egov October 2013

eGov Magazine

ASIA’S FIRST MONTHLY MAGAZINE ON E-governance ` 75 / US $10 / ISSN 0973-161X

october 2013 | VOLUME 09 n ISSUE 10 n ISSN 0973-161X egov.eletsonline.com

better Governance with ICT Dr Neeraj Mittal

Alok Srivastava

Joint Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India

• UIDAI • NRHM • DBT • FinanCiaL InCLuSiOn • RaiLWaY IT • Wind EnerGY

Joint Secretary (Marketing) Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India

Dr Govind

Sr. Director, DeitY & CEO, NIXI, Ministry of Communication & IT, Government of India

Satya Prakash

Additional Member (IT) Railway Board, Ministry of Railways

A L Hek

Minister, Health & Family Welfare, Information Technology, Government of Meghalaya

R S Sharma

Chief Secretary Government of Jharkhand

Nidhi Khare

Adviser Planning Commission, Government of India

Dr Vishwas Mehta

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India

Anuradha Gupta

Additional Secretary & Mission Director, NRHM, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India

egov.eletsonline.com

Empowering youth with the power of technology Mohana Priya’s eyes reflect a hope for a better future. A hope that was born with her passion for technology and nurtured as a Microsoft Student Partner (MSP). In India, Microsoft Student Partners is the largest technology student ambassador programme that empowers millions of students and helps them with content, training, skilling and readiness on technology platforms. As a MSP, Mohana Priya also got the opportunity to volunteer her expertise to teach basic computing to underprivileged children, and help them become responsible citizens.

Microsoft is committed to empower young people like Mohana Priya through student training programmes such as Microsoft Student Partners, a part of our YouthSpark initiative. Under YouthSpark, we work with governments, nonprofits and businesses to provide the youth of the country with access to greater education, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Thus, enabling a better tomorrow.

Scan the QR code with your mobile device to visit us online. If you don’t have a QR Code Reader, SMS ‘EG’ to 58888 to get the App for free.

To know more about Microsoft’s initiatives, visit www.microsoft.com/india/about Find us on: www.facebook.com/microsoftindia and www.twitter.com/microsoftindia

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second grid

october 2013

Contents issue 09 n  volume 10

08 in person

A L Hek

Minister, Information Technology & Communications, Health & Family Welfare, IDR, Stamp Registration Government of Meghalaya

10 in person

Ram Sewak Sharma

Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand

14 in person

Anuradha Gupta

Additional Secretary & Mission Director, NRHM, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India

18 in person

Dr Vishwas Mehta Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India

22 in person

Satya Prakash

Additional Member (Tourism & Catering); Additional Member (IT) Railway Board, Indian Railways

Alok Srivastava

Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India

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egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

in person

Kalpana Tewari

Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (trai)

Member (Planning), Postal Services Board, Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India

38 56

in person

Dr Darlie O Koshy

in person

Nidhi Khare

Director General, ATDC (Apparel Training & Design Centre)

Adviser, Planning Commission, Government of India

38 in person

60

A T Rajan

Chief Marketing Officer & Head of Corporate Strategy Office Ricoh India Ltd

in person

Dr Neeraj Mittal

Joint Secretary (Marketing), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India

40 in person

Debjani Ghosh Managing Director, Sales & Marketing Group - Intel South Asia

44 in person

Arun Kaul

Chairman & Managing Director, UCO Bank

in person

in person

52

in person

in person

32

General Manager, Financial Inclusion Division, Punjab National Bank

Rajeev Agrawal

47

Managing Director, Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited

in person

V P Jain

36

25 Santosh Birari

50

26

Keeping Cities Clean & Healthy

54

Technology Based Financial Inclusion

58

Transparent and Efficient LPG Distribution

C N Raghupathi Head, India Business Unit, Infosys

further reading

48 in person

Kishore Kharat General Manager-Financial Inclusion, Bank of Baroda

Editorial 05 NIXI 28 Softtech Case Study 30 NIELIT 35 Guest Column 41 News 42

Managing Benefits Through Aadhaar

R

ecently the Supreme Court delivered an interim order that the Government should not insist on Aadhaar cards for providing essential services to citizens. The court said, “No citizen should suffer for the want of Aadhaar cards.” It is certainly true that the deserving citizens should not be denied the benefits that they are entitled to because they have not been able to obtain unique identity number due to no fault of their own, but Aadhaar has a proven ability to streamline the disbursal of benefits, so a way has to be found to use them.

Through Aadhaar, it is possible for the country to streamline the disbursal of benefits and curb the leakage and corruption in the benefit transfers. Aadhaar can empower hundreds of millions of poor Indians to acquire proof of identity and access the financial system with great efficiency and ease. Since the Aadhaar card uses foolproof biometrics to establish the identity of a person, it eliminates the threat of any fraud and bogus activity. This is the best system to authenticate ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication to its beneficiary. We sincerely hope that the Centre will come up with adequate policy for ensuring that Aadhaar can be used in a significant manner for disbursal of benefits.

In this issue of eGov magazine we have done the coverage of some of the key government officials who are engaged in development of new e-Governance initiatives in the country. Dr Neeraj Mittal, Joint Secretary (Marketing) at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has given an interview in this issue.

He talks about Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme that is Aadhaar based and will ensure that the benefit reaches the intended beneficiary and there is no subsidy leakage in the LPG delivery system.

Another interesting interview is of A L Hek, Minister for Information Technology & Communications and Health & Family Welfare, in Meghalaya. The Hon’ble minister has spoken in detail about the e-Governance systems that are being implemented in the state. Plus there are the interviews of key officials from other government departments in Centre and the States, and there is also the coverage of private companies that are providing various solutions to the government. Ram Sewak Sharma, the Chief Secretary for Government of Jharkhand, who was earlier the Director General of UIDAI, has provided us with his views on the e-Nibandhan and other important e-Governance initiatives that have been launched in Jharkhand.

On 24-25 October, 2013, we are organising the conference called the Financial Inclusion Payment Systems (FIPS) at Eros Hilton, New Delhi. This event poses as a unique opportunity for engaging with a broad range of players in financial inclusion and payment systems space. All the key stakeholders in the area of financial inclusion, direct benefits transfer and other BFSI segments are expected to attend the event and contribute to a vibrant discussion that will shed light on not only the achievements so far, but also the challenges that we need to overcome in order to create a truly inclusive society. ravi guptA Ravi.Gupta@elets.in

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october 2013 issue 09 n volume 10

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Financial Inclusion & Payment Systems 24-25 October 2013, Eros Hilton, New Delhi

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egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

In Person

A L Hek

Minister, Information Technology & Communications, Health & Family Welfare, IDR, Stamp Registration Government of Meghalaya

Connecting

Meghalaya through IT “e-Governance is doing very well in Meghalaya, and I am proud to say that we have been able to reach out to people in every part of the state,” says A L Hek

T

he Government of Meghalaya has undertaken many initiatives for development of ICT infrastructure in the state.

Please tell us about your vision for improving e-Governance in Meghalaya?

When we talk about e-Governance, we have to understand that we are basically talking about ensuring that the basic services from the government are available at the citizen’s doorstep. We want to ensure that people get all the benefits that are possible from the proper use of new technologies. We want to do all we can to effectively leverage Information Technology for the state’s overall development. We understand very well that IT dissemination and usage as a crucial engine of economic growth. Information technology is a tool which can increase productivity, effectiveness, speed and transparency of the government departments. This in turn leads to improved quality of life for the common man, better opportunities for businesses and transparency in the working of government agencies.

State Wide Area Network is now fully operational in the state of Meghalaya. What kind of response are you seeing in the district level in terms of increasing connectivity in Meghalaya? e-Governance is doing very well in Meghalaya, and I am proud to say that we have been able to reach out to people in every part of the state.

MSWAN (Meghalaya State Wide Area Network)

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In Person

Dr Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Launching the State Data Centre

that our people find large number of employment opportunities. Development can be possible only when private players are ready to invest. We have taken various initiatives to boost IT infrastructure in the state. We have 80 acres of IT Park in Meghalaya. We also need to develop basic infrastructure like road, water and network connectivity, because it is only on the shoulders of such infrastructure that IT industry or any other industry can prosper.

We want to create a sustainable economic environment so that our students can get employment in their own native place.

You are also taking care of Health and Communication Department. Please tell us about some the initiatives taken by you in these two sectors.

was launched on 17th August, 2011, to support the various e-Governance initiatives being planned by the State as well as the Central Government. The MSWAN has been implemented on Build-Own-Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model, spread over a period of five years to provide Data, Voice and Video services to various offices of the Government of Meghalaya and other locations. It has been designed to establish a reliable horizontal and vertical communication corridor. The Meghalaya Information Technology (MITS) had been nominated by the Information Technology Department, Government of Meghalaya, as the nodal agency for setting up and operating the Meghalaya State Wide Area Network (MSWAN). The response is very encouraging in terms of implementation of various government services to the people. This will not only help the State in taking informed decisions but will also make way for faster review of processes and sharing of knowledge.

Government of Meghalaya is planning to distribute free tablets preloaded with education software to the students. What are the main objectives of the scheme?

The Government of Meghalaya is very keen to improve the education standards in our schools.

We want to ensure that all our students have access to latest IT hardware and software for meeting their education needs. Currently we are analysing the benefits that students and teachers can have from the free distribution of tablets.

Once the analysis is done, we will provide our students with free tablets, which are pre-loaded with educational software.

Some of the remote areas in the North Eastern parts of the country are still not fully connected with mainstream India. What kind of challenges are you facing in developing IT infrastructure in North East?

Challenges will be there in anything that you do.

The idea is to find solutions to those challenges and keep working. We have improved our IT infrastructure to a large extent. The main challenge we face is related to connectivity. This is a hilly state and there are number of remote areas where the network is not that good. We are trying to deploy latest technology for improving the network in such areas.

Today the IT industry is regarded as big job generators in any state. What are your plans for developing the local IT industry so that the younger generation can find suitable employment?

We are taking initiatives to ensure that the youth in Meghalaya have access to better opportunities in every sector. You see, Information Technology is not the only industry through which jobs have to be generated. Other industries also have to develop. So we are planning to have a holistic development of the industry in the state. We are inviting private players to invest in our state so

I feel very proud of the fact that the healthcare services in the state of Meghalaya are much better as compared to the other states in the country. In times to come it is going to become even better as we are now planning a number of new initiatives.

We are going to introduce telemedicine soon. We are working on certain modalities through which people will be able to get medicines in a cheaper price. While providing subsidised medicines we also want to ensure that the quality is not compromised and our citizens have easy access to the best generic and standardised medicines. We are expanding our network of health centres and hospitals in rural areas. Various government schemes are in the pipeline and soon we will launch those schemes so that our people get benefitted in the best possible way. I want to ensure that people of my state get the best IT services. Communication is my department, but it is not fully under the control of state government as it monitored by Central Government. We are soon going to launch 4 G network in the state.

What kind of response are you having from the youth in the state when it comes to use of Information Technology?

The youth in the state are very close to Information Technology. Today students from 3rd onwards are using internet. In fact, I would say that our youth are in the forefront of the information technology revolution, not only in the national level but also in the international level.

We just need to develop all the opportunities so that our youth are able to use their IT expertise for their own gain and also for the growth of the state’s economy.

October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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In Person

“e-Nibandhan is designed to eliminate the maladies affecting the conventional registration system by introducing electronic delivery of all registration related services,� says Ram Sewak Sharma

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In Person

Ram Sewak Sharma

Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand

Transforming Jharkhand Through IT

“Jharkhand has lot of potential to be in the forefront in terms of e-Governance and now it’s time that we speed up the deployment of initiatives that will bring efficiency and transparency to the entire governance system in the state”

A

s Mission Director of UIDAI, you played a seminal role in the progress of the Aadhaar initiative across the country.

How are you planning to leverage UIDAI experience in Jharkhand?

Aadhaar is a very important platform that can be used by citizens to access the much needed government services. As I am well acquainted with the benefits that can come from effective Aadhaar deployment, I am looking forward to leverage this platform for enabling effective service delivery.

I am of the view that maximum numbers of government services that are being used by the citizens must be brought under the umbrella of Aadhaar. We have successfully enrolled two-third population of the state in Aadhaar. I am hopeful that we will complete 90 percent of enrolment by the year end. The major area where I have already started leveraging services is direct benefit transfer of subsidies. We are now focusing to use it for Public Distribution System.

You are very closely associated with Information Technology. Please tell us about your vision for IT initiatives in Jharkhand.

Earlier I was associated with IT department in the state of Jharkhand. So I feel that I can still contribute by initiating various schemes related to Information Technology. We are currently focusing on some of the key areas of IT that can bring maximum benefit to the people. These are areas like Financial Management System, Resource Management System, e-Payment, SMS Gateways and e-Procurement. We are also working on some important departmental applications like e-Nibandhan, which is designed to improve the registration related services. In fact registration system of Jharkhand is one of the most advanced systems in India.

We have also initiated various departmental schemes like e-Kalyan, which is scholarship distribution programme. e-Kalyan ensures monitoring of online status for awarding scholarships (namely Birsa Munda Technical Scholarship and Ambedkar Technical Scholarship) to the ST students of Jharkhand studying in a Technical College outside the state.

Do you think that it makes sense to use Open Source solutions for creation of e-Governance initiatives?

Open Source is defiantly a very attractive solution. We need to adopt open source wherever it exists. In fact, the entire UIDAI scheme is based on Open Source software. We had started with Linux operating system. It is always possible for us to take help of private tools in areas where Open Source technology is not available. For instance, for de-duplication technology private tools were used. My emphasis is to use open source wherever it is possible as it brings down the ownership cost. But where Open Source is not available, or is inconvenient to use, we can always switch to non Open Source.

Information Technology is playing a very important role in shaping e-Governance in the country. How do you look at the overall role of IT in governance sector?

Few years back, people were not much aware about IT October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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In Person

services. But today I find that scenario has changed and people are more connected with the technology. People realize that they can have lot of benefits if proper IT implementations happen in the government. Earlier technology enhancement needed big machines but today everything can be converged in the data centre. One can now authenticate banking transactions with the help of UIDAI. Now I think we have a very clear vision about the roadmap for implementing e-Governance.

Things have really improved when it comes to deploying technology for better governance.

Many states in southern India have created a large impact in e-Governance. Some of their e-Governance solutions are now being replicated in other states. How do you compare e-Governance initiatives in Jharkhand with what is happening in other states?

There is no doubt that many states in southern India have done exemplary well in the area of e-Governance. Jharkhand too has lot of potential and now it’s time that we speed up the deployment of initiatives that will bring efficiency and transparency to the governance in the state. We have to create new systems for improving governance. I am sure that we can build as good systems as any other states in the country. So there is no reason why an e-Governance revolution should not happen in Jharkhand. I am looking forward to taking Jharkhand in the forefront of e-Governance in the country. We have taken several initiatives which have changed IT scenarios in the state. We have completely digitized pension scheme so that people can track their pension online. We are focusing to strengthening our productive tool. Training people who can use such tools can really bring a change. I am looking forward to introducing it in various engineering departments.

Government of Jharkhand has started a landmark project for registration called e-Nibandhan.

What impact has this project had in improving the process of registration in the state?

The e-Nibandhan Software was initially developed to automate the Registration Process in the District Sub-Registrar office at Ranchi.

After its successful implementation in the

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e-Nibandhan is initiated to meet the following key objectives • Cost reduction • Transparency • Immediate delivery of documents • Increased facilities to all the stakeholders

• •

Ranchi Registration Office, it was decided that we should replicate the system throughout the state. e-Nibandhan is designed to eliminate the maladies affecting the conventional registration system by introducing electronic delivery of all registration services. The manual System of registration suffers from a number of problems like inordinate delays; people also feel harassed as they have to come all the way to the office for registering their documents. e-Nibandhan eliminates all these deficiencies and difficulties. e-Nibandhan has made it possible to return the original registered document to the persons concerned within a matter of minutes. As soon the process of registration is complete the owner can take his original documents back. It has increased transparency in the system. Now the details of registration, calculation of rates and other details are available freely. So people can be sure that they are paying the correct amount of stamp duty, etc., to the government.

and 872 CSCs in the second phase to provide e-Governance services and other value added services. Web based software is being developed to disseminate information on essential Commodities dispatch to PDS Shops from the Food Corporation of India (FCI).

Tell us about some key initiatives which you have taken in the state of Jharkhand.

The State Government of Jharkhand recognises the power and potential of new technologies.

We understand how new technologies can lead to the improvement in the quality of people’s lives. We believe that the developments in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be effectively leveraged to deliver a variety of information and services to the citizens effectively and efficiently.

Government of Jharkhand is committed to use ICT to transform its functioning and build citizen-centric, inclusive and development oriented information society. We want to provide services to the common man in a cost-effective, transparent and easily accessible manner. Government of Jharkhand plans to set-up 4,562 Common Service Centres (CSC) throughout all the panchayats in the State in first phase

Demystify the registration process Bring speed, efficiency, consistency and reliability substantially improve the citizen interface

You have also done important work in the treasuries department. Tell us about it.

That’s right. We have taken up the work of computerising and networking in the State Treasuries and sub-treasuries. The project seeks to computerise the functioning of all the treasuries and link them together and with Accountant General. This will ensure an extremely efficient system of financial management for the Government. It will completely eliminate the possibility of forged withdrawals.

It will, in fact, ensure that the GPF accounts of all the Government employees are up-to-date.

The GPF and Treasury administration could be integrated in a seamless manner. Every head of office could check the details of the withdrawals done by him head/sub-head wise. He could use this information to plan further office expenditure. He could also check the available allocation to him head/sub-head wise.

We have also embarked upon an ambitious project on computerization and networking of field offices as well as Headquarters of Commercial Taxes Department. It provides an efficient, transparent, responsive and citizen friendly public interface to users of the Department. It has helped in improving the efficiency and affectivity of taxes of administration. We have also initiated some key UIDAI projects in the state. We have launched a micro-ATM device that can enable beneficiaries of projects like MG-NREGA to withdraw money at their doorstep through the BC model. This will certainly help in connecting rural people with the banking service.

w DBT w e-Nibandhan w Aadhaar w CCTNS w Financial Inclusion w Cyber Security w PDS w Smart Cards w Smart Cityw Enterprise Security

November 2013 Ranchi, Jharkhand

T o wa r d s A D i g i ta l E c o n o m y Keynote Speaker

The platform for developing new ideas for promoting inclusive growth through e-Governance Ram Sewak Sharma Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand Organisers

partner publications

ejharkhand.eletsonline.com

In Person

Anuradha Gupta

Additional Secretary & Mission Director, NRHM, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India

Mission

for Creating a Healthy India

T

he people in the rural areas face lot of problems in meeting their healthcare needs, at times they have to travel all the way to the cities for treatment of their ailments. Please tell us about the work that is being done under the National Rural Health Mission for improving healthcare facilities in the rural areas?

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) aims to improve health services in rural areas and provide accessible, affordable and accountable healthcare. Augmentation of infrastructure and human resources and increased provisioning of drugs, diagnostics, ambulances and logistics have received focus under the Mission. Mainstreaming of AYUSH to offer patients choice and broadening the range of services in public health institutions are important priorities. Over 50,000 health facilities have been newly constructed or renovated and more than 1.5 lakh human resources have been added including specialists, doctors and nurses.

What are the most significant achievements of NRHM? One significant achievement of the Mission is introduction of dial 108/102 ambulance service. Today, more than 18000 ambulances are transporting patients in 28 states/UTs with priority accorded to mothers, children and patients requiring critical care. Over 2045 Mobile Medical Units are delivering health services in remote and far flung areas. 8.89 lakh ASHAs, a singular contribution of NRHM, act as a strong interface between the community and the health system and mobilize demand for institutional care. The huge surge in service delivery in public health institutions indicates the enhanced public confidence in public health system.

It is impressive that annual OPD in government institutions has exceeded to 90 crore and nearly 1.66 crore women are delivering in government and accredited institutions in a year.

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“The NRHM is designed in such a way that the individual states enjoy substantial flexibility in managing their healthcare needs. The intention is to encourage different states to come up with initiatives that are designed to meet the specific healthcare challenges that people in any particular state may face,� says Anuradha Gupta. In conversation with Nayana Singh and Kartik Sharma

In Person

India is a geographically and socially diverse country, the government initiatives that work in one part of the country, might not see that much of success in some other part. So what are the states where NRHM has been most successful so far?

It is true that states have made variable progress in terms of Reproductive and Child health indicators, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have already achieved the national goals. Maharashtra also joined their league. Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Odisha are emerging as cusp states.

In your opinion during the last few years what have been the key achievements of NRHM. Also please throw light on the road ahead.

Acceleration of rate of decline in maternal and child mortality is unmistakable. Total fertility rate has also started to decline faster than before. What is encouraging is the fact that large and populous states carrying the highest burden of maternal and child mortality and having the highest fertility rates have started to show progress. ‘Janani Suraksha Yojana’ has seen a phenomenal increase from 7 lakh beneficiaries in 2005 to more than 1 crore

Dr Rakesh Kumar-Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Anuradha Gupta-NHRM, Louis-Georges Arsenault, Unicef representative to India

ensuring universal access to free essential medicines in all public health facilities is being emphasized under NRHM. Over `1600 crore was provided to states last year for provisioning free drugs and this year, this figure is likely to reach about 2000 crore. We have also introduced an incentive of 5 percent additional allocation, over and above the normal allocation, for states that implement free drugs initiative. 28 states have already made

One significant

achievement of the Mission

is introduction of dial 108/102 ambulance service

a year 2010 onwards. Institutional deliveries rose from 47 percent in 2007-08 to 72 percent in 2009.

Building on JSY, another major initiative ‘Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram’ was launched in June, 2011 to eliminate out of pocket expenditure for pregnant women and sick neonates. The initiative entitles every woman delivering in a public health institution to free drugs, diagnostics, diet besides to and fro transport. Free entitlements have now been expanded to cover ante natal and post natal complications and sick infants up to one year of age.

Bringing down out of pocket expenditure, which is very substantial in India, is now a key priority. Medicines account for over 70 percent of health expenditure and therefore,

an explicit articulation to provide free essential drugs in public health system.

Another new initiative is the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, which is an effort to look beyond survival of children to ensuring their quality of life and holistic development. The initiative provides for comprehensive screening of children from 0 to 18 years of life against 4 Ds- Defects at birth, Diseases, Deficiencies and Developmental delays including disabilities. The initiative provides for free treatment including surgeries at tertiary level. An estimated 27 crore children are expected to be annually screened in a phased manner.

Other new initiatives include a strategy to address intra state inequities through iden-

tification of 184 high priority districts in the country suffering from the most adverse health indicators which would receive higher financial allocation, greater flexibility for need based innovations and harmonized technical assistance, including from central level. The recent launch of the National Urban Health Mission is another major step forward towards strengthening primary health care in urban areas and would help cater to the health needs of more than 10 crore urban poor. We expect it to gather pace from next year.

You have been using ICT to enhance the ambulance service across the nation. Please tell us about it. Tell us about the ways by which you are leveraging IT in healthcare.

There are several ways in which we have started to use ICT under NRHM. Mother and Child Tracking System is a mission mode project and one of the largest applications with a data base of over nine crore pregnant women and children each one of whom is tracked for services. MCTS helps us ensure and monitor, in real time, delivery of services to women and children. The application is used to send regular SMS alerts to beneficiaries ahead of dates when ante natal check up or immunization services are due, to generate weekly work plans for ANMs and to monitor how many due services were actually delivered. NIKSHAY is a similar tracking system for every TB patient.

Our ambulances are now GPS fitted and call centre based thus making it possible to monitor October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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In Person

their movement. Same is the case with Mobile Medical Units which are monitored for service delivery in remote and difficult areas. Tele medicine and tele radiology are also being promoted under NRHM. Hospital Management Information Systems are being put in place in several states, making paper work including paper prescriptions a thing of the past and paving way for electronic health records. Health Management Information System captures on line data on 240 key healthparameters and in most of the states, individual facilities are uploading data. IT is also being extensively used to manage and monitor supply, distribution, consumption and stock of medicines across health facilities. Even for financial management, CPSMS makes effective use of information technology and tracks, in real time, funds and transactions at the level of sub district health facilities. These are only some of the illustrations and there are unlimited possibilities of use of ICT in health. e-Health and m-Health are areas where we can go a long way.

What is your view of private sector participation in healthcare sector?

The private sector has both advantages and limitations. In urban areas the private sector

has a large presence and thus offers opportunities for collaboration under the newly launched NUHM. But the focus of NRHM is on reaching the unreached in remote and far flung areas wherethe private sector is hardly present and thus strengthening of public health system is an imperative. There is no doubt that private sector can play a supplemental role for critical gap filling. PPP models are highly successful in the field of diagnostics, in running ambulance services and Mobile Medical Units and providing services where public sector has limited capacity bur the demand for services is very high.

What are the areas where you think maximum impact can be made by latest advances in IT? I feel that m-Health and e-Health have vast potential and we should tap it much more than what we are doing today. For leveraging their potential to the fullest, we are trying to upgrade our own capacities at the national level.

Besides strengthening IT infrastructure, our endeavor is to design holistic IT solutions. We are making efforts to increase the inter operability of applications, so that all our services become interconnected. We are working with

National Institute of Smart Governance and the Department of Information Technology to take forward some of these initiatives.

In your opinion what are the major challenges that are making it difficult for India to have an efficient healthcare system?

The most prominent challenge is the lack of highly trained human resources to cater to the needs of such a large population. This shortage is exacerbated in rural and particularly remote and difficult areas. NRHM provides special financial incentives to attract service providers to difficult geographies. We are also encouraging graded incentives, depending on how remote the facility is. On top of the base incentive that health personnel receive for serving in difficult areas, we are now promoting performance linked incentives.The NRHM is designed in such a way that the individual states enjoy substantial flexibility in managing their healthcare needs. The intention is to encourage different states to come up with initiatives that are designed to meet the specific healthcare challenges that people in any particular state may face. ‘One size fits all’ is not an approach that NRHM pursues.

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In Person

Dr Vishwas Mehta

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government of India

Improving

medical education for better healthcare

T

he Indian government has been playing a stellar role in the healthcare space. Please share with us your vision for making India healthier through improvements in medical education.

India is one of the youngest countries in the World. The country is home to more than 54 crore people who are below 25 years of age. This demographic dividend can be an asset if they are properly educated, skilled and healthy, but if the young population is illiterate, unskilled and unhealthy, then the same demographic dividend becomes a liability. So the focus of the government has to be on providing education and skills to ensure accessible and affordable healthcare to all the people in the country. Therefore, NRHM was launched in 2005 to bring about an improvement in health parameters with focus on Primary Health Care particularly in Rural Areas. The basic purpose of NRHM is to ensure quality of good accessible healthcare in rural areas, where there is severe deficiency of Human Resources in healthcare.

It was seen that even after 50 years of our Independence, the basic Health Parameters like the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Total Fertility Ratio (TFR), etc. in India were quite poor compared to most countries of the world.

What measures are you taking to ensure that the rural areas have access to doctors?

The problem is that most doctors do not want to serve in rural areas for several reasons, some

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genuine some not so genuine. The incentives for rural posting have also not worked so far.

So, recently Medical Council of India (MCI) has announced compulsory rural posting for doctors. Every doctor has to serve in Primary Health Centers for at least one year before he becomes eligible for the PG degree.

Many doctors have protested against this decision and States have mixed response to it but it is not easy to implement this decision. How do you implement this in the states like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland or Andamans, where there are no medical colleges? Almost 65% of all medical colleges are concentrated in Southern & Western India, which means more graduates to be deployed per PHC in these States. But doctors’ deficiency is acute in North, Central India and North Eastern States, where PHCs are located in remote, difficult areas but we do not have enough medical graduates passing out from these States.

However, one thing is clear those choosing to work in this noble profession will have to give one year of their life to work in rural India in the National Interest. Either they do it willingly or else Government has no choice but to make it mandatory in overall public interest.

At times when the students graduating from Indian colleges go abroad; at least they owe one year of their life to their home country and to the society they belong.

There is a huge gap between demand and supply of human resource in Indian healthcare?

What are the government’s plans to overcome this challenge?

As far as Human Resources in Health is concerned, the trend all over the world shows it is difficult to bridge the gap between the demand and supply. Currently we are producing fifty

thousand medical graduates from 387 medical colleges in the country. Out of these twenty three thousand are specialists. World Health Organization (WHO) has mandated a Doctor Population Ratio of 1:1000, which means one doctor per thousand of population, whereas our current ratio in India is about 1:1700.

To bring this ratio to 1:1000, we need double of this number to provide healthcare to everyone, which is indeed a very difficult task. It will take many years for us to create so many doctors at current rate of an average of 20 new medical colleges being added every year in Government & Private Sector. At this rate, even if we are adding 100 new medical colleges in next five years with investment of millions of rupees, we will still not be able to produce more than 10,000 doctors whereas we need five times more. Unlike engineers, it takes about 5½ years to create a MBBS Doctor and at least 9 years to create a Specialist.

Moreover, our current medical education is urban centric and hospital centric, which creates Doctors for Hospitals in towns & cities and not for Primary Health Care needed in rural India.

The distribution of medical colleges and services is quite uneven in India. What is government doing to address this issue?

Yes. There are vast regional disparities and we have seen that Southern States have better health parameters than North; primarily because States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have more than 40 medical colleges each while there 65 percent of districts, i.e. 422 out of 644 districts, mostly in North and Central India, which do not have even one medical college. So, we are going to concentrate on such underserved States and Districts

In Person

and financially support them to upgrade their Districts Hospitals into Medical College. This will improve quality of health care services in under-served areas.

What is your strategy to open medical colleges in the districts that already have government hospitals?

MCI norms require minimum 300 beds to start a Medical College into 50/100 MBBS seats. A majority of District Hospitals in India have bed capacity less than 300 beds, so we are going to first concentrate on those District Hospitals with 250 or more to increase their bed capacity to be eligible for setting up a Medical College. Government asked MCI to relax norms and they have agreed to allow establishment of Medical Colleges in two pieces of land 10 kms. apart. So, this will facilitate States to upgrade District Hospitals to upgrade into Medical Colleges with Hospital in one piece of land for clinical studies and teaching facilities, hostels, labs, library, etc. in second piece of land 10 kms. apart. Planning Commission has already accepted this proposal in XI Plan and financial approvals are in final stages now. This will provide a big boost to expansion of Medical Colleges in country. Fact remains that it is far more difficult to set up a new Medical College with new Hospital than to upgrade an existing Hospital into a Medical College.

How can modern solutions from ICT help in addressing the issues related to lack of resources in healthcare?

Telemedicine can bridge the huge gap between the demand and supply in the health services.

National Knowledge Network (NKN) has already started providing 100 mbps and above broadband connectivity to all major educational institutions in the country.

I understand that more than 100 Government Medical Colleges have been provided nodes by NKN already. We have initiated a project called “National Medical College Network� which will provide interconnectivity linking all the Government Medical Colleges in the country for Tele-Medicine, Tele-Consultation, m-Health and Continuing Medical Education (CME). SGPGIMS, Lucknow as National Resource Centre-cum-RRC will provide the leadership and will also help in setting up five regional centres to cover the GovernOctober 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

19

In Person

ment Medical Colleges in the entire country.

Once established, Tele-Consultation will also help Doctors sitting in remote areas to consult the Senior Specialists, providing better access to health to common man.

What is your view on PPP model that is being adopted for the speedy launch of many government initiatives? Can it be beneficial for development of better healthcare infrastructure in the country?

Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model has not worked very successfully in the Health Care Sector. Somehow, the Private Sector feels that Government is not efficient and cannot provide good quality of Health Care Services.

The Government on the other hand sometimes mistrusts Private Sector thinking that they work only for commercial purposes. It is possible to develop the synergy between the Government and Private Sectors in certain areas like diagnostic services. Similarly, the clinical resource available in Government Hospitals can be used for teaching purposes, provided a successful model is worked out and demonstrated. However, this has to be done at the State-level as demands and needs are different from place-to-place.

Health is one sector where Government’s intervention is a must primarily because a very large number of people cannot afford facilities and treatment offered by the private sector.

Moreover, private sector is mostly confined to 5000 odd towns & cities, where people can afford to pay for their health services. But the fact remains 70 percent of our population, which is 54 crore people, living in 6.5 lakh villages in India still do not have access to affordable Health Care Services. Any viable PPP Model has to be worked out very-very carefully after looking at all the pros & cons, since it involves dealing with patients and their lives.

It has been observed that a lesser number of students are opting for medical education, as compared to the earlier years.

What is your take on this?

Yes. Unlike in the past, students have multiple career options now. Today, we have several occupations that pay very well. So only those who have the passion to work in the field of medicine would get into the medical services,

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although some do get lured to medical profession for sake of prestige and good status.

It takes minimum 8 to 10 years to become a Doctor or Specialist and many more years for a successful career. There is no doubt, however, that medicine is a noble profession and since it deals with the lives of people, the best of the best should go into medicine. We must find out ways and means to attract the best in medicine.

How is IT being integrated in medical education to upgrade the syllabus as per the latest innovations?

Models for building virtual classrooms is being developed everywhere and IITs are running successfully based on NKN connectivity. Virtual classrooms and Surgical Suites in Medical Colleges will allow students to witness surgeries being performed live in operation theatres.

Instead of learning from books alone, we can

quantity, the quality of service should not be sacrificed. On an average, the number of seats available in medical colleges is 250 seats per college. However, it is very difficult to teach a class of 250 students. If we increase the number of seats, the quality of education imparted will certainly be affected.

Medical education in India is known for its quality all across the world. Lack of human resources cannot be solved by exponentially increasing the number of medical colleges.

Those who are not passionate about this profession should not take it up. The country deploys a lot of national resource in the making of a doctor, so doctors should feel indebted towards the society they come from and must contribute their best to serve humanity instead of going abroad for lure of money and better opportunities.

At the same time, we must stop looking at Doctors for all problems concerning public health. We should develop a Public Health

Medical education

in India is known for

its quality all

across the world see three dimensional computer simulation models, which can be extremely useful in subjects like anatomy, surgery, etc.

Several technologies are available to facilitate learning but unfortunately our regulators have not incorporated them in the curriculum of medical education. Some are of the opinion that technology can replace teachers in classrooms, which is true to some extent as far as theory classes are concerned and support for practical suites learning before getting exposed to real time on site practical training.

I am personally of the opinion that modern advancement in Information Technology should be used to integrate with the general curriculum of medical education for enrichment of the syllabus.

What is your message for all those who are involved in health services?

We have to maintain high standards for delivering quality health services by producing qualified professionals. In our bid to deliver greater

Cadre including a middle level Health Service Providers or Community Health Officers (CHOs) who can be specially trained to take care of common ailments like common fever, diarrhea, vomiting etc. These CHOs are not doctors but can be very effective as the first point of contact between people and doctors in rural areas, where today people have no option but to depend on quacks. Right now, there is no one to take care of people’s health in rural areas except ASHA’s and ANMs working in villages & Doctors working mostly in towns & cities.

Young talented boys and girls with science background and belonging to rural areas can be trained to be middle level health service providers or CHOs in district hospitals and redeployed in sub-centres and PHCs in rural areas of the same district. Even mainstreaming of AYUSH and empowering of Nurses to work in rural areas can be tried successfully. Ultimately, people living in rural areas deserve to be treated by trained health professionals instead of quacks.

In Person

Satya Prakash

Additional Member (Tourism & Catering); Additional Member(IT), Railway Board, Indian Railways

ict leads

to Efficiency

“Information Technology has brought immense benefit to millions of people who use Indian Railways for transportation and movement of goods. Ticketing has been taken to the doorstep of the customers. e-Ticketing is providing relief from long queues at the reservation offices,� says Satya Prakash

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In Person

D

uring the last few years we have seen lot of innovations happening in the area of ICT. What is your view of the ICT solutions that are being implemented by the Indian Railways?

Indian Railways has played a pioneering role in adoption of ICT for better delivery of service to the common citizens. Customer interfacing applications such as the Passenger Reservation System (PRS), Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), National Train Enquiry System (NTES), and Freight Operation Information System (FOIS) etc., have been introduced with access to information through the websites on the Internet and through mobile phones. Further expansion of these projects in terms of geographical expansion and in terms of functionalities is planned and is likely to happen over the next few years.

Various IT projects have been implemented for improving the efficiency and informationkeeping on the Indian Railways such as Control Office Application (COA), Crew Management System (CMS), Rates Branch Software (RBS), e-Procurement system (IREPS). Projects for maintenance of assets such as Track Management System, Integrated Coach Management System, Workshop Information System (WISE) are in advanced stage of implementation while some other such projects such as Freight Management Module(FMM), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) of wagons for accurate accountal of wagons, Loco shed Management System (LMS) are being developed.

Large amount of revenues that the Indian Railways is able to generate comes through the movement of freight. Tell us about the ICT initiatives that are being taken to ensure that there is more transparency and efficiency in freight movement department.

Freight Operation Information System (FOIS) has been implemented on Indian Railways for management of freight trains movement and the associated commercial activities. Some of the main features of the system are:

Center for Railway

Information Systems

Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) was established at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi in 1986, with the aim of developing computerized systems for Passenger and Freight traffic segments on Indian Railways. The Vision of Indian Railways for IT is to reach a stage where all information needs of organization can be met by comprehensive information highway available to both internal and external stake holders and Improve personal productivity at all levels by effective use of technology.

a. Implemented in two modules - Rake Management System (RMS) for handling the train operations and Terminal Management System (TMS) for commercial processes of goods traffic have been implemented. b. Reporting and Monitoring equipments have been commissioned at more than 2000 locations. c. Provides information about congested terminals as well as congested routes thus wagons can be diverted to non-congested destinations or moved through non-congested routes. d. Enables monitoring of ‘Maintenance schedules’ of the locomotives on goods trains, which enables their efficient utilization and planning for their maintenance in advance.

e. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) of wagons for accurate accountal of wagons.

A pilot project on 500 wagons was successfully carried out. Further expansion to cover 20,000 wagons has been sanctioned. f. Rake Allotment System: Applications for allotment of empty wagons for Coal and Iron-ore loading have been started on pilot basis.

Lot of ICT implementation can be done to bring about improvement in the amenities that are being provided to the passengers in the railway stations. Please tell us about it.

ICT has been adopted on large scale for enabling convenient ticketing for passenOctober 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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In Person

ICT for Indian Railways Indian Railways has implemented many projects which have impacted and improved the internal efficiency of the Indian Railways. Some of the projects are: * Freight Operation Information System (FOIS) – It comprises of two modules namely Rake Management System (R.M.S) for handling the train operations and Terminal Management System (TMS) for commercial processes of goods traffic, Indian Railways’ core business. 246 locations are exclusively reporting for RMS module. TMS has been deployed at around 1871 terminals (including 224 weighbridge locations for capturing wagon weight data) on Indian Railways to issue online Railway Receipts (R.R.s). A pilot project for Radio Frequency identification of wagons, in place of manual data entry, was successfully carried out with 500 wagons on Talcher – Paradeep – Vishakhapatnam circuit and is now planned for expansion. * Integrated Coach Management System (ICMS): An application for monitoring of punctuality of passenger carrying trains and availability of coaches. Punctuality Analysis and Monitoring (PAM) and Coaching Operations Information System (COIS) modules are being used extensively. The third module - Coach Maintenance Management is under implementation at three pilot locations. * Control Office Application (COA): Application for data entry of the running of the trains by Section controllers. It enables better planning of trains by making the train movement on the adjacent sections of the adjoining divisions visible to the section controllers. It provides information to the other applications such the National Train Enquiry System (NTES), ICMS and F.O.I.S. at all divisional control offices. * Crew Management System (CMS): Application for management of the booking of train crew (Drivers and guards). It enables better utilization of crew, calculation of their mileage bills and provides information to the crew through information kiosks. It has been implemented at 352 lobbies and is planned for remaining 200 crew lobbies.

Breathalyzer (for checking drunken-

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*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

ness) / Biometric verification of the crew is planned and is under testing at 5 locations namely – Shakurbasti, Tughlakabad, Delhi, Ambala and Moradabad.

Rolling Stock Maintenance (Wagons & Locomotives): Various applications are under different stages of development and implementation for management of the workshops (wagon maintenance) and loco sheds (maintenance of locomotives) Workshop Information System (WISE): An application for wagon repair shops which has been launched at Raipur wagon repair shop in August 2012.

Freight Management Module (FMM): Project for maintenance of historical data of wagons, their critical components and availability of spare parts at workshops. It has been launched at Dadri and Dandarikalan workshops.

Loco shed Management System (LMS): Application developed for Diesel Loco sheds. Pilot project is being implemented at 3 diesel sheds (Tughlakabad, Ludhiana & Alambag-Lucknow).

Software for Locomotive Asset Management (SLAM): Application being developed for Electric Loco Sheds by CRIS (Center for Railway Information Systems, New Delhi).

Track Management System: Application for managing Track Maintenance. It has been implemented on 28 divisions and is further planned for all the 68 divisions of Indian Railways.

Hospital Management Information System (HMIS): Application for managing the Railway Hospitals being developed by CRIS. A pilot project has been sanctioned on Western Railway.

Human Resource Management System (HRMS): Application to cover all aspects of personnel management being developed by CRIS. Pilot project is planned on North Western Railway.

ERP at ICF Chennai: A turnkey project for Plant Maintenance, Manufacturing process and HR payroll. It has gone live at ICF Chennai.

gers. The Passenger Reservation System and Unreserved Ticketing System have enabled advance booking of tickets for reserved and unreserved accommodation on passenger carrying trains. These projects have been expanded geographically to provide convenient and hassle-free ticketing at stations and some other convenient locations such as Post Offices, Municipal offices, District Collector’s offices, Schools, Colleges and Courts in towns and cities where Railways did not have presence of their own.

The services of such organisations have also been utilised in cities where the railway facilities were felt to be inadequate. Further for reduction in queues for unreserved ticketing at stations approximately 1000 Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) have been deployed across stations in and around major cities. Further approximately 1200 more are under procurement while 3600 more are planned for implementation.

ICT has been utilised to reduce pressure on the passenger amenities at the stations. The e-Ticketing through the internet has been started by IRCTC and it now handles approximately 45 percent of booking of reserved tickets. Seven Mobile Ticketing Vans have also been deployed in some cities (Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Vapi, Anand, and Solapur) for taking ticketing to the doorstep of the customers.

These Mobile ticketing Vans follow a predeclared itinerary and halt at select points in the urban and rural areas from where people can buy reserved tickets. Further 20 such Mobile ticketing Vans are being planned to be deployed all across the country.

Recently Indian Railways launched the initiative for booking tickets by SMS. What kind of response is this service seeing from the passengers? What other SMS based services are you planning to launch?

The booking of tickets by SMS was launched

by IRCTC with the help of four service providers. On an average approximately 250 tickets/ day are being booked through this system. We expect it to increase as the awareness, about the facility, increases in the general public. Indian Railways has also planned to provide information to the passengers whenever the status of the waitlisted ticket changes.

In Person

Santosh Birari

Managing Director, Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited

Bridging the

O

Digital Divide

Please tell us about how the Odisha State Certificate in Information Technology course is structured?

What are the ways by which it is proving beneficial to the people?

disha Knowledge Corporation Limited was formed with the idea of bringing people in the state closer to Information Technology. How successful have you been?

We have been able to fulfil our mandate. The Government of Odisha has been very supportive.

OKCL was formed with the vision of bringing total transparency in delivery of services to the people.

Implementation of e-Governance schemes and their effective utilisation by people is the main goal of the government. This goal can only be achieved if the officers, responsible for implementing the projects, and the common man, are adequately trained in the proper use of Information Technology. Our aim is to improve IT literacy in the state. We have launched various educational, e-Governance and community development programmes across the state. We have initiated Odisha State Certificate in Information Technology course, which is mandatory for all the government employees.

What kind of response are you having from government employees to this initiative?

The response has been very encouraging. All the

“For improving the IT literacy in Odisha, OKCL has launched various educational, e-Governance and community development programmes across the state,” says Santosh Birari. In conversation with Mohd Ujaley

officers are very interested. If we are able to achieve our goal, it is only because we are getting support from government and there is enthusiasm among officers for using information technology. We have opened 220 centres across the state and I have personally visited all of them. There is lot to be done in rural areas and we are heavily focusing on it. Down the line, it will improve the IT literacy rate in the state.

Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited (OKCL) • The vision of the organisation is to develop systems which are responsive to the individual and social developmental needs of the people.

• OKCL aim is to bridge the digital divide in the state.

• OKCL is an entrepreneurial endeavour to offer actionable knowledge and essential services to masses for socio-economic transformation.

• It runs various educational programmes across the state to raise the IT literacy rate.

• OKCL run mandatory course for the employees of the Odisha government called Odisha State Certificate in Information Technology course, the aim of the programme is to enable government employee to use information technology for day to day use.

This is a very innovative and practical course; it is designed to educate government employees about the ways by which information technology can be used for executing the most mundane tasks, like paying electricity bill via internet, etc. The course is based on 132 hours of practical work and there is no exam. Learner is evaluated on the basis of his behaviour during the learning process and accordingly marks are awarded. The course consists of 200 assignments, in majority of which, a virtual environment is created for the learner. The learner has to complete certain tasks in this virtual environment.

The most important thing is that the content is available in regional languages - Oriya, Hindi, English, Tamil, Gujarati, etc. This has been done in view of the fact that most people find it easier to learn if the course ware is delivered in their own mother tongue. The course is helpful for both government employees and people in enhancing their ability to use Information Technology. As a result the problem of digital divide in the state is no longer that large. More and more people are now becoming digitally literate and that is good for e-Governance.

Odisha has second largest tribal population in the country. What are your plans for making them digitally literate?

Implementation of IT is very cost effective way of improving the lives of the people. We are keenly focussed on covering every section of society. Our IT initiatives are also focussing on the tribal population. As far as IT literacy among tribal people is concerned, I think they are already using mobile phones and hence they are in touch with technology. If we are able to provide content related to IT on mobile, perhaps we will be able to raise their level of IT literacy.

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25

Waste Management

Keeping Cities

Clean & Healthy “Today the Solid Waste Management (SWM) in the country is not being done in scientific, hygienic or proper manner. There are lot of problems regarding the collection, dumping and other issues related to solid waste. Money gets wasted and people remain dissatisfied. The need of the hour is to deploy latest technologies and systems to ensure that there are better outcomes in SWM,� says Dr Praveen Jha, Special Secretary, Department of Information Technology Government of Jharkhand

T

he Government of India has now started taking cognisance of the problems that are there in the Solid Waste Management in most of the cities in the country. It was in September 2000 that the Solid waste policy in India was framed. The policy, framed on the basis of a March 1999 report, specifies the duties and responsibilities for hygienic waste management for cities and citizens of India.

Both the report and the rules advocate a range of ideas for keeping our cities clean and healthy.

Causes of poor SWM Currently the Solid Waste Management in India is not scientific, which is why our cities remain unclean and unhygienic. The location of the collection centres for solid waste is not properly identified and even the dumping grounds are not properly managed. At times there is clash in the timing of the vehicles carrying solid waste and the school and office goers. There is lot of wastage of money and majority of inhabitants of our urban areas are dissatisfied with the situation.

The main cause of the poor SWM in the country is that our plans are often not implemented on the ground or are totally unscientific.

There is no long term planning. There is poor delivary system and tardy implementation. The monitoring is not proper. It has also been found that the data on SW is inaccurate; there is unscientific estimation of the population.

A New Approach to Solid Waste Management The problems that are there in Solid Waste Management can be resolved to a large extent through scientific planning and optimisation of operations.

The need of the hour is to use state-of the art technology for improving the delivery mechanism.

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Planning Planning for SWM X Long term planning (say for 20-30 years) for SWM X Planning for collection, transportation and disposal of SW X Optimization of attributes regarding Collection Points (CPs; ie places where SW should be collected) X Optimization of transportation routes X Optimization of schedules regarding transportation, loading, unloading, stoppage etc X Optimization of geo-spatial data regarding Dumping Station(s) [DS(s); ie place(s) where SW would be finally dumped] X Scientific estimation of SW quantity to be disposed/treated X Minimization of physical resource requirement for the plan implementation regarding collection and transportation X Public convenience to be taken care while planning X Planning for institutional framework X Generation of economic model for operation of SWM Planning for Monitoring X Advanced geo-spatial web-based Management Information System (MIS) X Automatic updation of dedicated portal X Information Dissemination System (IDS) for public X Social auditing

Technology State-of-art geo-spatial programs, developed by the author, to be used: X Multi-Algorithm Automation Program (MAAP): Based on satellite data, MAAP produces land use land cover (lulc) map of the present period X Data Automatic Modification Program (DAMP): MAAP, in conjunction with DAMP, produces lulc maps of the past periods as well as of the adjacent areas X Multi-Stage Simulation Program (MUSSIP): MUSSIP produces simulated data of the future periods X Solid Waste Automated Management Program (SWAMP): Used as Decision Support System (DSS) for planning SWM

Technologies to be used: X Artificial Intelligence X Machine Learning Algorithm X Agent Base Modeling

X X X X

Multi Agent Simulation Cellular Automation Geographical Information System Digital Image processing

Waste Management

Methodology Generation of Geo-Spatial Data on Solid Waste X Generation of geo-spatial data on human population density distribution for the present period based on satellite data through the application of MAAP X Generation of simulated geo-spatial data on human population density distribution for the future periods based on satellite data through the application of DAMP and MUSSIP X Generation of geo-spatial data on SW for the present and future periods based on geo-spatial data on human population of the present and future periods Planning for Collection of Solid Waste X Optimization of geo-spatial data related to CPs for the present and future periods based on the geo-spatial data regarding SW through the application of SWAMP X Optimization to be done for location of CPs, target area of CPs, attributes regarding Collection Boxes for each CP etc X Scientific estimation of quantity of SW to be collected at each CP Planning for Transportation of Solid Waste X Optimization of geo-spatial data related to transportation of SW for the present and future periods based on the geo-spatial data regarding optimum CPs through the application of SWAMP X Optimization to be done for transportation routes, for schedules regarding transportation, loading, unloading, stoppage etc Planning for Disposal System of Solid Waste X Optimization of geo-spatial data related to DS(s) for the present and future based on the geo-spatial data regarding optimum CPs and transportation routes through the application of SWAMP

X Optimization to be done for location of DS(s) and quantity of SW to be disposed of by the disposal\treatment units Ensuring Public Convenience X Criteria included during optimization of SW Collection: Distance of CP from the target population and approach to CP X Criteria included during optimization of SW Transportation: Avoiding any clash of timing of the SW transportation with the school and office timings

like expected time of arrival and departure of transportation vehicle all along the designated routes X Information dissemination through SMS and email and by providing open access of the portal X Setting up facility to receive feedback from general public by internet, email, SMS and phone calls to ensure social audit

Optimization of resources needed for the plan implementation X Optimization of physical and financial resources done for plan implementation for the present and the future periods X Optimization based on minimization of Net Present Value (NPV) of all the fixed and variable costs required for the plan implementation for the present and the future periods X Optimization to be done for SW Collection, which would include precise cost details regarding collection boxes as per their size according to the optimum CPs X Optimization to be done for SW Transportation, which would include number of vehicles, size of vehicles, number of drivers, wage of drivers and labour, fuel consumption etc for the present and future periods

Planning for enhancing the delivery mechanism X Planning for project mode based plan implementation X All physical works to be split up into small definite targets along with the corresponding schedule X Defining robust institutional framework for implementation of the plans X Defining various levels of personnel having layered responsibilities with specific functions and corresponding schedule both for implementation and monitoring X Defining escalation matrix of personnel to tackle with failure in achieving the desired outcomes X Inclusion of general public in the institutional framework for implementation and monitoring X Ensuring social audit by providing open access of the portal and by setting up facility to receive feedback from general public

Planning for Monitoring X Planning for a dynamic portal and a very advanced and automated MIS X Integration of technologies like Geographic Information System (GIS), GPRS etc X Automatic updation of geo-spatial data regarding transportation, loading, unloading etc X Portal to contain other related information

Generation of economic model for operation of SWM X Economic modeling to layout specific details regarding meeting the operational cost X Economic modeling to include support from Government and financial encumbrances of general public X Government at liberty to choose from a set of best possible models that suits it

Advantages of the Approach X Assured cleanliness of the city upon implementation X High chance of success, since the plans would be based on:

• Advanced technologies and state-of-art geo-spatial programs

• Robust data on SW over temporal horizon X Planning for long tong time frame

X Optimum CPs, DS(s), transportation routes and schedules regarding transportation, loading, unloading, stoppage etc X Minimum physical and financial resource required for plan implementation X Assured public convenience X Robust institutional framework for plan implementation

X Best suited economic model for SWM operations X Advanced geo-spatial web-based MIS X Automatic updation of dedicated portal X Real time and public friendly IDS X Social auditing X Public satisfaction upon implementation

Praveen Jha Special Secretary, Government of Jharkhand

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special feature

NIXI

Introduction to India’s First & Only Neutral Internet Exchange National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) was setup by Government of India on 19th June, 2003, to enable the peering of ISPs among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country. NIXI is managed and operated on a neutral basis, which is in line with the best practices for such initiatives globally What is the mandate of NIXI? Tell us about the work that the organisation is doing in India?

Currently National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is performing three vital functions for the country. Firstly, NIXI is the neutral meeting point of the ISPs in India. Its main purpose is to facilitate exchange of domestic Internet traffic between the peering ISP members. This enables more

efficient use of international bandwidth, saving foreign exchange. It also improves the quality of services for the customers of member ISPs, by avoiding multiple international hops and thus reducing latency.

Secondly, NIXI has been authorised by the Government of India to serve as a .IN Registry.

This we have been doing since January 2005. Now .IN domain names are available to anyone on first-come-first-served basis.

For more details, please visit

www.registry.in. Thirdly, Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers (IRINN) a division of NIXI provides allocation and registration services of IP addresses and AS numbers, and contributes to the society by providing Internet-related information as a non-profit, affiliation-based organisation.

Provide us with an overview of the tariff policy that NIXI is following.

Steps taken by NIXI to ensure the safety of .IN registry

v .IN domain is one of the world’s most protected top level domains (TLD). Access to .IN domains is performed via a highly redundant, global, Anycast DNS network, which protects against massive distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. v .IN registry is secured behind a 5 layer security ring with all critical components fully redundant hardware software and service provision including a completely functional and tested disaster recovery facility v The .IN registry is also one of the few TLDs in the world to have deployed the domain name system security extensions (DNSSEC ) technology which guarantees protection to users who

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egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

click on a web site. DNSSEC ensure that they cannot be hijacked maliciously. v This is in fact the first TLD in South Asia to deploy such a high level of cryptographic technology for security at the domain level. v .IN registry is also constantly monitored for threats and active measures are taken to mitigate abuse in coordination with CERT IN. v In addition to this, there are additional scans and audits performed to ensure there are no known vulnerabilities. Also, NIXI is expecting to administer the Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in the near future. IDNs are the domain names in the native language.

The domestic Internet scenario in India is unique with several large and small ISPs spread across a large geographical area. The policy followed by NIXI is basically focussed on addressing the concerns of the large as well as the small ISPs, while at the same time keeping the larger national interests in mind. The idea is to promote domestic hosting of content as well as saving foreign exchange by keeping domestic traffic within India.

What is the procedure by which any ISP can join NIXI? What is the procedure for ISPs that fail to join NIXI? What are you doing to ensure universal coverage of ISPs by NIXI? The procedure by which an ISP can join NIXI is fairly simple.

An ISP licensed by the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, can become a NIXI peer. The member ISP must have its own AS number and use BGP4+ for peering. The membership fee is of `1000 plus applicable

NIXI

taxes per annum on an all India basis. To connect to NIXI, ISP have to become Ordinary member of NIXI by sending the following filled and duly signed forms and two copy of connection agreement with stamps on each page of the agreement: • Application Form for Ordinary Membership • NIXI Connection Agreement • NIXI Connection Form

Please provide us with some brief on .IN Registry?

The .IN Registry was set up under National Internet exchange of India during January, 2005. NIXI is a Not-forProfit Company under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956, with the objective of facilitating improved Internet services in the country. Under NIXI, the IN Registry functions as an autonomous body with primary responsibility for maintaining the .IN ccTLD and ensuring its operational stability, reliability, and security. It will implement the various elements of the new policy set out by the Government of India and its Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Department of Information Technology.

What is the need of an NIR? NIR is needed to facilitate the allocation of IP resources to large number of small and medium companies within the country. Also with NIR the services can be charged in local currency to avoid exchange losses. It also facilitates local training and development and is conducive for providing local language support to the entities in India.

special feature

What is the current status of the .IN Registry?

Registration of .IN domain stands at 1.67 million as on January, 2013. Presently, 92 Registrars have been accredited to offer .IN domain name registration worldwide to customers. It has helped in proliferation of web hosting and promotion of Internet usage in the country. Two Data centres have been established in Delhi and Chennai, one acting as the primary and the other as a secondary with a maximum down time of 5 minutes. Also, IN Registry is planning to offer the Inter-

IRINN has been operational from December, 2012.

Till the date, more than 320 affiliates have been registered

nationalised Domain Name (IDNs) in the near future. IDNs are the domain names in the native languages.

What is National Internet Registry?

The National Internet Registry is known as Indian Registry for Internet names and Numbers (IRINN).

Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers (IRINN) provides allocation and registration services of IP addresses and AS numbers, and contributes to the society by providing Internet-related information as a non-profit, affiliationbased organization, and performing research, education and enlightenment activities.

“The domestic Internet scenario in India is unique with several large and small ISPs spread across a large geographical area,” says Dr Govind, Senior Director, Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY), Ministry of Communications & IT, and CEO, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)

Tell us about and IRINN policy for its Affiliates?

IRINN has been operational from December, 2012. Till the date, more than 320 affiliates have been registered. IRINN policy is in line with Global and APNIC policies. It has the feature of Transparency and bottom up process for any policy changes.

IRINN Affiliates have freedom to choose the Registry(IRINN or APNIC). As we are in line with

APNIC policy, maximum delegation size for IPv4 is restricted to /22 and minimum delegation size for IPv6 address is /32 for LIRs & /48 for Corporate affiliate.

The main feature of the policy is to operate in a way that is consistent with regional and global resource management policies.

IRINN has been operational from December, 2012.Till the date, more than 320 affiliates have been registered.

October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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PWIMS Application Case Study—PWD WB—Supply, Implementation and Customisation of “Work Management Software” for the use of PWD Government of West Bengal Organisation: Publics Works Department West Bengal Industry: Government Construction Services: engaged in planning, designing, construction and maintenance of Government assets in the field of built environment and infrastructure development Client Information: Publics Works Department West Bengal is one of the prestigious departments under the control of Government of West Bengal.

Under PWD, the Public Works and Public Works (Roads) Department are presently charged with the planning, survey, design, construction and maintenance of Roads, Bridges and Buildings throughout the state as well as having various responsibilities for emergency and relief activities PWD provides infrastructural support for original and repairs works to all departments’ works under Government of West Bengal as well as department of SemiGovernment /Government undertakings.

Modules Implementing: SOR Management, Estimation Management, Approval and Sanctions, Tender Management, Store & Project Management, Billing & Account Management, Establishment Management and MIS.

Objective: The objective of Project was to provide efficient service to the current and future investors, employees and other Government Agencies by implementing IT systems to enhance effectiveness of PWD’s processes.

Project Description: Works Management System (PWIMS) is in the phase of implementing WMS solution at PWD WB. PWIMS is a centralized web based application to be accessed by all the users (officials of PWD WB) across the state. This project is successfully implemented in PWD City Division and going to rollout in 676 locations across West Bengal. The scope of work included designing, developing and implementing the Works Management System with the above mentioned Modules, rollout of application in all offices of PWD WB and post implementation support along with change management.

Issue and Challenges: There were several issues and daunting challenges that PWD sought to overcome and decided to go for a complete automation of engineering departments through works management system. One of the challenges was non uniformity of many reports across divisions & very complex administrative and technical sanctions of estimates, maintaining the Schedule of Rates (SOR) for their zones and revised every year, ensuring transparency in the tendering process, maintaining measurement book and approval of billing, payment to contractor’s and most importantly provision in decision making system that provided alerts and reports covering all areas of its operations.

Solution: SoftTech is in phase of implementing its proven e-Governance product PWIMS and customizing it to provide the solution for the engineering functions including SOR Management, Estimation Management, Approval and sanctions, Store management, Billing and Accounts management, MIS and integration with e-tendering. The system provides graphical Dashboard for decision support which can be accessed through the Portal.

The WMS at PWD will significantly enhance PWD’s responsiveness to its customers, its ability to monitor various aspects of its services and creating significant accountability and transparency in its operations.

©2013SoftTech Engineers Private Limited. All Rights Reserved.

SOFTTECH ENGINEERS PVT LTD

enquiries@SoftTech-engr.com

+9120 2421 7676 /8747

www.irinn.in

www.nixi.in

In Person

Alok Srivastava

Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India

A Windfall of Cheap Energy from Wind

W

hat is the mandate of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)? Also, please provide us with an overview of the work that is being done to promote wind energy in the country?

As you know, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters relating to new and renewable energy. The main aim of the Ministry is to facilitate the development and deployment of resources for new and renewable energy, which can supplement the energy requirements of the country. The Ministry’s mandate covers a very wide range of issues – it contributes through the creation of a good policy environment and with planning of the provision for incentives, which will lead to faster development of capacity and infrastructure for generating energy through environment friendly new and renewable energy resources. It is important that the nation should have the power to generate electricity by alternate means especially in view of the fact that the price of fossil fuels is increasing. Wind energy is a renewable resource and it comes under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The Ministry has taken a number of initiatives to promote wind energy development in the country.

In India the wind-farms can be installed at C-WET (Centre for Wind Energy Technology, Chennai) identified potential sites.

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“Wind Energy accounts for nearly 70 percent of the total renewable energy produced in the country,” says Alok Srivastava

In Person

Today there is lot of awareness about renewable sources of energy amongst the common citizens. What kind of future do you see for wind energy in India?

You are correct. The role of new and renewable energy has been assuming increasing significance in recent times with the growing concern for the country’s energy security. Today we have installed over 29000 MW of renewable energy capacity, and out of this 19,600 MW is through wind energy. Thus wind energy accounts for nearly 70 percent of the total renewable energy installed capacity in the country. India is placed fifth, after USA, China, Germany, and Spain, when it comes to generating power through wind based systems. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has announced a revised estimation of the potential wind resource in India from 49,130 MW assessed at 50 metre hub height to 102,788 MW assessed at 80 metre hub height. The wind resource at higher hub heights that are now possible is much more. In fact, a laboratory from USA has estimated that we can generate up to 748 GW of wind energy in India. So there exists a huge potential for growth in this area.

In your opinion what are the key factors that contribute to the success of Wind Energy in India?

One of the most positive aspects of wind energy is that it does not require water to generate electricity. Land requirement is also much less as compared to other ways of generating electricity. We have about 20 manufactures in the country that have the capacity to produce about 9,500 MW capacity of wind mills every year. It is a misconception that most people have that Wind power is expensive. The truth is that Wind Energy is one of the cheapest and most efficient forms of renewable energy. Once the Wind Mills have been set up, the maintenance and operation costs are very low. Therefore Wind Energy is a very profitable option as wind is a free source of energy. India has huge potential for wind power generation. We are now thinking about promoting mega projects for wind power generation.

We are also focusing on strengthening transmission and evacuation network so that more and more wind power can be evacuated. We are also identifying newer areas where these projects can be set up. In fact, the India Wind Energy Outlook 2012 estimates wind energy generation

Wind Turbines in Indian landscape

Wind Energy is one

of the cheapest and

most efficient forms

of renewable energy

capacity in India could more than quadruple to 89 GW by 2020.

Energy requirement is growing at an unprecedented way in our country. Do you think that the Wind Energy is today capable of playing a much bigger role in meeting this huge demand for cheap and reliable power?

There are seven states in the country where Wind Energy sector is doing very well. These are - Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Estimates show that wind energy potential in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and in the North Eastern states is also very good.

India, with its large coastline, has a good potential for offshore wind energy power. We have released the draft of the policy for offshore wind power development in the country. In 2011-12, we added over 3,200 MW of new capacity in onshore Wind Energy, which is a record in any one year. It requires support from the banking and financial sector. Unfortunately, a very important

incentive of accelerated depreciation, which is available to all other renewable energy resources, has been withdrawn from Wind Energy. This is a cause for concern. The rate of capacity enhancement in Wind Energy has fallen by about 50 percent since the withdrawal of accelerated depreciation incentive.

It is well known that the Wind Energy sector in India is dominated by the private sector.

Tell us about the work that is being done.

The entire power generation in the Wind Energy sector is being done by the private sector. It is the policy of the Government of India to encourage private companies to play major role in generation of Wind Energy. The capacity of 19,600 MW of power generation capability has been created entirely by the private companies. In 2011, India has created new installations for additional 3,000 MW of generation through Wind Energy. This constitutes more than 100 percent growth over a two year horizon; a remarkable achievement in times of general slow up down globally. As I have October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

33

In Person

already said, today the nation generates seventy percent of the total renewable energy through Wind Energy. It is a matter of pride for us that five percent of India’s total energy generation comes through wind energy and has put India in the world map in grid connected renewable power generation. We have also started exporting our wind turbines and systems to various countries in Latin America, Africa and Europe and United States of America.

Wind farms midst paddy fields in India

The Government is planning to announce a National Wind Mission. What kind of objectives will the mission achieve?

The Government of India is presently examining a proposal for setting up a National Wind Mission (NWM) to give further impetus to wind power in the country. The Planning Commission has agreed in principle with the need for such a mission and we are working on it. There is an immediate need for resource assessment to understand the wind Energy capacity of the country. NWM will help us achieve this objective and give encouragement to Wind Energy generation in the country. In the 12th Five-Year Plan we are targeting additional 30,000 MW of power in the renewable energy sector out of which 15,000 MW will come from wind power.

With right kind of policies and incentives, this target can easily be achieved.

New & Renewable Energy

Cumulative deployment of various Renewable Energy Systems/ Devices in the country as on 31 July 2013 (CAPACITIES IN MW) Renewable Energy Target for Deployment Programme/ 2013-14 during Systems July, 2013

Total Deployment in 2013-14 (Till 31 July 2013)

Cumulative achievement up to 31 July 2013

Wind Power

2500

96.20

608.20

19661.15

Small Hydro Power

300

20.50

74.50

3706.75

Biomass Power

105

-

-

1264.80

Bagasse Cogeneration 300

-

-

2337.43

Waste to Power -Urban 20

-

-

96.08

-Industrial - -

34

Solar Power (SPV)

1100

Total

4325.00 196.26

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

79.56

152.56

1839.00

835.26

28905.21

Brief us about some of the internal e-Governance initiatives that have been undertaken in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy?

We have taken the very important step of mapping every single wind turbine set up in the country over the last three years on IREDA’s website. So the website contains the entire information about the installed capacity, and power generated by each wind turbine in the country.

There are control centres set up by private companies to monitor the health of turbines not only in India but also in other countries. One such centre is capable of taking care of 2,000 to 3,000 wind turbines. If there is any problem in any turbine, then in most cases the problem can be rectified remotely by the controller sitting in his computer. Even the direction of fans can be changed through remote command to take maximum advantage of the direction of the wind.

Extensive use of IT is being made in the Wind Energy sector.

nielit

Orientation Workshop for Encouraging Digital Literacy

T

he National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), conducted an orientation workshop for traders to encourage digital literacy and enablement of ICT services, at the Constitutional Club of India, New Delhi, on 18th September 2013. The workshop was aimed at sensitising the trading community of the country and encouraging the traders to use ICT services. It was also focussed on promoting digital literacy among the trading community.

The workshop was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister for Information Technology & Communications, Kapil Sibal and was addressed by J Satyanarayana, Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). Dr Rajendra Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, other officials from the ministry, and Dr Ashwini Kumar Sharma, Managing Director, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), were also present, along with the senior representatives of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister for Communications & IT and Law and Justice inaugurating the Workshop by lighting the lamp. Also seen in the picture are J Satyanarayana, Secretary, DeitY; Dr Rajendra Kumar, Joint Secretary, DeitY; Prashant Goyal, Commissioner Trade & Taxes, Government of NCT of Delhi, Dr Ashwini Kumar Sharma, MD, NIELIT; Ramesh Khanna, President CAIT and Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, CAIT

Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister for Communications & IT and Law and Justice delivering the inaugural address. Seated (left to right) on the dais are Dr Ashwini Kumar Sharma, MD, NIELIT; Dr Rajendra Kumar, Joint Secretary, DeitY; Rajiv Gauba, Additional Secretary, DeitY; J Satyanarayana, Secretary, DeitY; Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, CAIT; Prashant Goyal, Commissioner Trade & Taxes, Government of NCT of Delhi; Ramesh Khanna, President CAIT; Rajesh Goyal, Chairman, CAIT; Dr Rajiv Arora, Director, NeGD. October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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In Person

Rajeev Agrawal

Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (trai)

Regulating

the dynamics of telecom

T

RAI has been playing a central role in regulating the telecom industry in the country. Please tell us about the organisation’s mandate?

“The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997” as amended by “TRAI (Amendment) Act 2000” and in conjunction with order dated 9th January, 2004, provides the Authority with mandate of regulating the Telecom and Broadcasting sector.

The mandate of the Authority is to protect the interests of service providers & consumers and to promote & ensure orderly growth of these sectors. The function of the Authority, as listed under section 11 of TRAI Act are of both recommendatory and regulatory types. Recommendatory functions are pertaining to licensing, competition, technology, equipment, industry and spectrum. TRAI has also to ensure compliance to the terms and conditions of license. It has been mandated to fix the terms and conditions for interconnectivity between service providers and ensure technical compatibility and effective interconnection. TRAI has to regulate arrangement among service providers on sharing their revenue derived from services. TRAI has to lay down the standards of quality of service and to ensure quality of service. It has to conduct the periodical survey of services so as to protect interests of the consumers. Amongst other functions, TRAI has also to ensure the effective compliance of Universal Service Obligations. The Authority in addition, is also mandated with the task of notifying rates at which the services shall be provided. The text of TRAI Act is available on TRAI website www.trai.gov.in.

The policies related to telecommunications affect the lives of millions all across the length and breadth of the country. What new policies is TRAI coming up with to take mobile telephony to all parts of the country?

TRAI has taken cognizance of the need for taking telecom services to all parts of the country. The focus for this had been on reaching the remotest area with a reasonable amount of bandwidth. A study has been conducted by TRAI to work out necessary investment for meeting needs of telecom services in the North Eastern States and recommendations have been submitted. With connectivity through a reasonable bandwidth, telecom service providers can develop their services riding on it. Steps are being taken to further strengthen the Regulations on Consumer grievance and the measures to protect consumers. TRAI had sent its recommendations on National Broadband Plan to DoT. It has also sent its recommendations to DoT regarding IMT Advanced Mobile broadband services. In addition, TRAI has provided recommendations on guidelines for Unified License for telecom services. Spectrum has

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“Competition and the technological developments will lead to continuous cost reduction and increased efficiency of operations in telecom sector,” says Rajeev Agrawal. In conversation with Nayana Singh

In Person

been delinked from the license. The Government has approved the scheme for creation of National Optical Fibre Network for providing broadband connectivity to 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats. The project is expected to be completed in two years.

Using such bandwidth, the telecom service providers would be able to provide access to fixed as well as mobile broadband services in the far flung and interior areas. Data communication is assuming increasing proportions of Telecom traffic. The issues like cloud computing, interconnection for IP based networks, fixed mobile convergence and cyber security are some of the key areas which would require attention in near future for facilitating regulations. The networks and services are transiting towards converged platforms where it is difficult to segregate the issues in terms of media, telecom or IT. Further the operations of such converged networks have little regard of geographic boundaries.

In the field of telecom, new developments are happening at fast pace. What steps are you taking to ensure that growth and innovation continue to happen in the sector?

Dissemination of information using telecommunication networks has become a basic necessity in today’s world. The policy and regulations are all working towards the objective of bringing growth to the telecom sector in order to help in bridging the digital divide and to promote financial inclusion. Technological neutrality of the policies and regulations had, in the past successfully promoted the growth. Use of LTE and OFC related technologies are acting as big capacity multipliers for telecom networks. Ubiquitous availability of high speed connectivity across the terrains may still call for timely and effective USO support. The competition and the technological developments will lead to continuous cost reduction and increasing efficiency of operations.

Today mobile technologies are providing a crucial role in promoting Financial Inclusion in the country. Please throw some light on TRAI’s initiatives in this area.

Financial inclusion can be promoted by empowerment of the have-nots and by taking the financial services to their doorsteps using mobile phones. It increases their market reach and productivity. Through the efforts of TRAI

like calling party pays, USO initiatives, monitoring of roll out obligations and promoting competition amongst telecom service providers, explosive growth of cellular mobile services has taken place with a reach across the country.

In addition, the National Broadband Plan will enhance availability of affordable and reliable bandwidth for both fixed and mobile devices.

Application developments will get a big boost as a consequence of such market expansion.

All this will make more and more people use the banking and financial services even at the places where there is no branch of the bank.

The cash handling capability of distribution system of pre paid mobile services and its penetration coupled with concepts like business correspondents of banks provide a great potential for banking or other financial services to get extended across the country. Added with common service centres, functioning out of

The cost of spectrum is very high, leading to the rise in the cost of services. What are the policy initiatives to keep it optimum for the Indian market?

The price, one is willing to pay for spectrum, relates to what advantages he can reap out of getting its right of use. There is nothing like an absolutely high or low price of spectrum. Primarily it relates to perception on status of economy, demand and supply and the extent of liquidity with the prospective buyer. Its economic value depends on several factors. Firstly, it depends on whether the use of the spectrum is liberal or restricted.

Secondly, it depends on developments in user technology. New technological developments are facilitating more efficient use of spectrum. Thirdly, the price depends on strings attached to issues like spectrum sharing, trading, spectrum usage charges, etc and ability to raise loan against spec-

TRAI has been encouraging mobile payments in various forms

enhanced broadband access, the process of promotion of financial inclusion will be facilitated to a great extent. Recently, TRAI has released a Consultation Paper for USSD based mobile banking services.

What steps are being taken to encourage mobile payments within the country?

TRAI has been encouraging mobile payments in various forms. Necessary regulations have already been brought out regarding quality of service. The major initiative had however been focussed towards the people who do not have access to banks branch. For the others, the mobile payment is just an additional way of doing the banking with the convenience of mobility. For the people in rural areas without branches of banks, it is one of the basic necessities to get access to banking and other financial services through a convenient and affordable access. Common infrastructure model, Business models for interconnecting service providers etc will encourage propelling the mobile payments Gateways. TRAI had been keeping a close watch on the requirements.

trum. The status of economic activity and the ability of the end user to pay for various applications also decide the extent to which the extraction of economic value is possible from spectrum.

What initiatives are you taking to bring more transparency in the distribution of spectrum?

The allocation of spectrum so far has been done in two ways - through administered price reforms and through auction. Both the processes have their well known pros and cons. In the recent recommendations on reserve price for auction of spectrum, TRAI has made specific efforts to ensure, that the prospective bidders get a clear picture of terms and conditions of the proposed auction For example, the recommendations provide that the notice inviting applicants (NIA) for the prospective bidders should clearly indicate that trading of spectrum will be allowed. The TRAI recommendations clearly indicate necessity of bringing out complete guidelines for spectrum sharing prior to issue of NIA. An attempt has been made to address all the issues raised by various stakeholders regarding transparency and to maximize the economic value of the spectrum to be auctioned.

October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

37

In Person

Textile Industry Embarking Needs more on Paperless Technology Documentation Please give us an overview of the work that ATDC is doing?

ATDC has emerged as India’s Largest Vocational Training Network for the Apparel Sector with over 150 ATDCs including 25 ATDC Community Colleges and over 150 ATDC- SMART Peripatetic Centres and Skill Camps at present in major Apparel clusters spread across 20 states. We have been appointed as Dr Darlie O Koshy, Director the nodal agency by ministry of texGeneral, ATDC (Apparel tile to spearhead the pilot projects Training & Design Centre) related to skill development. We had a target of 48,000 people to be trained within two years, and we have already trained more than 50,000 people.

What kind of response are you getting from different states?

Our experience with the government have been fantastic, we have been able to open centres across the country. Five states, Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu, have done exceeding well and have trained over 5000 people over a period of one year. The other states are also offering positive results.

Are you satisfied with the research work being done in textile sector for product innovation?

The contribution of Indian industry in research and development (R&D) is estimated to be less than two to three percent, and that is mostly in pharmaceutical and automobile sectors. Research as you have rightly pointed out, has not been given enough attention. That is why we have set-up first ATDC-JUKI TECH Innovation Centre to strengthen the Apparel Industry, especially the SMEs. Our aim is to make it easier for the companies to adopt new technologies.

What is your view of the kind of attention that you are getting from Indian designers?

After set-up of NIFT in 1987 and economic liberalisation policy of 90s, things have changed. We have started focusing on textile and fashion.

Almost all the designers are doing a great deal to promote Indian textiles. There are many designers who on focus on Indian fashion. Things have changed because today Indian designers know much more about the Indian fashion and textiles.

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egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

What are the main areas of business for Ricoh in India? Please give us an overview of your operations in the country.

Ricoh India is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd, Japan, a global technology company and a leading player in the areas of Printing & Document Management, Image Communication Systems and IT Services.

In India, we operate through a nation-wide network of 16 branches and 5 area offices.

In addition to our direct sales and support team, we also an extensive network of over 2000 partners across India We provide of a complete range of solutions for office printing and document management, in single function or multi-function, in B&W and color, to take care of any office requirement.

A T Rajan, Chief Marketing Officer & Head of Corporate Strategy Office Ricoh India Ltd

Out of your overall revenue in India, how much comes from the Government business?

Government is a very important customer segment for Ricoh India, and currently we have almost 50 percent of our revenues coming from Government business. During the last 2-3 years, the proportion of our business from Government has steadily increased from around 40 percent to 50 percent, so our growth in this segment has been very good.

In a world that is moving towards a paperless environment, how do you see the future of printing and documentation industry?

Although, in the near term, the total print volumes will continue to grow in absolute terms, I feel that the quantity of scan volumes as a percentage of total document volume is expected to increase rapidly.

Our range of Printers and MFPs are complemented by a wide range of document management solutions for document storage, retrieval and management. We encourage our customers to reduce their prints and increase their scans – in most of our MFPs, we provide basic document management solutions free of cost, bundled with the machine.

In order to further drive the ‘document-less communication’ in today’s offices, we are now expanding to other image communication products like Projection systems and Interactive White Boards. As you may know, Ricoh is renowned globally for our commitment to environment.

In Person

Debjani Ghosh

Managing Director, Sales & Marketing Group - Intel South Asia

Spreading

T

Digital Literacy ell us about the initiatives that Intel is taking under the National Digital Literacy Mission?

The main aim of the National Digital Literacy Mission is to improve the condition of digital literacy in India and help rural communities to take lead in the global digital economy and help them in maintaining the competitiveness and also shape a technologically empowered society. Under NDLM, Intel and its NGO partners have set up digital literacy training centres in the three villages which have received the National Optic Fibre Network. These villages are located in Rajasthan, North Tripura and Andhra Pradesh. Over the last year, the goal of having one e-literate person per household in these three villages has been fulfilled.

Through its Intel Learn Easy Steps curriculum on digital literacy, we have already trained over 1.7 million citizens in India. Intel has recently launched the Intel Learn Easy Steps Android App to scale digital literacy training.

Tell us about your Ultrabook business in India? What is the USP of this product?

Today the computer is evolving. There is hyperinnovation and the industry is in a period of transition. We are having new innovations that are pointing towards a rather exciting computing future. New shapes like tablets, 2-in-1s and new operating systems are blurring the traditional landscape of computing. Intel’s Ultrabook is a sleek, mobile and high performance computing system. It is meant to fulfil the computing needs of today’s professionals who want a light device with heavy computing power. With touch screen technology, the ultrabooks are going to redefine the way in which we look at computing.

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egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

“Intel along with its NGO partners has set up digital literacy training centres in the three villages where there is connectivity through National Optic Fibre Network,” says Debjani Ghosh.

In conversation with Ankush Kumar

How has been the overall growth of Intel in India? What role has technology played in the success of your projects?

Intel’s growth throughout the world has been mirrored in India as well. In India, our focus has specifically been on the untapped segment of the market. A large segment of the Indian population is unaware of the benefits of a computing device and the positive change it can bring about in our life. Therefore the focus in India needs to be on what we do with technology and the impact it has on individuals. Driving real and meaningful usage starts at the grassroots level, be it to build job skills or find employment opportunities or find new markets for small traders or provide preventive healthcare to the masses. Technology is meaningful and useful only when it helps individuals be more productive and makes lives easier. We have a long way to go to enable that in India. What we need is a holistic approach to technology that addresses

last mile access, localized content, digital literacy and of course choice of devices to meet different consumer needs. If we get it right, the sum total of the strategy will have more value for the consumers and industry than the singular focus on hardware or devices that we see in the country.

What are your plans for the next couple of quarters?

With mobility in computing on the rise, Intel has been working on the same, partnering up with OEMs to design exciting new tablets and Smartphones. Intel has already launched their two big reveals for this year – 4th Gen Core Processors and Bay Trail. You can expect a range of exciting new devices based on these platforms to be out towards the last few months of the year. Apart from this Intel continues on its mission to spread domestic digital adoption and digital literacy throughout the country by means of its My Discoveries campaign and its initiatives under NDLM.

Guest Column

Social Media and Democracy Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Information Technology & Communications Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh

W

ho could have predicted that the concept, definition and paradigm of media as we understood earlier would alter so dramatically? It really bemuses us that all this has happened in less than a decade or so. Although print media remained in fashion for all of the five centuries earlier after the invention of printing, the trends have now moved to other forms of media starting with television to now the digital landscape in the form of social media or the blogosphere. How should we look at this change, whether it is positive or negative for the growth of political discourse and opinion building is the question that naturally crops up in our minds?

One thing, however, looks certain, these emerging trends and blowing winds on media have come here to stay until they get modified by some other more sophisticated forms, difficult to foreseen now.

Change is the only constant in life and it’s therefore imperative that we welcome this transition with open arms. This change on the balance though looks largely positive. It has truly advanced the concept of freedom of speech and expression, which are the essential tenets of a good functioning democracy. Though print media, or the fourth estate as they call it, used to play the same role, it’s now become freer with social media wherein multiple opinions and diverse thoughts are aired or wired with consummate ease. This has made the standards of debate more exacting and would also allow mature self-censorship to grow and evolve, which surely is a more responsible form of reportage.

The control, which media houses use to have on opinion, has also shifted democratically as social media limits the biases, prejudices and commercial interests that plagued the news ecosystem

earlier. There were instances wherein public opinion was arbitrarily shaped by such partisan understandings of the media houses. Internet on the other hand does not allow that and provides equal opportunities to everybody wanting to air their views, which allow better quality of debate.

However, there are two faces of the coin, what seems good has to have its own share of inherent pitfalls. Unless caution is exercised, social media can also become an uncontrolled Frankenstein where it can be used for uninhibited mudslinging, unscrupulous debates and unsubstantiated insinuations and calumnies.

The signs of this are already palpable in the TV news reporting where succumbing to the pressures of being the first to break news; significant damage is caused to public order. Such reporting, for instance was recently seen in Mumbai terrorist attacks wherein hyperbolic reporting inadvertently helped the terrorists.

On the whole though with essential safeguards, social media and blogosphere can play

a positive role in allowing popular aspirations to be aired. The events in Middle East and regime overthrows there can in some measure be attributed to the opinion building accentuated by social media. Another positive is the reach and the expanse of social media and its potential to cut across geographies and boundaries, which help in better mobilization of thoughts. Internet being a market-controlled media form also brings in the necessary advantages and efficiencies of the market. The rapidly evolving big data analytics would also abet this process by allowing such multiple viewpoints to be correlated and harnessed.

Sanjay Jaju Secretary, Information Technology & Communications Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh

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news

projects people policy events products

RBI Chief Raghuram Rajan to Focus on Mobile Banking and Aadhaar Raghuram Rajan took charge as the 23rd governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), listing out many short-term measures to reverse the economy’s slide and to stabilise the country’s monetary system.

In his first speech as RBI Governor, Rajan promised some bold reforms and quick action.

Rajan will soon announce his first monetary policy.

Recognizing the substantial potential in the mobile banking sector, he said, “We will set up a technical committee to examine

the feasibility of using encrypted SMS-based funds transfer using an application that can run on any type of handset,” he added.

He also plans to link the credit history of borrowers to their Aadhaar numbers. This will help banks to track the credit history of individuals and find out if he/ she has defaulted on the loan repayments in the past.

Rajan announced the formation of an expert committee headed by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan to screen applications for new bank licenses.

Science & Technology

INITIATIVE

India successfully launched its advanced multi-band communication satellite, GSAT-7 by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle of Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana. As planned, ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka started acquiring the signals five minutes prior to the separation of GSAT-7 from Ariane-5 launch vehicle. The present orbit of the satellite will be raised to Geostationary Orbit of about 36,000 km altitude through three orbit raising manoeuvres by firing of GSAT-7’s Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM).

All India Radio launched free SMS service to provide important news to subscribers and keep them updated with the latest happenings around.

The service was launched by Information and Broadcasting Minister, Manish Tewari. He said that All India Radio (AIR) has an extremely diverse correspondent base which is able to gather news stories from the extremely remote corners of the country and bring them to mainstream in real time, and also expressed hope that the data base of SMS subscribers will go up from the current two lakh to five lakh by the end of this month. The resource generated through such public utility scheme will enable the News Services Division of AIR to bear the cost incurred towards generating such SMSs. People willing to subscribe to the service can SMS AIR NEWS space name to 08082080820.

India Launches Its Advanced Multi-Band Communication Satellite

All India Radio Launches Free News SMS Service

Government to Launch DBTL in 235 More Districts Government of India has decided to extend the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme in 235 more districts in phases depending on Aadhaar penetration. With this roll out almost half the country, covering 289 districts, will get covered by DBTL

by January 2014.

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The DBTL scheme has already been launched so far in 54 districts of the country covering 21.9 million LPG consumers and `222 crore subsidies has been transferred through 5.3 million transac-

tions into the bank accounts of the LPG consumers so far.

As per the DBTL scheme, cash subsidy is transferred for the LPG cylinders directly into the bank accounts of the

LPG consumers while the sale happens at the market price.

All LPG consumers of the 289 districts are advised to obtain Aadhaar number and link it to their LPG consumer number and to their bank accounts if they wish to avail of the LPG subsidy at the earliest.

india

DIRECTIVES

Aadhaar Card Voluntary, Not Mandatory: Supreme Court The Supreme Court recently said Aadhaar cards are not mandatory for availing government services such as domestic cooking gas, food subsidy, marriage certificates, salary reimbursements and other services.

The interim order is expected to benefit a number of people but may come in the way of the UPA’s welfare programmes, such as the “game-changer” Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, in an election year. It is likely to slow down the government’s bid to enroll 1.1 billion eligible residents by 2014.

The order came after the Centre told a bench of Justice BS Chauhan and justice SA Bobde that securing an Aadhaar number was voluntary.

In the Capital, several welfare entitlements are linked to Aadhaar, enrollment for which is voluntary.

news

DEVELOPMENT

P Chidambaram Launches IRDA’s Insurance Repository System Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram recently launched the IRDA’s Insurance Repository System (IRS).

Meanwhile, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said the insurance repository system set up by the regulator will be the first of its kind in the world. According to IRDA, the objective of creating an insurance repository is to provide policy holders the facility to keep insurance policies in electronic form. It is also to undertake changes, modifications and revisions in the insurance policy with speed and accuracy in order to bring about efficiency, transparency and cost reduction in the issuance and maintenance of insurance policies. iNITIATIVE

IRCTC Launches New APP for Booking e-Ticket Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) has launched a new application (App) for Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices so as to facilitate the users with a new channel of booking e-tickets in addition to the existing portal. This new IRCTC-App, which has been launched in collaboration with Microsoft, provides anytime, anywhere access to IRCTC services.

CRIS Launches New Enhanced Interface for Train Enquiry Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the IT wing of Indian Railways, has developed an enhanced new interface for the www.trainenquiry.com for dissemination of information to public. The new interface is accessible through www.trainenquiry.com or www.enquiry.indianrail. gov.in. The new feature enables the users to obtain information regarding Train Schedule, current running status, expected time of arrival and departure.

Using this new app one can plan a trip, make railway reservations, check the PNR status and perform all the tasks already available on the IRCTC web site. The App will provide the users an enhanced experience of all IRCTC website services .The new and exciting features for the App-users will include Visual maps of train routes, Windows Phone live tiles (lighting up as train tickets) .

gOVERNANCE

Narendra Modi Launches Gujarat Police’s Ambitious Project eGujCop

The Government of Gujarat launched its most ambitious information technology project eGujCop. It is system which will connect all of Gujarat Police’s 1,000 police stations and other departments with the Home Department through the electronic platform. Chief Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the project at Bhaskarcharya Institute for Space Sciences and Geo-Informatics (BISAG) in Gandhinagar.

The programme, running under the Information Technology Enabled System (ITES), has been designed to bring a simple, fast, transparent and effective connection between the police departments converting the procedures online through a specially designed database.

“The project, established at a cost of `150 crore, has been acknowledged by the Centre as a successful model. The project will bring a paradigm shift in the functioning of the police department, reducing their workload through the e-Document system.

In a way, eGujCop could prove more effective than even AK-47,”as said by Narendra Modi.

NRHM Starts Immunization Alerts via SMS National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the state of Rajasthan has under taken an initiative to remind the parents about their timely immunization through SMS alerts. SMS alerts will congratulate the parents on the girl’s birth and

advise ways to take better care of them.

The information technology (IT) section under NRHM will send SMS to beneficiaries of Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojna (JSSY) and Chief Minister Subhlaxmi Yojna.

The SMS alerts will keep them informed about the dates of immunization.

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In Person

Arun Kaul

Chairman & Managing Director, UCO Bank

Banking for

Financial Inclusion “UCO UTTHAN has had a profound impact among the BPL dominated villages being serviced by UCO branches. It has brought the hitherto unreached poor villagers within the banking fold and provided them with a sense of identity and belonging,� says Arun Kaul

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In Person

U

CO Bank is one of the oldest commercial banks in the country. In your opinion what is the most important contribution that UCO Bank has made to the banking industry in the country during so many years of its operations?

Banking being a public service, the primary responsibility of the banks is to make basic banking facilities available to all members of the society irrespective of their location, social standing, gender, literacy or financial status.

While achieving business milestones, UCO Bank has never lost sight of its responsibilities towards society, more particularly to its vulnerable sections. The Bank meets its social commitments through the network of rural and semi urban branches (comprising nearly two thirds of its total nationwide branches). Small and marginal farmers, artisans, self-employed persons, particularly those belonging to the weaker sections are the main beneficiaries of the Bank’s social initiatives.

In this connection one recent initiative of UCO Bank that has wide socio-economic ramifications is the “UCO UTTHAN SCHEME”.

Going beyond the traditional role of suppliers of credit, UCO Bank thought it fit to introduce this social-cum-financial upliftment scheme for villages with large concentration of people living Below Poverty Line (BPL). Under the scheme, villages, in underdeveloped districts of the country, having a large number of BPL families are adopted by the Bank through its nearest branch to bring the BPL families out of the clutches of poverty and bring about a

holistic change in the villages. Hence the name “UCO UTTHAN”. Under the scheme, a holistic development plan of the villagers is drawn up and followed for covering areas like education, financing for rural housing, formation of SHG and micro-financing, development of handicrafts and rural artisans, agri-clinics and agribusiness centre, farm mechanisation, extending finance under DRI scheme, providing insurance coverage.

What kind of impact has UCO UTTHAN had on the grassroots level?

UCO UTTHAN has had a profound impact among the BPL-dominated villages being serviced by UCO branches. It has brought the hitherto unreached poor villagers within the banking fold and provided them with a sense of identity and belonging. It has made them realize that a large Bank like UCO is dedicated to their cause. Periodical visits to the villages by Bank Officials also create a sense of bonding between the Bank and the villagers.

What kind of growth rate have you been seeing in the last few years? What kind of growth rates are you expecting in future?

During Mar’10 to Mar’13, Bank’s business has grown at a CAGR of 14 percent to reach `3.05 lakh crore as on Mar’13. During current Financial Year, we expect our business to grow in line with the RBI’s projection for the banking

system. So the growth will in the range of 13-14 percent in both deposits and credits.

Tell us some innovative initiatives that UCO Bank has launched to promote financial inclusion?

Seeking to bring more and more people residing in remote corners of the country into the banking fold, UCO Bank has conceptualized and introduced CBS-enabled “UCO Bank on Wheels”. The idea is to provide basic Banking services at their door steps (with the help of world class technology) so as to save them the trouble of wasting a whole day in travelling to and fro the nearest brick-and-mortar branch that entails loss of daily-wage and expenditure in travel etc. It is an attempt to bring the unbanked population within the formal banking network so that their hard-earned money can be deposited safely with the bank and they can come out of the clutches of usurious money-lenders. It is an iconic and revolutionary concept that has been widely appreciated. UCO Mobile Bank van is a single mobile infrastructure. Each Mobile Bank is linked to a CBS-enabled base branch. For close monitoring of the UCO Mobile Van vehicles, the Global Positioning System (GPS) has been implemented. All the vehicles have GPS equipment on board that enable fleet tracking from central locations.

The Bank has launched 24 such mobile vans that cover 240 villages.

Banks in India are adequately capitalised, have huge customer base and wide outreach

Financial Inclusion UCO bank has been a pioneer in providing banking services to unbanked villages under its Financial Inclusion Plan. The Bank has adopted 3-way Approach to implement the Financial Inclusion Programme which constitutes of the following: • Opening of Brick & Mortar branches in unbanked villages • Launching of UCO Bank on Wheels (Mobile Van) • Implementation of ICT based BC Model

How do you see the role of Direct Benefit Transfer in bringing efficiency into the distribution of subsidies?

To meet the socio-developmental objectives of poverty elimination and inclusive growth, a number of Government sponsored programmes and schemes have been introduced.

However optimal efficiency and effectiveness have not been achieved by any of the programs and schemes. Rampant leakages and October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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In Person

Financial Inclusion Products UCO Bank offers following customised product under Financial Inclusion UCO JEEVIKA * To mitigate the hardship of the rural people and to meet their immediate consumption & medical requirement etc, Bank has offered “UCO JEEVIKA” scheme under its Financial Inclusion initiatives. * This is an embedded overdraft facility in the Basing Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts opened under Bank’s Financial Inclusion initiative. * This is a clean overdraft facility upto a limit of `500/- with simplest documentation.  Customers can avail this facility any number of times within the limit of `500/Savings-cum-OD facility for Non-Farm Sector Families (NFS) living in Rural /Semi urban/ Urban Areas. * Bank has also devised a product for providing Savings-cum-OD account to landless NonFarm Sector Families (NFS) living in Rural / Semi urban/Urban Areas under its Financial Inclusion Initiatives. * To be eligible under the scheme, the annual income of the family should not exceed `18,000/- per annum for Rural/Semi urban areas and `24,000/- per annum for Urban/ Metro areas. * The OD facility in the account ranges from `2500/- to `10000/ It is meant for meeting the consumption needs of Non-Farm Sector Families (NFS) The Bank is also in the process of introducing the following micro insurance products of LIC for FI customers * Jeevan Dhara * Jeevan Mangal * Jeevan Deep

corruption have made many schemes dysfunctional. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has been aimed to mitigate these malaises. As per decision taken in the meeting of the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers held by the Prime Minister, Direct Benefit Transfers is being rolled out from 1 January 2013 in 43 identified districts. The purpose of Direct Benefits Transfer is to ensure that benefits/grant/ subsidy provided by the government under its various welfare schemes go to individual’s bank accounts electronically, cutting down delays and diversions.

It is well known that the international financial system is going through a period of crisis.

What is your view of the banking industry in the country?

The global financial crisis, the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, as well as the currency market volatility over the last few months have had negative influences on our domestic macroeconomic situation. Indian economy is currently faced with the twin deficits of CAD and fiscal deficit, sticky consumer price inflation,

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economic environment though the rising NPAs in the banking sector is a cause for concern, most Indian banks are resilient to handle the situation. The need of the hour is rebalancing the credit portfolio by focusing on less risky sectors and practicing more stringent due diligence. Rural and retail sectors will offer enough opportunities for acquiring good quality assets while macro level issues in the domestic and global economies will put some pressure on the performance of the existing corporate borrowers. This again calls for better risk management and strict credit monitoring.

Currently the bank is also operating some branches in other countries in Asia. What are your plans for growth outside India?

Overseas markets are becoming difficult.

Many of the countries have become saturated markets and they do not even have a very attractive GDP. In many countries the regulatory requirements are very rigid and Indian banks with relatively smaller capital base face difficulties when it comes to overseas expansions. The Bank is closely watching the unfolding economic scenario and will take appropriate decision at appropriate time on

UCO Bank has introduced CBS-enabled Bank on Wheels for providing banking services on doorsteps risk of exchange rate depreciation feeding into inflation, slowing growth and deteriorating asset quality. Banks in India are adequately capitalised, have huge customer base and wide outreach. Above all they enjoy the trust of common citizens. During the crisis of 2008, it was observed that people transferred more money into bank deposits. When the growth in the economy is slow, banks should concentrate on consolidation of balance sheets while concentrating on core areas. Focus should be on retaining existing and acquiring new customers (by offering appropriate products, enhancing service quality and improving customer experience) so as to have access to stable low-cost retail deposit. In this subdued

expanding business abroad. At present, UCO Bank has branches overseas at two of the world’s most important business hubs: Singapore and Hong Kong (two branches each).

In addition, the Bank has Correspondents/ Agency arrangements all over the world.

Overseas business is around ten percent of Bank’s total business. Further, Bank is also dealing with Indo-Iran bilateral trade through Rupee payment mechanism, duly approved

by RBI and Government of India. Meanwhile, the Bank is in the process of making arrangements with financial institutions of Gulf Countries for Rupee remittance to India from NRIs abroad.

In Person

C N Raghupathi

Head, India Business Unit, Infosys

e-Governance is citizen service

W

It is difficult to do business with the government because there is a cumbersome process for getting clearances, etc. What are the main challenges that you face in executing e-Governance projects?

hat is your view of the overall e-Governance scenario in India?

I think the term e-Governance is little outdated.

Ten years back, e-Governance would have been a very apt word, but today it is no longer relevant.

This is because today e-Governance has become a very broad concept, one that covers every aspect of development. So in my opinion, e-Governance can also be referred to as a citizen service. Today large numbers of government departments are using IT to bring efficiency and transparency in their working.

Please provide us with an overview of the work that Infosys is doing for bringing more technology to the government departments?

We are working with many government departments. For instance, in the Income Tax department we have done lot of technology implementations.

Infosys has set up an IT-CPC, a centralised processing centre for all IT-related processes where all the filed returns are directed, validated, scanned, digitized, processed, and printed. The TDS facility processes more than 400 million tax deduction submissions filed by nearly one million entities annually. This, as you know, has resulted in significant reduction in cost. Now more people are filing e-returns. Refunds are being issued within three months of tax filing. A call centre has also been set up for answering tax payer queries.

How secure are mobile wallet transactions?

I would like to tell you that Infosys WalletEdge is a highly scalable platform. It is capable of supporting millions of transactions annually

“Infosys has been processing tax returns filed online by Indian citizens since 2008. Till February 2013, the company had successfully processed more than 30 million tax filings and related refunds.� says, C N Raghupathi, Head, India Business Unit, Infosys. In conversaton with Sruti Ghosal

in a secure environment. Delivered through a private Cloud, it creates a comprehensive shared services framework that allows members of the ecosystem to process payment instructions seamlessly and cost efficiently.

Also Airtel ensures that transactions are done through authorised retailers. Every transaction has to go through various levels of security. This is ensured by the wide network that Airtel has.

So far the response to technology is good; but the issue here is not technology, it is trust. Few other mobile players are also coming up with similar products. But there is ample room in the market for everyone to grow.

The common challenge that every private company faces is related to lack of understanding.

The truth is that understanding the government is not an easy task. So when huge projects are allocated to the private companies, they have to understand that for the government the key performance indicator can be different. A government project can be highly transformational; it often requires that the government employees pick up the knowledge of new technological systems. Another major problem in the government sector is that the government lasts for five years and the head of most departments lasts for around three years, so any change at the top can lead to confusion.

You have partnered with Airtel on the Mobile Wallet project.

Please tell us about it.

Large section of Indian population is still unable to access banking and other financial services. The total number of rural banks is very small. In my opinion, mobile based systems are the best way of providing financial services to much larger section of our population. Infosys has already developed the system called Infosys WalletEdge, which is a mobile commerce platform. We have joined hands with Airtel to bring state of the art mobile banking facility to the country. Under this partnership, Infosys WalletEdge will enable Airtel’s mobile wallet service to support cashless payments and settlements needs of diverse customer segments. Today Airtel money is the biggest electronic wallet in the country. It has more than a million users and holds transactions of over `200 crores.

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In Person

Kishore Kharat

General Manager-Financial Inclusion, Bank of Baroda

Promoting

Financial Inclusion in Rural India

F

inancial Inclusion is playing a seminal role in changing the economic scenario in the country. What are key initiatives taken by Bank of Baroda in this area?

Bank of Baroda had been originally allocated 2864 villages with population above 2000 under financial inclusion by various SLBCs/DCCs. Another six villages were re-allocated to our bank in March 2012 in the state of West Bengal and Nagaland.

Thus Bank was allocated total 2870 villages under financial inclusion.

Bank has achieved 100 percent village coverage of 2870 villages before March 2012. The four pillars of financial inclusion are financial literacy, banking access, product available and operational viability. India has one of the largest mobile penetrations in the world. It can be used as an advantage for providing various banking services. In villages we are using mobile technology to deliver services in real time. So it has become an extension of banking counter. Our bank has also launched mobile vans in the village areas to extend our banking services at their doorsteps. The services include account opening, as according to a study, 66 percent of the people in India still do not have bank accounts. Today NREGA payments are also done through bank accounts. Bank has opened 2068 ultra small branches as of 30th April 2012 across the country and has planned to open remaining 684 USBs so as to cover all villages covered through BC Model under financial inclusion.

India is a large and geographically diverse country; there is lot of challenges in providing banking services in every part of the country. Tell us about challenges which were met in the implementations of various financial inclusion schemes.

The truth is that over the years we have failed to bring banking and other financial systems to the people in all parts of the country. Today, with financial inclusion, we are trying to eliminate all those drawbacks. First and foremost drawback was the approach of banks that the beneficiary will come and register for an inclusion scheme. In the remote villages and geographically challenging environment it is bound to result in low turnout as availing banking facility is not the only priority of these

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“Now it’s time to reap the benefits of new technology and infrastructure and make Financial Inclusion successful in India,� says Kishore Kharat. In conversation with Rachita Jha

In Person

people. Lack of adequate technology to handle volume of potential business is also a reason of failure. Now our approach has changed completely, and we are taking a customer-centric strategy by taking banking to their doorsteps.

The essence of financial inclusion is to ensure that financial services are available at doorstep of every individual at affordable cost.

Activities covered under Grameen Paramarsh Kendra (BGPK) • Financial Education and Financial Inclusion

Tell us some of the customized products that you offer under financial inclusion?

• Information sharing and problem solving on technical issues

We have different schemes like production credits, investment credits, and consumption credits. These are the basic three requirements of rural segments. Investment credits are issued when people need loans for land levelling, well digging; whereas production credit means, they want to grow crops there. So crop loans are production credits. Then there are consumption credits, where consumption needs are there, like somebody needs it for house repair, for purchasing vehicles, children’s education, and marriages in the family. People are not aware about our credit schemes. So our officers are going there and

• Synergy and liaison with other organizations and development activities

• Credit counselling

With the arrival of reliable and customised schemes under financial inclusion, and banks going to their doorsteps, the concept of savings account in banks is fast catching pace in rural hinterland. We are also trying to introduce a credit system for them. We are trying to eliminate intermediary and improve efficiency of existing benefit transfers. Today banks need to provide alternative financial services to the people through various channels. It includes

There is wealth in

rural India, but there is lack of reliable banking facilities for the rural population are advising them on all these schemes. Our approach is to push people into our banking services instead of pulling them out.

The product portfolio of the banks has also been changed to fulfil the financial inclusion agenda. Tell us about it.

The second major intervention has been with the product portfolio that is offered within financial inclusion. Earlier most of the banking products that were being offered were slightly costly and it was wrongly believed that such products would be unsuitable for rural masses. It is wrongly assumed that rural India is devoid of wealth. There is significant wealth in rural India, but there is lack of reliable banking facilities for the rural population.

systems of business correspondence, mobile vans correspondence and village-level entrepreneur kiosks. We are also opening small brick and mortar branches, which have a skeleton structure and are very cost effective.

We have introduced ultra-small branches, wherein the officer of the bank visits once in a week, along with the business correspondents.

Bank of Baroda has set up Baroda Grameen Paramarsh Kendra to promote financial literacy in rural India. Tell us about its impact in connecting rural masses to the banking services.

Bank of Baroda has taken a number of initiatives such as opening of specialised outlets of Gram Vikas Kendras (GVKs) and Multi Ser-

vice Agencies (MSAs). Baroda Swarojgar Vikas Sansthan (BSVS) is another initiative for capacity building by providing appropriate training for skill upgradation of unemployed youth and women for their gainful employment. There is a big knowledge gap especially in farmers in terms of financial literacy, better farming practices, technology adoption, diversification of opportunities, market linked prices, value addition services offered by various institutions, women empowerment and also for employment opportunities for rural youth. In addition to this, the deficiencies about credit related repayment during distress situations call for credit counselling. We have set up Baroda Grameen Paramarsh Kendra (BGPK) - a centre for Knowledge Sharing, Problem solving and Credit counselling for the Rural Community.

In your opinion what kind of impact will Direct Benefit Transfer have in enlarging the scope of banking services in the country?

The purpose of Direct Benefit Transfer is to ensure that benefits go to individual bank accounts electronically, cutting down delays and pilferages if any. The benefit covers 34 schemes such as scholarships, pensions, subsidies, MNREGA wages, etc. Bank needs to ensure that each beneficiary living in the service area of the branch has a bank account.

Wherever our bank has lead responsibilities, our bank managers obtain from the respective district collectors the scheme-wise list of beneficiaries along with the bank account details and these are then distributed to all the banks in their district. Wherever the beneficiary already has Aadhaar, details get collected and seeded into the bank core banking system (CBS). DBT will propel speedy implementation of financial inclusion. Direct credit to beneficiaries’ accounts avoiding delays and pilferages.

The saving potential of beneficiaries would improve, as intermediaries would be eliminated. The increased earnings would facilitate improved living conditions of the poor. It will also eliminate all the unauthenticated entries thereby saving government expenditure.

This would lead to reducing fiscal deficit and strengthen government allocation of resources.

Our bank is fully prepared to undertake Aadhaar based payments, UIDAI linkages and other financial activities. Now it’s time to reap the benefits of infrastructure and make Financial Inclusion a successful in India.

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In Person

V P Jain

General Manager, Financial Inclusion Division Punjab National Bank

Empowering

the masses through Financial Inclusion

T

oday large section of Indian society does not have access to banking and other financial services. So the government has come up with the Financial Inclusion initiative to bring the entire country into the banking system. Tell us about the work that Punjab National Bank is doing in this area.

Financial Inclusion is very essential for the progress of country. The agenda in this case is essentially economic. Access to financial services facilitates making and receiving financial payments and reduces transaction costs.

Improved access to financial services contributes to productivity and social protection, as the financial sector – through savings, credit and insurance – serves as means of crisis mitigation. Once people in rural areas have access to banking and other financial services, their economic situation will improve and they will be able to contribute to the nation’s economy in a better way. Punjab National Bank has always been in the forefront in providing banking services to the unbanked population in the country and believes that the poor are bankable. The Bank has already made significant contribution in extending banking services to the unbanked population through its Financial Inclusion Plan. Punjab National Bank’s financial inclusion initiatives are aimed at financial empowerment and participation of rural masses in the growth process.

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“Punjab National Bank’s financial inclusion initiatives are aimed at financial empowerment and participation of rural masses in the growth process,” says V P Jain. In conversation with Nayana Singh

In Person

What kind of strategies is the Punjab National Bank using to provide financial services to the urban and rural poor?

Punjab National Bank has come up with its own unique strategy for financial inclusion. It has changed its entire system of last mile delivery. We have developed the system in which the all the transactions can be done in the online mode. One fundamental difference between our approach to financial inclusion and that of other banks is that we follow a reverse flow system. This system allows our customer who is enrolled at the BC location to also become a customer of the mainstream banking side. Simultaneously customer of mainstream is allowed to have an additional outlet through BC locations. The bank has come up with products like Biometric Smart Cards, which enable an illiterate to withdraw money from his account. The system identifies the individuals on the basis of fingerprints. I would also like to tell you about the PNB Kalyani Cards, which are given to women in rural areas for their general needs and upliftment. Then there is the PNB Krishak Sathi, which is a loan scheme for farmers to liberate them from indebtedness at the hands of the moneylenders.

In your opinion what kind of impact are the Financial Inclusion initiatives of Punjab National Bank having on the ground level?

Nearly 65 percent of households in India borrow money from non-institutional sources. The lower the asset class or income of the people, the higher is their degree of exclusion. For instance,

JAN Mitra Rickshaw Project Dr K C Chakrabarty, the then CMD of Punjab National Bank launched “Jan Mitra Rickshaw Project” on pilot basis in Varanasi on February 2, 2008 in association with Centre for Rural Development (CRD), NGO. Simultaneously health and medical insurance cover will also be provided. Rickshaw pullers are organized in a group of five and located at a common garage, to manage their savings, repair the rickshaw and update the business records.

Rickshaw puller has to open a “No Frills”

Account with PNB. Subsequently, PNB will continue its links with the Rickshaw puller so as to fulfill his requirements for second product or services, thus becoming “one-stop shop” for the borrower and his family’s entire needs like small loans for the household like renovation of house, buying cooking gadgets, etc. and allied activities like education loan, housing loan, personal loan, etc.

initiative in a major way. We use modern technology solutions like smart cards, hand held terminals, biometric devices and simple ICT tools like laptops, webcams and battery backup devices to provide for easy enrolment of new customers. ‘No frills’ (zero balance) accounts are being opened for customers with relaxed Know Your Customer norms. We are providing our customers with PNB Mitra ATM cards, which have daily withdrawal limit of `5,000.

will become possible for us to target him for other banking related services and products. All you need to do is provide me with the bank details of the customer, and within 24 hours the money can be transferred to his or her account.

What are your views of Direct Benefits Transfer? Do you think it is commercially viable for public sector banks to comply with DBT norms?

DBT is an ambitious programme of the Government of India to transfer the benefits directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Once this

The financial literacy initiatives of the bank are aimed at helping people to take informed financial decisions there is Swabhimaan, Government of India’s path-breaking initiative to bridge economic gap between rural and urban India. This campaign is a big step towards socio-economic equality by bringing the underprivileged segments of Indian population into the formal banking fold for the first time. The vision for this programme is social application of modern technology. Punjab National Bank is participating in Swabhimann

system is fully implemented, the role played by the intermediaries will be eliminated and there will be much more transparency and efficiency in the disbursement of benefits. We are part of the DBT scheme. It is part of our social corporate responsibility. I am of the opinion that in future DBT will start generating revenues. Once the customer gets the experience of how well his finances can be managed if he becomes a bank customer, it

Financial literacy of people living in the rural areas has been an area of concern. What initiatives is the Punjab National Bank taking to ensure that people are sufficiently financially literate?

In realising the objective of achieving “financially inclusive growth”, the biggest challenge is improving financial literacy so that borrowers could take informed decisions. Bank’s extensive financial literacy programmes overcome this problem by reaching thousands of customers and small entrepreneurs. As per the RBI guidelines, each Lead Bank is expected to open a Financial Literacy and Credit Counselling Centre (FLCCCs) in every district where it has lead responsibility. We have opened FLCCCs in many districts for providing financial education/credit counselling free of charge. In addition to this, Bank has opened one FLCCC at New Delhi, for addressing urban financial literacy need. During the year 2010-11, almost 86,645 persons made enquiries at FLCCCs and 73,856 persons attended the seminars conducted by FLCCCs. Financial counselling through face-to-face interaction with interested individuals is provided at these centres. Financial education imparted includes importance of responsible borrowing, financial planning and information about various financial products and services. Besides, debt counselling is provided for amelioration of debt-related distress of any individual.

October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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In Person

Kalpana Tewari

Member (Planning), Postal Services Board, Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India

Redefining

postal services

T

in India

hese days there has been lot of changes in the way people use the services from the Department of Post. Please tell us about the work that you are doing.

For more than 150 years, the Department of Posts (DoP) has been the backbone of the country’s communication network. It has played a crucial role in the country’s socio-economic development. It touches the lives of Indian citizens in many ways: delivering mails, accepting deposits under Small Savings Schemes, providing life insurance cover under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI), and providing retail services like bill collection, sale of forms, etc. The Department of Posts also acts as an agent for Government of India in discharging other services for citizens such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) wage disbursement and old age pension payments.

With more than1,50,000 Post Offices, the Department of Posts has the most widely distributed postal network in the world.

Department of Posts has undertaken various IT initiatives. What is your view of the role that Information Technology can play in improving the quality of postal services in the country?

Our aim is to make all the projects of Department of Posts available on a technological platform, whether it is banking services, insurance, logistic services or the regular services like the speed post. From an e-Governance prospective, we have a physical presence of total 150,000 post offices and out of these, 130,000 are in rural areas. About 6,000 people are covered on an average by post offices in rural areas and about 25,000 in urban areas. The Department of Posts has computerised all the post offices in the urban cities. We have provided hand held devices in the rural areas as the amount of traffic and volume of work is very low. Physical outlets in villages are empowered to provide postal services through our hand held devices. We already have a mobile to mobile money transfer service. We have tied up with many countries of the world to process international

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“There can be immense development in the entire country, if we are able to bring all the 130,000 villages on a single platform,” says Kalpana Tewari. In conversation with Ankush Kumar

In Person

money order. We have enabled our system to integrate with the core technological platform of other countries to provide seamless transmission of money orders. We are focusing on e-Commerce in a big way and technology will help us to connect our services globally. We have tied up with Amazon to provide a platform where people can process their transactions. We are hopeful that we will complete all our pilot projects by the end of next year. It will help us to replicate our projects in the entire country.

Department of Posts is working with government to assist in the implementation of services.

What role can it play in enhancing service delivery system?

We have many vehicles throughout the country that are going to be GPS enabled. We are a part of the Government’s e-Governance plan and we offer a lot of products to our customers. So from a technology prospective it’s very important for us to be flexible so that we can integrate our systems with other. Our system is integrated with the Railways to provide services to the citizens.

All our facilities are going to be available on the technological platform in a real time basis. We can bring revolution in the entire country if we are able to bring all the 130,000 villages on a single platform. In the recent past, Internet and email have revolutionised the world of communications. Through e-POST, customers can send their messages to any address in India with a combination of electronic transmission and physical delivery through a network of around 1,55,000 Post Offices. e-POST sends messages as a soft copy through internet and at the destination it will be delivered to the addressee in the form of hard copy. e-POST costs just `10 per page of A4 size. e-POST can also be availed by the corporate customers, by having a business agreement with India Post.

Corporate customers will get special POST rates and other value additions

How can post offices be used in delivering direct cash subsidies under DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) scheme?

Workers under rural jobs schemes across India can now reap the gains from the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) with their existing savings accounts in Post Offices. The Finance Ministry has issued a directive to allow cash subsidies under various Government schemes to be depos-

ited in the beneficiaries’ PO accounts, that had been opened for transferring wages earned under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. MGNREGA workers are allowed to open no-frills accounts, either in banks or post offices. However, the accounts opened in post-offices could not be used for depositing any other cash subsidies or benefits. With this new initiative, all cash subsidies under welfare schemes, including pensions and scholarships, can also be deposited in these accounts.

set up Automated Mail Processing Centres (AMPCs) in metro cities with a view to automate mail sorting. These automated systems would be used for sorting of mail, which would help the Department in increasing the productivity at Mail Offices in these cities. The Letter Sorting Machines would be able to sort approximately 35000 articles per hour, whereas the Mixed Mail Sorter would sort approximately 16000 articles per hour. The mixed mail sorting machines would help in faster process-

We Aim to bring

130,000 villages in the entire country on a single technology platform In early 2010, Department of Posts initiated Mail Network Optimisation Project. What impact it has created in the service delivery system?

Mail Network Optimization Project (MNOP) was initiated by the Department of Posts in March 2010. The project was conceptualized in the context of the need to consolidate the mail network and improve processes, enhance consistency and reliability in product performance, and bring in effective monitoring.

The project was primarily aimed at improving the quality of mail services especially that of Speed Post, for the common people as well as corporate customers through operational restructuring and process redesign. On the other hand, the initiatives undertaken as part of the project were intended to streamline the mail operations of the Department and provide an effective tool for performance monitoring for various administrative as well as operational levels. Some of the achievements that we had from these projects are i.e. the delivery performance has improved for Speed Post by more than a day on an average across the network.

Tell us about Automated Mail Processing Centres. What role it can play in increasing the efficiency of postal services in India.

The Department has undertaken a project to

ing of large size letters, flats and packets/ parcels through the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Automation in mail processing would also help the Department in modernization of mail network, consolidation of sorting activities and expedite mail sorting and delivery in these cities. The sorting machines have been installed and commissioned in Delhi and Kolkata.

There is a constant demand from customers to open more post offices especially in newly developing urban agglomerations. How are you meeting these challenges?

To meet this Indiapost had introduced the franchise scheme through which the counter services are to be franchised, while delivery and transmission will be continued through the Department. The franchisee will provide service across the counter for a minimum defined time schedule with flexibility to work round the clock. Applicants for franchises would need to submit an application in a prescribed Performa.

The selected franchisee will sign a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department .Criteria for selection have been fixed considering the need to select persons with the capacity to manage and market a range of products, along with a sense of the community needs and public aspects of the job, and willingness to accept technological options.

October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

53

Financial Inclusion

Technology Based Financial Inclusion Banchhanidhi Pani, Collector & District Megistrate, Sabarkantha, Gujarat, sheds light on the innovative biometric enabled ATM cards project that has been successfully implemented in Sabarkantha district in Gujarat

C

redit availability and proper saving mechanism are very important for economic development of any country. In order to cater to the challenges of introducing such systems in rural areas and tribal extensions, the Tribal Development Department and District Administration decided to go in for a “Technology based Financial Inclusion Project”.

The initiative has been started under Tribal Development Department, Government of Gujarat, through the Development Support Agency of Gujarat (D-SAG) in association with District Collector & Dena Bank in two ITDP blocks of Sabarkantha district viz.

Khedbrahma and Vijaynagar. The project is funded under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India, which is meant for development of Infrastructure in remote tribal areas.

Sabarkantha District Profile Sabarkantha is a district in Northeast of Gujarat with its administrative headquarters at Himmatnagar. Sabarkantha constitutes of 13 blocks, out of which 4 are identified as “Tribal Blocks” under Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) namely Khedbrahma, Vijaynagar, Bhiloda and Meghraj. It is one of the six districts in Gujarat currently receiving Backward Regions Grant Fund. (BRGF).

Tribal areas are basically characterised by hilly terrain, rocky soil, uncertain rainfall and presence of large tracts of forest land. Tribal villages constitute of multiple faliyas (hamlets) which are scattered and isolated owing to their restrictive locations and lack even the basic amenities like approach roads, electricity, sec-

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sABARKANTHA dISTRICT pROFILE Total Area 739012 Hectares Cultivable Area 456832 Hectares Irrigated Area 230370 Hectares Population 20,83,416 (Census 2001) Panchayat 736 Revenue Villages 1372 Litcracy Rate 76.6% Tribal Blocks Khedbrahma, Vijaynagar,

Meghraj, Bhiloda Tribal Population 18,56,547 (Census 2001) Tribal Literacy Rate in 24% Project Area

ondary schools, banking services etc. Tribal people have low incomes which are seasonal in nature and small money saved is kept idle in their homes.

Gujarat is one of the few states to have the Pilot Electronic Fund Management System

Various Strategies Adopted • Account opening of each and every family of the project area.

• Provision of two ATM cards to each family.

• Facility of inbuilt Rs. 2,000 as overdraft with each and every account without any other formality.

• Provision of Limited Banking Correspondents for disbursal of money and recovery of loans.

• Arrangement to route Government Cash Transfers to all accounts opened under the project.

• Training and Awareness campaign

(E-FMS). Vijaynagar block is the pilot block of Gujarat to implement the system for disbursal of MGNREGA wages. It has achieved 100 percent linkages to bank accounts.

Background of the Initiative Due to the unavailability of a proper banking system, the cash was disbursed through postal services and this often resulted in 10-15 days delay in cash transfer. It involved a human interface, and lacked transparency and was liable to corruption. The tribal people needed a financial system that could offer low transaction costs, convenient operating time, minimum paper work, frequent deposits, and quick and easy access to credit and other products, in order to offering security of deposits.

However, existing banking services are limited to block headquarters as functioning in distant tribal pockets involve high operating costs, low deposits, low recovery and high security risks. Thus, tribal people have to travel at least 10-60 km to avail these facilities at the cost of a day’s wage. This time and cost factors make it difficult for the tribal population to make effective usage of banking services.

The biggest challenge for the initiative is the high rate of illiteracy which prevents Tribal’s

Financial Inclusion

from using the ATM Cards. They are susceptible to cheating by other people. In order to tackle this problem of illiteracy, a massive drive has been undertaken by the District Primary Education Officer wherein its “preraks” raise financial literacy and teach basic reading and writing skills to the iliterate to make them aware of the use of ATMs and its utilities.

Realizing the complexity involved in the implementation of such a gargantuan task, the initiative was taken to develop a holistic model which not only meets the expectations of tribal people but also addresses the concerns of the banks. The aim is to achieve a “win-win” situation wherein every stakeholder (implementing bank, TDD and related state departments and beneficiaries) can work in close coordination for developing an efficient credit delivery mechanism in these areas.

Start of the Project Shri A.M.Tiwari, the then Principal Secretary, TDD and VC, D-SAG, realized the limitations of the existing system of cash transfer to the beneficiaries under various government schemes as well as the expectation mismatch

The Major Objectives of the Initiative are • To cater to the large quantum of Credit needs which remain unfulfilled owing to scattered habitations.

• To park the investible surplus through an efficient savings bank mechanism operated through a large number of easily accessible ATMs. • To improve outreach and efficiency of existing cash transfer programmes of the GoG. • To create credit history of borrowers.

between low income groups who are considered as non-bankable and the service providers i.e. the banks. Hence “Technology Based Financial Inclusion Project” was implemented under Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana.

The 1st phase of the initiative is rolled out in Khedbrahma and Vijaynagar blocks of

Role of Stake Holders Tribal Development Department. GoG/ D-SAG X Facilitate banks in account opening, Passbooks distribution etc. through district machinery like GRS. X Bear 50% of capital cost of ATM and 100% recurring cost of ATM sites, electricity and security.

X Arrangement to route all Government Cash Transfer Money wherever possible.

Role of District Collector X Monitor each aspect of project implementation and provide guidance and support wherever required.

X Ensure Government cash transfer through the accounts opened in the project.

X Awareness generation through IEC for the project and ensure its sustainability.

X Ensure effective implementation of the project at the field level.

X Identification of ATM site, Timely construction of ATM rooms, security & electricity arrangements.

X Organize training and awareness sessions with bank and community as a whole.

Role of Bank X Account opening of each family and provision of two ATM cards under the project area.

X Bear 50% capital cost of ATMs and arrangement of security.

X Provide facility of inbuilt Rs. 2,000 as overdraft with each and every account avoiding formalities.

X Facilitate district administration in every aspect of the initiative.

X Minimum Banking Correspondents for Beneficiaries of Project area.

Role of Project Administrator X Arrangement of funds for the project.

X Arrangement of IEC for the project X Monitoring of the project at field level.

Role of Education Department X Helping of “Preraks” (field level teachers) at village level to educate illiterate people along with enabling them to read and write some basic things like their name and understand figures.

X Raised financial literacy among community and make the community aware and familiar for the use of debit card at ATM through documentary and self-learning.

Sabarkantha district. The MoU with Dena Bank was signed on 22nd February, 2011. First ATM machine was installed in Poshina village on 6th April, 2011. The formal inauguration of the project was conducted on 12th September, 2011 by Hon. Minister of State Jaswant Singh Bhabhor in Agiya village of Khedbrahma block.

In First Phase, 6,50,000 accounts were opened and the Passbooks along with Debit cards were issued. Accounts of MNREGA beneficiaries were linked to Electronic Fund Management System for Online wages Transfer. In Second Phase, a technological platform was created for collection of biometrics of target beneficiaries and provision of Biometric enabled ATM Cards which make use of fingerprint authentication for cash withdrawal. Also, every government cash transfer schemes will be diverted to the beneficiaries account.

Conclusion In this initiative, so far a total of 2,10,065 families are involved. More than 4,600 Debit cards under ATM Project has been given. More than 973 beneficiaries have utilized the overdraft facility in order to meet their Emergency requirements in case of medical emergency, consumption needs or seasonal shocks. Earlier people were travelling a day for banking transaction, thus losing a day wage as well as transportation costs. Now they can approach the nearest ATM Centre for any transaction.

Total number ATM hits is more than 28,973 and total cash withdrawn is more than 3 crore rupees. Earlier they were getting their MNREGA wages after 10-15 days through postal services but now they get their wages as soon as the wages are transferred to their respective accounts. Given the sheer volume of business in these areas shows that the initiative is viable without any external funding.

This initiative shows how technology can be used to better the conditions of remotely located tribal people. The provision of banking made them not only included financially but also socially and economically.

Banchhanidhi Pani Collector & District Megistrate Sabarkantha, Gujarat

October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

55

In Person

Nidhi Khare

Adviser, Planning Commission, Government of India

Efficient

delivery of subsidies through DBT “The main purpose of Direct Benefits Transfer is to ensure that benefits go to individuals’ bank account electronically, minimising tiers involved in fund flow and thereby reducing delay in payment, ensuring accurate targeting of the beneficiary and curbing pilferage and duplication,� says Nidhi Khare. In conversation with Nayana Singh

H

ow is the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) Scheme of Government of India progressing in the country?

Direct Benefits Transfer is an ambitious project launched by the Government of India. This project will lead to seminal improvements in the way subsidies and benefits are distributed in the country. The project was launched on 1 January 2013 in a few select schemes and a few select districts. The primary aim of this Direct Benefit Transfer project is to bring transparency and terminate pilferage from distribution of funds sponsored by Central Government of India. In DBT, benefit or subsidy will be directly transferred to the beneficiaries living below poverty line. Earlier the funds used to pass through several tiers of governance, before it finally reached the beneficiaries, and this at times lead to delays and even pilferage. Proper implementation of DBT will abolish this hierarchy in the system and will help in delivering these services efficiently and effectively.

It will also enable us to gather an accurate data of the beneficiaries, and root out the duplicate, fraudulent entries. There will be less scope for corruption and the ultimate beneficiaries will be the common people of the country.

DBT involves transfer of funds from one source to other. These days we are having lot of cyber attacks from malicious entities on online financial systems. The strengthening of the online systems can lead to escalation of costs. In view of these factors how do you ensure that the DBT scheme remains financially viable?

The DBT scheme has been formulated with the idea of using latest and fool proof technology to identify the beneficiaries, and then ensure that they are able to get their entitlements in a timely, safe and efficient manner. We want to ensure that the government funds do not stagnate at certain tiers of governance; it should pass through the system and reach the intended beneficiary quickly. This in turn adds to the savings of the government. The banks can foresee a future opportunity in aligning their system with DBT. However, those who carry it out efficiently will eventually manage to grow their business particularly in rural areas.

The number of bank accounts in the country is quite low. In face of this fact how will DBT succeed?

It is true that Financial Inclusion in the country is not adequate. Therefore, DBThas been rolled out only in case of a handful identified schemes, and in few selected districts. The districts have been selected keeping in mind parameters such as density of banking facilities and presence of

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In Person

sufficient number of bank branches to cater to the needs of the beneficiaries. As of now we have not included MGNREGA under the DBT scheme as many of the labouring class does not have the bank accounts, which are a must for DBT. To circumvent the problems related to financial inclusion, the government has massive plans to include the postal offices in the core banking system.

Once this task is accomplished, the beneficiaries will get an account which will be interoperable across the country. Thus even when beneficiaries are migrating from one place to other, they will remain connected to the financial system.

Many analysts are now seeing Aadhaar as a basic tool for DBT. What are your views on this issue?

There is no doubt that financial Inclusion and Aadhaar are the basic twin pillars for DBT. Districts with the highest number of Aadhaar enrolments had been selected for the first phase of the launch of DBT. Aadhaar is of great help in identifying the beneficiaries most accurately.

It helps in removing the duplicate names and fraudulent entities from the list of beneficiaries.

The district collectors are ensuring that maximum number of Aadhaar enrolment camps can be organized, so that the beneficiaries get enrolled on priority basis, and that their data bases can be uploaded for generation of Aadhaar numbers on priority.

What is your idea regarding the technology that is being used in DBT? Is there scope for improvement?

There is always scope for improvement of technology. The UIDAI has been providing technological support for Aadhaar enrolment and generation and is constantly updating the same against multiple enrolments, speedy, accurate and unique no. generation. People have the tendency to enrol multiple times.They make their enrolment in one area, and when they move to another town, they go for another enrolment. It is only through technology that we are able to detect these duplicate entries in the system. Every entry is run through a de-duplication cycle, matching the new data with the existing ones. Thus, there is no room left for repetition.However the technology used behind DBT is state-of-the-art; it helps in identification of beneficiaries to the most accurate possible degree. There are 12 variables to identify in an individual in this system. You also need to take account of the fact that this kind of

exercise has not been attempted anywhere in the world. I mean we are using technology to identify almost 120 crore people. After that the benefits being released to the beneficiaries will also be managed through online systems. This technology which is being used in DBT is being provided by the Department of Electronics and IT (DeiTY) ,National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS). This is a robust and a vibrant platform.

The architecture of DBT is so flexible and robust that it can be compared to a train. One can board it from anywhere and still reach the intended destination.

The bank accounts become dormant as the beneficiaries sometimes withdraw the entire money.

So now they have specific directions to keep accounts with zero balance open for long periods of time. Seeding of the bank accounts with Aadhar is also a challenge that is being addressed.

As you said, this kind of exercise has not been attempted anywhere else in the world.

Please provide us with an overview of the challenges that are there in speedy implementation of DBT.

It will take some more time for such technological integration to happen in the DBT system.

Adoption of mobile banking is limited mainly to urban areas, which already have numerous bank branches. As most of the beneficiaries in benefits schemes of the government are in rural areas and from the under privileged sections of the society, mobile banking will be successful in the DBT system that has beneficiaries in urban areas.

Technologies have to be incorporated keeping in mind the comfort level of the intended beneficia-

As DBT is a mammoth exercise depending on the twin pillars of Financial Inclusion and Aadhaar, there are a number of challenges that we have to face. The biggest challenge is that the

Mobile banking is a trend which is fast catching up in countries such as Kenya. In India also there are more people with mobile phones as compared to those with bank accounts. What is your view of integrating mobile technology with DBT?

The mandate of the DBT mission directorate is to facilitate the

development of end-to-end

architecture for the rollout of DBT central ministries that are involved in DBT, to begin with, did not have a centralised database of beneficiaries. Even for schemes for providing scholarships to students, some of which are running for more than several decades, don’t have a centralised database. Some Central Ministries/ states already had some end to end IT systems.

However to address the issue of preparing a common workable system across the country, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) have got involved in designing an IT platform that can be used for DBT. We also faced challenges in Aadhaar generation. Earlier we were sending Aadhaar cards by post, many of the cards failed to reach the destination in time or never reached at all. To address this, e-Aadhaar facility was created where Aadhar could be downloaded by the people themselves. Most of the beneficiaries belong to the under privileged sections of the society. Opening bank accounts of such large number of people is a challenge.

ries.It will be our constant endeavour to bring in such Technology that makes the users feel that their money is safe and can be accessed at any point of time, anywhere.

In your opinion how do you see the role that your department is playing in the speedy launch of DBT across the country?

The mandate of the DBT mission directorate is to facilitate the development of end-to-end architecture for the rollout of DBT. The architecture has to be such that it works with seamless efficiency even though multiple agencies have to be involved for the execution. The system has to be foolproof and accurate. My ambition is to take this system forward and turn it into an efficient delivery mechanism. We have started delivering subsidies in LPG through DBT in certain districts. In times to come we intend to have an architecture in place for DBT rollout in the areas of food and fertiliser subsidy.

October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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Transparency Portal

Transparent and Efficient LPG Distribution A N Jha, Executive Director (LPG), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd

L

iquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) is provided to the residents of the country by Government of India as a cheap domestic cooking fuel, at heavily subsidised rates. IOC has nearly 50 percent market share in domestic LPG in India. The country’s consumption of LPG in 2012-13 was 15207 Thousand Metric Tons (TMT), of which indigenous production constitutes approximately 62 percent, while the balance is met by imports. The total subsidy burden in 2012-13 was more than `39,500 crores.

Challenge of Subsidy Management Bottled LPG cylinders from 90 IOC bottling plants are sent to more than 6600 distributors to serve more than seven crore households.

Everyday more than 1.6 million cylinders are home delivered to the customers through the LPG distributors. As the difference between the purchased price of LPG and affordable domestic LPG price considered by Government of India is very large, subsidies were continued to be borne jointly by Oil Producing/Marketing companies and Government of India.

The continuing challenge has been the daily supply of 1.6 million cylinders costing approximately `950 each, but being actually billed only at half the price. This has led to an illegal secondary market of LPG, where diverted cylinders are used for other than cooking/ domestic purposes. This has led to substantial wastage of subsidy every year. In the old delivery model, there was absence of the visibility of the last mile booking/delivery data of LPG cylinders virtually making consumer powerless in questioning his entitlement (Nine subsidised cylinders per annum currently).

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Features of Transparency Portal https://spandan.indianoil.co.in/transparency * The details, such as customer number, name, address, number of cylinders consumed and the subsidy amount availed, are displayed in the portal. * The portal allows sorting of information based on customer numbers and customer names. * On clicking radio button provided, the consumption is sorted in descending order with highest consuming customers at the top. * Customers can lodge complaint by clicking the radio button provided for the same from the portal. * Provision of separate screen to show the dates of refill booking, Cash memo preparation and deliveries made are also available in the portal. * Facility to surrender connection and rate the distributor is also provided. * The portal also allows searching for customers based on their name or customer number. * For faster navigation, quick search facility by entering distributor name is also provided. * The distributor refill delivery performance is also a part of the portal. The distributors are rated based on the performance and displayed. * Recently when Aadhaar based direct subsidy transfer has commenced, the portal has been the major platform for full visibility of Aadhaar seeding and cash based transfers.

The customer had little knowledge or say in the delivery process. The accountability of LPG distributors towards the consumer in the entire supply process was virtually non-existent due to there being no visibility of information.

Empowering Citizens with Information An important challenge in improving the effectiveness of any subsidy program lies in bridging the information asymmetry. It was realised that the dissemination of information related to subsidised LPG supply can achieve the twin purposes of dramatically empowering citizens and increasing the effectiveness and transparency of programme implementation. Information technology has the potential to serve as a powerful tool to bring about transparency and accountability of Government services.

This aspect paved way for the birth of the Transparency Portal.

IOC has always been in the forefront of using ICT for better supply chain management. The software developed for distributorship management in LPG is able to capture every transaction up to the last mile (customer) cylinder delivery. This readily available information is consolidated and published as subsidized LPG cylinder delivery data as Transparency portal accessible in the internet. This is constantly updated and serves as a tool for powerful reconciliation and social audit mechanism.

A N Jha Executive Director (LPG), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd

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In Person

“Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme will ensure that the benefit reaches the intended beneficiary and there is no subsidy leakage in the LPG delivery system,� says Dr Neeraj Mittal

LPG consumer de-duplication prunes subsidy by `1500 crore annually 60 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

In Person

Dr Neeraj Mittal

Joint Secretary (Marketing), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India

Consumer Empowerment

Y

through DBTL

ou have taken several online initiatives to bring more transparency and efficiency in the management of LPG cylinder distribution. Please provide us with an overview of the work that has been done in this area.

We have taken several initiatives to bring about transparency in world’s largest supply chain, which delivers more than three million cylinders every day at consumers’ doorsteps. We started off with a transparency portal in order to reduce information asymmetry between the distributor and the consumer. The portal displays information the number of LPG cylinders that are being distributed to each consumer along with booking and deliver dates. It provides information regarding cylinder distribution. Consumers can monitor pattern of LPG usage, LPG booking status, LPG refill history and place request to surrender their connection. From the purpose of social audit, one gets access to data regarding consumers with highest consumption pattern, the subsidy availed, etc. One can filter data by consumer number, consumer name and by distributors’ name. The LPG market is a near monopoly and the portal is being used to bring about limited competition through consumer rating of distributors - this has empowered the consumer for the first time. Over 50 percent distributors have been rated by consumers so far on five parameters. They can now compare the rating of their distributor with that of other distributors in the area. Another consumer empowering initiative was to make it possible for them to register complaints against deficiencies.

With the launch of DBTL, the portal now also

provides facility to check Aadhaar linking status and cash subsidy transfers into the bank accounts.

The Government of India has launched the DBTL scheme under which subsidies are paid directly into the bank account of consumers. Please tell us about it.

Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG consumer (DBTL) is one of the largest cash transfer programmes in the world. It has been launched with the aim of ensuring that the consumer entitlement of LPG subsidy is not siphoned away. After its success in 20 pilot districts, Government of India has decided to extend the DBTL scheme to 289 districts by January 2014 in phases depending on Aadhaar penetration. Around 90 million households, across half the country will get covered by DBTL. The scheme has already covered 23 million LPG consumers and `330 crore subsidy has been transferred through eight million transactions into the bank accounts of the LPG consumers.

In rural areas people often face problems in getting their LPG cylinders in time. What steps are you taking to reduce the time that it generally takes to supply the refills?

Earlier there was no system to rate the distributors who are responsible for distributing LPG cylinders to the consumers. But now we are in a position to rate all the 12,000 distributors in the country, based on their cylinder delivery data in the Transparency Portal. They are rated according to the transaction data, which is separate from the consumer perceptual rating described earlier. What cannot be measured cannot be improved – this maxim has been proved right in this case. A distributor is entitled to five star rating, if he distributes 85 percent of the cylin-

ders to the consumer within two days. When we launched this rating, only 30 percent of the distributors had five star, but now more than 50 percent of the distributors have five star rating.

This has brought a significant improvement in the timely delivery of cylinders in the entire country, including rural areas.

Has the transparency portal led to reduction in the diversion of LPG cylinders?

Of course. The portal has become a powerful a tool for social audit of all domestic LPG supplies. Today the domestic consumption of LPG has fallen drastically, and simultaneously there is growth in consumption of commercial and auto LPG signifying reduction in diversion. We have cancelled one billion worth of LPG imports this year, due to fall in demand for LPG.

Aadhaar will play a seminal role in enabling various government departments to verify the intended beneficiaries of various government schemes. But duplicate LPG consumers have already been identified and removed by you. Do you think DBTL and Aadhaar initiatives will help in improving the scenario further?

We identified 25 million suspect connections in a customer base of 120 million by executing a customised and sophisticated software algorithm on Param Yuva, CDAC, Pune. 6.3 million of them failed to prove their authenticity, and these connections were blocked thereby saving subsidy on five crore cylinders consumed by them every year . This single initiative saved `1,500 crore of subsidy annually. DBTL and Aadhaar based deduplication will lead to further identification and October 2013 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

61

In Person

The launch Schedule for DBTL

removal of suspect entries. We are already able to find around 0.1 million connections that are duplicate in the DBTL districts.

What new steps are you taking to bring about consumer choice in the LPG distribution system?

Phase

DBTL launch on

Number of Districts

I

Over

20

II

Over

34

III

1 October 2013

44

IV

1 November 2013

46

V

1 December 2013

40

VI

1 January 2014

105

Total

289

An inter-company consumer portability system for LPG will be launched shortly. With this in place, if for any reason, one is dissatisfied with his LPG distributor, then he will have the option of moving his connection to some other distributor of any oil company in the neighbourhood. This will empower the LPG consumer immensely.

These days many people are have started getting PNG connection on their homes. Will subsidy be provided to PNG users also?

As of now there is no subsidy on PNG. Users who opt for PNG have to surrender their cylinders at the time of getting their PNG connection.

But now a policy change, that will allow users to keep one market priced LPG connection with the existing PNG service, is under consideration.

For DBTL, what are the requirements from consumers?

Star Rating Distribution (before and after launch of Rating)

In order to avail transfer of cash subsidy into the bank account, Aadhaar number of the LPG consumer has to be linked to the LPG consumer number and bank account of the LPG consumer.

Three months grace period from date of launch is being provided to the consumers for getting their Aadhaar number linked to their bank account and LPG consumer number. During the grace period all consumers outside DBTL continue to get LPG cylinders at subsidised rate. All LPG consumers should obtain Aadhaar number and link it to their LPG consumer number and to their bank accounts, if they wish to avail of the LPG subsidy.

Finally, in your opinion what has enabled the successful rollout of the DBTL project?

http://www.bharatpetroleum.com/Transparency_portal/LPG_portal.html

62

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / October 2013

DBTL is not merely a project. It represents a paradigm shift in LPG subsidy disbursement.

Its successful implementation has not only required widespread deployment of IT but also to unflinching commitment from the Government at the highest level, excellent team work, effective change management, extensive business process re-engineering, deep stakeholder involvement and above all a deep sense of dedication by the OMC teams

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