development positive - vol 2 · 2020-02-21 · flow of traffic. this has proven useful in, say,...

Development Positive

Vol 2 | November 2019

Delivery of public services

01

02

0610

IT’s happening! ICT in the country’s development agendaThe use of ICT by governments, if properly designed and implemented, can help achieve many policies and priorities.

Increasing development impact

City transformation• Case 1: Averting disasters• Case 2: Enabling efficient traffic regulation• Case 3: Triggering change

IT’s happening! ICT in the country’s development agenda

The backstage12

Kunal Sood Partner Grant Thornton India LLP

Ravinder Reddy Partner Grant Thornton India LLP

Ravinder Reddy

Governments, businesses, communities and citizens around the world are recognising the value of information and communications technologies (ICT) in their operations, relationships and outcomes. In this context, the use of ICT by governments (e-government), if properly designed and implemented, can help achieve many government policies and priorities. Therefore, policymakers around the world are either contemplating or have initiated e-government in all domains feasible. Broader ICT access opens innovative territories for citizen participation, electoral support, educational development and service delivery, all of which are critical to improving governance. Governments are beginning to understand that integrating ICT into national development agendas can allow citizens to engage more easily and effectively with governing processes through new mobile and online tools. For instance, the state government of Madhya Pradesh initiated a World Bank funded project - MP Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project - to improve the citizen service delivery system in the state. Use of ICT and simplification of service delivery by process re-engineering now allow citizens to access various services through delivery channels such as Lok Seva Kendra (LSK), Citizen Service Centre (CSCs), Kiosks and Online Portal (MP e-District) without

visiting any department, thus saving their time and effort. The quality of service delivery is further being monitored and evaluated in nearly real time through dashboards. Another ambitious World Bank funded project - MP Higher Education Quality Improvement Project, which aims at improving the quality of education by means of ICT, financial reforms and capacity building - has helped transform the teaching methodology and operations of higher education institutions. Use of ICT is also ensuring efficient police and security systems, which are enhancing the confidence of people in the democratic system of the nation. The deep use of ICT in smart city interventions is improving the quality of life in cities. The Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), for instance, acts as the ‘nerve centre’ for operations management and provides insights by processing complex data sets at an aggregated level to derive intelligence for improved planning and policymaking. Our teams on the ground are deeply involved in this ICT-led transformation being attempted in the country, some examples of which are captured in this edition of the newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading it and share your feedback with us.

1 Development Positive | Vol. 2

How smart solutions are impacting the city of Varanasi

City transformation

Smart cities operate smartly as a result of the various area and pan-city development projects, which are both IT and non-IT based. One such initiative is an integrated command and control centre (ICCC), which not only monitors the happenings in a city in real time but also connects various agencies in the city. Such a system brings in efficiency in running a city as well as empowers the state agencies to take prompt steps to address the issues that arise.

With nearly 6.5 lakh visitors every year, the ancient and vibrant city of Varanasi, situated on the banks on river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, is among the first 100 cities in the country chosen for smart city interventions, including the setting-up of an ICCC .

In 2018, Grant Thornton India LLP was selected to implement this centre in Varanasi. Team Grant Thornton has set up the Kashi Integrated Command and Control Center (KICCC), which went online in early 2019. The KICCC helps manage integrated smart surveillance, integrated smart traffic management system, smart lighting, smart parking, a one-stop city portal and mobile app, solid waste management system, data centre and a disaster recovery centre.

Within a short span of time, the residents of the city and the

various agencies are beginning to see positive results through this IT-based intervention, which has not only improved the day-to-day operations of the city but also helped the city’s Municipal Corporation identify ‘ghost employees’.

Here are some examples of how KICCC has helped transform the city and the way it functions:


KICCC: Smart interventions through Integrated Solutions for Varanasi designed by Grant Thornton

Case 1: Averting disasters

A truck loaded with matchboxes, while passing through a densely populated residential-cum-commercial area of Varanasi, suddenly caught fire. This instantaneously triggered the incident alert system at the KICCC and set in motion a series of events that allowed the agencies to act promptly to arrest a potentially dangerous situation. First, the camera feed captured the incident and alerted the police personnel deployed at the junction. Second, the audio-visual feed of the incident captured in the data centre was shared with relevant departments. Third, the public address systems in place alerted the public and traffic in the area of the situation, ensuring they stayed away from the incident spot until things were under control. The police and fire departments swung into action quickly and not only doused the fire but also evacuated the truck from the

area. This prompt action facilitated by the KICCC allowed the agencies to take quick action and save lives.

Development Positive | Vol. 2 3

Case 2: Enabling efficient traffic regulation

Technology has enabled the city administration to monitor and sensitise traffic movements across the densely populated city more effectively and efficiently. For instance, an IoT platform using advanced adaptive traffic control sensors, automatic number plate recognition as well as red light violation detection systems, have helped the city’s police department monitor traffic violators conveniently and accurately at the KICCC.

Also, using algorithms, the adaptive traffic control system (ATCS) has regulated traffic by implementing a flexi traffic light timing system that adjusts traffic lights according to the flow of traffic. This has proven useful in, say, providing a clear passage to emergency vehicles by synchronising traffic lights along the route accordingly. Furthermore, the ATCS and e-challan (given to traffic rule violators) have substantially

reduced the burden on the officers on ground. An e-challan can be paid offline or online through the e-challan payment portal. The e-challan mechanism is based on inputs received at the KICCC through the IoT sensors, and the details of the defaulters are fetched from the integrated vehicle owner database maintained at the local and central levels.


Case 3: Triggering change

Through integrated solutions, the city’s administration has effectively administered monitoring mechanisms for solid waste system for Varanasi Municipal Corporation. All field-level workers and supervisors are required to mark biometric attendance daily, which is monitored at the KICCC and forms the base for calculating their salaries and wages. The biometric attendance system

has enabled the Municipal Corporation to monitor the actual and effective use of every field employee and identify falsified attendances at the ground level. Furthermore, the solid waste management system is based on a trigger approach at the KICCC through the feeds received from IoT sensors like RfID tags and readers as well as GPS devices installed at bins and in vehicles. This integrated system has

facilitated Varanasi Smart City Limited (the SPV implementing the smart city project) and the Municipal Corporation of Varanasi to ensure timely and effective use of the available resources for better solid waste management across the city. The Varanasi solid waste solution example was identified for the Smart Cities India Award, 2019 (best solid waste management category).


Grant Thornton in India is helping and advising both government of India and some state governments to increase development impact. In August 2019, Grant Thornton in India was appointed to support the Planning and Convergence (P&C) Department of Odisha state government to increase results, specifically for optimising the INR 6,000 crore District Mineral Foundation(DMF) fund. DMF is a non-profit trust created through an amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act (MMRD Act) in 2015, whereby each state that carries out mining creates in each of its districts such a trust where the mining company that gets the rights to mine in the state pays a royalty amount that goes into the corpus of the DMF - thereby creating the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund. In a mineral-rich state like Odisha, this corpus of funds stands at over INR 6,000 crore - the highest in the country. The DMF in the state has already sanctioned over 11,400 projects - in sectors ranging from healthcare to road projects. Each district has a separate DMF team with the overall monitoring unit in the state capital. How can the DMF funding be better utilised to achieve greater impact? Better insight and decisions are the key to making smarter choices that lead to greater impact. This is required at numerous institutions such as education, housing, health, energy, safety and so forth across eight districts, hundreds of blocks and thousands of villages. The number of persons able to grasp and optimise so much complexity is limited. Overcoming this challenge of complexity largely depends on how effectively information can be managed and presented. It must make it easy for leaders to see and understand what is going on.

A results-based approach for DMF fund use Increasing development impact

Grant Thornton’s support provides the required methodology, systems, tools and skills that make development of good practice easier.

Team Grant Thornton, along with members of our Odisha unit, utilised the integrated results management method to assess the situation and develop an appropriate strategic response which was welcomed by the client. The key constraints to better performance and improvements are detailed in the table on page 7.


Increasing development impact

Intervention Current problem state (as is) Improved state (to be)

By reducing the following

Projects selected do not always address the priority needs and maximise impact.

Effective guidelines make it easier to select projects that maximise impact - in sync with needs, priorities and integrated with other programmes.

Key constraints

Limited number of quality project proposals received. Do not address priority needs in a way to maximise impact. Projects not strategically aligned and in sync with department (function) or district strategies.

Receive increased number of quality project proposals to maximise impact. Support and accelerate Department - and district - strategic priorities, thereby securing increased commitment to speedy implementation.

Too many unexpected delays occur, with limited ability to manage risk lower. In particular, slow procurement causes many delays. Commitment to implement projects not secured prior to project approvals.

Robust management process reduces risks during project formulation/planning, approvals, implementation and verification of results. Adherence to timescales to be treated more strictly.

The portfolio mix of projects not optimised to address priority needs and to maximise impact. The public investment policy model is not clear.

Guidelines for optimisation of portfolio mix of projects utilised to maximise impact - in sync with the bottom-up needs, state priorities and integration with the programmes of the state.

By addressing the following root causes

Limited coordination among levels of government and across departments. Need 5Ts: Teamwork, Technology, Time limit, Transparency, Transformation.

Effective and efficient coordination among levels of government and across departments. Need 5Ts: Teamwork, technology, time limit, transparency, transformation

Limited guidance and frameworks for: project formulation, project approval and investment portfolio optimisation.

Utilise effective guidance and frameworks for: project formulation, project approval and investment portfolio optimisation.

Leaders unable to see easily what is going on, to make well-informed decisions and to easily make improvements.

Leaders enabled to see easily what is going on, to make well-informed decisions and to easily make improvements.

The root causes of problems are identified and will be addressed.Decision-makers will therefore be better supported with better policy guidelines, more robust project application and approval processes, better development insight and improved governance. The key milestones include:

• Leaders of all key stakeholders agree on an improved strategic direction, approach and priorities.

• Odisha DMF teams, district DMF teams and line departments collaborate more effectively.

• Improved guidelines, processes and systems developed, tested and approved.

• The key constraints to the performance of DMF teams and development partners are reduced.

• District teams utilise the new guidelines, processes and systems. The DMF teams perform better.

• DMF resources are utilised for maximum impact for villages and Odisha DMF prioritised goals.

• Faster achievement of selected development goals of the state in the district most affected by mining.


Decision-makers will therefore be better supported with better policy guidelines, more robust project application and approval processes, better development insight and improved governance. The key milestones include:

• Leaders of all key stakeholders agree on an improved strategic direction, approach and priorities.

• Odisha DMF teams, district DMF teams and line departments collaborate more effectively.

• Improved guidelines, processes and systems developed, tested and approved.

• The key constraints to the performance of DMF teams and development partners are reduced.

• District teams utilise the new guidelines, processes and systems. The DMF teams perform better.

• DMF resources are utilised for maximum impact for villages and Odisha DMF prioritised goals.

• Faster achievement of selected development goals of the state in the district most affected by mining.

Imparting tailoring skills under the DMF scheme Mobile health vans used to give access to medicines and healthcare


Monitoring dashboard for DMFDashboards in India usually serve the purpose of communicating to stakeholders how much value has been added. Bad news is not often shown. While it makes sense to communicate progress to stakeholders, it is also critically important to have a management information dashboard. Leaders need to steer programme and portfolio results to a better situation. Issues need to be identified rapidly. Learning needs to be faster. A new Grant Thornton analytical dashboard serves this purpose. It makes it easy to see what is working well and what is not, and who has solved problems that others may emulate. By showing progress relative to targets such as for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, the shortfalls and need for corrective action also become evident. Greater awareness and deeper insight typically lead to better decisions and faster improvement. Our recent engagement at the Odisha Planning and Convergence Department provides the ideal opportunity to prove this proposed innovation. Better utilisation of INR 6,000 crore budgetary resources available under the DMF requires optimum utilisation to achieve SDGs in mining-affected villages. The results analysis dashboard (see picture) for DMF acts as a decision-support system by providing a detailed picture at a glance.The dashboard is organised around three pillars, the first two of

which align with the SDGs’ Results Framework and focus on different areas of results and reporting. Taken together, these pillars provide a comprehensive picture of the ‘overall performance of the fund’.

Data has been obtained from Odisha Mineral Foundation, monitoring reports, secondary research as well as interviews with project teams.The dashboard has been designed to be user-friendly and accessible. The Department can filter information on the basis of SDGs and districts, which helps in detailed monitoring of funds and achievement of development goals. It is therefore easy to spot issues and high and low performance quickly. As a result, decision-makers are better

informed for review meetings.Apart from this, the Department is also exploring options for a web-based version of the dashboard that will offer access to data in real time and track ongoing progress of funds. The goal of

an online monitoring dashboard is to provide a systematic means of monitoring the fund’s performance, to allow for mid-course corrections and to capture and disseminate valuable lessons from DMF activities.Team Grant Thornton, along with members of our state unit, is working with the state government to implement the dashboard.


Proposed DMF Dashboard

Grant Thornton’s intervention in MP recognised as a game changer

Delivery of public services

Over the past couple of years, Grant Thornton in India has been actively involved in helping the state of Madhya Pradesh improve the delivery of public services to the citizens.

And this year, the processes, mechanisms and scheme put in place by the state government with the aid of Grant Thornton have been featured by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances as among the 18 top e-governance practices adopted in the country.

The scheme proposed by us, Samadhan Ek Din (which translates to ‘solution in one day’), has been captured in a paper titled Samadhan One day - A step towards Proactive Governance and selected and published in the “Compendium of selected papers 2019”, which was prepared and released by the Central Government. It features as one among the top 18 papers selected from across India this year.

The scheme is part of the World Bank funded Madhya Pradesh Citizen Access to Responsive Services (MPCARS) project

where Grant Thornton is the project management consultant. The scheme’s objective is to improve access of public services for the citizens, especially the under-represented groups. Public services such as issue of ration cards, domicile or caste certificates, water or electricity connections, etc., are not a matter of privilege but rights of citizens, which calls for a ‘citizen first’ approach to governance.

The state government enacted the Public Service Guarantee Act in 2010 - a first of its kind in the country - to ensure guaranteed delivery of notified public services in defined timelines. The government has been delivering more than 200 services online through various service centres such as Lok Sewa Kendra (LSK), MPOnline kiosk and Citizen Service Centre (CSC).

It needs to be mentioned that Madhya Pradesh is the second largest and the fifth most populous state in the country. As per the 2011 census, the population of Madhya Pradesh was about 73 million and is expected to reach 80 million in 2019. With 52 districts and 22,816

villages, 75% of the state’s population lives in rural areas.

In order to improve the service level, it was critical to reduce the time for processing the citizen application for these services. For instance, it was found that a citizen needs to visit the service centre twice - once to apply for a service and then to collect the requisite certificate/service.

Our field visits to monitor the operations of LSK revealed that poor farmers and labourers, especially from remote rural areas, lost income of two days in addition to facing physical hardships because of the long distance they had to travel to receive the government services.

In order to tackle these challenges, team Grant Thornton proposed the Samadhan Ek Din - a public service model under which applications for various public services will be processed in one day.


Garnering a strong support for this within the government was critical for the success of the project. The major processes followed were as follows:

• Identification of a few important and high-volume services for inclusion under this novel initiative.

• Conducting government process re-engineering (GPR) to simplify the procedure and process flow, and integrate the application software, etc., to make it compliant for one-day delivery.

• Re-aligning of the administrative framework to ensure cross-functional department officials are available at every LSK during working hours to process the applications received.

• Executing the ‘train the trainer’ model to train all stakeholders in the service chain.

• Effective use of IEC channels like print, audio, video, social media, etc., to conduct awareness campaigns in urban and rural areas for maximum reach to target beneficiaries.

After getting the government go-ahead for the roll-out of the Samadhan Ek Din scheme, there has been a substantial change. There has been a drastic increase in the number of applications - since inception last year, about 83 lakh applications have been received. The application disposal rate has been 99.9% - that too within the same day. As a result, a citizen satisfaction survey has shown a higher level of satisfaction towards service delivery with more than 90% rating it as ‘good and above’.

The success demonstrated in the state of Madhya Pradesh and the recognition given by the central government have now prompted other states to take a closer look at this intervention and see whether it can be replicated.


The backstage

Carving a nicheGrant Thornton in India’s Public Sector team was recognised within the Grant Thornton International network for stellar work with farmer producer companies (FPCs).The model developed by the team, once deployed, will impact the livelihood of farmers across the country and provide a feasible option to redress the crisis affecting communities in agri-value chains.

People connect: Wellness driveAs part of our endevour to strike work-life balance, members of Grant Thornton Public Sector team participated in the Delhi Marathon. Egged on by our Public Sector team partners Ravinder Reddy and Kunal Sood, several members of the Public Sector team evinced their willingness to participate in the run. With the spirit of collaboration and the motto of fitness in their minds, all team members who participated finished the marathon.

Grant Thornton Public Sector team at the Delhi Marathon

Grant Thornton in India receiving the award


4,500+ people

One of the largest fully integrated Assurance, Tax & Advisory firms in India

Grant Thornton in India is a member of Grant Thornton International Ltd. It has 4,500+ people across 15 offices around the country, including major metros. Grant Thornton in India is at the forefront of helping reshape the values in our profession and in the process help shape a more vibrant Indian economy. Grant Thornton in India aims to be the most promoted firm in providing robust compliance services to dynamic Indian global companies, and to help them navigate the challenges of growth as they globalise. Firm’s proactive teams, led by accessible and approachable partners, use insights, experience and instinct to understand complex issues for privately owned, publicly listed and public sector clients, and help them find growth solutions.

15 offices in 13 locations

New Delhi

Ahmedabad

Gurgaon

Chandigarh

Bengaluru

Kochi

Hyderabad

Pune

Mumbai

Chennai

Kolkata

Noida

Dehradun

Jammu & KashmirLadakh

About Grant Thornton in India


Notes


© 2020 Grant Thornton India LLP. All rights reserved.

“Grant Thornton in India” means Grant Thornton India LLP, a member firm within Grant Thornton International Ltd, and those legal entities which are its related parties as defined by the Companies Act, 2013.

Grant Thornton India LLP is registered with limited liability with identity number AAA-7677 and has its registered office at L-41 Connaught Circus, New Delhi, 110001.

References to Grant Thornton are to Grant Thornton International Ltd (Grant Thornton International) or its member firms. Grant Thornton International and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. Services are delivered independently by the member firms.

Contact us

For more information or for any queries, write to us at [email protected]

To know more, please visit www.grantthornton.in or contact any of our offices as mentioned below:

Follow us @GrantThorntonIN

NEW DELHINational OfficeOuter CircleL 41 Connaught CircusNew Delhi 110001T +91 11 4278 7070

NEW DELHI6th floorWorldmark 2AerocityNew Delhi 110037 T +91 11 4952 7400

AHMEDABAD7th Floor, Heritage Chambers, Nr. Azad Society, Nehru Nagar, Ahmedabad - 380015

BENGALURU5th Floor, 65/2, Block A, Bagmane Tridib, Bagmane Tech Park, C V Raman Nagar, Bengaluru - 560093T +91 80 4243 0700

CHANDIGARHB-406A, 4th Floor L&T Elante Office BuildingIndustrial Area Phase IChandigarh 160002T +91 172 4338 000

CHENNAI7th Floor, Prestige Polygon471, Anna Salai, TeynampetChennai - 600 018T +91 44 4294 0000

DEHRADUNSuite no. 2211, 2nd floor Building 2000, Michigan Avenue, Doon Express Business Park Subhash Nagar, Dehradun - 248002T +91 0135 2646 500.

GURGAON21st Floor, DLF SquareJacaranda MargDLF Phase IIGurgaon 122002T +91 124 462 8000

HYDERABAD7th Floor, Block IIIWhite HouseKundan Bagh, BegumpetHyderabad 500016T +91 40 6630 8200

KOCHI6th Floor, Modayil Centre pointWarriam road junctionM. G. RoadKochi 682016T +91 484 406 4541

KOLKATA10C Hungerford Street5th FloorKolkata 700017T +91 33 4050 8000

MUMBAI16th Floor, Tower IIIndiabulls Finance CentreSB Marg, Prabhadevi (W)Mumbai 400013T +91 22 6626 2600

MUMBAIKaledonia, 1st Floor, C Wing (Opposite J&J office)Sahar Road, Andheri East,Mumbai - 400 069

NOIDAPlot No. 19A, 7th FloorSector – 16ANoida 201301T +91 120 485 5900

PUNE3rd Floor, Unit No 309 to 312West Wing, Nyati UnitreeNagar Road, Yerwada Pune- 411006T +91 20 6744 8800

development positive - vol 2 · 2020-02-21 · flow of traffic. this has proven useful in, say,...

Documents