building it along with an office for Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority.

Committed to provide better environment to the city, we have started a number of initiatives like creating 40 micro STPs in various parts of the city to treat sewage water at local level which will then be used to irrigate green belts and parks of the city. This will result into saving of portable water which we are presently using to irrigate these areas. It will also enhance the green cover of the city and moisture content in the air to help reduce air pollution. We are also sprinkling water through vehicles on these green belts and parks to keep a check on air pollution.

Could you elaborate on the initiatives taken by you for creating parking spaces in the city?

Three multi-level parking facilities are being developed in the city. While one project done by Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) has already been completed in Sector 29, another project is being done by Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA). The corporation is also encouraging people to take permission and start parking facilities in some places. Some people have shown interest in developing parkings in two-three areas and have sought our permission which has been extended to them. The municipal corporation is also trying to identify

places across the city which can be used as parking spaces. We are hopeful that by end of this year we will be able to provide more parking spaces to the commuters.

What steps have been taken by the corporation to manage waste generated in the city?

We have started the waste management initiative to provide better environment to the city residents by treating the waste in a better way. We have started door-to-door collection of waste and our plan is to compost at least 50 percent of the municipal waste collected in a particular ward. The city is divided into 35 wards, and in each ward, we will be segregating the dry and wet waste before sending it for recycling. This will be done in a de-centralised manner and it would reduce pressure on the landfill sites where we are presently dumping the waste.

The city is also facing environmental issues due to people throwing away the waste generated from construction and demolition sites. Therefore, recently we have taken an initiative, wherein the person generating waste has to inform us and we would provide services to

collect and dump the waste at our officially designated sites. Our construction and demolition waste plant is nearing completion and we expect it to be operational by end of April. Once it begins its operations, we will be using CMD waste for future construction work and it will be reused.

Another initiative taken by us focuses on the households and residential societies which lack the facility of covered sewage line. In these areas, unauthorised tankers are throwing away waste in open spaces.

Therefore, now we are collecting the sewage from septic tanks and our authorised agencies are taking it to Sewer Treatment Plants (STPs).

We have also started penalising the people for using plastic by ignoring the ban. We have constituted four squads to issue challans to erring residents and create awareness about the issue. In December last year, we laid a 100-meter road by using the plastic waste on an experimental basis. We have also entered into an agreement with KK Plastic to manage the plastic waste. The firm now purchases plastic waste from rug pickers or residents at Rs 6 per kg; segregates it and shreds it; and then it is used for road construction. From April onwards, we will use plastic to make roads.

To manage hazardous waste, corporation agencies have tied up with all the hospitals in the city. We have started collecting the hazardous waste which is sent for treatment to a vendor in Sector 37.

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MUNICIPAL CORPORATION GURUGRAM PERSPECTIVE

This year we will be adding more partners like the ward committees, which have 13 members each, the RWA’s, NGOs, individual volunteers and some other partners under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) strategy. If anybody is creating any plastic waste or any other waste it is now their responsibility to contribute towards its treatment, recycling and reuse.

We have started this initiative recently and we are trying to rope in as many partners as possible from every ward so that they can discharge their duty as per the law and become our partners in treatment of all kinds of wastes and they have agreed to it.

EPRs will help us create infrastructure to recycle any kind of waste. Our endeavour is to go for the circular economy and we would try to reuse everything that we are disposing off.

Through this strategy, we would be able to use lesser natural resources and tackle the issue of waste management effectively.

Which new projects the corporation is planning for ensuring urban growth of the city?

Big city infrastructure is presently being developed by the GMDA, and the municipal corporation does all sorts of civil works within the areas under its jurisdiction. This year our focus is on strengthening our civic infrastructure by providing more multi-level parkings, better quality roads, better sewage system and better drainage system across the city. To achieve our goals this year, we have empanelled agencies for providing and maintaining rain water harvesting systems in the city. These agencies will not only maintain and operate the earlier installed capacity, but they have also been given the mandate to go to each and every household having more than 100 sq.ft rooftop area and help develop individual rain water harvesting system to save rain water. It will also save people from facing the

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MAY 2019

problem of water logging during rainy season and save the roads from damage due to heavy rainfall.

Another big project we have undertaken is the installation of decentralized sewage treatment plants (STP) around the city to treat sewage and also to avoid overflow.

Since we have developed the basic infrastructure for the city, our main focus now is to enhance its quality to provide a world-class infrastructure to the citizens.

Which ICT initiatives the corporation has taken to provide quality services to Gurugram citizens?

Last year we made a lot of our services available online. Property tax payment has been completely made online, which also allows you to register complaints. It has become totally paperless. Another major step was making the whole corporation go paper less from March 31 this year. We are using e-office and we have stopped any physical paper movement. This is what we have achieved in the last one-and-a-half year.

This will make life easier for officers who can now work from anywhere.

physical interface with the public so that they don’t have to come to our office to avail every service. Moving our services online is a win-win for both the corporation as well as the citizens, as they will be able to access the services from anywhere anytime. It will also increase our efficiency by allowing us to concentrate more on work.

What steps have been taken by the corporation to provide a smart, safe and sustainable transport system to daily commuters?

The GMDA had started its bus services, which is being expanded every passing month. It is doing well, and surely by next year it will stabilise and will provide very efficient and uninterrupted services to the citizens of Gurugram.

This service will have a long term impact on the city and its people by providing them a better commuting option and solving the problem of traffic jams and air pollution, etc. With this initiative and introduction of the next phase of the Metro rail, we will be able to provide better transport facility in the city. Though Municipal Corporation of Gurugram is not associated with these projects, we are actively supporting them.

What are your plans for this year?

Birth and death registration and marriage registration have all been made online, and now we are going for online approval of maps. Our entire electricity and streetlight system has moved to a smart grid this year, so we will be able to handle it in a better and smart manner. It will allow us to point out and rectify any break down anywhere.

We also have adopted an e-system which allows us to do our internal meetings. On that platform, we do not need to circulate any agenda or file in physical form. We can update the proceedings online. This way it is helping us to upgrade the information faster and also keep the trail of meetings we conduct. Our main focus is to end the

My target is to collaborate with various civic society partners to start work on our plans. Without the proper support of the civic society lot of projects cannot be done in a perfect manner. So, as a policy paradigm, we have constituted ward committees, we have recognised RWAs and we have collaborated with NGOs and individual volunteers, who are helping the corporation in its various activities. We are trying to rope in the manpower deployed in schools, offices, colleges and other big institutions to help us in solid-liquid waste management and also to reach out to people in their neighbourhoods to educate them.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

TCS ION: TRANSFORMING STUDENT ASSESSMENT SYSTEM THROUGH INNOVATION

TCS iON has been designed and customised based on the requirements of the local market, says Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON, as he talks at length about the core principles and functioning model of TCS iON, the future plans and how TCS is working towards bridging the skill gap between the youth and the industry, in an interview with Rajneesh De of Elets News Network (ENN).

Venguswamy Ramaswamy Global Head, TCS iON

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

What is the vision of TCS iON? During the inception of TCS iON, we had laid out a few principles. The first one stated that it is an IT-as-a-Service model where we are not going to do software development projects for customers but instead provide services in a subscription-based model.

Secondly, we wanted to make it an on-demand platform where there would be a large number of components and capabilities that can be consumed based on the individual requirements of the customers. Thirdly, we aimed to integrate best practices into the service itself. We ensure that no unfair means is practiced in terms of cheating or impersonation. Hence it is a business process as a service and not just a

end 2011, we launched the assessment platform followed by the learning platform. We observed that the platforms which were launched later have experienced much faster growth than those launched earlier.

Which are the platforms which are commercially active right now?

The small and medium business platforms that we created for manufacturing, education continues to grow. In fact, the rate of growth and adoption of the assessment and learning platforms in the market are much higher. Commercially, the business process related platforms are also available and a lot of customers are

period of time. Today, there are 250 physical digital zones across the country. That amounts to nearly 1.4 lakh computing infrastructure in India.

What is the function of these digital zones?

The digital zones enabled us to create new business models. For example, in the assessment model, we do not give platform to customers. We take the end to end ownership of conducting the assessments where the student walks into one of the TCS iON Digital Zones (iDZs), sit in front of the computer infrastructure to complete the exam and exit. It is not about digital platform but about integrating the physical assets that we have created.

Do the iDZs perform any other function beyond the assessments?

technology service. The fourth aspect was the ability to align with the law of the land requirements. The fifth point is, it is completely on the cloud and not on-premise. The sixth and last point is that the commercial model will be on transaction per unit, for example in terms of assessment it would be the number of candidates, for manufacturing units, it could be users and in case of education, it can be students and so on. These core business principles are being retained till date.

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How has been the evolution of TCS iON over the past few years?

implementing these as well, but the assessment platforms have experienced higher demand leading to a much faster growth in the market. TCS iON is unique, ‘Made in India’ and is the first in the assessment and examination sector, which has the capability to deal with a large number of issues faced by this sector. We aim to curb the existing challenges in the education and assessment sector such as unfair practices, cancellation of exams, leakage of question papers to name a few. We have more than 100 patents filed on multiple platforms that we have created in India.

When we started, we looked at small and medium businesses such as Manufacturing. As the market started growing, we looked beyond these areas and conceived multiple platforms. In

We have also created a unique business model which we call a ‘Phygital’ model.

In this, we integrated the physical assets in an intelligent fashion with digital platforms that we have built over a

MARCH 2019

There are still large number of exams which are conducted in pen-paper mode. In such cases; instead of students, teachers use iDZs to evaluate the scanned images of the answer books on these computing devices. We have extended beyond India as well. For example, Indian teachers evaluate the performances of the students of a Japan-based school. Some of the local communities utilise the iDZs for learning purposes, such as pursuing online courses.

What is the business model of the TCS iON Business?

We operate in both B2C as well as B2B models. To deliver, we have created physical assets and integrated into our unique business model. First, let me give an example in the B2B model. An educational institute with around 3,000 students based in Noida, may lack the requisite technology courses such as Applied IoT or 3D printing. They can come and register in TCS iON Learning Hub platform and get 200 student

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

subscriptions for their college students.

Here, we are operating through business to business model. They can generate activation codes from our platform and give it to those 200 children who can consume the content either in the college or in an iDZ or from the respective mobile phones of the students. When the students are directly consuming the course content, it is operating in a business to consumer model.

What is the number of candidate assessments you have done so far?

The number is increasing at a rapid pace. We have done approximately 163 million student assessments since 2012.

On a yearly basis, we are doing 60 million candidate assessments. Last year, the number was around 45 million.

The assessments are done in 15 languages including Manipuri, Urdu and Malayalam. Predominantly the exams are conducted in English and Hindi. We also support international languages.

Apart from India, we operate in 20 countries.

Are the iDZs located outside India also?

No, although iDZs are not located in the international locations, we leverage local institutions for support. There is a considerable investment to create an iDZ, hence we take the local support in international locations.

What are the types of assessments that are done by TCS iON? There are three kinds of assessments that we do. One is recruitment assessment, which includes banks, government recruitment bodies among others. Second is the academic admission assessment such as the Common Admission Test (CAT) for IIMs, Graduate Aptitude Test Engineering (GATE), which is conducted by IITs. The

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third one is the skill aptitude assessment, for example, Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) among others are done by us.

How do you ensure standardisation in the automated form of assessments?

The standardisation comes from multiple dimensions. The first one would be the physical dimension, i.e. iDZs across the country have a uniform infrastructure. The second dimension is content. Although the tests are conducted in multiple shifts with different sets of question paper, a normalisation process comes into play to ensure that there is a homogeneity maintained across the shifts in terms of difficulty level. The blueprint of the question paper will have a particular number of questions with tough, moderate and easy level of difficulty questions and coverage of topics. The system generates different sets of question papers maintaining the normalisation factors on this blueprint and then it is encrypted and shared with the examiners.

How do you ensure that no unfair means are practiced during the exams?

At the iDZs, we take multiple measures to ensure that there is no practice of unfair means. The candidates’ biometric record is captured on the exam day as well as on the day of his/ her admission to avoid impersonation.

Apart from impersonation, there are a number of other challenges. Hacking by organised crime doers to create disruptions during an exam. To beat these, we have developed our own assessment specific operating system instead of depending on a third party operating systems. We have uniquely patented a systemic approach wherein a question paper won’t be visible to anyone unless the first candidate opens it in the exam centre.

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Apprise on the role of TCS iON in the manufacturing domain?

We have a portfolio of products and services for multiple sub-segments in Manufacturing. We address small and medium manufacturing industries in 30+ sectors. We offer end-to-end solutions starting from sourcing, invoice, production, quality, HR, finance, accounting etc.

What is the model of creating the infrastructure of these Digital Zones?

We work with a number of Infrastructure partners, who put the infrastructure and make it available to us throughout the year. In few cities, we also have built our own infrastructure. In addition to it, we use the computing infrastructure of colleges on weekends, when they are notutilised. We have tie-ups with 3,000 such colleges to augment our existing capacity. There are several instances where we run a single shift exam with around two lakh candidates.

What are your expansion plans?

We are focusing on expanding internationally in select countries including South Africa and South America. Secondly, we have a deep focus on our lifelong learning products in trending subjects. We will take these in both,B2C and B2B models. We will approach this in a ‘Phygital’ model where an industry can participate leveraging our platforms and take it to the needy students in the college campus. The next area is to accelerate and address the skill development space. There is a huge gap between skills available and industry requirement. We want to bridge this gap. To do that, we are enabling a unique two-part skilling assessment. The first part is the test of knowledge and the second one is test of application or practical knowledge. The hands-on activity is further video recorded for the perusal of industry.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Ayushi Mishra

Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer DronaMaps

DRONAMAPS – DEPLOYING DRONES AS GEOSPATIAL DATA

GATHERING TOOL FOR RURAL AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Drones fulfil this fundamental need for better, cheaper, regularly updated geospatial information about what exists now with the use of photogrammetry, image processing, and ground control points, says Ayushi Mishra, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, DronaMaps, in this interview with Elets News Network (ENN). She further states that drones have been heavily used by the government in India for the last three to four years and how DronaMaps is partnering with various state governments to carry out projects related to Smart City.

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Can you elaborate on the UAV—based solutions that DronaMaps offers?

It is an easy to use enterprise-class solution that helps organisations extract analytics from imagery captured through drones. It is specially designed to handle the challenges of dense and unstructured geospatial data in emerging countries like India. For instance, Polavaram dam is going be one of the largest dams in Asia. Imagine you are the person in charge of rehabilitation and resettlement of 65,000 people who would lose their homes because of the dam. The problem is to decide the fate of all these people and the data you have is just one location latitude and longitude with no visual understanding of the assets and gelocations. Basically, only thumbtacks marking the positions of 186 villages. It is ironic that Facebook has way more data to optimise advertisements! We at DronaMaps, started with the idea of helping this decision maker help the people.

We help large organisations save time and money by enabling the use of

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drones as a data gathering tool. Drone flies over the area of interest in a particular pattern (we use drone service providers to make our operations scalable and maintain quality assurance to ensure compliance with our processing framework). Once the images and ground ops are completed, the data is automatically sorted through deep learning and AI algorithms, the sorted images are then reconstructed by our 3D processing engines to create a point cloud. As byproducts of this process we receive: Orthomosaic (high resolution 2D maps), 3D maps, Contours, Digital Surface models. A hybrid of legacy geospatial, image processing, artificial intelligence, and point cloud classification approaches are applied to identify features like built-up areas, roads, and streetlights. In the precision agriculture tool kit, the identified features are biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. The map itself is raw material, the analytics ensure that it empowers decision makers to make informed decisions based on highly accurate and easy to interact with geospatial data.

We have two core specialisations: rural/ urban development and planning and precision agriculture. For instance, we are helping the city Kanpur, which is densely populated, by extracting parametric data from 3D drone based maps for property tax assessments.

Traditionally, this process would cost 16 times more, and would take four times more time. All this does not account for the possible loss of transparency, which does happen in India. We bring a way that is not only more transparent, cost effective, reliable, faster, but also much easier for the government authorities in India to use and interpret.

Which are the projects where these UAV-based solutions have been leveraged?

Drones have been heavily used by the government in India for the last three to

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“We are exploring the possibilities of using our maps for drainage and sewage planning, flood mapping, construction planning and corridor mapping for highways. We have already worked on major infrastructure projects like the Polavaram Dam in Andhra Pradesh.” four years now. We have worked with the University of Berkeley in smart villages project for six state governments. We have worked on Smart City for Sagar, Property Tax assessments for Kanpur, surveying for pipelines on drone based maps in 400 sq km of rural areas in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh border. Recently, our 3D mapping for 90 sq km of Industrial area in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, was unveiled by the state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. For a similar project in SEZ Indore, we have received an award for the “Most Innovative Startup” from the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The maps we have created would be used for development planning and monitoring of the land use. We are exploring the

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possibilities of using our maps for drainage and sewage planning, flood mapping, construction planning and corridor mapping for highways. We have already worked on major infrastructure projects like the Polavaram Dam in Andhra Pradesh. In fact, our live coverage of the progress of the dam with a drone was streamed for the President of India.

What are the verticals where DronaMaps operates and what are the solutions specific to each of these verticals?

We have two core specialisations: rural/ urban development and planning and precision agriculture.

In rural/urban mapping and development we provide a web application with highly accurate geospatial information about a piece of land in 3D. Basically, authorities can view the entirety of Gurgaon in 3D, measure the heights of buildings, the plot areas, notice the geolocation of each tree, and assess the elevations for pipelines, all from the comfort of their laptops. The addition of a third dimension and 10 times resolution over satellite maps makes this raw data extremely potent. We build customised web based applications to aid planning and development for pipeline, creation of master plans, feature extraction and utility planning, drainage and sewage planning, monitoring of massive infrastructure projects, and their volumetric change tracking.

In precision agriculture, we work with farmers to identify the plant stresses like pest and diseases and help farmers save cost of inputs on the field while increasing yield. We have worked with Reliance Foundation and some major exporters of fruits for precision agriculture.

What is the distribution model that DronaMaps follows? Who are the SIs working with you and what is the partner structure?

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Drones heralding the new age of AI backed geospatial intelligence

We use a network of partners to help us coordinate with the government, like, SAP, Kotak Mahindra, and ESRI. In addition to these large enterprises we are also working with urban planners and surveyors to enable them to use our products to fulfill the demand from government offices they normally witness. In addition, this year, we are hoping to form deeper connects with Cisco, NEC, Honeywells of the world.

Which are the verticals that DronaMaps gets maximum traction from? Which are your marquee clients in each of these verticals?

Majority of our revenue is coming from our urban mapping and surveying vertical. Part of the reason is the openness to innovation, direct impact on governance, ability to pay for the technological prowess. However, we are also very passionate about our precision agriculture product and are nurturing it till the industry matures.

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Can you elaborate on DronaMap’s collaborations with the Andhra Pradesh and the Uttar Pradesh governments?

As a nation, our technological progress is incomplete until it percolates to the villages. Our team felt strongly about bringing the technological innovations to the Indian villages. We went to the villages, conducted ethnographic studies, and took the time to understand the administrative framework that goes into decisionmaking. We realised that there is a need for granular data about localised regions to aid the planning and development at a grassroot level.

The Andhra Pradesh government’s openness to drones as a technology allowed us a place to grow and nurture, we worked with them on University of Berkeley’s Smart Village project, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of Polavaram Dam, and also mapped the Industrial areas of Kakinada for attracting more investments. Even our work on precision agriculture with

Reliance Foundation was based near Visakhapatnam because of the support we received from the state.

Over the whole of last year, we have received massive amounts of support from the Uttar Pradesh government in testing the limits of the technology in ever more complex applications, like drainage and sewage planning, planning for pipeline networks, property tax assessments, planning for disaster mitigation etc. Gorakhpur, Lucknow, and Kanpur are some of the places we have mapped in, apart from the areas around the border for surveying for pipeline planning on the UP- MP border.

What are the advantages of drones in smart cities? What was your experience in the Sagar project?

In the year 2050, 70 percent Indians would live in cities. To support all these people you need overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications, and market viability. Moreover, you would need cities where information is

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

operational time (anywhere upto 80 percent as compared to traditional surveying methods depending on geographical challenges). With the need to advance smart city programmes quickly, drones offer flexibility, allowing surveyors to map long corridors efficiently at the start of projects and collect in-depth data to aid decisionmaking at an earlier stage. Instead of separating vital data in different filing cabinets, computer systems, teams or buildings, seemingly disparate pieces of information are aligned, allowing policy makers to make better decisions to the benefit of all. Integration with IoT and MIS platforms ensures that you have a geospatial anchor to all your insights.

The best part about all this is that the benefits of the data do not stop at the Smart City project alone. The same data can be used for tax assessments, planning disaster mitigation, drainage

the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. In order to design such a Smart City, one needs a digital replica of the current city with all its assets. A smart city requires oversight of the many working parts of an urban area from the public transit system to the radio towers on building tops.

Converting an established urban area into a smart city begins with a 3D reconstruction that accurately maps every entity within the city. The precision of this map is extremely important, because it is the foundation of the whole system.

Drones fulfil this fundamental need for better, cheaper, regularly updated geospatial information about what exists now with the use of photogrammetry, image processing, and ground control points. The captured imagery could provide a base for collecting all the 2D and 3D features that are the last-mile problem in modelling and visualising the whole world. The major advantages of drone survey are usability, sharability, granularity, and startling savings on

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“We help large organisations save time and money by enabling the use of drones as a data gathering tool.

Drone flies over the area of interest in a particular pattern.

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and sewage planning, etc. The officials can also keep track of the volumetric changes in particular areas of interest in the city.

What are the challenges in implementation of drone-based solutions in smart cities?

For our solution of mapping and surveying, as the tenders for smart cities are massive in scale, small startups like ours which provide a niche expertise need the right support system. We have been fortunate in finding a nurturing partner network till this point but to grow over the next one year, our hope is to be involved with more government departments, SIs, and enterprises who would like to partner with us to fulfill India’s Smart City goals.

What is going to be DronaMaps roadmap in terms of products and solutions this year? What are your focus areas?

Our engagements with government organisations act like paid pilots for us that make us cognizant of the features needed by the end-user based on the feedback received from our clients. It helps us understand how our product would be used on the ground and enable the process of its adaption; the second purpose it serves is helping us productise our platform and empowering our research by providing a constant set of challenges and data to work with. For this year, we are looking forward to working on Smart cities, flood management, disaster planning, surveying for highways and railway corridors.

The product is coming together bit by bit. It has been a labour intensive and harrowing process. Our team of engineers from IIT, NIT, and Johns Hopkins University are taking on some of the most complex challenges in the geospatial world. It is heartening to see the positive response from government organisations.

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MINISTER’S PERSPECTIVE

USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE IMAGE OF UTTAR PRADESH 44

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What is your plan of action for implementation of ICT in the Stamps & Registration Department of Uttar Pradesh Government?

The Stamps and Registration Department is one of the important departments of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, which generates the second largest amount of revenue to the state. Citizens are directly connected with its services; hence adoption of modern, online and advanced technologies would not only upgrade the quality of service but also improve the image of the state.

Nand Gopal Gupta

Minister of Stamp and Civil Aviation, Government of Uttar Pradesh

Committed to improve government service delivery like registration of property and marriages, the Government of Uttar Pradesh has embarked upon many ambitious projects to upgrade not only the quality of services but also improving the image of the state by adopting modern technology, says Nand Gopal Gupta, Minister of Stamp and Civil Aviation, Government of Uttar Pradesh, in an interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

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We are currently working on a very ambitious project called PRERNA (Property Evaluation & Registration Application), which has been specially designed to reorient the Stamps and Registration Department towards 100 percent automation in the registration process and speedy delivery of registered documents to the citizens of Uttar Pradesh. The purpose of PRERNA is to computerise the registration process in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in such a manner that the day-to-day activities of property registration can be streamlined.

More than 40,000 lakh registries happen in a year in the state and nearly 2.5 crore people visit the registrar office in their area. The online system has been designed to eliminate the maladies affecting the conventional registration system by introducing electronic delivery of all registration services. This software will facilitate the citizens in a big way that they need to visit the registrar office for biometric verification only.

Submission of documents and purchase of stamps can be done online.

Please explain how the marriage registration process

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MINISTER’S PERSPECTIVE

has become easier with the introduction of e-Parinaypatra in the state?

Pradesh and what is the roadmap to strengthen air-connectivity?

Marriage registration certificates are issued by the Stamps and Registration Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh to both husband and wife whose marriage has already been solemnised. It is a very simple, unique and first of its kind registration system in the country, where registrants get the marriage certificate online without going to the marriage registrar’s office after their details are authenticated through Aadhaar.

Under the Central government’s ambitious scheme Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), the state government had decided to develop new airports in 12 major cities of the state under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).

Airports in Agra and Kanpur came up in the first phase. Under the second phase of RCS – UDAN, development of airport will take place in 10 cities — Allahabad, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Bareilly, Chitrakoot, Hindon, Jhansi, Moradabad, Sonbhadra and Shravasti.

In e-Parinaypatra, the registrant has to apply online through departmental website http://igrsup.gov.in. In this process the details of husband and wife (like name, age, fathers name, address, email, mobile no. and photograph) are captured using Aadhaar. Online payment of registration fee is done though net banking. After the successful payment, marriage registration certificate in Hindi and English is sent to the registrants email/login instantly.

Which all cities will be covered under UDAN scheme in Uttar

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For air connectivity, two years ago, there were only three airports functional in the state. Today, along with these airports, we have functional airports in Prayagraj, Agra and Kanpur. The government is also developing the Jewar International Airport which is expected to have an annual passenger handling capacity of 60 lakh when it opens by March 2023.

What are the incentives being offered under UP Civil Aviation Promotion Policy?

In a bid to provide alternative and faster transport from far-flung places to state capital Lucknow and to give impetus to regional connectivity, the state government has drafted a Civil Aviation Promotion Policy under which certain incentives will be extended to the airlines which will operate in these cities. These include reimbursement of state GST on tickets for the next three years, no parking charges or night halt charges of aircraft at government-run airports and other concessions.

The government has decided to provide minimum land, if required, free of cost and free from all encumbrance for development of RCS airports. Government will also provide ambulance and medical facilities, bus connectivity with the nearby main city at RCS airports and publicity support for RCS routes.

Security and fire services free of cost will be provided at RCS airports through appropriately trained personnel and standard equipment. Besides electricity, water and other utility services will be provided to airline operators at concessional rates.

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ADVERTORIAL ADVERTORIAL

AAI sets a new benchmark in its commitment to reduce carbon footprint.

A

irports Authority of India (AAI) being the sole Air Navigation Service (ANS) provider and operator of Airports across the country is consistently honoring the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

By implementing cost effective carbon mitigation action to conserve environment and reduce its adverse impact on the society and the larger ecosystem, AAI is committed towards the reduction of Green House Gas (GHG).

Airports Council International (ACI), an organization representing the world`s airports has announced that four AAI airports – Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata; Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar; Lal Bhadaur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi and the Trivandrum International Airport have successfully completed the first step of instituting an environment policy and carbon mapping as per the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) Programme.

The policy includes a framework to reduce emissions and develop a Carbon Footprint mapping for the airport’s own

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emissions which are under its control.

In line with national as well as global climate change initiatives, AAI has initiated GHG management program at four of these airports with an objective of ensuring sustainable development of the aviation industry. The Airport Carbon Accreditation programme has been developed and launched by ACI. It is a voluntary Global Carbon Management Standard for Airports. The aim of Airport Carbon Accreditation is to encourage and enable airports to implement best practices in carbon management with the ultimate objective of becoming carbon neutral.

Achievement of accreditation for carbon mapping is indeed an example of great team work. With this achievement, AAI has set up a new benchmark towards fulfilling environment obligations by reducing its carbon footprint. Going forward, AAI is focusing on energy conservation and exploring alternative solutions for generating green energy.

AAI also aims to increase its solar power generation capacity to 68MW by 2020.

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

SAP: Building Intelligent Nations

Dr Lovneesh Chanana Vice President - Digital Government (Asia Pacific and Japan), SAP

“India has taken great strides in incorporating emerging technologies and is progressing rapidilly from Digital India to Digitally Intelligent India.”

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Governments face daunting challenges to protect the community, provide services, and help the economy prosper.

Successfully embracing the opportunities from new technologies and implementing the right initiatives will be the foundation of staying competitive and to become more efficient for Governments in future, says Dr Lovneesh Chanana, Vice President - Digital Government (Asia Pacific and Japan), SAP, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

How much has the Government incorporated technologies like AI, IoT, Blockchain, Machine Learning etc. According to you, is the demand vs supply requirement in the governance sector met? If not, what more must be done? How is SAP contributing towards it?

India has taken great strides in incorporating emerging technologies and is progressing rapidly from “Digital India” to “Digitally Intelligent India”. It is interesting to note that both ‘cyber physical systems’ and Artificial Intelligence have been given an impetus

by the Government for implementation.

There is constant progress towards ensuring readiness for the deployment of these technologies for the digital transformation of enterprises and Governments The nature of requirements in the field of emerging technologies is highly dynamic and requires a collaborative approach among multiple stakeholders.

It involves the participation of stakeholders from policy planning, industry, academia, legal and research.

As an example, with drones becoming a reality, the domains of cyber security, physical safety, disaster management,

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aviation and public security would need to come together to ensure that there is a unified approach to policy as well as commercial arrangements.

As SAP, we stand committed to support digital initiatives and have been contributing to the same through our innovative technology solutions.

Initiatives such as Code Unnati and Bharat ERP have been conceived with aim of supporting digital skills building and promotion of tech-entrepreneurship.

What according to you are the challenges faced by the policy making sector and how can these be mitigated?

AThe rapid development and deployment of emerging technologies has created a dynamic environment for Governments and policy makers. It is a two-way phenomenon wherein the data being fed and supplied by users becomes the basis for machines to learn and become a co-worker. The subject of data privacy, protection and security thus becomes a priority for Governments.

Emerging technologies deployment (like autonomous cars) is expected to have disruptive sectoral impact on businesses and Governments will need to practically anticipate and plan for the same. The ethical guidelines by German Government on autonomous cars are an excellent example. The task is to ensure data ownership (assuming the data to be the source of competitive strength) while ensuring cross-border innovation.

You have been closely working with the Government in terms of public policy, ICT in governance among others, what are some of the innovative initiatives you are working on at present or implemented recently?

There lies a huge opportunity in digitally integrating government service delivery.

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The term applied for this approach is ‘Whole of Government’ wherein several pillars of the government service delivery are digitally integrated. The next wave of technology development in terms of analytics, predictive modelling and personalisation of services will become easier. Backend government processes offer a unique integration opportunity due to standardised processes. States like Andhra have chosen SAP as the partner for the comprehensive financial management system (CFMS). The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has integrated their service delivery on SAP. It is our endeavor to bring global best practices in predictive and personalised service delivery in a local and customised way. The smart cities initiative by the Government offers a great opportunity for collaboration and transforming India’s urban centers with the help of technology.

What are the top industry sectors where SAP is catering to? Please share some insights.

India is among the fastest growing large economies in the world and key industry sectors such as manufacturing, retail, oil and gas, Government and urban local bodies are running mission critical systems on SAP. Our products and solutions are strengthening the IT and

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digital journey of more than 10,000 customers with more than 12,000 employees. We are committed to supporting the digital transformation journey of small and medium enterprises that truly form the backbone of the Indian economy.

In terms of adoption of emerging technologies like cloud computing, sectors such as banking and financial services have much room for growth and can take advantage of scalability, lower costs and ease of operations.

What is your vision for SAP in the upcoming years after taking the new role which is heading Asia Pacific & Japan region?

The resurgence of Asia has created a dynamic environment and one of our priorities is to facilitate the awareness and strategic orientation around ‘Intelligent Nations’ in the region. The initial assessment has shown that policy issues faced by Governments are similar though vary in terms of maturity and development priorities.

We are positioning ourselves to facilitate the exchange of knowledge as well as experience among countries and approach the challenges from a different dimension. Trans-border cooperation on structural challenges can help in leveraging the strengths and identifying areas for improvement.

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GLOBAL ACADEMIC DESTINATION

offered by the medical universities in Georgia are both recognised by the Medical council of India and World Health Organisation (WHO).

Benefits and Advantages of Studying MBBS in Georgia

How Georgia is Emerging as a FAVORABLE DESTINATION for MEDICAL STUDENTS It is a fantasy of many students to study medical science in Europe. Georgia is gradually emerging as a new destination for the Indian students to study medical science, as the courses offered by the medical universities in Georgia are both recognised by the Medical council of India and World Health Organisation (WHO).

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G

Apart from being a beautiful country, Georgia provides various benefits to International students. Students from India and other countries come to Georgia to take medical education.

These are some of the reasons why students prefer to study medical in Georgia. l No donations l No entrance exam l Scholarships for meritorious students l Globally recognised degree l Good climate throughout the year l Affordable fees and low cost of living l Fully English medium l Highly qualified faculty l Eligible for education loan l Covered under ECTS & Bologna Process l Student can work in any European country

eorgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia and is one of the most exciting and stimulating countries in the world.

Situated at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, the country is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan.

Studying MBBS in Europe and finally settling there is a dream for every student. MBBS fees in Georgia is comparatively low and the quality of education in Georgia is very high. That is why Georgia is becoming one of the famous destinations for taking medical education in Europe. Many Indian students have started going to Georgia after 2011.

At present, Georgia is emerging as a significant and a popular destination among the medical students who wish to pursue their higher studies in Europe.

Georgia is fast emerging as a new destination for the Indian students to study medicines. The country is gradually enhancing its educational standards to become a top choice for students.

Medical universities in Georgia are the best in Central Europe. The courses

High-Quality Education: Universities in Georgia offer significantly better education as compared to private medical schools in India. The focus is put on to inherit practical skills in the student. The students also get access to the latest & modern medical equipment.

The good universities in Georgia follow the quality guidelines of the World Health Organization. Hence, studying from a top-rated MBBS University in

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Georgia ensures success in the medical career or the students.

Lower Cost than India and Other Countries: Studying MBBS in Georgia is a much cheaper option as compared to the Indian private medical schools. Indian medical schools also lack the practical experience. Hence, there is no point in paying huge donations to Indian medical schools. The overall fees vary across universities since some universities like European University offer a 5-year degree while the rest of them offer a 6-year degree.

Cost of living in Georgia is quite easy on pockets. The average food and living expenses are just around $250 per month i.e. Rs. 16000. Also, there is no donation to take admission in MBBS University in Georgia. So, Indian students can get best and cheap MBBS education from best universities in Georgia.

MCI Approved Medical Universities in Georgia (updated 2019): Medical Council of India (MCI) maintains a list of universities. Only students studying in these universities are eligible to take the MCI screening test. So, students are advised not to take admission for MBBS study in Georgia without checking the list on MCI website. Only the following universities in Georgia are approved by MCI of India for medical study abroad.

Universities for Medicial Science Recognised by MCI l l l l l l l l l l

AkakiTsereteli State University European University University of Georgia IvaneJavakhishvili Tbilisi State University Teaching University Geomedi David Agmashenebeli University of Georgia David Tvildiani Medical University East Europeon University (not recommend) Euroregioinal Teaching University LLC Georgian American University

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l l l l l l l l l l l l

Georgian National University High Medical School “Ayeti” Kutaisi Medical Institute “Kutaisi” LLC Caucasus International University Batumi ShotaRustaveli State University New Vision University PetreShotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy Tbilisi Medical University “Hippocrates” Tbilisi Open Teaching University Tbilisi Public University “Metekhi” Tbilisi State Medical University “AIETI” Medical School

“The Embassy of Georgia has been working in close cooperation with VFS Global to provide convenience to bonafide Indian students desirous of pursuing their further studies in Georgia. The Visa Application Centre network has been expanded to 15 cities across India which will greatly help student applicants to apply for their Study Visa to Georgia closer to their home and without the need to travel to Delhi.

VFS Global will also assist the Embassy of Georgia and the Georgian universities in the student selection process by offering Check & Assess services in order to ensure that the students travelling to Georgia on study visas have the right credentials, academic ability, financial capability and intent. The services shall further help Georgian Educational Institutions improve the quality of their foreign students to help make Georgia an even more attractive study destination.”

Comparison with Russia and Ukraine Many agents are spreading false information about Georgia. This is because they do not have collaboration with MBBS universities in Georgia.

Hence, they defame MBBS study in Georgia so that they can send the

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students to the Ukraine or Russia.

However, by facts, Georgia is a much better destination for Medical Studies than Russia or Ukraine.

The majority of universities in Russia offer a bilingual medical course.

However, their agents in India do not pass on this information to the students. So, the students who go to Russia are taught in the Russian language for the last 3 years of the MBBS course. This affects the understanding of the students and they fail to grasp the information properly.

A large number of the graduates have already completed or are currently doing the residency or other proficiency courses, working as physicians in prominent USA and European Universities and Clinics. The absolute majority of the graduates have been employed in the professional field, while many more successfully passed the international exams (USMLE, PLAB, MCI) and are currently developing their skills at clinics and research centers of the USA, Germany, Britain, Sweden and other countries.

The other benefits the students can experience in Georgia are that is one of the matchless places when it comes to living standards and peace of life. There is plethora of options for you to have a happy and relaxed life within a budget.

While the country is a Democratic Republic, the crime rates are very less in the country, which provides a safe environment to the students. Georgia ranks top 10 safest countries in the world. At the same time, universities offer innumerable employment opportunities to the students, which features several top medical universities when it comes to the medicinal study. The economical living which is almost 2.5 times cheaper than USA and around 3 folds cheaper than UK. Georgia is a perfect place for the students to Pursue MBBS in Georgia’s medical universities.

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SPOTLIGHT: AFGHANISTAN

IndiaAfghanistan Relations: Moving from Strength to Strength India’s engagement in Afghanistan gained momentum with its continued assistance for socio-economic development ensuring greater connectivity and regional integration. India’s cooperation is based on the priorities of the people of Afghanistan, writes Neelapu Shanti, a journalist formerly associated with the Government of Afghanistan.

Neelapu Shanti

I

ndia-Afghanistan relations existed for thousands of years. Such links stem not only from shared interests but also from the profound and enduring cultural values that we share.

Afghanistan remains the top priority as a steadfast friend and an important partner of India. The bonding of the two nations provides a solid foundation in the maintenance of peace, stability and inclusive prosperity. The IndiaAfghanistan friendship corridor encapsulates promoting development partnership as envisaged in the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) of 2011.

India’s bilateral and regional commitments are in continuity for Afghanistan’s development and humanitarian needs. India’s cooperation with Afghanistan encompasses building infrastructure and institutional capacity for growth and development of the war-torn nation. India has been

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supporting Afghanistan in Confidence Building Measures (CBM’s) of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) which includes chambers of commerce cooperation, commercial opportunities, regional infrastructure, and education.

India supports ‘Afghan-led’ and ‘Afghanowned’ government with a broad vision and believes that regional cooperation is an important element in helping Afghanistan for the restoration of peace and development in a country which has witnessed more than 17 years of war and bloodshed.

India’s Assistance in Afghanistan India’s engagement in Afghanistan gained momentum with its continued assistance for socio-economic development ensuring greater connectivity and regional integration. India’s cooperation is based on the priorities of the people of Afghanistan. The prolonged war in Afghanistan has dwindled growth and prosperity. India stood solidly by Afghanistan in the crucial phase of instability by extending its support for

unified, sovereign, democratic, peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

India’s assistance in capacity and capability sphere of Afghanistan includes agriculture, education, health, skill development, empowerment of women and energy infrastructure have grown from strength to strength.

Education and Skill Development India has made a significant stride in transforming knowledge in promoting to fulfil the aspirations of higher education.

Afghanistan-India’s bilateral cooperation under ICCR, ITEC and various other scholarship programmes offered to Afghan students notably reflects India’s assistance on a broader spectrum. India is a preferred destination for Afghanistan to pursue education. Annually the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) offers more than 1,000 scholarships to Afghan students and more than 16,000 students are studying in different varsities in India. In a recent development, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at IIT Madras with Afghanistan Government in

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consultation with the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) by offering programmes based on digital education. This MoU will help students to learn Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) available in SWAYAM Platform.

Trade and Connectivity India’s $3 billion aid to Afghanistan since 2001 has given necessary support bilaterally for economic development and humanitarian assistance of the war-ravaged nation. The bilateral trade between India-Afghanistan stood at more than $900 million and targets to achieve $2 billion by 2020.

To promote greater connectivity of landlocked Afghanistan, India launched the air corridor programme in 2017.

With over 170 flights exchanged between India and Afghanistan since its commencement, the country sets to seize opportunities with new emerging markets. Kabul-New Delhi, KabulMumbai, Kabul-Amritsar, and KabulKolkata are in operation successfully and aiming to connect Afghanistan through the air corridor programme with all Indian cities.

The operation of Chabahar port in February this year is the biggest breakthrough for Afghanistan to export its goods to India through sea route for the first time bypassing Pakistan. The opening of Chabahar port corridor provides a new route for Afghanistan and India creating viable opportunities connecting with potential markets.

New Development Partnership Programme Under the ‘New Development Partnership’ programme, India has implemented 116 High Impact Community Development Projects in 31 provinces in Afghanistan in the areas of education, health, agriculture, irrigation, drinking water, renewable energy, flood control, micro-hydropower, sports

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infrastructure and administrative infrastructure.

utility helicopters to the Afghan Air Force (AAF) in December 2016.

Medical Facility

The India-Afghanistan Foundation promotes cultural and people to people contacts. To harness India’s sports potential, India has built Kandahar International Cricket Stadium.

India is providing advanced medical facility to Afghan patients, which is not available in their country. Afghan doctors seek training in specialised courses in different hospitals in India. India has initiated to treat Afghan children with congenital heart disease since 2015 by providing financial aid to Afghan Red Crescent Society. Around 467 Afghan children with congenital heart disease were treated in Artemis, Max, Fortis and other hospitals in India between 2017 and 2018.

Empowering Women An Indian NGO, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is supporting Afghan women in a big way by providing vocational training in Food processing garment making, nursery and greenhouse plantation. So far SEWA has trained more than 1500 Afghan women who have been benefited immensely through skill-based training programmes since 2008. Last year a batch of 20 Lady Officers from the Afghan Army and Afghan Air Force imparted training from Officers Training Academy in India.

Other assistance includes military aid for which India has supplied four Mi-25s military helicopters to Afghanistan in 2018 and imparted training to hundreds of Afghan security personnel. India delivered four Mi-25 (Mi-24D) helicopters and three HAL Cheetah light

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Afghanistan-India Relations Way Forward The traditional faithful friendship between India and Afghanistan is not just remaining true but also flourishing. India continues to play an important role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan through Humanitarian assistance programmes that will strengthen the relations to new levels. With this approach, India is making efforts to forge substantive links, deeper economic and bilateral integration and foster people-to-people contacts with Afghanistan.

India’s investment in Afghanistan for economic growth, women’s empowerment programmes, and infrastructure development should be expanded. India’s assistance to Afghanistan is extremely important to deal with tough situations and bring peace and prosperity in the country and across the region. India aims to maintain a comprehensive development strategy that will foster and establish bilateral and multilateral relations with Afghanistan.

(The writer is a journalist who was formerly associated with Government of Afghanistan)

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Melba Pria

Mexican Ambassador to India

“We live in a world that is slowly but unequivocally moving towards cleaner energies and away from fossil fuels.

Mexico has a large and diverse renewable energy resource base.�

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MEXICO: Nurturing a Strong, Active and Close Relationship with India Mexico and India are similar millenary civilizations inheriting very rich ancient cultures, impacted by a colonial experience. And despite our apparent physical distance, the cultures of Mexico and India are quite similar in essence, says Melba Pria, Mexican Ambassador to India, in an exclusive interview with Elets News Network (ENN), where she gives an overview of IndiaMexico relations and talks about lessons that India can learn from Mexico to address challenges posed by environmental pollution and diversification of economy.

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official vehicle resonated so well with the general public as well as the media.

Mexico City has successfully turned around from being one of the world’s most polluted cities.

How could your country pull this feat and what can Delhi learn from your experience?

Mexico City is my hometown and I had seen it struggling with the pollution issue, when it was declared the most polluted city in the world in 1992 by the United Nations. However, since then there has

industry, changing the type of gasoline to make it less polluting, and a mandate for their filters to be changed, a mandatory change of the catalytic converters of cars, encouraging use of alternative transportation, an expansion in the metro system, and other initiatives to promote and improve public transportation like Metrobus (a rapid bus transit system) and Ecobici (bicycle sharing programme) were started. We also have a good set of emergency measures in place. When the pollution levels reach a certain point, the city is prepared to further restrict cars and even cancel school classes for the day.

You have made a mark in India by using a unique official vehicle. It is a classic example of innovation in leadership, for a cause. What are your comments?

When I arrived in India, it was my desire to do things differently and to think outside of the box. My job was to promote Mexico among all Indians, and what better way to do it than using one of India’s instantly recognisable cultural icons, the autorickshaw. I consider the auto as one of the most efficient means of transport, and it is what most Indian people use for transportation, so I figured why not me–I could do it as well. It is a vehicle well-adjusted to the realities of traffic-ridden Delhi, and a great way to participate in the Indian way of life and transportation. It is also a fun way to promote Mexico and Mexican artistry.

Moreover, it served the cause of spreading awareness towards environmental concerns. My auto runs on CNG which is less polluting than a regular four-wheeler vehicle, thus, reducing my carbon footprint. I am very happy my

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been considerable progress. In 1989, at the height of the pollution crisis, the government of Mexico City established a vehicle restriction initiative known as “Hoy No Circula”. It was conceived as a temporary measure for the winter months that became permanent. It restricted the circulation of 20 percent of the vehicles, from Monday to Friday, depending on their license plate. Later, it evolved to restrict vehicles which were over eight years old and made it mandatory for all cars to pass a verification test. Mexico’s measures to improve air quality have been diverse and Mexico City has not relied on any one single programme to curb pollution. The city complemented this policy with many others, which involved closing and moving polluting factories and

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The various policies implemented managed to reduce pollution from 25 to 70 percent, depending on the polluting agent. In just four years, from 2008 to 2012, Mexico City recorded a 7.7m tonnes reduction in carbon emissions beating a sevent million tonnes target, and in 2013, Mexico won the C40 City Award on Air Quality. Nevertheless, the implementation of these types of programmes represents a perpetual effort for the sake of having better air quality.

We continue to learn in order to cope with new challenges.

Getting the people of Delhi on board is crucial. There will always be some type of resistance to measures that make people change their habits. The World Health

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Organisation has stated that more than seven million premature deaths are linked to air pollution. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness of the dangers of pollutants. The government will have to make the improvement of air quality a priority and make a commitment to the implemented policies, ensuring that they are kept above the political fray.

Air pollution is a complex issue that requires long term solutions and improvement will require a huge amount of commitment from its citizens.

However, the efforts will be worth it because what steps we take today, may determine our quality of life in 20 years.

Last year’s general elections in Mexico were historic for many reasons. What are your thoughts on this?

On July 1, 2018, Mexico had one of its biggest and busiest elections in history, both in terms of the number of voters that went to the polls, and the amount of electoral processes that took place simultaneously. There were nine political parties in different alliances, and also independent candidates running for a number of public positions. Eighty-eight million Mexicans voted to elect a President of the Republic, 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies (lower chamber), 128 members of the Senate (upper chamber), nine state governors, 27 local assemblies, and local authorities in 25 states. For the third time, Mexicans abroad were able to vote by post.

The coalition Juntos Haremos Historia (Together We Will Make History) led by the National Regeneration Movement party, also known by its acronym MORENA, won the presidency with 53 percent of the popular vote, and won a majority in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was sworn to office on December 1, 2018.

The fact that an opposition party won the presidency proves that the system works.

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Mexico has one of the best electoral authorities. The National Electoral Institute of Mexico (INE) is an autonomous, independent, and specialised public body, responsible for the State function of organising and overseeing federal elections in Mexico, in addition to collaborating with local electoral management bodies to jointly conduct local elections. INE has also the mandate to oversee campaign expenditure, and we also have a specialised prosecutor and a high court for electoral crimes.

Give us an overview of IndiaMexico relations. What are the potential areas for taking the bilateral economic engagements to next level?

Mexico was the first Latin American country to recognise India’s independence in 1947, with formal diplomatic relations established in 1950.

Since then, our relations have been

moving steadily forward. As emerging economies, both countries have unique strategic capabilities that will allow them to take advantage of the current economic climate.

Trade with India has grown immensely in the last few years, from just over $6 billion in 2013 to over $8 billion in 2017.

Mexico is an oil-producing country and India is our third largest oil buyer. India’s FDI into Mexico totalled over $3.5 billion between 1999 and 2017. India exports more to Mexico than to other countries like Indonesia, Australia or Spain. In 2018, Mexico emerged as the largest trading partner of India in Latin America, with a total trade of $8.7 billion. This is the first time that Mexico has overtaken Brazil as the largest trading partner of India in the region. Mexico is India’s largest investor from Latin-America, with an FDI into India of over $1.5 million between 2009 and 2018. Mexico continued to be the largest export destination of India with $3.83 billion, having overtaken Brazil

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since 2016.In 2018, India had exported more to Mexico than to its neighbours such as Iran, Myanmar or traditional partners such as Canada, Russia and Egypt. India’s vehicle exports to Mexico are more than its exports to large neighbouring markets such as Bangladesh or Indonesia. Mexico is the second largest global destination for India’s vehicle exports, with $1.7 billion.

India is among the top 10 trading partners of Mexico, with approximately 70 Indian companies, mainly from the automotive, pharma and IT sectors, established in Mexico. There are 12 Mexican companies operating in India in various sectors, including auto parts, entertainment, information technology, energy, processed foods and industrial products.

Potential sectors for bilateral trade and investment include IT, pharmaceuticals, mining, chemicals, auto-components, renewable energy, biotechnology, defence equipment, textiles and garments, and gems and jewellery.

Mexico offers unique advantages for manufacturing facilities and labour that is particular to India, specifically in high skilled technological manufacturing products. Several subsectors are driving this manufacturing growth, most notably in high-end manufacturing, such as the automotive, plastics and aerospace industries.

Mexico has been able to diversify its economy from largely oil based to manufacturing. What were the enablers?

Mexico’s geographic location is an important factor. It is a gateway to a potential market of one billion consumers and 60 percent of world’s GDP. We have 10 FTAs with 45 countries, 32 Reciprocal Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (RIPPAs) with 33 countries, nine trade agreements within the framework of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI). Mexico is a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). 90 percent of trade falls under FTAs. The fiscal

Mexico and India complement each other in the field of energy. Earlier this year, Mexico’s Minister of Energy, Rocio Nahle Garcia participated in PETROTECH 2019, India’s flagship International Oil & Gas Conference, with the focus to promote bilateral outreach. Mexico offers investment incentives in upstream, mid-stream and downstream. There could be increased business opportunities in the renewable energy including bio fuels.

Our similar geographic conditions, the abundance of sun and wind, the presence of the Tropic of Cancer works in our favour. Mexico and India are working on technology exchanges, crossinvestments, etc. to collaborate in the renewable energy sector.

Please share the cultural commonalities between India and Mexico.

Mexico’s auto sector has been particularly strong, experiencing double-digit export growth every year since 2010. The plastics industry, which is valued at more than $20 billion per year, has averaged 13.4 percent growth in exports over the past five years.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s small but burgeoning aerospace industry based in the central state of Queretaro has grown even faster in recent years.

We maintain a strong, active and close relationship in economic, education, scientific and technical, cultural and political terms, and we are working towards broadening and deepening our relations in multilateral affairs.

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incentives to investment are another crucial driver of manufacturing diversification.

What are your prospects in the renewable energy grid? How can India & Mexico work collaborate in this sector?

We live in a world that is slowly but unequivocally moving towards cleaner energies and away from fossil fuels.

Mexico has a large and diverse renewable energy resource base. Given the right mix of policies, Mexico has the potential to attract large-scale investment in renewables that can help diversify its energy supply. Increased renewable energy use would also set Mexico on a pathway toward significantly reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

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Both Mexico and India are similar millenary civilizations inheriting very rich ancient cultures, impacted by a colonial experience. And despite our apparent physical distance, the cultures of Mexico and India are quite similar in essence. We are both large countries, with vibrant cultures, numerous languages and ethnicities, traditions and diverse lifestyles.

Mexicans and Indians uphold similar family values. We are both warm and hospitable, and enjoy our large, noisy family gatherings. The one aspect that stands out most is our shared love of spicy food. The Indian curry is similar to the Mexican ‘mole’ – the dish based on a sauce made of chillies and strong spices, and usually eaten along with a ‘tortilla’, which is like a corn ‘roti’. Just as Indians use pulses, beans are every bit as essential to our nourishment.

As the former Mexican Ambassador to India, the great poet, Nobel-laureate Octavio Paz wrote in his book ‘In Light of India’, “I can understand what it means to be Indian, because I am Mexican”.

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Elets e-India Innovation Summit, Rajasthan

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he 14th e-India Innovation Summit, a flagship event of Elets Technomedia, was organised at Jaipur, Marriott Hotel, Jawarhar Circle, Jaipur, Rajasthan on February 27, 2019. The conference provided a platform to the policy makers, industry leaders, investors and innovators to deliberate and ideate on emerging technologies, which are experiencing strong growth owing to changing customer preferences, favourable government policies, advancements in R&D and adoption on a scale never seen before in India.

The day-long conference saw key decision makers and thought leaders sharing their ideas and giving unique perspectives on topics ranging from various ways to increase investment in Rajasthan, infrastructure and IT-led industrialisation, employment generation-led growth, sustainable management of water, waste and infrastructure, ease of doing business and using financing as a tool to generate self-employment.

Aiming to unlock Rajasthan's true potential in developing, promoting and executing innovative technologies, the 14th edition of Elets e-India Innovation Summit attracted a good number of delegates from various fields and states.

The experts unequivocally supported the idea that technologies should be used to bring in inclusive and employment-led growth. The key areas for investment were identified as agriculture and agriculture-based industries, mineral and mineralbased industries, health industry, education and skill-based training, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, big data and IoT, among others.

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Conference Report INAUGURAL Rajasthan – The Next Investment Destination

(L-R) Alok, Principal Secretary, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME), Government of Rajasthan; Dr Govind Sharma, Advisor to Chief Minister, Government of Rajasthan; BC Pandey, Manufacturing Head, Ambuja Cement Ltd; and Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO of Elets Technomedia at the inaugural session of the 14th e-India Innovation Summit in Jaipur.

DR GOVIND SHARMA Advisor to Chief Minister Government of Rajasthan

A substantial part of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and golden quadrilateral road network goes through Rajasthan. The state is also a hub of tourism, healthcare, agriculture and mineral produce. There are 79 discovered minerals out of which 57 are exploited. Limestone is the most important of all the minerals found in Rajasthan. The state is also the second biggest cement producer in India. The talented artisans of the state in terms of handicrafts, art and music are also noted across the world. Hence, it’s my request to the investors to come to Rajasthan and explore innovation opportunities.

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ALOK

Principal Secretary, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME), Government of Rajasthan

At present, Rajasthan is undergoing a transition from agricultural to MSME and industrial economy. The Rajasthan government has issued new industrial policies to complement this economic transition. The state government has waived off farmers’ loan up to Rs 2 lakh. Rajasthan has a growing industry in minerals, textile and handicrafts. The export in handicrafts has crossed one billion USD.

BC PANDEY

Manufacturing Head Ambuja Cement Ltd

Rajasthan is the biggest producer of cement in India and the per capita consumption of cement in India is 200 kg. Rajasthan has a huge industry potential in terms of cement and minerals such as limestone. As part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Ambuja Industry is running seven institutes in Rajasthan. We are also working towards water conservation. We are preserving six times water which is used for our production operations. Ambuja Cements is also working towards reducing the carbon footprints by using energy efficiency technologies.

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Dignitaries facilitated at the 14th e-India Innovation Summit, Rajasthan.

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PANEL DISCUSSION

Investment & CSR: Infrastructure & IT based Industrial Development

(L-R) Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO of Elets Technomedia; Anuj Bindal, Head, Busines Development & Marketing, Mahindra World City; RL Naulakha, Chairman, Nitin Spinners Ltd; Subir Kumar, Managing Director, Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd; Dr Subodh Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of Rajasthan; Ambrish Kumar, Commissioner & Special Secretary, IT & Communication, Government of Rajasthan; and BC Pandey, Manufacturing Head, Ambuja Cement Ltd participating in a panel discussion on 'Investment & CSR: Infrastructure & IT based Industrial Development' at the 14th e-India Innovation Summit in Jaipur.

It is part of our work to put efforts towards more effective, more interactive industrial policy. Such policies are developed based on the interaction with stakeholders.

We are also working on dispute mechanism and bringing major legal changes in the system. Other initiatives include Jan Ghoshna Patra of the state focused in food processing parks, rain water harvesting, youth employment, investment promotion schemes to name a few.

DR SUBODH AGARWAL

Additional Chief Secretary, Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of Rajasthan

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We are integrating our public transport system with the IT system in a big way. The Government of India is launching NCMC, which is National Common Mobility Card wherein by using a common card, one can avail multiple modes of travel.

Several apps are developed to ease the commute process. We are also planning to develop driver-less cars by 2030 by utilising artificial intelligence.

The expansion of Jaipur Metro’s first phase is expected to be completed by August 2019.

SUBIR KUMAR

Managing Director Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd

A proper IT system can ensure predictable and timely deliveries.

Once we successfully implement this in the government system, we would be able to attract more investors across the country with the promise of doing business at ease. We at the Government of Rajasthan are utilising IT to develop various apps like iStart (for budding entrepreneurs) and Dhara (automated land records system), among others.

AMBRISH KUMAR

Commissioner & Special Secretary IT & Communication, Government of Rajasthan

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Mahindra World City has been established in Jaipur for around 11 years now. Today we have more than 85 companies including multinational, IT, conglomerates and entrepreneurial ventures in the Mahindra World City Jaipur.

Companies like Infosys, Wipro, Deutsche Bank etc. are also a part of this project and it would not have been possible without the Rajasthan government’s focus towards the IT infrastructure. The companies are working seamlessly owing to the infrastructure created. Now we can say that Jaipur, Rajasthan is a growing IT industry hub.

ANUJ BINDAL

Head, Business Development & Marketing Mahindra World City

We had started in 1992 with approximately 100 employees.

At present there are around 6,000 employees in our company and majority of them are from rural areas and have a maximum qualification of Class 10 pass. We have trained them to develop and inculcate skills required for their roles. At present we are facing several challenges in the areas of power supply, high export subsidy among others, which I request the government to take care of.

RL NAULAKHA

Chairman, Nitin Spinners Ltd.

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PANEL DISCUSSION: Employment Generation-led Growth Models

(L-R) Naveen Jain, Secretary-Skill Employment, Labour, and Entrepreneurship, Government of Rajasthan; Dr KK Pathak, Commissioner, Industries and Secretary, CSR, Government of Rajasthan; Dr Arvind Mayaram, Economic Advisor to Chief Minister, Government of Rajasthan; Sreya Guha, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Art and Culture, Government of Rajasthan; and Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO of Elets Technomedia participating in a panel discussion on 'Employment Generation-led Growth Models'.

Launch of eGov Magazine by Dr Arvind Mayaram, Economic Advisor to Chief Minister, Government of Rajasthan and Dr Subodh Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of Rajasthan and other panelists.

DR ARVIND MAYARAM

Economic Advisor to Chief Minister Government of Rajasthan Connect with us on

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With the Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things making inroads into the manufacturing sector, countries are faced with a number of policy concerns which need to be addressed at various levels keeping in mind the socio-economic factors that influence policy making in that country. Unlike its G-20 counterparts, India is yet to fully tap the available opportunities that AI presents. It is widely accepted that business sectors and manufacturing units are yet to fully utilise the available talent pool from the leading technology universities and bussing startups.

Business analysts predict that the deployment of AI to its full potential can add US$ 975 billion to India economy by 2035. This can be achieved by policy makers and business sectors actively working together to achieve this goal.

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SREYA GUHA

Principal Secretary, Tourism, Art and Culture, Government of Rajasthan

There is no platform available as such where the Labour Department, Skill, Employment, and Entrepreneurship departments sit with the Industries Department to find out what type of skills are in demand and what kind of things can be taught to our graduates, post-graduates to ensure they are gainfully employed. Such kind of platform is really required. Unfortunately, whenever there is a question of departmental coordination to achieve a target I find it slightly difficult to do that. In current scenario, the Labour Department is completely cut off from other departments and only works to ensure that all the 22 labour laws are implemented in the state.

Rajasthan is one of the best tourism-oriented states in India. The statistics show that the initiatives we have taken so far have resulted in almost 14 percent of the state's economy being somehow one way or the other related to tourism. It is said that almost every third earner in the state is somehow related to the tourism sector. The emphasis has been so far to increase our base of hotels, increase our Hospitality Services and that has created a huge job market, which has allowed creation of jobs for local youth. The department promotes a number of Institutions for providing skills and these are well sought after courses in hospitality and tourism management. To add to that, what we are now proposing is to go beyond destinations and the products that we have been offering and take it further to develop what we call rural tourism. We are in the process of developing a policy for this and we are open to suggestions.

NAVEEN JAIN

Secretary-Skill, Employment, Labour, and Entrepreneurship, Government of Rajasthan

DR K K PATHAK

Commissioner, Industries and Secretary, CSR, Government of Rajasthan

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Industry 4.0 is a challenge as well as an opportunity for us. New technologies like IoT, AI or augmented reality present a major challenge for our labour force.

Our big industries, which mostly include automobile and cement, have already started moving from Industry 3.0 to 4.0. Our MSME industry is 700,000 strong which employs around 3 to 3.5 million people and we need to look at the possibilities to make this labour force more efficient. For example, we are one of the best manufacturers of textiles in the world but the translation of this success from textile manufacturing to apparels is abysmally low at just around 1 percent. We need to ask ourselves that whether the knowledge that we are creating is getting transformed into skills? And, whether the skills we are creating is getting translated into jobs?

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PANEL DISCUSSION

Infrastructure, Water & Waste Management at 14th e-India Innovation Summit

(L-R) Alok Ranjan, Chief Executive Officer, Jaipur Smart City Ltd; AK Jain, Managing Director, Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL); Dr KK Pathak, Commissioner, Industries and Secretary, CSR, Government of Rajasthan; Dr Rajesh Sharma, Secretary, Civil Aviation, Government of Rajasthan; and Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO of Elets Technomedia participating in a panel discussion on 'Infrastructure, Water & Waste Management' at 14th e-India Innovation Summit, Jaipur.

Good connectivity plays a crucial role in the growth of any state.

Undoubtedly, air connectivity is one of the most preferred modes of transport owing to the convenience it offers. In terms of civil aviation, there is huge growth potential. At present, there are multiple airports in Rajasthan located in Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kota etc. We are in talks of upgrading and modifying the airbases in five to six locations.

DR RAJESH SHARMA Secretary, Civil Aviation Government of Rajasthan

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AK JAIN

We can create a sustainable environment if we use solar power at airports. We can implement the same to bridge the gap between infrastructure and sustainability.

Unless our citizens are aware, we can’t achieve the aim to build smart cities. The government must create such infrastructure which supports them and the citizens should also contribute by rooftop farming to make an environmentally conducive situation. Technological innovations are brought in the dairy industry as well. The process enabled data processing of the quantity and quality of the dairy products and the data was recorded in a card possessed by the producers.

Managing Director Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL)

As the SPV of Jaipur Smart City project, we have primarily selected the war areas in the Jaipur old city for development and renovation. We also focus on pedestrianisation, which refers to building proper sidewalks for the convenience of the pedestrians and also to restrict certain areas or roads for the vehicles.

We are also working for the Jaipur Municipal Corporation in terms of waste management. Developing such plans in a sustainable way is also a mandate for us.

We have produced 2.5-megawatt (MW) solar energy till now. Our proposal is to produce around 10 MW of solar energy by next year. We are also working on other renewable energy producing projects.

While the Jantar Mantar has already been listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, we are working on getting the other heritage sites enlisted in it as well. The challenge is to develop a smart city without compromising on the historical aspect of the city and pace of progress.

ALOK RANJAN

Chief Executive Officer Jaipur Smart City Ltd

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VALEDICTORY SESSION

Ease of Doing Business & Financing for Self Employment

(L-R) Gaurav Chaturvedi, Executive Director, Rajasthan Financial Corporation, Jaipur; Dr KK Pathak, Commissioner, Industries and Secretary, CSR, Government of Rajasthan; Gaurav Goyal, Managing Director, RIICO and Commissioner, Investments & NRIs, BIP, Government of Rajasthan; and Dr Ravi Gupta, CEO of Elets Technomedia participating in the Valedictory session entitled 'Ease of Doing Business & Financing for Self Employment'.

Ease of doing business and the business reform action plan are part a paradigm shift in the mindset of the government. Traditionally, the regulatory framework of the government post Independence had been to regulate the business for larger public interest. But over a period of time as we are moving more and more towards a global economy almost all countries now function like market economies. Therefore, we need to focus on business reforms for promoting business and providing opportunities to entrepreneurs who create value for our society.

GAURAV GOYAL

Managing Director, RIICO & Commissioner, Investments & NRIs, BIP, Government of Rajasthan

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Non Performing Assets (NPAs) is a big challenge and RFC also has 15-20 percent of NPAs. If you compare RFC with other financial institutions then the percentage of NPA is not at a very high level. But still, RFC is facing the challenge of recovering NPAs from borrowers. We are planning to rope in private agencies to resolve this issue.

GAURAV CHATURVEDI

Executive Director Rajasthan Financial Corporation, Jaipur

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l The most significant impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing will be in enhancing efficiency and bringing simplicity into the processes of production through mechanisation of tasks previously performed by human labour. This will also promote machine interactions and real time decision making in the process of manufacturing. l While the move towards complete automation has its own benefits like accuracy and efficiency, it raises socio-economic and ethical concerns which needs to be addressed before fully integrating AI into the manufacturing sector. l Policy makers, private sector and IT sector along with other players in the field must reconcile such conflicts and concerns to arrive at policy solutions which exploit the available technology to achieve economic benefits while balancing the ethical issues and concerns of job displacements. l Deployment of AI in manufacturing and service operations will ensure accuracy and precision in the processes and will avoid delays with faster change in operations when required. l The use of AI can forecast risks and demands based on available data to ensure optical production. l The process of manufacturing can be made smarter and environment friendly, thus avoiding mishaps. l The unprecedented boom in incentivised innovation has resulted in mushrooming of startup software companies and manufacturing units to integrate technology, including AI, into their processes to increase their productivity and efficiency in India. l The central and state governments

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have started taking initiatives to promote, understand and enable the development and adoption of AI in India. Some of these inclde Centres of Excellence, Task Forces, Strategic Partnerships and Joint Projects. Some of the initiatives are focused on manufacturing and broadly relate to AI. Nasscom has announced their initiative to set up the centres of AI and data science in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. These centres will map resources and encourage startups, look up at global best practices for the emerging use of AI in India.

It has been recognised by the Nasscom that AI should be first allowed to mature and then promoted.

Digital India and Startup India have given a major boost to the use of AI and IoT in the manufacturing and services sector. With these moves India has moved decisively towards Industry 4.0. The Skill India initiative which was started in 2008 will help in re-skilling the workforce to perform new and high-skilled tasks.

The National Policy on Skill and Entrepreneurship 2015 does not specifically mentions AI and it is important to incorporate it the policy to give a fillip to support skills required for the development of AI technology.

The Government of Rajasthan is considering setting up of an AI Mission to ensure that the state does not remain behind the curve in

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the rapidly changing environment driven by technology. l There is no shortcut in terms of taking the pain of learning that we need to go through to be able to achieve the paradigm shift in thinking about how we are going to provide jobs, how the industry is going to develop and how human life is going to transform in the next 5-10 years. l In 2010, Rajasthan came up with the Single Window Clearance Act to facilitate land allotments, clearances, financing on easy terms, land conversion, among others. l Rajasthan has unique institutions which are investor friendly and market supportive like BIB and Rajasthan Foundation. l Rajasthan offers certain advantages to investors like peace, healthy labour relations and proximity to big markets of India. A substantial part of DMIC passes through Rajasthan as also the Golden Quadrilateral. l In Tourism sector, Rajasthan has Heritage Tourism, Desert Tourism and Religious Tourism and Wellness Tourism. Agro processing is also an important area because Rajasthan produces more than 10 percent of wheat in India, 30 percent of oil seeds, 50 percent of Isabgol, 70 percent of cumin and 90 percent of methi. l Healthcare is very important area for Rajasthan and India because the cost of healthcare when compared to other countries is very low. But the irony is that a large part of the population is still unable to afford healthcare and therefore this sector needs innovations to make healthcare affordable and inclusive. l New technologies like AI should be used in a positive way to help poor people. l The average use of cement in India per capita is 200 kgs against the world average of 500 kgs. Though

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we are the second largest producer of cement in the world, second to only China, the gap is still quite big.

We have an installed capacity of 500 million tonnes against China's 2,500 million tonnes.

The cement industry has a lot of growth potential in the country.

Ambuja Cement is running 7 skill development centres in Rajsthan as part of its CSR activities. The company's vision is to become a leading company in the cement sector by taking sustainable measures using technology.

Rajasthan is creating new industrial and investment policies by keeping in view that the vision gets translated into action to make them more effective.

Money in itself is one of the biggest driving force to effect change and people draw satisfaction from being creative.

The true value of our industries is hidden in these two things.

Rajasthan is at a transition stage where its economy is transforming from agriculture to MSME and industrial.

The Government of Rajasthan recently decided to come up with a new industrial policy and new investment policy.

Rajasthan has an edge in mineral and mineral-based industries, textile and handicrafts.

Exports in handicrafts from Rajasthan and related sectors has crossed $1 billion.

Developed nations have predictable levels of service delivery. In India, many services are at the level of developed nations, while certain services by the state governments are not at the predictable level.

So, to take any service from unpredictable level to predictable level is what means development.

To deliver predictable level of

MAY 2019

service delivery, process automation is very important. If IT and IT services are used to make service delivery quicker we can call that e-governance from government perspective. l Rajasthan IT Department's focus is on creating an organisation which is able to deliver predictable outcomes for organisations, citizens and businesses. Only when predictability comes into interactions, there could be ease of doing business. l Rajasthan Government has created India's best startup support environment. The state has a Technohub, a State Data Centre and a website called iStart, where young people can apply. There is professional organisation backing the whole infrastructure. At present, there are more than 1,200 registered startups and 150 startups are working in various incubation centres all over Rajasthan. l Rajasthan has also started land records automation. Today, out of 314 tehsils, land records of 80 tehsils are available on a mobile app called 'Dhara'. In future we are going to add features which will allow buyers of agriculture land to get mutation automatically as soon as the registration is completed in a legally valid manner. l All the cadastral maps in Rajasthan will be updated soon. The government is doing one-to-one mapping between the textual records of lands as well as the maps.

It is being made 100 percent error free. There will not be a single land parcel which is there on the land record and not on the map. In all the online tehsils this has been achieved. l India is a very large system and in this size of system trying to achieve finness at the cutting-edge level is essentially the challenge of governance.

l In Jaipur, Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd is anticipating a poulation of around 3.8 million by 2019, which will grow to become 5 million by 2025 and subsequently by 2040 it will become 8 million.

So to cater to such a huge population we need to develop public transportation with a big leap forward. l India needs to integrate all our public transport in a big way. l The first phase of Jaipur Metro to be completed by August 2019. The beauty of public transport is that it considerably reduces the travel time. l Rajasthan, and Jaipur in particular, has growing IT infrastructure.

However, the city lacks public transport and the services have a lot of scope to improve. l Introduction of business reforms action plan is leading India to the second generation of economic reforms. Among the 11 factors identified by the World Bank, availability of land and infrastructure is one of the major categories. l Rajasthan being a land-locked state with 10 percent of the country's total land area has certain advantages. l Rajasthan should use the availability of land as USP to attract investments for which land should be easily available at minimum prices along with land related clearances and approvals and dispute resolution mechanism. l RIICO’s IT-enabled projects, which would be launched by June or July, will ensure that there are no physical touch points from identification to application for allotment and post allotment processes. This will eliminate the need for entrepreneurs to meet any officer or visit any RIICO office for their works.

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LOK SABHA ELECTIONS 2019

“We deputed all polling parties and other field functionaries at a place to install the Mobile App. Polling parties were linked with booths and were assigned EVMs & VVPAT. In such scenario tracking of all the parties along with EVM was being monitored from control room and Mobile App with Admin login,” Srivastava added.

Using innovation, how Pilibhit DM ensured record voting in LS poll

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record 67.2 percent voting was achieved in Pilibhit in Phase-III of the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections, making it the top district in Uttar Pradesh to have registered maximum voter turnout. But it wasn’t an easy job for Vaibhav Srivastava, District Magistrate and District Election Officer, Pilibhit, who worked round-the-clock with his team with meticulous planning to motivate the voters to come out and exercise their franchise under the scorching sun.

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All booths were geo-fenced and upon reaching of polling parties at respective booth, auto notification was coming to control room and DEO Dashboard.

The readiness of the district administration to handle any exigency was perhaps the reason that very few incidents of EVM malfunctioning was reported and those too were resolved swiftly.

The Pilibhit District Magistrate also handled minor incidents with sensitivity like that in Pipra Village in Barkheda area, where villagers had boycotted elections after a road block in their area. But they returned to polling booths after Srivastava’s intervention.

This achievement is significant in light of the fact that the voting concluded peacefully in Pilibhit without any major incident reported. The polling stations in the district were opened for voters around 7 am and the graph kept on going up at a constant rate after a brief spell of slowing down around afternoon when the mercury soared around 40 degrees Celsius.

“In consonance with the decision of the Election Commission of India to track all electronic voting machines (EVMs) online, Pilibhit district administration had developed a mobile application and security was given through it. Training in this regard was imparted to the staff concerned,” said Srivastava.

The 2009 batch IAS officer used the technology wisely to push Pilibhit record over four percent more voting than the previous Lok Sabha poll in 2014, when 62.86 percent voting was recorded in the district.

The App was made intelligent to send the auto notification to DEO/ADEO for unwanted half during the transit of EVM. Multiple numbers were linked so that network issues in the rural areas could be minimised while offline tracking was running in the background all the time.

Vaibhav Srivastava

In the third phase of polling, there were 13 candidates in the fray from Pilibhit, where 946 polling stations and 1,538 booths were set up across the district.

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