epri guj dpr report 28apr10 v0.2 peu - ministry of ...€¢ mrs. daksha ben parmar, zila president...

Ministry of Panchayati Raj

ePRI Study Project - Phase IV

Detailed Project Report

For

Panchayati Raj Institutions

In State of Gujarat

By

National Informatics Centre Services Inc.

March 2010

ePRI Study Project - Phase IV Detailed Project Report - Gujarat

National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated

Confidentiality Statement

This report is intended solely for the information and use of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, State Panchayati Raj Department, Government of Gujarat, National Informatics Centre and should not be used, circulated, quoted or otherwise referred to for any other purpose by any institution or individual other than the Ministry, State PR department and National Informatics Centre, nor included or referred to in whole or in part in any document without the prior consent of National Informatics Centre Services Inc. or the Ministry.



State

• Dr. Varesh Sinha, Principal Secretary

• Mr. Vipul Mitra, Development Commissioner

• Mr. Rajnish Mahajan, SIO Gujarat

• Mr. K.M. Patel, Under Secretary

• Mr. S.K. Huda, Deputy Director Planning

• Mr. P.B. Mody, Assistant Development Commissioner-Panchayat

Acknowledgement The ePRI Mission Mode Project holds great promise for the rural masses as it aims at streamlining the delivery of government services to them through Panchayats. This is a one of its kind nation-wide IT initiative initiated by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India (GoI). Being a part of this endeavor to computerize the Panchayati Raj Institutions has been an enriching experience for the entire e-PRI team.

The Gujarat team from NICSI empanelled vendor Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd. would like to express its gratitude towards all the government officials of Gujarat for their kind support and guidance during the course of study. We would like to acknowledge, in particular, the contribution of the following officials for their extensive co-operation, valuable insights and continued involvement:

We would like to extend our special thanks to Shri. A.N.P. Sinha, Secretary, MoPR for his continued support and thought leadership in defining the vision and objectives for this study.

Also, we are thankful to Shri. D.K. Jain, Joint Secretary, MoPR, for providing continuous guidance and support in formulating the contours of the project and intervening at crucial times to iron out issues faced by us during our interactions with various government officials.

Our sincere thanks are due to Dr. B.K. Gairola, Director General, NIC for providing us an opportunity to participate in this unique initiative with potentially far reaching impact, for sharing his vision and insights on empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions through computerization and also for providing his valuable guidance and directions to the team for effectively executing the project.

Our special thanks to Mr. D.C. Misra, Senior Technical Director, NIC in setting overall guidelines and roadmap for project execution, in thrashing out critical issues faced by the field teams, in ensuring support from NIC state and District officials and in proactively addressing the issues to ensure timely execution at each step of the project.

District

• Mrs. Daksha Ben Parmar, Zila President (Dahod)

• Mr. Dalsang Bhai J Patel, Zila President (Banaskantha)

• Mr. N K Thakar, District Development Officer (Dahod)

• Mr. A M Parmar, District Development Officer (Banaskantha)

• Mr. R M Jadhav, District Collector (Dahod)

• Mr. R J Patel, District Collector (Banaskantha)

• Mr. B S Chawda, Director DRDA (Dahod)

• Mr. R K Patel, Director DRDA (Banaskantha)



Also, we are thankful to Ms. Rama Hariharan, Technical Director, NIC for relentlessly working with us on the project and providing timely guidance and support in conducting the study. Her valuable feedback through a critical review of our work has been extremely helpful in adequately capturing the Information and Services needs of various stakeholders of the project.

The availability of right infrastructure is one of the critical elements in smooth execution of a project and we would like to extend our thanks to Ms. Junu Kailay, MD, NICSI who ensured a smooth take off for the project.

Last but not the least; we take this opportunity to thank all the members of the central team, consisting of Shri. Adesh Gupta, Senior Systems Analyst, NIC, Ms. Anjali Dhingra, Technical Director, NIC, Ms. Meghna Shrimali, Principal Consultant, Mr. Anand Dubey, Senior Consultant, Mr. Ashish Nasa, Senior Consultant, Ms. Barkha Shah, Senior Consultant and Ms. Seela Swain, Senior Consultant who have helped us in improvising this report through their continued involvement and the extensive peer-review process.

The involvement and support of all these senior officials has enabled us to understand the expectations of the project clearly. This will go a long way in defining the overall success of the project.

ePRI Project - Gujarat Team

Shri Rajnish Mahajan – SIO Gujarat

Shri K N Pandiya – DIO Dahod

Shri Mukesh Sharma – DIO Banaskantha

Ms. Jyoti Sinha – Pr. Consultant

Mr. Abid Husain – Pr. Consultant

Ms. Sunayana Padhi – Sr. Consultant

Mr. Amit Kumar – Sr. Consultant

Mr. I R Bhatia – Retired PR Official

Mr. D M Dodia – Retired PR Official

Mr. Rajnikant Shrimali – NGO Expert

Mr. Prakash Kapadia – NGO Expert



Table of Content

1. Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ 6

2. Project Background ................................................................................................................ 8

3. Approach and Methodology ................................................................................................. 15

4. Assumptions / Pre requisites ............................................................................................... 18

5. Requirement for ePRI Application Development ................................................................ 19

6. Requirements for ICT and Connectivity .............................................................................. 47

7. Capacity Building Requirements ......................................................................................... 58

8. Change Management Requirements ................................................................................... 71

9. Implementation strategy....................................................................................................... 76

10. Project Management Structure ........................................................................................ 85

11. Financial Estimates......................................................................................................... 104

12. Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 109

13. Way Forward ................................................................................................................... 111

14. Annexure ......................................................................................................................... 112



1. Executive Summary The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), as part of its mandated responsibility to strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country, is keen to introduce e-Governance in all the PRIs of the country. The e-PRI Mission Mode project is a project of immense stature initiated by MoPR in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC). The needs of PRIs and citizens vary from state to state, due to variations in level of governance in PRIs and ICT readiness of states and PRIs. The e-PRI MMP was therefore, preceded by a comprehensive study to assess the current information and services needs of citizens, PRIs and other stakeholders (ISNA), identify the scope for re-engineering various functions and services carried out by PRIs, (BPR) culminating in the cost estimate for implementing the recommendations in a state wise Detailed Project Report (DPR). In Gujarat, the study was conducted in the Dahod and Banaskantha district Panchayats, Devgarh Baria and Deesa block Panchayats and Piplodh, Lakhni and Odhwa GPs. Intent of DPR - The DPR serves as the roadmap for operationalization of the e-PRI MMP in Gujarat. It provides details of the estimated cost for implementing the MMP in Gujarat, which includes ICT infrastructure requirements, state-specific software applications, data digitization requirements, project management cost etc. The implementation plan for a period of 3 years is also provided. The DPR also proposes the Project Management and Monitoring structure for supervising the implementation. Proposed Implementation Plan – Implementation of the ePRI project in the state of Gujarat is proposed to be undertaken in a Service Procurement Model (SPM) whereby a Service Procurement Agency (SPA) would be selected through a competitive and transparent bidding process. The SPA would provide the required ICT Infrastructure and maintenance and support services. The SPA would be provided adequate monthly service charges, as defined through the bidding process, to carry out the desired tasks. The implementation would be spread over a period of 3 years and would comprise of the following phases: • RFP Phase – In this phase the RFP template provided by the MoPR will be customised to reflect the

State-specific requirements. The outcome of this phase would be the selection of the Implementation Agency (IA).

• Deployment Phase – This phase would comprise installation and commissioning of the hardware at all the PRIs as well as augmentation of ICT infrastructure at the State Data Centre or the NIC Data Centre for hosting the State-specific software applications, which will be developed at State level. Certain core common software applications have also been identified, which would be developed centrally by NIC and customised for each State. Trainings will be provided on the usage of these software applications and one trained computer literate Panchayat Level Operator (PLO) will be provisioned at each PRI for backlog data entry and provision of services, both G2C and G2G, on an ongoing basis.

• Operations and Maintenance Phase – The Agency would continue providing operational and maintenance support for a period of three years.

To implement this project across the State in time-bound and effective manner the following 3-tier project management structure is proposed: 1. Central Level Body – Headed by Secretary, MoPR 2. State Level Body – Headed by Principal Secretary, PR Department, Gujarat 3. District Level Body – Headed by CEO, ZP of the respective districts



The State level body would be supported by a Project Management Unit (PMU) for monitoring the implementation and operations of the project. To ensure robust monitoring a Block Support Group (BSG), comprising of one resource at each block, is also envisaged. These resources would monitor the project activities at all PRIs in their assigned blocks and provide inputs to the PMU for monitoring. Gujarat state cost estimates - The total ePRI project cost for the State of Gujarat is estimated at Rs 207.13 cr., which includes costs for ICT (Rs 153.43 cr. approximately), Training (Rs 31.12 cr. approximately), IEC (Rs 2.99 cr. approximately), Project Management Unit (Rs 8.50 cr approximately) at the state level and Block Support Group (Rs. 11.10 cr.) at block level. The ICT cost estimates include: a) Costs for provision of ICT infrastructure to the PRIs at the State/ZP/BP/GP level as well as to the data

centre and the Project Management Units. b) Cost of Application development- This includes cost of development of modules at the State,

customization cost of modules developed at the Centre and cost of integration of existing PRI applications and their customization.

Considering the above costs, the average monthly service charges for a ZP would be INR 15,168, for BP would be INR 5,568 and for a GP it would be INR 2,869 approximately. However, the actual payouts would be considerably reduced owing to the local market dynamics realized through the competitive bidding process. The suggested implementation strategy and estimated costs provided in this report have been calculated on certain underlying assumptions, both, common across the states and specific to the state of Gujarat. Some key common assumptions include: • Using NICSI empanelment rates for costing • The implementation will start within one year of the release of this report • The civil infrastructure requirements of the PRIs, if any, will be funded by other sources such as NREGS,

BRGF, RGSY, Finance commission grants etc. • Provision for training to be made with respect to the ePRI application only

Subsequent to the presentation and approval of the DPR, the State cost estimates will be finalized. All the state DPRs would then be consolidated into a National DPR at the central level.



2. Project Background Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in India are an indigenous concept of local self governance which promotes decentralized governance by participation of the ordinary public in their own governance. This process of democratic decentralization was set in motion with the Constitution (Seventy Third Amendment) Act passed by the Indian Parliament in 1992, which enabled decentralized governance through PRIs in rural areas.

PRIs function at the village, intermediate (block) and district level. There are approximately 2,34,030 Gram Panchayats at the village level, 6,053 Janpad Panchayats at the block level and 535 Zilla Panchayats at the district level. There are more than 31 lakh elected representatives at all three tiers.

PRIs offer India’s rural villagers an opportunity to participate in village planning processes, to engage with the various developmental schemes being implemented by the Government and to interact with their elected representatives directly to ensure that their interests are being effectively served and their money properly spent.

While local governance through PRIs is an excellent concept but has so far remained in theory, reality has been less positive, as many PRIs have been criticized for poor representation, failure to implement the participatory decisions of their constituencies and mismanagement of funds. In this context, citizen participation in panchayat institutions is more meaningful when people have the information to make informed choices and to participate in decision-making processes based on facts, not rumors and half-truths.

The PRIs are also saddled with the problems of inadequate capacity vis-à-vis physical and financial resources, technical capabilities and extremely limited computerization. This has limited the usefulness of PRIs as the preferred delivery channel for the schemes of State and Centre as well as for citizen services.

Computerization and IT enablement of government functioning has received a high impetus with the implementation of the National eGovernance Program of Government of India and various states have realized the importance of eGovernance. This has led to a concerted thrust towards computerizing the functioning of the state line departments in most of the states. The result of this is cognizable and has brought in its wake significant efficiencies in the departmental functioning.

While some computerization efforts for PRIs have been made by NIC over the years; unfortunately, the eGovernance revolution sweeping the country has not touched the PRIs yet in significant measure. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India has realized this and decided to take up the computerization of PRIs on a mission mode basis.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is mandated to ensure effective local self governance in rural areas and is therefore committed to strengthening the PRIs. To achieve this MoPR in association with NICSI has conceptualized a nation-wide study to take stock of the needs and expectations of various stakeholders from PRIs and also the needs and expectations of PRIs from various stakeholders. This study is expected to result in drafting the requirements of computerization for PRIs across the country and is being undertaken across 27 states within duration of 23 weeks.

This initiative poses unique challenges, as the coverage of the program is in itself unprecedented not only in India but perhaps globally too. The geographic and demographic coverage of the program, therefore, makes it a challenging initiative to rollout.

In addition, the level of devolution of powers to PRIs across the country varies depending upon the provisions of the State Panchayati Raj Act and the spirit with which the devolution has been undertaken in a particular



State/UT. This implies that the services that could be delivered to the citizens by Village Panchayat in one State/UT could differ from another. Consequently, design of the process re-engineering, computerization and capacity building program would face significant challenges. This also leads to related challenges around stakeholder’s involvement in the program.

This project entails carrying out the following three activities:

► Identification of Information and Services Needs of Stakeholders

► Process Re-engineering and

► Preparation of Detailed Project Report for the MMP

The project execution primarily was carried out across the following five tiers:

► Central Line Ministries level

► State level

► Zilla Panchayat level

► Block Panchayat level

► Village Panchayat level

Vision of PR Department, Gujarat: The Vision of PR Department, Gujarat is to empower people through popular participation towards peace, prosperity and sustainable development in rural Gujarat. Government of Gujarat has stated the Golden Goals for the department by 2010. The vision of the State PR department is mentioned below:

► The department envisages converting all Gram Panchayat into Gram Sachivalaya. Government would provide all physical implements to the Gram Panchayat for the decision making. This would further lead to enabling the GP’s to resolve the issues on behalf of Government

► All Gram Panchayat would be connected with the Internet and video conferencing. The department also foresees to start English and computer classes through internet and video conferencing

► Imparting training facilities to the staffs and members of gram panchayat/ taluka panchayat/ district panchayat, the Government envisages to establish one training centre at all district head quarters and an apex rural training centre with modern facilities at state level

► With a vision to make villages a model village, Government would provide 100% toilets, proper scavenging and mechanical scavenging by 2010. Necessary amendments would also be made in the policy and rules respectively

Gujarat has paved its way ahead for IT implementation in governance and citizen services. E-Gram is the most prestigious initiative taken by PR department to provide efficient citizen services at the gram. All Districts and Talukas are connected through Gujarat State Wide Area Network and all gram Panchayats are connected via broadband VSAT.

Gujarat has long history of Panchayati Raj. It has robust administrative setup with supporting infrastructure in place to effectively carry out its functions.

Status of Panchayati Raj in Gujarat

The State of Gujarat constituted the Panchayati Act in 1961 and implemented it April 1963 onwards. Pursuant to the 73rd amendments, Gujarat Panchayat Act 1963 was replaced by Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993 and



several activities were decentralized by the State Government. Today Gujarat is known as one of the frontrunners in implementation of Panchayat Raj.

The State follows 3- tier structures which include Zilla Panchayat (ZP), Block Panchayat (BP)/ Taluka Panchayat (TP) and Gram Panchayat (GP). The 3 levels consists of over 114,241 members which includes 831, 4201 and 109209 members at District, Taluka and Gram Panchayats respectively.

Devolution status of Activities

The center under the 73rd constitutional amendment identified and necessitated the devolution of 29 subjects to the PRIs. Under the provisions of section 175 of Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993, the state has issued the government orders for devolution of funds, functions and functionaries. It was observed that

► 14 functions have been completely devolved,

► 5 are partially devolved

► 10 functions are yet to be devolved.

During the process of decentralization, an exercise of activity mapping of 29 departments/subjects in consultation with the offices of the District Panchayat at State level was carried out the Development commissioner’s office.

PR Governance- Planning, Implementation and Monitoring

The state of Gujarat has high degree of Panchayati Raj involvement in planning, implementation and monitoring of schemes. The 3 tiers of PR Department, i.e. DP/BP/GP are involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring and fund flow of almost all the schemes at each level

Planning: The State follows a bottom-up approach for the preparation of annual plans. Annual Panchayat Reports are prepared by all Panchayats in Gujarat. These reports are submitted to the Taluka Panchayat by the Gram Panchayat. These reports are consolidated and then sent to the District Panchayat. The Development Commissioner office of the State consolidates the district Panchayats’ reports to obtain the State Panchayat Annual Report. District Planning Committee (DPC), which is at its initiation stage and District Planning Board-DPB (executing decentralized Planning) assisted by Executive Planning committee and the Taluka Panchayat Committee carry out planning activities in the state

Monitoring & Implementation: The State PR Department plays a crucial role in implementation and monitoring of all developmental activities schemes in the districts. Monitoring activity is carried out at all three tiers by the DP/BP/GP officials. There are 9 committees at the district level which play a vital role in the smoother implementation of works and are responsible for the progress of the scheme Best Practices of the Panchayati Raj in the State Continuous endeavor have been made by the state and district Panchayat to innovate ways that would lead to emergence of Gujarat as a leader. Some of such best practices are, ► e-Gram initiated ► SWAGAT, an online Redressal system initiated by the Chief Minister ► Village computer Entrepreneur ► Gram Mitra ► GRAM (Gujarat rural Accounting manual), a uniform chart of accounting manual software ► E GAM Gujarat Asset Management, to enable ALL PRIs Fixed Assets Mapping & its Valuation ► Samras Gram Yojana, Panchvati Yojana ► Tirth Gram Yojana ► Nirmal Gujarat



► Sardar Patel Awas Yojana

2.1 Summary of Findings of ISNA

During the study phase of the ISNA it was attained by the study team that need of the various stakeholders at each level were different. Thus to enable an effective Information and Service need Assessment, three major beneficiaries were categorized by the study team namely:

1. PR and other Line departments

2. Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI)

3. Citizens

The following paragraphs briefly delineate the needs and detail the finding of these stakeholder/ beneficiaries:

Needs of PR and Other State Line Department

► Timely availability of veritable data: Timely & veritable data ensures adequate and effective planning. It was communicated that data gathering at the gram level is a challenge. Efficient data entry operators who have a fair understanding of the essence of the data entry are not available at the Gram level. Further the quantum of data entry at the gram level is vast and the connectivity is slow thus leading to delay in data entries and availability of up-to-date data to the line departments

► Need for Adequate and efficient data collection and management: Data is sought from various departments for multiple purposes. It was observed that:

► Data is sought from various sources by the line departments. Variances are often noticed amongst data sources for the same set of data

► Each department has its own unique way of data collection and management, thus no integration of the same set of data used by various departments.

► Unavailability of a single data collection method, entry or coding system for various departments. Further different coding system were followed by the same department for the same set of data at different tiers

► Availability of adequate, trained & skilled manpower: Departments are inadequately staffed leading to added burden of roles/responsibilities on a single official. A variance was observed in the sanctioned and filled posts across class of service. Further a need for better skilled and trained manpower was desired at all levels.

► Volume of paper work and difficulty in compilation of monthly reports: Manual Progress reports are utilized by most line departments for monitoring purpose which makes them error prone. Analyzing these set of data on paper is a time consuming and tedious activity. Further being on paper the utilization and customization of these reports/analysis for multiple purposes at a later stage is a challenging activity

► Need for transparency: Need for transparency of work at the grass root level was raised by various officials. It was stated that there is an important need of live monitoring of activities carried out at all levels to ensure proper utilization of funds and proper implementation. It was stated that ICT enablement in these areas is of high importance. For example, online bidding & tendering process

Needs of PRIs

► Integrated portals for all schemes/services: Various schemes/ services are provided by different line departments. Separate software, different user interface, menu style and general operation style



leads to difficulty in operations. A need for a single portal with inter-phase/tabs for all schemes and services emerged

► Increased Bandwidth to ensure optimum connectivity: It was observed that the no. of users were more that the server’s capacity, which lead to poor and slow connection and thus delay in work. Thus the need of a periodic demand assessment of bandwidth at all levels

► Inadequate staffing: It was observed that, there is a dearth of manpower at each level of the PRI. There was a considerable difference in the sanctioned post and occupied post.

► Periodic assessment of population versus need of Gram workers: Periodic demand assessment of posts like Talati, Gram Sevak, Multi purpose male and female workers and other workers at the Gram level would ensure adequacy of manpower availability at the Gram level leading to efficiency in service delivery. Most often the numbers of these workers are determined according to the census population and not the current population status

► Inadequate training of existing manpower: It was observed that the staff available is trained only occasionally and perfunctorily. There is a need of periodic training for existing and new services

► No provision for maintenances and upgrading of hardware: Though the state has hardware availability, it was observed that it is inadequate from a qualitative perspective. Hardware available was old and thus not effective. Further there was no adequate provision for repair of hardware break downs.

► Delays in receiving IT support: It was informed that most often timely IT support is not available to the grams, leading in delays/no service provision

► Inadequate availability of basic software: In the district and villages that were studied it was observed that basic anti-virus software were not available which most often lead to break down of the system and thus delay in work

Need of Citizens

► Need to increase awareness levels and alternate modes and method of information dissemination: People in village were not adept about schemes, services, procedures, rights and regulations. Further a need to improve the awareness levels of the Sarpanch and the Talati to enable adequate information dissemination at the village was also ascertained

► Easy and Quick service delivery: Need of easy access and quick access to services was distinctly ascertained as a citizen need. The citizen at the Gram Panchayat expects service delivery by minimum visit to the Gram Panchayat

► Additional service availability at the Gram Level: Currently a number of service availed by the citizen is available either at the Taluka or the district level. There is need of all service delivery at the Gram level

► Services availability at a single point of contact: One-stop-shop ( Example: e-Gram ) at the Gram level for the citizen needs a single source to benefit from schemes and gratify his service & information needs

► A grievance handling system: A grievance handling system at the Gram level that has provision of bottom-top and top-bottom communication: there is no citizen grievance handling system available at the Gram level. The informal means and methods, of Redressal currently followed have no scope of any top-bottom communication to inform citizen of the status. A system that would enable the citizen to get a status update of his query/ grievance would enable better citizen satisfaction



2.2 Summary of Recommendation in BPR

Gujarat has cemented its way to the fore in the implementation of ICT in government to citizen services & government to government services. The BPR report attempts to put forward new processes and procedures where existing framework is not adequate. Further it also endeavors at improving and optimizing the existing framework in the state.

The following is a brief summary of the recommendation detailed in the report:

► Integration & sharing of databases: It was attained during the ISNA phase that each department has its own unique way of data collection and management thus variances are often noticed amongst data sources for the same set of data. Thus integration of the same set of data used by various departments is required. It is recommended that the sate initiates an integration of same set of data used by various departments by introducing a single data collection method, entry or coding system for all departments. Further this data be made available on a common database that is accessible to all users

► Integration of Software application: Integration of software programs shall enable retrieval of information previously stored within one software application to use in another. Further a portion or all data from a program may be easily and quickly combined to generate a unique report. Numerical spreadsheet data may be represented as graphs. The use of integrated software shall thus, eliminate the need to input information that has already been processed and stored.

► Availability of Adequate manpower: Adequate number of manpower to be made available at all levels to ensure timely completion of work at each level. Availability of right total of manpower is imperative to the quality of the output by each individual at each level.

► Trained Manpower: A periodic training assessment to be carried out to ascertain the up-to-date training needs at each level. Based on the periodic assessment a yearly training calendar is prepared incorporating level-wise/ department wise training needs. This shall help improve the productivity of individuals, thus the quality of the output at each level.

► Adequate remuneration of the IT manpower: During the ISNA phase, retention was ascertained as a problem area for the IT staff. It is recommended that the payment structure of the IT staff be reviewed so as to make the comparable to other IT jobs available in the market.

► Demand assessment of bandwidth: Keeping in mind the current and expected service volumes and current and new software needs a periodic demand assessment be carried out. The bandwidth requirement maybe carried out by monitoring the daily usage of bandwidth, increase in the service volumes on a periodic basis and comparing the data produced therein of two separate periods.

► Maintenance and up gradation of hardware & software based on demand Assessment: Demand assessment of volume of service, the need for integration etc to be considered on a periodic basis to ensure timely up gradation hardware and software. Further periodic maintenance to be carried out of all hardware and software. The state may initiate an AMC for the same.

► Uniform integrated portal for providing all services: An integrated portal to be provided at the gram level (eGram) and at the Taluka level (Jansewa Kendra) to enable ease of service delivery by the operators. Multiple portals create confusion. A single portal with multiple tabs for multiple services of all line department/ PRIs will enable user-friendliness of the portal thus quicker and on-time service delivery

► Need of Information Dissemination to create adequate awareness: An effort should be made by the state to increase awareness amongst citizens, The state may initiate a periodic awareness



campaign in all villages in the state. The campaign may include, conducting more frequent meeting, exploring new channels of communication, street-plays and SMS etc

Service delivery of all services initiated at the Gram-level: through the BPR report, emphasis has been laid on provision of services to the village-citizen at the grass root level/gram level. All services that are currently not available at the gram level maybe provided via eGram.



3. Approach and Methodology

3.1 Overall Approach for ePRI study project A phased approach, dividing the project into four phases, each focusing on different aspects of the ePRI MMP initiative was undertaken. These included assessing requirements, recommending changes and improvements, and defining the rollout strategy and budget for the initiative.

►Conducting interviews and discussions at district, block and gram panchayats

►Review ICT infrastructure at panchayats

►Review CSS and activity mapping at panchayats

►Prioritization of information and services needs

Initiation and planning

I&S Needs assessment

►Study As-Is service portfolio

►Reengineer existing processes

►Create To-Be process maps for new services based on I&S needs assessment report.

Process Re-engineering

►Estimate ICT requirements for Ministry and state►Define strategy for

roll-out►Define project

management & M&E structure►Define

communication plan►Define change

management strategy►Determine total

budget requirements

DPR Preparation

Project mgmt plan and Study templates

I&S Needs assessment

Process Re-engineering Report

Detailed Project Report

► Identifying key stakeholders

►Understanding project expectations

►Assessing current state of governance initiatives, ICT infrastructure, activity mapping, CSS etc. at state level

►Preparing data gathering tools and study templates

Initiation and Planning phase (Phase I) Focused on setting the tone for execution of the project. The key outcomes of this phase were identification of stakeholders, finalization of the consultation mechanism with the stakeholders, and common templates for data gathering and deliverables.

Information and Services Needs assessment phase (Phase II) involved interaction with the identified stakeholders. This phase resulted in forming an understanding of the information needs of stakeholders. The citizen centric services that are currently being delivered through PRIs and the services that are expected to be delivered through PRIs were also identified and studied.

The Process Re-engineering phase (Phase III), entailed in-depth analysis of the identified services and the administrative framework associated with PRIs. This analysis led to the identification of key gaps in the current processes and the creation of a BPR framework. This framework was designed to be customizable for every state/UT to address state-specific requirements, while also taking into cognizance the similarities existing across the country. Eventually a To-Be scenario encompassing PRI internal automation, citizen service delivery and internal functions of Planning, Monitoring, Implementation and Accounting was defined.

The current phase, namely DPR preparation (Phase IV), is the eventual outcome of the study which defines the plan for implementation of ePRI MMP in each State/UT. The DPR primarily defines the ICT requirements across the three tiers of PRIs, the manpower and training requirements and the roll-out strategy along with the overall program governance and management structure. The budgetary requirements for this project have also been estimated.



3.2 Approach for DPR In order to arrive at a budget and implementation plan for implementing the recommendations made in the BPR, the BPR recommendations were translated into requirements. For each requirement, the associated costs were determined. Subsequently, a program management structure at the central, state and district level was designed, to supervise and co-ordinate the rollout over 3 years. An implementation plan was also defined for implementing the recommendations over 3 years in different phases.

The key recommendations made in the BPR phase involved the following aspects: ► Improvements in internal functions of PRIs viz. Planning, Monitoring, Implementation and Accounting ► IT applications for supporting the above internal functions and services ► Service delivery mechanism to be followed for the re-engineered processes ► ICT infrastructure required to support the above recommendations ► Manpower and skills required for implementing the above recommendations ► Requisite legal changes needed to implement the Envisaged Scenario

These recommendations were translated into requirements and budgetary estimates as illustrated in the following figure.

Approach and Methodology for DPR

Phase III – BPR

Civil Infrastructure Requirements

Envisaged (To-Be) ScenarioService Delivery

Internal Functions

BPR Framework

Phase IV – DPR

Logical Architecture

ePRIApplication

Access Channels

External Interfaces

Users

Application Architecture

Application Modules

Support Functions

Common Components

High Level FRS

Technology Solution

Deployment Architecture

Database Architecture

Security Architecture

Program Management

Governance Structure

Change Management

Implementation Strategy

Capacity Building

Project Cost


Phase III – BPR


Envisaged (To-Be) ScenarioService Delivery

Internal Functions

BPR Framework

Phase IV – DPR

Logical Architecture

ePRIApplication

Access Channels

External Interfaces

Users


Application Modules

Support Functions

Common Components

High Level FRS

Technology Solution

Deployment ArchitectureDeployment Architecture





Program Management

Governance Structure

Change Management

Implementation Strategy

Capacity Building

Project Cost


The step-wise approach used for determining the requirements is detailed below:



Step 1: Translate automation recommendations into function solution and technical solution. The technical solution consists of applications to be developed, databases to be deployed and related content management aspects. The associated budgetary estimates were also computed.

Step 2: Translate computerization recommendations into ICT requirements – This includes defining the requirements and budget for ICT hardware, networking infrastructure and infrastructure for deployment in data centre.

Step 3: Translate capacity gaps into manpower requirements and training requirements for PRI functionaries and elected representatives and the associated budget.

Step 4: Design plan for awareness and communication about ePRI MMP to PRI officials, elected representatives and rural citizens

Step 5: Define strategy for implementation of ePRI MMP in the States/UTs over 3 years. This includes a phased implementation plan with specific timelines and deliverables for each phase.

This enabled defining the total state-wise outlay for implementation of ePRI MMP. The following sections of the report explore the various aspects mentioned above in greater detail.



4. Assumptions / Pre requisites Key assumptions, considerations are suppositions that have been assumed whilst making the recommendations, re-engineering the service delivery processes and engineering process where processes didn’t exist.

This section lists down all the assumptions made while making DPR. Please note that only high level assumptions are stated here.

Manpower

Almost all the State studies have revealed a gap between the sanctioned and actual occupied posts. The State DPRs and the National DPR will not budget for the addressing this gap. The DPRs will only budget for sourcing contract manpower. This would include data entry operators, technical support personnel and other such contractual staff.

Training

Notwithstanding the above, the training budget would include trainings for both categories, i.e.

1. Training for official staff - To be trained on process / functional areas, PR governance, Scheme related training, ICT usage and behavioral skills.

2. Training for contract manpower / ICT staff - To be trained on ICT usage, and scheme related software etc.

3. Elected Representatives - To be trained on process / functional areas, PR governance, Scheme related training, ICT usage and behavioral skills.

Application preparation and management

1. Application preparation (From URS phase to maintenance phase) - will be done centrally for common applications while state specific applications will be developed by states themselves. The associated budget will be added to the National DPR.

2. Application management (hosting) - Will be done centrally for common applications. For applications that are specific to a particular state or common across only 3-4 states, the hosting will be done at the state level. The associated budget will be added to the State DPRs. Therefore, assuming that almost all states will have such specific requirements, we will need to budget for hosting infrastructure at each state.

Civil Infrastructure

In view of the existing initiatives like RG Seva Kendra etc. which are already in the process of providing civil infrastructure to PRIs, the ePRI DPRs will not budget for civil infrastructure in the GPs.

Budgeting

In order to budget for hardware, application preparation and management, sourcing manpower, and training, we will consider the central NICSI empanelment rates. These common rates will be used by all state teams to budget for the state requirements for hardware, applications, manpower and training.



5. Requirement for ePRI Application Development This section details the envisaged scenario (for both G2G & G2C services) and the Application Logical Architecture derived from the functional solution proposed in BPR phase. Further it explains the modules that will form the part do application architecture. It also detail out sub-components of logical architecture, which includes access channels, security framework etc.

The section will have impact on total project cost in terms of ICT Infrastructure, application development and data digitization. The overall cost for implementing the proposed e-PRI application in Gujarat is estimated at Rs. 1.31 Cr

5.1 Envisaged Scenario

The proposed e-PRI BPR framework would result in overall improvement and enablement of PRIs institution to take up duties and functions as charted under the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India. The basic premise of bringing in local self governance through the PRI institution which are enabled and capacitated through tools required for discharge of their roles and responsibilities could be achieved through the proposed BPR solution. Further, the proposed e-PRI BPR framework when implemented would translate into improved functioning of Panchayat Raj Institution both in the external – citizen centric function and internal – government functions of the PRIs.

5.1.1 Government to Citizen Function

The proposed BPR solution would provide a high citizen centric interface for availing government services at their doorstep. In the solution, the entire service lifecycle has been logically divided in 3 distinct phases – service request submission, service processing and service delivery. Various options could be utilized by the citizen as per their convenience to make service request thereby eliminating the need of physically visiting government departments. Further, a ‘window’ to have access to information on their service request has been embedded in the system where the citizens are continuously updated on the status of their service request. The service delivery against the service request has also been streamlines to provide options to the citizen to receive the output.



Following are the key steps to be followed in the overall process –

Step 1

► Applicant desires a specific service which has been undertaken under e-PRI project

► Applicant can obtain information/service request form for initiating a service request either from PRI office, ePRI application through web interface, nearest CSC, etc.

► Applicant makes service request either at the PRI office, nearest CSC or online by logging on to the e- PRI portal

Step 2

► Applicant obtains service request form from selected front end, fills and submits service request form along with the required supporting documents

► Applicant makes payment for the service at CSC (if any payment is required)



► If applicant want to make an online application, then he registers as an authentic user at e-PRI application, opens the service specific module, selects required service and fills online the application form, attaches the required supporting documents as specified for the service after scanning it, makes online payment (if required for the service) through payment gateway and receives a system generated acknowledgement number for reference.

Step 3

► Front end operator enters login ID & password and (bio-metrics if integrated with the e-PRI application) to access the e-PRI application (after proper identification & authentication from user database).

► Operator enters the details from the service request form of the applicant in the software

► Operator checks the completeness of the supporting documents submitted and enters the specified details of the supporting document in the e-PRI application

► Operator scans all the supporting documents and attaches it with the e-PRI application.

► Operator takes a print out of the online service request form from e-PRI applicant and get it verified and signed from the applicant

► Operator collects the specified government fees (if any) and relevant service charges for the service from the applicant.

► Operator enters transaction password to successfully submit the service request and generates a computerized receipt (2 copies) along with the unique acknowledgement number

► Operator forwards the verified and signed copy of the service request form along with relevant supporting documents and copy of receipt to the respective location/ department through courier / agreed mechanism

Step 4

► Applicant receives one copy of receipt with unique acknowledgement number and date of delivery of service for future reference.

Step 5

► e-PRI application database registers the application and gives it a unique number through this the application (front-end can be identified through which posting of service request has been done)

► e-PRI application routes the application to respective location / authority after the service request is successfully submitted based on the proposed TO-BE processes.

► e-PRI application maintains the time and date stamping and also generates the audit trails for the same (when required)



Step 6

► Process owner is notified and defined workflow in the TO-BE process is followed for service request processing.

► Process actors would either perform the online verification (if required) through the digitized database and in absence of digitized records physical verification (if required) would be undertaken

Step 7

► Process owner approves / rejects (states reason) the application by digitally signing it and submits it back to the e-PRI Application

Step 8

► e-PRI application is updated and system triggered SMS is send to the applicant (if mobile number is provided)

Step 9

► Citizen visits the front-end on the specified date for delivery and requests for the document

► Operator logs into the e-PRI application through the defined authentication mechanism and retrieves the digitally signed document, prints it out and stamps it with his seal and close the service request.

► The final printed document will have a unique document ID, service delivery front end ID from where it is being printed and a website address printed on it so that anybody with internet access can verify the digitally signed contents.

5.1.2 Government to Government Function

The proposed BPR solution would result in highly integrated ‘Government to Government’ services of Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting across all levels of PRI institution – District level, Block level and Village level institution. It aims at providing a common solution with defined workflows and functionalities resulting in high work integration for achieving overall work outcome. This would also help in high data integrity, access of information, tracking of work progress, monitoring and reporting functions, etc.

During the assessment phase, it was observed that all the three levels of PRIs are participating together for successful completion of Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting functions. The functions of PRIs are either flowing from a ‘Bottom up’ or a ‘Top down’ for successful completion. The datasets relating to the above mentioned functions are moving along the workflow on which other tiers of PRIs are acting upon. The current solution, in a way, attempts to integrate the overall function from all perspective using IT technology thus enabling the ‘end to end’ automated system with respect to Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting functions of the PRIs.



A high level representation of workflow for Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting across all levels of PRI institution resulting from current BPR solution showing the interaction as well as flow of the work across all the tiers of PRIs is given below

Following details out the step by step methodology in relation to Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting functions in the proposed scenario for PRIs

Planning

Step 1

► Citizen would report in their needs to Village PRI institution either to the Village Sarpanch or to the Panchayat Secretary

► The identified needs would be given to respective Standing Committee to come up with a need addressing intervention



► Gram Sabha would discuss, prioritize the intervention upon which the village panchayat would finalize the Village Annual Plan

Step 2

► The Village Annual Plan would be uploaded on the e-PRI application by the village panchayat officials

Step 3

► The village annual plans for all the villages under Block Panchayat would be received by the concerned Office through the e-PRI application individually as well as an overall consolidation of the village panchayat plans would happen and overall plan would be generated by the e-PRI application.

► The Block Panchayat would discuss and finalize its own plan for develop the annual plan for itself. The plan is uploaded on the e-PRI application and consolidated with overall village panchayat plan to come up with Block Level Annual Plan.

Step 4

► The Block Level Annual plans for all the blocks under Zila Panchayat would be received by the concerned Office through the e-PRI application individually as well as an overall consolidation of the Block Panchayat plans would happen and overall plan would be generated by the e-PRI application.

► The Zila Panchayat would discuss and finalize its own plan for develop the annual plan for itself. The plan is uploaded on the e-PRI application and consolidated with overall block panchayat plan to come up with Zila Level Annual Plan.

Step 5

► The Zila Panchayat and DPC discuss and approves the overall plan for the district inclusive of block level as well as village level plan.

► The approval of all the line items under the plan – village, block as well as zila level is done on the e-PRI application.

Step 6

► The State PR department consolidates the district level for PRIs across the state through the e-PRI application.

► The State PR departments organize the overall state PRI plan line item wise and direct it to the concerned line department of the State. This process would be manual process.

Step 7

► The state line department reviews and approves the overall plan and direct the treasury for fund allocation and release to the PRIs across the state specific against the concerned line items



► The state line department also sends the information about PRI plan approval to state PR department.

Step 8

► The state PR department on receiving the approvals from the respective State line departments updates the approval on the e-PRI application

► The state PR department also for specific line items under PRIs plan which falls under its purview, reviews and approves it.

► The state PR department advises the treasury accordingly and updates the approval on the e-PRI application.

Implementation

Step 1

► As soon as the Zila Panchayat receives the approval through the e-PRI application, it advises its internal working committee to initiate the implementation process.

► Also, the ZIla Panchayat advises the Block Panchayat and Village Panchayat to initiate implementation planning.

Step 2

► PRIs at all level call the working committee meeting to initiate the implementation process.

► For Zila Panchayat / Block Panchayat,

► Working Committee develop the Indicative Implementation Plan and involve the Public work departments for undertaking the plan intervention

► Public work department undertakes survey, complete technical feasibility, develop bills of material and other required documents

► Working Committee approves the bill of material and other requirement for Public Work department to commence work

► Public Work Department execute work as per the specification and monitor quality and other execution parameter and continuously report progress to Working Committee

► Working Committee through appointed committee members regularly monitor progress

► Public Work Departments completes work and report work completion to working committee which in turn finally evaluates and close the plan intervention.



► Fund flow would be released to Public Work Department as per the Terms of Reference agreed between Working Committee and the Public Work Department.

► For Gram Panchayat

► Gram Panchayat calls a Gram Sabha and informs the villages on the approved plan.

► Gram Panchayat develop the Indicative Implementation Plan and involve the Block Development Office for technical help and support

► Block Development Office supports all the Gram Panchayat through Public Works Department who undertakes survey, complete technical feasibility, develop bills of material and other required documents

► Gram Panchayat forms Working Committee for specific planned intervention and approves the bill of material and other requirement for it to commence work with help and support of Public Work department

► Gram Panchayat ensures maximum participation of resident in the physical intervention and also ensures the labour work is provided to the resident.

► Working Committee execute the plan intervention as per the specification and monitor quality and other execution parameter and continuously report progress to Gram Panchayat

► Working Committee completes work and report work completion to Gram Panchayat which in turn finally evaluates and close the plan intervention.

► Fund flow would be released as per the plan intervention requirement for purchases and payment against labour work done by the resident.

Monitoring

It is envisaged that continuous monitoring would be carried out the respective PRIs for all the work being undertaken at their respective levels. Further to this, the PRI institution would also monitor the work progress of PRI institution falling under it.

Step 1

► PRIs at all level would develop monitoring plan for plan intervention – it would define aspects of monitoring viz. financial, physical, and quality, compliance, etc., frequency of monitoring, reporting structure, etc.

Step 2

► Designated officer would undertake physical visit to monitor progress of plan intervention



Step 3

► Designated officer would undertake site visit, discuss with executing officials

Step 4

► Designated officer would check record register, stock register, attendance register, etc. to ensure updation and compliance

Step 5

► Designated officer would conduct a debriefing session with executing officer and discuss the observation and provide feedback for correctives / improvement

Step 6

► Designated officer would produce the monitoring report and submit it on the e-PRI application through authenticated login and password

Step 7

► Concerned PRI office / working committee of PRI office would access the monitoring report from the e-PRI application

► Concerned PRI office / working committee of PRI office would access the e-PRI application and view the report

► Concerned PRI office / working committee of PRI office would review the report and take corrective action

Accounting

Step 1

► All PRIs would maintain the standard books of accounts as prescribed under the law. These mandatory records have to be maintained by all PRI institutions.

Step 2

► All PRIs would maintain and update the books of account in real time i.e. all debit and credit entries would be made on occurrence of the event.

Step 3

► The designated officer of PRI would access the accounting module of e-PRI application and create the appropriate books of records – daily cash book, asset register, ledger, journals, etc. as per the requirement



Step 4

► The designated officer of PRI would access the accounting module of the e-PRI application and post the accounting entries in specified books of accounts appropriately

► The designated officer would confirm on the entries on the e-PRI application and file the supporting documents appropriately

Step 3

► All PRIs would undertake quarterly inspection / internal audit of the PRIs and generate a ‘Trail Balance’ report

► All PRIs would undertake quarterly inspection / internal audit through a qualified resource present within the institution

► For Village PRIs, the Panchayat Secretary would support for internal audit of books of accounts of the PRIs

► The quarterly inspection / internal audit would be done with the records maintained on e-PRI application

► The internal audit report would be generated with the help of e-PRI application and supporting documents would be checked in physical records accordingly.

Step 4

► All PRIs would undertake an independent audit through office of Auditor’s General Office representative / designated office by Auditor’s General Office for yearly audit

► All PRIs would generate ‘Income Expense’ Statement and Balance Sheet as an output to the annual external audit.

► The annual inspection external audit would be done with the records maintained on e-PRI application

► The external audit report would be generated with the help of e-PRI application and supporting documents would be checked in physical records accordingly.

Step 5

► All PRIs would, in case of any discrepancies reported would undertake corrective and actions for audit compliance.



5.2 Logical Architecture

This architecture shows the logical structure of user, modules, access channels and databases. The user section shows multiple types of users accessing the panchayat portal. Panchayat portal will have different access routes (State Portal, Internet (www), etc) using different ways (Broadband, VSAT, Internet (ISPs), GSWAN. The panchayat portal will have various modules for different G2G and G2C services. Apart from that it will contain security layers and interface with external modules like eDhara and IOJan. The last layer will be databases from where modules will extract data

5.2.1 User Groups

This section describes the various user groups and the kind of service they will avail and their purpose of using ePRI application suggested in this document.

The user groups are classified according to the kind of services they are going to use and access channels being available to them.



Table 5.2.1 Various Users with purpose of using ePRI system

Users Purpose

Citizen

► Citizen is one of most important end user of ePRI application. Citizen is end user of almost all schemes and services provided by ePRI Initiative. The services like certificates, enrollment, scholarships, and other benefits will be availed by him using this Panchayat Portal. Moreover schemes like NREGA, IAY etc are availed by him using this Panchayat Portal. A few services like grievance reddressal and status tracking will be available online as well which can be accessed using world wide web

► The access channels that will be used eGRAM, CSC, Kiosks & Internet

PRI Staff

► PRI staff will be using all G2G services like online planning, integrated financial system, Accounting and other services mentioned in section below and G2C service modules as well. PRI staff of all three levels (ZP/BP/GP) will be using these services extensively.

► The channels that will be used by PRI staff will be mainly GSWAN & VSAT and Internet for some measure

State or Central Line Departments

► State and Central line departments will be using panchayat portal for monitoring and fund transfer purposes. Along with that line departments will also use this to plan their own annual agenda and dovetail it with PRI plans. The financial information, scheme implementation progress will also be used by line departments to adjust their budgets and plans midway.

► The channels that will be used are mainly GSWAN and State Portal.

3rd Party Service Providers, Contractors and Vendors

► 3rd party or contractors hired by government to perform certain activities on their behalf can also use ePRI application and modules to update information on schemes they are implementing, check payment status and schedules. They can use this to view tendering process status.

► The channels that will be used are VSAT, eGRAM, CSC and Kiosks

Business or Corporate People

► The business people will be using this Panchayat Portal for accessing upcoming business opportunities with government. To renew their registrations and licenses. To pay taxes and other payments

► The channels they will use primarily will be eGRAM, CSC, Kiosk and Internet



5.2.2 Access Channels

The table below depicts the various access channels for the G2C and G2G components identified.

Table 5.2.2 Access Channel G2C, G2G and G2B Component

Access Channel Description User Groups Location Connectivity

Options

eGRAM/ GP

This is already deployed in Gujarat in all GPs. Used mainly for G2C and G2G services

Citizen, GP Staff All Gram Panchayat VSAT, BSNL Line

CSC This is channel will be mostly used for G2C, G2B and B2C Services

Citizen

Locations identified for CSC are according to population norms, i.e. not in all GPs

VSAT, BSNL Line

Kiosk

This channel most suited for information about services, schemes, procedures and quick status update. This will be used mainly for G2C and G2B services

Citizen, 3rd party service providers, contractors & vendors

All BPs are provided with kiosks, looking at current usage levels, a decision of providing kiosks to GPs can be taken

VSAT, BSNL (for GP) GSWAN (for BP)

Internet or world wide web

This channel means accessing a few services online from any cybercafé or home internet connection. This channel will be used for a few G2C & G2B services, however it can be used for communication by government depts like emails & other information while not in office

Citizen, 3rd party service providers, contractors & vendors, Government staff

Everywhere

VSAT, BSNL Line, GSWAN, Other private networks, internet service providers

State Portal

This channel will be used mainly for G2G services, however 3rd party service providers, contractors and vendors can use this portal with special authorization only

Government departments, 3rd party service providers, contractors and vendors

Mostly in Government offices and PRIs, but some access can be through internet

GSWAN mostly but for internet access all networks (public & private) can be used

Jansewa Kendra/ EM Office

This channel is to be used mostly for G2C services and complements eGRAM channel by providing services at taluka level

Citizen All EM Offices (Taluka) GSWAN



5.2.3 Proposed e-PRI Applications

The table below depicts the various ePRI application modules proposed.

Table 5.2.3 Access Channel G2C, G2G and G2B Component

No Software Module Purpose GP TP ZP

G2G

1 Compliance Management

Set dates and deadlines for regulatory reporting, permit event tracking, sampling events, regulatory audits etc. It is enabled with automated email-notifications that can be set to work with regular e-mail system.

P P P

2 Digital Asset Management

Digital assets such as software licenses, computers can be serialized and a databse can be created to track their proper maintenance and upgradation. Moreover, this maintenance cost can be tracked to find out who is using which assets.

P

3 Document management

Exchanging & collaborating on documents by shared folders or by publishing documents on an intranet. Further it offers version control, revision management, access logging, viewing & markup. Being integrated with workflow management, it can define/customize processes for document review, publishing, archiving and printing.

P P P

4 Fixed Asset Management Ensure visibility and control of existing assets P

5 Geographic Information System

Comprehensive GIS comprising base maps containing spatial information regarding road networks, water bodies and manmade fixed assets, wards, buildings, habitats, cropping patterns, scheme-related works undertaken etc

P

6 Integrated Finance & Accounts module

To enable automated consolidation of data at higher levels. To enable customized report at all levels without having to enter data multiple data entries. Enable faster and effective budgeting, and improved financial management

P P P

7 Scheme Management Plan, execute, monitor and evaluate schemes, Interface with external stakeholders as well With PRI and External Stakeholder Interface

P P P

8 Surveys

Enable run online surveys, various question types, such as free text, single choice, choice table and multiple choice questions can be used. Further there are various options for analyzing the results or exporting the results to another system.

P

G2E

9 Contact Management Enables storage of all contact data on a central server and allow secure access. & simplifies activities like sending mass mailings, find who is reporting to who, etc

P P P

10

Training and Development Planning with Training calendar and skill maps

Training and skill upgradation of old and new employees and keeping them informed of their progress so far and further need of upgradation.

P P P

11 Personnel Management

Payroll, Employee Master, Performance Management Process salaries and pensions in an accurate and efficient manner. Track development needs of employees and upgrade their skills

P P P

G2C

12 Birth & Death Registration and other certificates

Providing these basic certificates to citizen for availing benefits in various schemes and authentication in various aspects like passport, voting, travelling, employment etc

P



No Software Module Purpose GP TP ZP

13 Gramsabha Related Information

Schedules, Minutes of last gramsabha, questions and answers, agenda of upcoming sabha P

14 Property Tax, Land Revenue Collection

Online maintenance of all tax records, transactions and demand register P

15 Request Management

Enables a specific request workflow for each request type. Tasks are automatically assigned to people and the status of a request can be tracked to ensure that service level agreements are observed.

P P P

16 Scheme Management Plan, execute, monitor and evaluate schemes, Interface with external stakeholders as well P P P

17 Social Audit For allowing social audit of annual performance from social development (or Human development) point of view. P P P

18 Grievance Handling

Citizen can register his complain on this Panchayat Portal and can view the status of resolution or escalation on this Panchayat Portal using a service request number provided to him at time of registration of complaint

P P P

19 Status Tracking To keep track of the Application Type, Protocol, Approval and Renewal Dates, Status and other important information related to the application process

P P P

G2B

20 Permits and Licenses For awarding of new licenses and renewal of old licenses and permits. P P P

21 Property Tax, Land Revenue Collection

Online maintenance of all tax records, transactions and demand register P

22 Request Management

Enables define a specific request workflow for each request type. Tasks are automatically assigned to people and the status of a request can be tracked to ensure that service level agreements are observed.

P P P

23 Scheme Management Plan, execute, monitor and evaluate schemes, Interface with external stakeholders as well P P P

Supp

ort M

odul

es 24 Government

Communication

A Panchayat Portal where all this information can be viewed, downloaded, printed for public or employees Acts, Rules, Government Orders, Circulars, Notices, Scheme Guidelines, Resolutions

P P P

25 Audit Trails To keep track of all the changes made to databases, documents and by whom and at what time P P P

26 Authentication Authenticating of all people trying to access information and controlling their access levels P P P

27 Banking and Payment Interface

To enable online payments, interdepartmental transfers, scholarship disbursements, contractor payments P P P

28 Local Language Support To enable greater acceptance of services among citizens P P P

All the above applications/ modules may be integrated with eGram application already running in Gujarat PRIs.



5.2.4 Databases

Below table depicts the key databases recommended and its purpose along with the creator, owner and user of the database, for the proposed solution.

Table 5.2.4 Database recommended with proposed usage

Database Creator Owner User Purpose

Birth & Death Database

GP Secretary

Registrar of Birth & Death

Community Development Program Officer, District Medical Officer; Planning Dept

To track the demographic profile of the village For issuance of certificate, For verification in case pension

Citizen Database GP DDO

Planning Dept, All PRIs, Health Dept, DRDA, Tribal Dept, Social Welfare

To track demographic profile of region To plan better and better resource allocation To have complete information about people, income, families, caste etc (In sync with Unique ID Project)

Live Stock Database

Live Stock Inspector

Dy Dir- Animal Husbandry

Agriculture Dept, DRDA, State and Central Line Dept

To keep track of Cattle population and their development

Land Records Database

Talati Land Records Dept (State)

Revenue Dept, Planning Dept, Industrial Development, Agriculture Dept , PRIs

To keep track of all the land and its ownership, including mutation of records. For better planning and dispute settlement

Tax Database Talati DDO

PRIs, Revenue Dept, Planning Dept, Treasury

To keep track of tax payers, payment history, transactions, defaulters etc (Tax here means Land Revenue, Professional Tax, House Tax, Street light tax, sanitation tax Property tax etc)

Marriage Database Talati Registrar of

Marriage Planning Dept, Health Dept To keep track of all the marriages in region

Health Database

Medical Officer, ASHA, ANM

CDHO

Health Dept, Some sections for public use, Tribal Dept, Social Welfare

To keep track of all health related information like immunization, infant deaths, disease statistics, average age, accidents, fatalities etc. Some section can be made public to make people aware of all initiatives taken and their status

Education Database

Primary School Head Master

District Education Officer

Education Dept DRDA, Tribal Dept, Social Welfare

To keep track of all education related initiatives, their progress. Some section can be made public to make people aware of all initiatives taken and their status

Agricultural Database

State Agriculture Dept

Head of State Agri Dept

Farmers, PRI Staff,

To disseminate information to farmers and other users about crops, techniques, innovation in farming, seed, diseases, pesticides, fertilizers, market & rates, buyers, minimum support prices, weather, soil etc. To create a knowledge equipped farmer with latest tools

Ration Card Database

Dy Mamlatdar Mamlatdar Public

distribution Keep track of all ration cards issued and estimate demand & plan buying of grains,



Database Creator Owner User Purpose (Civil Supplies)

system, DRDA sugar etc accordingly

Employment Database GP HRD

department HRD dept, Planning dept

To keep track of the employment and unemployment status and better planning

BPL GP State Govt. Various departments

To keep track of BPL beneficiaries for various schemes

Following subsection provide the information exchange scenarios among these databases for G2G and G2C information exchange scenarios

5.2.5 G2G Data and Application Information exchange

G2G domain shall primarily encompass following components

► Planning ► Budgeting ► Scheme Implementation , Monitoring and Reporting ► Accounting and Fund Flow ► Capacity and Skills Building



Planning and Budgeting shall be the core of G2G interaction domain. The Planning and Budgeting database shall take inputs from needs identified from Citizen database, Grievances and RTI database and data provided from different line departments, central and state government initiatives, etc. It shall be the support for the planning and budgeting application Planplus. Various approved schemes get parked in Scheme implementation database which talk closely with the Financial Budgeting, accounting and fund flow databases. Post ePRI scenario, these databases can be envisaged as the implementation of the Plan plus and Priasoft software application and integrated with other ePRI modules. Scheme implementation and Financial accounting databases shall also talk with the Assets Database.

These databases in conjunction will provide inputs for G2G content management database, for G2C Services Content Management and other PRI applications content management. The G2G and G2C Content Management Data shall hold information regarding PRI meetings, Standard Operating Procedures, related literature, government orders, citizen charters etc.

Employee master database will hold details about the PRI officials, along with details about their qualifications and skill sets, trainings attended, skills required for performing their roles. This will help in identifying gaps in available manpower, skill set and training needs. This will enable development of training content as per the requirements of various schemes and initiatives

5.2.6 G2C Information Exchange and Database

PRI application transaction database shall be the key transaction database which will be accessing other databases based on the service request from the ePRI system user (Citizen). The main database that it will interact with is the citizen master and G2C Services and Schemes Master. Depending on the service request



it will fetch data from and to other grass root level citizen centric databases such as Land records, RTI, beneficiaries , utilities, taxation, GIS, schemes and development plans, village profile etc.



Database Interaction

This section talks about the interaction between various databases and information shared on a broad level. Please note that this table includes only those databases which have some interaction between them

These Databases will be used


Citizen Database


Marriage Database

Health Database


Will

be

used

by

thes

e da

taba

ses


Will be using this database to update and synchronize birth information since Health database will also contain births, death etc

Citizen Database

Will update and synchronize Birth, Death, Parents, Caste Information etc from Birth and Death database

Land ownership information will be cross linked with information in this database

Will be used to update relationship status in citzen database

Will be used for verification purposes incase of initial citizen database entry


Tax Database

Will be using this to generate land revenue payable

Marriage Database

Will use this database for verification purposes (previous relationship claims etc)

Health Database

Will update and synchronize Birth, Death data and create immunization programs and othe activities using this database

Will use this information to plan all health related activities

Will be using this to estimate births, no of pregnant women and plan accordingly



These Databases will be used


Citizen Database


Marriage Database

Health Database


Education Database

Will use this database to populate list of children eligible for enrollment etc

Will use this database to verify claims of scholarships etc and plan for education related initiatives and overall education level of region

Agricultural Database

Will be using this to assess number of farmer, land owners and plan activities accordingly


Will use this database for verification in case addition or deletion of names from ration card applications come

Will use this database for verification purposed in case of new ration card or modification applications come

5.2.7 External Interfaces

The Table below depicts the various external interfaces that would need to interact with the proposed ePRI application and their respective information / data exchange needs.

Table 5.2.7 Interaction of External Interfaces with ePRI Application External Application

Information / Data exchange Purpose

GRAM - Gujarat Rural Accounting Manual

Accounting

GRAM is a uniform chart of accounting manual software in Gujarati language. It is a project for the Period 01.04.2007 to 31.03.2010 to enable data migration. The main objective of the GRAM is: � Preparation of Software – Web enabled for Accrual Accounting

at PRIs, enabling automation in report generation and consolidation

� Resources for Accrual Accounting of PRIs deployed by Project implementation Agency



External Application

Information / Data exchange Purpose

� Enable accounting for all line departments by the Gram Panchayat

GAM – Gujarat Asset Management

Fixed Asset Management

The GAM has the following objective: � ALL PRIs Fixed Assets Mapping & its Valuation. � Immovable Assets Photography & Mapping. � Mapping to Software and then be Web Published � Current Assets / Liabilities Mapping for last 4 Years from

01.04.2007 & its Valuation. � Preparation of Opening Balance of ALL PRI as on 01.04.2007

Vikas Path Information and Monitoring

Used for information dissemination about schemes. Status of NREGA works, IAY, SAY and other developmental works can be viewed and updated on this Panchayat Portal. Application and approval can also be sought on this Panchayat Portal

eDhara Record of Rights

NIC, Gujarat state has developed comprehensive software BhuLekh Soft to capture the day to day land record transactions taking place and implemented it at the Taluka levels. All 225 Taluka of the 25 districts in Gujarat are equipped with a server, clients, printers, Bio-Metrics Devices, etc and the transactions are done online

Jan Sewa Kendra Software Citizen Service

This software is used to provide various services like income certificate, caste certificate, farmer certificate to citizen at block EM office

Gujarat Ration Card Computerization

Ration Card This software is used to create computerized ration cards and also to maintain a database of all cards issued

IOJan Integrated Planning This software is used for Planning and Monitoring purposes in district collectorate for schemes under MPLAD, MLA Fund, State sponsored Schemes

Live Stock Census

Live Stock This software is used for creating, maintaining and updating information on cattle population is state



5.3 Application Architecture and Functionality

The above diagram shows the architecture of various applications, there are four application layers. These layers are G2C Applications, G2G applications, service component and support function layers. Apart from that there is core technology layer and security layer under which lies data layer which is supported by infrastructure layer. From user side, there are a few layer, which are access channel layer which is nothing but access channel user is going to use, which will be through internet, intranet or VPN tunnel. The requests will be guided through gateways layer and finally the right interface according to service request will presented to user.

ApplicationSubmission, Status Tracking Etc.



5.3.1 G2C Application Layer

Module Functionality User Group

Registration & Certificates

• The module should have following functionality • Birth Registration & Certificate • Death Registration & Certificate • Marriage Registration • Caste Certificate • Income Certificate • Domicile Certificate • Farmer Certificate • Ration Card

eGRAM (or GP), Jansewa Kendra (or EM Office)

Gramsabha Related Information

• Schedule of Gramsabhas • Minutes of past gramsabhas • Questions & resolutions passed • Agenda of upcoming Gramsabha • Attendance of Gramsabha

GP

RoR

• RoR • Account Information (Land) • Survey Information (Land Survey) • Area, Ownership • Mutation History

GP, JSK, Dept of Land Records

Tax Payment • Property Tax, Land Revenue Collection GP, BP, Revenue Dept

Request management & status tracking

• Escalating the requests made to higher authorities in time bound manner

• Providing Status of Request with Service Request Number

• Generating a service request number

GP

Scheme Applications

• Scheme Management • Information on schemes, guidelines etc • Status of scheme implementation • Payment status of contractors • Schedule of work

GP, BP, ZP

Grievance Handling

• Registering complaints • Sending the complaint to right authority • Generating a complaint number for future

reference • Auto-escalation of complaint to higher authority in

case it is not resolved in time • Registering the feedback or satisfaction level of

complaint resolution by citizen

GP, BP, ZP, Kiosk, EM, DM

RTI Module

• Raising RTI related queries • Auto-escalation of query to higher authority in

case it is not resolved in time • Registering the feedback or satisfaction level of

GP, BP, ZP, Kiosk, EM, DM



Module Functionality User Group query answer by citizen

Pensions and Grants

• To integrate the various pension and grants disbursal services delivered through the PRI’s

• To create a database of the applicants seeking benefits

• To create a database of the beneficiaries that have already been selected

• To integrate the various external parties involved in delivering the services

• To alert the PRI’s as soon as the funds are allocated as per the beneficiaries identified

• Update the various registers pertaining to service delivery maintained by the Panchayat

Citizen, Gram Panchayat – Front Office, Panchayat Secretary, Panchayat President, Disbursing Officer, District Collector, District Treasury

Social Audit • Enable the citizens to report their findings, views and opinions regarding the functioning of the PRI

• Further strengthen the interaction between the citizens and the PRI’s

• Improve transparency in the implementation and functioning of the PRI

Citizen, Gram Panchayat

Panchayat Portal – Content Management

• The Panchayat Portal will enable the PRI’s to float tenders, provide soft copies of key government documents, forms for providing various services and provide links to other official websites

• The Panchayat Portal will also house information regarding the Panchayat office such as the employees, assets created, expenditure incurred, services delivered, schemes undertaken, developmental plans. Etc

• The Panchayat Portal will also include local contact information of the PRI and a section to collect feedback from the citizens across issues.

Citizens, Gram Panchayat

Citizen Content Management

• Update contact information for every citizen and providing them a unique id for log in purposes in all other modules

• Integrate with the Common Citizens Database • Assist the Panchayat to contact citizens in order to

deliver services more efficiently

Citizens, Gram Panchayat

5.3.2 G2G Application Layer





Planning

• Prepare annual and five year plans – draft • Publish annual and five year plans • Capture minutes of Panchayat planning meetings • Capture minutes of Village Development Seminars • Finalize annual and five year plans • Prepare plan templates and customize them • Link plans with scheme information

Gram Panchayat Block Panchayat District Panchayat

Monitoring

• Enter project details as per annual and 5 year plans • Enter goals and targets set for Village Development • Enter project monitoring information on a routine basis –

both physical and financial progress • Capture minutes of Panchayat monitoring meetings and key

decisions • Capture findings of Social Audit and assign them for

resolution

Gram Panchayat Technical advisory group District Planning Committee Local self-government department Social audit committee

Treasury

• Preparation of treasury bills • Approval of treasury bills • Information sharing with treasury • Information from treasury about credit of funds from various

schemes

Gram Panchayat Treasury

Scheme management

• Enter name and details of scheme • Manage list of benefits and rules for applying benefits • Manage database of beneficiaries under each scheme

Gram Panchayat Various Heads of Departments attached to Gram Panchayat

GIS • Prepare watershed plans • Map roads and other Panchayat assets • Map property ownership

All Departments

5.3.3 Service Components Application Layer


Information

Provision • This Component will handle dissemination of

Information only. Lack of information was found to be a key impediment in availing of services without issues and on time.

GP/ CSC / Citizen

Forms

Availability • This Component will provide and ensure the availability

of Application Forms. Application Forms must be easily and readily available to any citizen. This component must align with the Forms Submission component, i.e. the forms must be available wherever they have to be

GP / CSC / Citizen



Module Functionality User Group submitted.

Application

Receipt • This Component will handle submission of the

application, including the form and the relevant documents. As the component exits operation, it would generate a receipt for the applicant which contain a registration number for status tracking, date of application, department responsible, summary of supporting docs submitted etc.

GP / CSC

Payment

Receipt • This Component will handle all the payments GP / CSC

Application

Verification • This Component will allow the district administration to

make decisions regarding the claim or request of the applicant based on submitted documents and / or databases.

PRI / CSC

Application

Rejection • This Component will ensure that when an application is

rejected, an appropriate reason is provided to the applicant and that the document be duly signed by the rejecting authority.

PRI

Application

Approval • This Component will handle the signing of the

deliverables like certificates, ration cards etc. PRI

Application

Delivery • This Component will handle the delivery of the signed

and valid deliverable to the citizen GP / CSC

Status Tracking • This Component will retrieve and update the status of an application. The component will need to retrieve the information about a file and update it online or on the IVRS tracking system or in the application where a functionary can view it.

GP / CSC / Citizen

CSC module • Enter citizen application details • Capture details of payments made by citizens • Reconciliation of payments received • Send SMS and E-mails to citizens about status of

applications

CSC staff Citizens

5.3.4 Support function Application Layer




Service Delivery Gateway

• Manage officers/desks to which applications need to be redirected

• Route citizen applications to officers

Department staff in charge of approval of various citizen applications

e-Forms • Customize information fields to be captured and layout

of fields • Support Digital Signature integration

Citizens Panchayat software administrators

5.3.5 Core Technology Layer


E-mail • Send / Receive E-mails • Archive past e-mails • Maintain address lists

All Panchayat Staff

Document management system

• Maintain document repository • Create tags for faster retrieval of documents • Create user groups to which document access can be

provided • Create tasks and attach documents to the same

All Panchayat Staff

Panchayat Portals and Content Management

• Will be part of the State Portal and shall adhere to all guidelines of State Portal Framework and STQC

• Provide a single window to Panchayat services to all citizens. Will host features like:

o Legislation, Act & Rules o Citizen Charters for each Gram Panchayat o Applications for Panchayat Services o Citizen Reports o Social Audit Findings o Minutes of Panchayat meetings

• Will provide functionality for Panchayat IT staff to manage content of respective Gram Panchayat Portals

All Panchayat Staff Citizens Other Government Departments

Public Key Infrastructure

• Manage Digital Signatures • Attach Digital Signatures to official documents

All Panchayat Staff (Committee members, Panchayat President and Secretary)

SMS • Send SMS to citizens • Check status of application through SMS Citizens

Language support

• Should support at a minimum India’s national languages • User interface should be customizable to meet local

language of respective states

Citizens All Panchayat Staff



6. Requirements for ICT and Connectivity

This section assesses the ICT and connectivity requirements for the implementation of the ePRI application and proposes a deployment architecture with due consideration to factors of scalability, performance, availability, interoperability, security and manageability. In addition, high level network architecture has been proposed for hosting the ePRI application. Further the information security has been dealt with in the section and a four layer (User, Network, Infrastructure and Application layers) security architecture has been detailed. Keeping in mind all these and the ICT requirements at the client sites at the state/district/block/village, an indicative bill of materials has been presented.

The overall estimated cost of ICT is estimated at Rs. 153.43 cr.

The three tiers of PRI system are spread across the state of Gujarat and the ePRI services being proposed need to be made available for the employees/users and citizens across the state. The deployment envisages coverage of 26 Zilla Panchayat, 224 Taluka Panchayat and 13734 Gram Panchayat to bridge the digital divide and further socio-economic opportunities for its citizens.

6.1 Proposed Technology Implementation Model

The following implementation model is proposed for the ePRI system

Application Development

The Core application with common modules and functionalities applicable for all state PR departments shall be developed by NIC at the central level, while state level applications will be developed by respective states. Application preparation (From URS phase to maintenance phase) - will be done centrally for all applications (common applications only). The associated budget will be added to the National DPR.

Application Deployment and Maintenance

Application hosting, deployment, and maintenance will be done centrally for common applications. For applications that are specific to a particular state, the hosting will be done at the state level. The associated budget will be added to the State DPRs. It is assumed that this could either be hosted at the State Data Centre (SDC) or NIC data centre in that particular state. Having made this assumption, budgeting would include cost for hosting Gujarat specific application and related hardware infrastructure requirements, i.e. application servers, a database servers, racks, if needed etc.

Manpower

► Manpower for application development, hosting and maintenance shall be the responsibility of NIC for central level



Following are the key design considerations for the system:

Scalability

The envisaged ePRI system aims at covering 26 Zilla Panchayat, 224 Taluka Panchayat and 13734 Gram Panchayat targeting PRI officials and citizens in Gujarat. A phased approach shall be followed for the implementation over a period of three years as explained in Section 9.1. The system must be capable of supporting all 13734 locations


System shall follow N-Tier architecture separating application user interface, logic, data, and their associated processing and repair. Partitioned code is more flexible in response to changes in internal logic, platforms, and structures; this isolates/minimizes the impact of change. It is easier to support, is more scalable and supports interoperability.

System shall provide interfaces to integrate harmoniously with external entities. These would be:

► Banks

► Treasury

► Other Government Departments and

► Citizen Service Centres

Performance

Under the proposed system all processes will be executed online through panchayat portal based application which will facilitate application submission, uploading the scanned copies of supporting documents, and retrieving the archived documents. Sufficient capacities need to be provided at all the levels of the solution (network, server capacity, application design, storage and others).

Availability

Under the new scheme of business processes the PR department proposes to provide services to citizens within 3-4 working days of submission of applications especially at the Gram Panchayat level. Thus availability becomes very critical to ensure meeting such service levels on a sustained basis.

Security

Issuance of various certificates through envisaged ePRI system has to ensure that only authorised and authentic users are given an access in the system. Security infrastructure and policies need to ensure the same.



Manageability

The ePRI system is required to cater to stakeholders across the state accessing it from multiple points and through multiple channels. Hence the manageability of this system is essential to ensure effective monitoring and timely resolution of any issues surrounding performance, availability and security of systems.

6.2 Network Deployment Architecture

The following figure presents the deployment view of the ePRI System in a centralized model. In this model, the core IT infrastructure (including servers, storage and other components) is located at a central data centre maintained and managed by NIC. Only state specific applications shall be hosted at SDC. The following diagram does not depict the deployment at the Central Data Centre that shall be maintained by NIC. Central Data Centre would be hosting various common application modules, panchayat portal, citizen centric services applications and multiple databases. It depicts the State Data Centre reference architecture, where the applications specific to Gujarat shall be deployed. The necessary additional infrastructure requirement at the State Data Centre shall be included in the Bill of Materials

Of the technological infrastructure requirements, Network connectivity shall form the backbone to support efficient delivery of the envisaged services of the e-PRI system by inter-connecting high-capacity data routes and providing a path that carries data across the various locations. Following are the key network architecture requirements:

u The network shall provide end to end connectivity which includes the last mile connectivity

u All network equipment and type of connectivity shall provide robust security features and standards

u There shall be adequate redundancies in the system so that connectivity is available for continuous access to data and resources.

u These redundancies will ensure that in case of outage of primary connectivity, users are able to access ePRI systems with the help of redundant line.

u Network shall be designed without a single point of failure.

u System shall be designed to permit continued operations, albeit at reduced throughput, when a network fails in normal operations or in the event of a disaster.

u Networks shall be positioned for future growth in traffic and expansion of services such as voice and video.

The key network backbone for connectivity will be through GSWAN and the last mile connectivity to Gram and Block level where SWAN may not be available, could be procured from Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Also the citizen service delivery channels apart from the GP office, like the CSC, can achieve connectivity through ISPs.

Options like Leased line, Radio Frequency and VSAT based last mile connectivity are available for connecting from office locations to SWAN and ISP’s Network. Also once the SWAN is available till the Gram level, the connectivity will be established through the GSWAN directly to the State PR Department.

Network Connectivity using GSWAN



Gujarat SWAN

State PR DepartmentZilla Panchayat

VSAT HubVSATLeased

line Radio

Frequency

Last Mile Connectivity to different offices on case to case basis

Taluka Panchyat Gram Panchayat CSC

NIC DC / ePRI

Central DC

DRC Centre

FIREWALL

Core Router

Backup Router

Gujarat SDC

FIREWALL

Internet Internet Router

Intranet Router (GSWAN)

ISP 2

ISP 1

Taluka Panchyat

Leased Line

ISDN Line

Core Router

Backup Router

FIREWALL

The last mile connectivity till the Gram Panchayat Level will be a challenge currently because of the non availability of SWAN at the GP level. Till then the last mile connectivity options through DSL Broadbands /VSATs/ Radio Frequency Links/ MPLS VPN/ ISDN etc. need to be explored.



6.3 Security Architecture

The following schematic diagram depicts the proposed security architecture of ePRI system:

Key Security Considerations at the User level

u Role based access to the ePRI services, transactions and data

u Digital Certificate to be used for submission of applications and signing the Documents. User authentication to be performed using login and password (Two factor authentication)

u User credentials for external and internal users shall be stored in separate repositories

u Enable virus prevention with an automated update service on all critical systems for centrally managing the virus prevention

u Using a centralized system logging service to look at patterns of unusual activity

u Using a central authentication service instead of host based password files

Key Security Considerations at the Network/ Transport level

u Enable network security standards like Network Link Encryption (IPSEC), encrypted HTTP session using SSL (HTTPS)

u Applications and servers exposed to web are required to be maintained separately in Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

u Use of switched Ethernet instead of shared Ethernet that isolate traffic intended for one computer from the view of other computers



u Use of border firewall that separates the network from connection to the internet that can quickly block external access should a threat arise such as a worm attack

u Measuring network traffic statistics for computers that are using the maximum bandwidth in order to detect security incidents

u All network connections to networks run by other entities will have a firewall.

u Diagnostic tools will be connected to networks in secured locations. Only, network operation staff will be allowed to access those locations.

u Intrusion Prevention System to detect/prevent unauthorized activities/sessions

u Server-to-server communication encryption

Key Security Considerations at the Infrastructure level

u Access to computer and communication rooms will be controlled and restricted to authorised personnel who need access to perform their duties.

u Use of authentication mechanisms (e.g. Digital Signature Certificates, Biometric Authentication) will be considered for computer and communication rooms housing critical information system facilities.

u Responsibilities and procedures for the management of the computing environment should be established. This includes development of appropriate operating procedures and incident management procedures.

u No unlicensed software, shareware (beyond its period of free use), public domain software or pirated software will be used on the ePRI infrastructure

Key Security Considerations at the Application & Database level

u Secure storage of user credentials to be enabled

u Firewalls to filter unauthorized sessions/traffic

u Secured/ encrypted storage of data/ data elements in the Database & DB Backups

u The application should have a centralized security management foundation that would enable delivery of application and data to internal and external users in a secure manner.

u Users would be required to login using a username and password to access the application. Access to only those application resources would be provided that the user has authority to. Thus, authorization and authentication aspects must be ensured. Identity management solutions can be used for the same.

u System shall provide different and unique login IDs for all the users of the system and track all activities of all the logins and maintain audit trails of any changes made



u All access violation attempts (user and resource authentication) will be logged and reported for investigation by the Systems Security Administrator.

u An accurate and uniform system date and time to be maintained in all systems.

Information security

u Information security standards such as ISO 27001 should be defined and implemented.

u Inventory of all hardware and software assets need to be maintained

u Information in the system to be classified as Public and Confidential.

u Access to restricted part of the application will be provided only after approval from the concerned authority.

u A risk assessment will be carried out to identify any requirements for specific controls in case of any third party access to ePRI’s information systems. All security requirements identified from risk assessment will be reflected as security conditions in third party contract.

u Service level agreement, clearly defining minimum availability of information systems to be entered into with third parties / outsourcing service providers.

Business Continuity Planning

u A Business Continuity Plan will be prepared and appropriately tested for all systems and for backup and recovery procedures

Key requirements for web based service security

u Effective password management controls: The web based solution must have the ability to perform password management functions including: controlled password expirations, forced password change with optional grace logins, minimum password lengths (eight characters), alphanumeric password standards, minimum number of numeric characters, non-dictionary words, password history logging, and user lockout from failed login attempts.

u Access control to information: The security solution must be facilitating access controls for specific users to only certain resources/services in the web based service and at the same time system must provide single sign-on to all functional areas.

u Secure Communication over the network: The web based solution shall support the exchange of data through secure channels of communication protected by standards such as the SSL protocol.

u Uninterrupted security services /automated load balancing to backup services: The security solution must provide for load balancing/high-availability to enable a fully scalable and available solution. It should enable continued service on failure of one or more of its component part



u Detailed session management abilities: The security solution must provide for session settings such as idle or max session time-outs, concurrent sessions and other session control settings.

u Web Access Filtering: The web based solution security must examine all traffic to all resources of the solution and all access attempts to the web based solution or directly to any resource managed/access by the web based solution, should be intercepted by the security solution, and examined for authentication and authorisation requirements defined for the resource.At the same time, the performance overhead of examining all web-traffic and performing the authentication and authorisation requests should not become the bottleneck in the service delivery process and should not impact on the performance of the web based solution.

u Security Monitoring: The security solution implemented for web based solution must be capable of comprehensive logging of the transactions and access attempts to the resources/applications through the web based solution. It should be capable of logging transaction history, unauthorised access attempts, and attempts to login that fail. It should also be capable of notifying appropriate parties of suspicious activity.

u Security- User profiles: For the first login by a user, the system should prompt the user to change his password. When a user logs-in, the system should show him the date & time of last login The System must restrict user access based on the privileges assigned to the user. The system should maintain a log of all the activities carried out by a user along with a date and time stamp. The System must maintain a log of all activities carried out by an administrator.

u Other Security Services: The sensitive and confidential information and documents of the users must be stored in an encrypted format in the database.

► All the systems in solution network should run most up-to-date anti-virus software to avoid malicious programs to cause damage to the systems

► Any access to the end users to database should only be via application/web based solution authorization

► Physical security for the solution should address securing all information assets from physical access by unauthorized personnel. For example, the data centre server infrastructure should not be physically accessible by anyone other than the persons responsible for on-site maintenance of the systems

► The technology solution should comply with ISO27001 standards. Security certification process shall include audit of network, server and application security mechanisms.

u The security solution implemented for ePRI solution shall support usage of Digital Certificates based authentication for all the personnel performing critical transactions in the system.

u The solution should support digital certificates issued by all licensed CA’s in India and should accept digital certificates based on criteria (Issuer, Class, Policy Identifiers).



u Auditing features and Requirements: The security solution for Panchayat Portal must provide the capability to track and monitor successful and unsuccessful transactions with the Panchayat Portal. Accountability for transactions must be tied to specific users. The architecture/systems should facilitate audit of all significant security events including authentication, accessing of services and security administration. The auditing capabilities need to be built into various layers of the portal infrastructure including Application Software, Operating System, Database, Network, Firewall etc.

u Information and communications systems handling sensitive information must log all security relevant events. Examples of security relevant events include, but are not limited to:

1. Attempts to guess passwords

2. Attempts to use privileges that have not been authorized

3. Modifications to production application software

4. Modifications to operating systems

5. Changes to user privileges

6. Changes to logging subsystems

u Stringent security measures shall be implemented surrounding the audit data to ensure that audit records are not modified, deleted etc.

u Database Security: Database is the critical components of the ePRI solution.

► The database for ePRI solution shall support and implement encryption capabilities while transferring data over networks, and ability to encrypt data stored in the database at the column level

► Comprehensive auditing for inserts/ deletes/ updates / selects to quickly spot and respond to security breaches.

► The critical data and the related documents stored in the Panchayat Portal database shall be stored in encrypted format.

6.4 Bill of Material Based on discussion with state NIC unit and team’s assessment, the following additional hardware is recommended for successful implementation of ePRI-MMP.

Base Data for Bill of Material and Costing



Total Number of Zilla Panchayats in State 26 Total Number of Block Panchayats in State 224 Total Number of Gram Panchayats in State 13734

Hardware at SDC/ State NIC data centre

Hardware Number A Web Server 2 B Application Server 2 C Database Server 2

State Site IT Infrastructure

Hardware Number A PC / Thin Client i Panchayati Raj Department 72

B Network Printer i Panchayati Raj Department 1

ii State PMU 1 C UPS (600VA) i Panchayati Raj Department 72

D Laser printer i Panchayati Raj Department 1

E Finger Print Scanner i Panchayati Raj Department 8

F Document Scanner i Panchayati Raj Department 1

Ii State ePRI Project Management Unit 1 G Digital Signature i Panchayati Raj Department 50

Networking Number of Sites

A Connectivity with SWAN (Horizontal Connectivity) 7

District level ICT

Hardware Number Per Site

A PC / Thin Client



I Zilla Panchayat 10 Ii Block Panchayat 3 Iii Gram Panchayat 1 B Network Printer I Zilla Panchayat 2

C UPS (600 VA) I Zilla Panchayat 10 Ii Block Panchayat 3 Iii Gram Panchayat 1 D Laser printer i Block Panchayat 3 ii Gram Panchayat 1 E Finger Print Scanner i Zilla Panchayat 3 ii Block Panchayat 1 iii Gram Panchayat 1 Iv District PR department 1 F Digital Signature I Zilla Panchayat 3 ii Block Panchayat 1 iii Gram Panchayat 1 F Document Scanner i Zilla Panchayat 1 ii Block Panchayat 1 iii Gram Panchayat 1

Networking Number of Total Sites

A Connectivity with SWAN (Horizontal Connectivity) 250

B LAN Switch 250 C Hub 13734



7. Capacity Building Requirements

Focus of this section is around building capacities and capabilities of PRIs in Gujarat. This section identifies the manpower requirements and strategies to fulfil them. It also identifies the training requirements and the proposed training plan for building skill sets in the PRIs. Total Cost of expected to be incurred towards capacity building and trainings is Rs.31.12 cr.

Improvisation of the overall functioning of PRIs would entail not merely implementation of re-engineered processes and use of electronic medium for delivery of various G2C, G2B and G2G services, managing domain specific issues related to change management where people, processes and technology need to merge cohesively and work in a seamless environment. The following section focuses primarily on building capacities and capabilities of PRIs and PR department by providing necessary manpower with adequate skill sets and organizing trainings programs to enable them in carrying out their functions in the new ICT enable environment in a smoother way.



7.1 Stakeholder Analysis and Benefit Realization

Present Gaps in Manpower Present Gaps in skills Other issues Key recommendations Manpower Skills Others

ZP

► Key positions such as DDO, DAO, Dy DDO are lying vacant in most of the districts, leading to improper execution of works.

► Dedicated manpower for IT related issues is currently not available, which limits the effective implementation of IT subjects

► Talati Posts and Gram Sewak posts are lying vacant

► Assistance for scheme and non scheme related works is not available to CEO, which creates dependency over line departments

► Limited knowledge about the core functional areas such as budgeting, financial management, lack of inter department co-ordination and negligence towards attending trainings etc. leads to inefficiency in execution of work.

► Most staff members have limited computer knowledge, which in the envisaged ePRI scenario would impede the work flow and effective implementation of the project

► Lack of support/ guidance while implementing a new subject.

► Lack of interest in attending the trainings

► No mechanism to evaluate work performance post trainings is yet established

► Existing vacancies should be filled

► Dedicated manpower for IT related issues should be appointed

► There should be senior official to monitor and supervise both scheme and non-scheme related projects in the district

► Performance evaluation post trainings should be done, to assess the additional training requirements

► Availability of online guidance such as call centres or help desks (as in case of RAGAS software in order to provide on-the-job assistance to PR functionaries

Training records should be maintained and updated regularly for all functionaries including elected representatives

BP

► Key positions such as TDO, ATDO, Agri Officer are lying vacant in many of the talukas affecting the execution of work

► There is limited knowledge about the core functional skills such as budget preparation, office administration etc, leading to delays in execution and dependency on PR personnel at higher levels

► Limited computer knowledge also limits the effective and timely execution of work

► Roles and responsibilities at BP level should be adequately distributed

► Lack of interest in attending trainings

► Limited post-training support

► Existing vacancies should be filled

► Dedicated manpower for IT related issues should be appointed

GP

► Many of the talati posts are lying vacant and existing talatis are overworked with charge of additional panchayat

► Many Gram Sewak and Gram Mitra posts are also vacant



Based on the gaps analysed above, following steps are suggested to be taken. These are further discussed in detail in the subsequent sections. Manpower related gaps – Above analysis highlights that in addition to recruiting staff to fill the vacant positions, few new posts such as dedicated IT manpower at all levels, Project director at district level can be considered. Gaps related to manpower can thus be summarised as:

a. Filling in the existing vacancies b. Hiring IT manpower c. Revising roles and responsibilities of existing

staff members

Skills related gaps – Trainings are suggested to be conducted in a phased manner to overcome skill gaps existing in the state. These trainings can either be provided either by PR department, regional centres or external training institutes, as relevant. Trainings are further classified into three broad categories – Core functional skills, Technology related and Soft skills

7.2 Capacity Building and Training Strategy

7.2.1 Manpower

The gaps identified under manpower can be addressed in one of the following ways:

A. Internal Promotions / Transfers

Promotions and transfers within PR department, provides one of the best options for filling in the existing vacancies. It is understood, that steps to fill the existing vacancies through promotions, are already been taken by PR department at state level, and approval for the same is awaited from the state government. For instance vacant key positions such as DDO, Deputy DDO, DAO, TDO, which are feeder categories can be filled through internal promotion and transfers

B. Conducting Recruitment

► Fresh recruitments - For additional posts such as IT related manpower, project manager etc., which would require specialisation in specific field, domain experts can be hired through fresh recruitment, as it would curtail the training cost and would efficiently execute planned tasks. This recruitment can be permanent or contract basis, as per state need assessment.

► Temporary recruitments - To support the effective execution of works, (primarily IT related works), initially contractual staff may be hired for digitizing and completing the backlog. With familiarisation of new process, responsibilities of new tasks can be transferred to PR officials. This would enable effective change management for new process and acclimatisation of permanent staff.



► Revision in roles/ responsibilities within existing structure – In light of computerisation of various time consuming activities such as accounting, budget preparation, maintaining and updating records etc, eventually local PRI officials will be freer to take on more responsibilities. Thus, roles and responsibilities of these level officials can be revised for balanced distribution of work and additional responsibilities may be allotted to some efficient staff members, thereby reducing overall hiring cost.

The following sub sections details out the appropriate methodology for filling in the manpower related gaps.

7.2.2 Training Strategy

Imparting the requisite training to PRI personnel (both officials and elected representatives) forms an integral component of the capacity building required for successful implementation for the ePRI MMP. This section aims to provide a training strategy and Indicative Implementation Plan for each level by assessing the following components:



7.2.2.1 Training requirements

Training requirements for the PR functionaries are assessed based on the current gaps in functioning under three categories - Core functions, technology and soft skills. It is believed that going forward a high level of competence in these categories would be required, so as to achieve ePRI objectives effectively. The matrix on the following page represents the key training requirements for PR functionaries.

7.2.2.1.1 Prioritization of the trainings

Trainings identified are prioritized as High (H), Medium (M) and Low (L) based on the three key criteria stated below:

► Alignment with ePRI objectives - Improving internal automation, Strengthening Inter departmental linkages and Enhancing G2C service delivery

► Extent of current training gap – this criterion is based on the percentage coverage of the target audience for each training subject. Study conducted in the districts selected and the data collected from PR Department is taken as inputs for identifying the training gap. The following classification is considered for identifying the training gap as High, Low and Medium:

► If training is conducted for >70% of target audience - Low gap

► If training is conducted for 30% - 70% of target audience - Medium gap

► If training is conducted for <30% of target audience - High gap

► Impact of proposed training on productivity in daily activities of target personnel - The trainings which directly impact the execution of work are given higher priority as compared to the trainings primarily meant for awareness generation.

Furthermore, the trainees are categorized in three groups: Elected representatives; the officials in charge of respective PR tiers, and functional executives as the scope of the training would change according to the role.

The following table represents the PR representatives in each group: ZP Level BP Level GP Level Group A: Decision makers ZP Chairman BP President Sarpanch

Group B: Managers DDO, Dy DDO, DAO, Education officer etc TDO, ATDO Talati

Group C: Executives Clerks and Assistants Clerks & Assistants Assistant, Gram Sewak etc



The top ten trainings are selected for each group based on the analysis done for the parameters identified above. Tables below identify the prioritized trainings for each group:

Group A (Elected representatives) : ZPC, BPP, Sarpanch

Meets ePRI objective Existing training gap

Impact on work execution Internal

automation

Inter-departmental linkage

Citizen service

Cor

e fu

nctio

nal s

kills

Budget preparation L L L H H

Financial management M L L H H

Refresher course for decentralized planning M L L H L

Inter department coordination L M L H M

Office administration L L L H M

Knowledge about committees & role of PR officials L L L H H

Sections of Gujarat PR act, RTI act & Citizen charter L L L H H

IT S

kills

Software proposed for ePRI L L L H M

Using internet, emails M L L H H

Updating information on web M L L H M

Other basic software such as MS Office L L L H M

Soft

skill

s

Conducting effective meetings L H L H M

Time management L M L H M

Communication skills L H L H H

Managerial skills L L L H L

Performance Counseling skills and suggesting relevant trainings to sub ordinates

L L L H L

Leadership quality L M L H L

Creativity and problem solving technique L L L H L

Conducting effective gram sabhas L H H H H

Encouraging community participation L M H H H

Public speaking L H L H H



Group B - DDO, Deputy DDO, DAO, DPEO, TDO

Meets ePRI objective Existing training gap

Enhance work execution Internal

automation

Inter department linkage

Citizen service

Cor

e fu

nctio

nal s

kills


Financial management L M L H H

Data Analysis L L L H M

Refresher course for decentralized planning L M L M H

Inter department coordination L H L H H

Office administration L L L M M

Knowledge about the committees and role of PR officials

L M L H L

Relevant sections of Gujarat PR act, RTI act and Citizen charter

L L L L L

IT S

kills

Software proposed for PR H M H M H

Using internet, emails M H H M H

Updating information on web M L H M H

Other basic software such as MS Office H M H M H

Soft

skill

s

Conducting effective meetings L H M H L

Time management L L L H M

Communication skills L H M H M

Managerial skills L L L H H

Performance Counseling skills and suggesting relevant trainings to sub ordinates

L L L H H

Leadership quality L L H H M

Creativity and problem solving technique L L L H H

Conducting effective gram sabhas L L H H H

Encouraging community participation L L H H H

Public speaking L M H H M



Group C : Clerks and Assistants

Meets ePRI objective? Existing training gap

Enhance work execution Internal

automation Inter department linkage

Citizen service

Cor

e fu

nctio

nal s

kills


Financial management L L L H H

Data Analysis L L L H H

Refresher course for decentralized planning L L L M H

Office administration L L L M H

Relevant sections of Gujarat PR act, RTI act and Citizen charter

L L L M L

IT S

kills

Software proposed for PR H L H M H

Using internet, emails M H L H H

Updating information on web M H M H H

Other basic software such as MS Office H L L M H

Soft

skill

s Time management L L L H M

Communication skills L L L H M

Creativity and problem solving techniques L L L H H

7.2.2.2 Training Facilities

Training facilities in term of infrastructure and faculty are assessed here to suggest the training location and mode of training for identified trainings. SPIPA (Sardar Patel Institute for Public Administration) being the nodal training institute in the state, the training facilities of SPIPA at state, regional and district level, are studied to assess the ePRI readiness.

7.2.2.2.1 Assessing the location for training

Parameters such as accommodation capacity of the institute, availability of faculty, support infrastructure such as computers etc constitute the key criteria for assessing the existing training infrastructure in view of its suitability for ePRI capacity building.

A. Training capacity

SPIPA is the nodal training institution in Gujarat and an assessment of its civil infrastructure such as number of training rooms and their capacities has been done in this section, both at state and regional level. The same is tabulated below:

In Ahmedabad, main centre of SPIPA occupies 8 Acres of land, with a main building Constituting of an auditorium with capacity of 250, a library, computer labs, three seminar halls, 17 lecture rooms, two administrative units, a hostel with 84 rooms and all support infrastructure including kitchens and dining halls, staff quarters and four independent units of VIP accommodation.



There are six Regional Training Centres (RTC) of the Institute. Those at Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat are housed in their own exclusive premises while the rest are accommodated in premises provided by the District administration or, as in the case of the Gandhinagar Center, by the Secretariat.

Ahmedabad RTC

Training is planned for general and special administrative matters. Office building is situated in 364.51 Sq. meter area, in Ahmedabad. There are 2 lecture halls in the building. All the facilities are provided to accommodate 50 Trainees.

Gandhinagar RTC

The Center has three well equipped class rooms- 2 A. C. class room with a capacity of Fifty trainees per Class & One A. C. Computer Lab containing 24 Computers. The Center is having three LCD Projectors and other required facilities for the training purpose.

Vadodara RTC

Regional training centre Vadodara is situated on a plot measuring 3472 Sq. meters. It is equipped with administrative block, hostel with Canteen facilities, parking for staff & visitors.

At SPIPA RTC Vadodara Campus, facility of hostel is available. Twenty four double bedrooms with attached bathroom are available. Trainees are offered meals & snacks during their stay. Separate wing for female candidates is available.

Latest version of 22 computers, round the year CCC + classes & Examination are the features of Computer Laboratory.

All the offices have been provided with computer & internet facilities.

Surat RTC

Training classes are conducted for general as well as special administration matters to employees in district officers of Surat, Bharuch, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad and Dangs districts. RTC Surat is built on an area measuring 1721 Sq. meters. The Complex contains the main administrative building and hostel building for trainees.

There is one reception room and two lecture halls in the administrative building situated on the ground floor in the complex. There is sitting arrangement of 30 (thirty) trainees in each of the lecture halls. There is facility of separate discussion room for trainees. There is a meeting hall, with sitting arrangement for 20 officers. There are two computer labs for training and examination of CCC plus level of computer skill. There is an arrangement for imparting training and conducting examination for 20 trainees in each room.

There is an arrangement of accommodating total 24 trainees in the hostel building.

Rajkot RTC

Training is planned for general and special administrative matters in district offices. The building of Regional Training Centre, Rajkot is situated in 9824 sq. meter areas. Gents hostels, canteen, parking stand are housed in the complex.

There are four lecture halls in the administrative building. There is an arrangement of 60 (sixty) seats in each lecture hall.

All the facilities are provided to accommodate 32 trainees. There is parking arrangement for 30 trainees in the complex of main building.

Mehsana RTC



Training is planned for general and special administrative matter in district office Building of Regional Training Centre is situated in 162.83 sq. meters area.

There is only one lecture hall in the administrative building. There is an arrangement for 40 trainees in lecture hall and one computer lab containing 15 computers.

Lecture Halls / Seminar Rooms Capacity Computer

Lab Capacity Hostel facility

Ahemdabad 2 50 50 Surat 3 80 2 40 24 Mehsana 1 40 1 15 0 Rajkot 4 240 32 Vadodara 2 50 1 22 48 Gandhinagar 2 100 1 24 0 SPIPA 17 850 84 Total 31 1410 5 101 238

Training institutes at State and Regional level under SPIPA are well equipped with the IT infrastructure such as Computers, LCD projectors, VCDs, electronic copy board with in-build printing facility, etc. in each training room. Also, Video Conferencing facility from SPIPA can be established at regional level (at RTC).

7.2.2.2.2 Mode of training

Currently two modes of training are adopted in the state – Instructor led Class room trainings and satellite mode of trainings in collaboration with BISAG (Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics)

7.2.2.3 Training Plan

Based on the training requirement at each phase vis-à-vis phasing proposed, the following table provides a suggested band-wise training plan for the prioritized training subjects for the targeted audiences at each tier of PRI in Phase 1. The training plan can be replicated for the Year 2 and Year 3.

Group A (Elected representatives) : ZPP, BPP, Sarpanch

Location Model Mode ZPC BPP Sarpanch Core functional skills Budget preparation State RTC RTC SPIPA Computer based -Instructor led Financial management State RTC RTC SPIPA Computer based -Instructor led Knowledge about the committees and role of PR officials

State RTC District SPIPA Class room based - Group discussions

Relevant sections of Gujarat PR act, RTI act and Citizen charter State RTC District SPIPA Class room based - Group

discussions IT Skills Using internet, emails State RTC RTC SPIPA Computer based -Instructor led Soft Skills

Conducting effective meetings State Regional District External agency

Class room based – Group discussions

Communication skills State Regional District External agency


Conducting effective gram State Regional District External Class room based – Group



sabhas agency discussions Encouraging community participation State Regional District External

agency Class room based – Group discussions

Public speaking State Regional District External agency


Group B - DDO, Dy DDO, DAO, TDO

Location Model Mode DDO Dy DDO DAO TDO Core functional skills

Inter department coordination State State Regional Regional SPIPA Class room based – Group discussions

Technology related

Using internet, emails State State Regional Regional SPIPA Computer based – Instructor led

Updating information on web State State Regional Regional SPIPA Computer based – Instructor led

Soft skills

Conducting effective meetings State State Regional Regional External agency


Communication skills State State Regional Regional External agency


Conducting effective gram sabhas State State Regional Regional External


Encouraging community participation State State Regional Regional External


Public speaking State State Regional Regional External agency


Group C : Clerks and Assistants

Location Model Mode ZP BP GP Core functional skills

Budget preparation Regional Regional District SPIPA Class room based – Group discussions

Financial management Regional Regional District SPIPA Class room based – Group discussions

Data Analysis Regional Regional District SPIPA Class room based – Group discussions

Refresher course for decentralized planning Regional Regional District SPIPA Class room based – Group

discussions

Office administration Regional Regional District SPIPA Class room based – Group discussions

Technology related Software proposed for PR Regional Regional Regional SPIPA Computer based – Instructor led Using internet, emails Regional Regional Regional SPIPA Computer based – Instructor led Updating information on web Regional Regional Regional SPIPA Computer based – Instructor led

Other basic software such as MS Office Regional Regional Regional SPIPA Computer based – Instructor led

Soft skills Creativity and problem solving technique Regional District District External




7.2.3 Training effectiveness and support

In addition to the above suggested trainings, to realise the efficiency of the programs conducted, the following pre and post training steps are suggested:

Pre training:

► A pre training meeting / workshop should be conducted with the senior staff at each level, to assess the gaps, issues faced and other loop holes in the execution of work and training should be customised for each level/ group.

► Similarly a format for the expectations from the training should be shared with each category of the trainee, to assess the requirements for the trainee group, and training should be customised and focused on the identified loop holes / gaps

Post training:

► A special team comprising of 2-3 people should be formed and mobilised for assessing the post training improvements by conducting surveys in the district, taluka and grams

► In addition, formal feedback should be taken from the respective seniors, to assess the improvements observed in the performance by the seniors. And similarly, an option for refresher course should be suggested.

Others:

► A call centre should be established, especially for IT related trainings, to assist the functionaries in the issues faced during the implementation.

► Guides and manuals should be supplied with each training, for providing reference to the trainees post the trainings

► Government order should be issued in respect to “Mandatory attendance in the trainings” so that these are taken seriously by the trainees and strict action should be taken against the defaulters of the trainings

► Performance post training should be recorded in the CRs and annual training plan should be made for each official



7.2.4 Bill of Material

Owing to the mammoth structure of the PRIs, it may not be possible, imparting training to every PRI member. Therefore by the virtue of past experiences, cascading mode of training has been recommended.

Based on the above recommendations number of participants to be trained at each level of PRI is given below. The total number of participants that are required to be trained can be distributed across three years.

Below table depicts the number of training participants and training days at each level provisioned for in the DPR.

Manpower to be trained per PRI

Officials No. of Training Days

Members No. of Training Days

ZP 6 12 2 6

BP 3 12 1 6

GP 1 12 1 6

Zila and Block Panchayat: 75% of total participants would be department officials and 25% of the total participants would be elected members Gram Panchayat: Out of the total participants 50% shall be officials and rest 50% shall be elected members.

Based on the above provisioning for training, the below table depicts the total number of participants to be trained according to the number of ZP, BP and GPs in Gujarat

Total PRI officials to be trained

Number of PRI Officials To Be Trained

Number of PRI elected members To Be Trained

Level Total Total

ZP 156 52

BP 672 224

GP 13734 13734



8. Change Management Requirements

This section outlines the recommended approach to change management required in light of ePRI Implementation. This covers stakeholder analysis, communication strategy, and the relevant tools, means and modes of communication. The lump sum cost for Information, Education and Communication for citizens and PRIs in Gujarat is Rs. 2.99 cr.

Change management is a systematic approach to dealing with change, both from the perspective of an organization and on the individual level. There are three aspects to change management: adapting to change, controlling change, and effecting change. A proactive approach to dealing with change is at the core of all three aspects.

Change management is the process of developing a planned approach to change in an organization. Typically the objective is to maximize the collective benefits for all people involved in the change and minimize the risk of failure of implementing the change.

Whenever a significant change is introduced in a system which is accustomed to a particular way of working, it has been observed that adaptation to that change by people is usually the biggest hurdle. Since ePRI is going to change the way of governance in a significant manner i.e. managing change, getting the buy-in of people and ensuring that people are actually using the facilities will be of paramount importance.

This section deals with the issues of change management. Here the study team has identified the various stakeholders in ePRI initiative and the road map to achieve the desired level of change in these stakeholders. The subsection focuses on

► Understanding the stakeholder who would be impacted by implementation of business process re-engineering framework

► Developing effective awareness and communication plan

8.1 Mapping the entire critical stakeholder community

In this section, the stakeholder community is mapped and they are rated on various parameters to determine appropriate communication model for them.

Identification of the needs, perspective and preferences of each group is mapped in the below table

Stakeholder Impact Rating

Influence Rating

Involvement Rating Communication Channel Owner

Citizen High Medium Medium

Gramsabha, Newspapers, Banners, Pamphlets, Announcements, Street-plays, Animated and Televised Films, Television & Radio Programs Internet, Mobile

Sarpanch

PRI Staff High High High Training (Classroom, Web-based), Notices, User Manuals, emails etc

DDO



Stakeholder Impact Rating

Influence Rating

Involvement Rating Communication Channel Owner

State PR Dept High High High

Training (Classroom, Web-based), Notices, User Manuals, emails etc

Principal Secretary (PR Dept)

Central PR Dept High High High

Principal Secretary (MoPR)

State Line Depts High Medium Low

Head of Departments

Central Line Depts

High Medium Low Head of Departments

3rd Party Service Providers, Contractors, Vendors, NGO etc

Low Low Medium

Newspapers, Banners, Announcements, Television & Radio Programs, Internet, Mobile, Special Seminars to create awareness

State and Central PR Depts

The above table is used to prioritize the awareness and communication plan in the section below. This prioritization is done on the basis of the following 3 parameters:

► Impact rating – For example, the most impacted stakeholders would then be given priority in the communication plan. The communication targeted towards them would either be designed differently, or provided with greater frequency.

► Influence rating – For example, the high influencers need to be targeted first by being included in sensitization trainings and workshops at the very onset of the change project.

► Involvement rating – For example, stakeholder having most involvement in the initiative (e.g. GP) will be given priority in educating them.

8.2 Awareness and communication Plan

This sub-section includes plan and ways to impart effective communications to various stakeholders and make them aware of the new ICT enabled environment.

This plan should have further sub divided into different sections to detail out specific approach for different stakeholders like citizens, PRIs, PR departments, other Government departments

Aspects of a communication plan are

► Specific phasing of communication (across phases / critical junctures of the Project and its outcomes)



► Mode of communication – training, face to face interaction, gram sabhas, newsletters, poster campaigns, SMS / MMS, email, circulars,

Specific agencies may be required to be hired to perform communication tasks better – for example, dramatics group to perform skits, an advertising agency for poster design, printing and placements etc.

The table below gives macro level awareness and communication plan for various stages of implementation

Audience Mode of Delivery

Location/ Venue

Launch communication Owner After 3 months After 6

months After 1 year

State PR Dept Workshop

Secretariat or circuit house

Introduction to Initiative Salient Features Benefits Major Changes at work place

Secretary PR

Status update, Major changes, Action required, Major achievements

Status update, Major Changes, Action required, Major Achievements, Feedback & Suggestions

Central PR Dept State Line Dept Workshop

/ Seminar Central Line Dept

ZP

Training Session

ZP Meeting Hall

Introduction to Initiative Salient Features Benefits Major Changes at work place Time Lines

DDO

Status Update, Major Changes, Major Achievements, Action Required

Status Update, Major Changes, Major achievements, Action required, Skills gaps, Infrastructure gaps, Feedbacks & Suggestions

BP

GP

Citizen Gram-sabha

GP Premises

Introduction to Initiative Benefits for Citizen (Costs, Time Taken etc) Basic Procedures Services & Schemes offered

Sarpanch

Major Changes, Achievements, Changes in Procedures (if any), Action required (if any)

Communicate Benefits achieved (reduced costs, less time etc), Feedback & Suggestions, New services required, Impact on citizen

Detailed communication plan for each audience is given in following subsections.

8.2.1 Citizen

Mode of Communication

Key Message Purpose of Message Sensitivities Mitigation Strategy

Gramsabha

► Introduction to Initiative

► Benefits for Citizen (Costs, Time Taken etc)

► Basic Procedures ► Services &

Schemes offered

► Make them aware ► Prepare them to

embrace the change

► Make them appreciate the value of initiative

► Political party representatives not happy with the present Government

► People not attending such sessions

► Identify them before hand and take them into confidence before such mass communication

► Plan to hold session at multiple locations at different times

Newspapers

► Announcement of Initiative and new schemes and services

► To make people aware of new initiatives

► People are not reading newspapers or not literate

► Make sure other modes of communication are also pursued to complement this

Banners, Pamphlets,

► Announcement of new initiatives

► To make people aware

► 100% visibility of

► Making sure that other channels are





Hoardings ► Salient features of initiative

► To interest them in taking benefit of initiative

banner or hoarding can not ensured (geographical constraint)

used complementing this channel to ensure optimum coverage

Street plays, animated or televised films shown in various places

► Explain Services ► Explain Benefits ► Explain vision of

ePRI

► Interest people in attending session

► Explain benefits and process in an entertaining manner

► People not getting the message or play not adapted to local sensitivities

► Preview the play or program with a select group first and then modify to suit local tastes

Radio & TV Programs

► Announce the initiative

► Explain services and procedures

► Explain benefits

► To make them aware

► To educate them about services, procedures and benefits

► Not accessible by everyone

► This channel is used to be in conjunction with other mediums to ensure optimum coverage

Mobiles

► Inform people about various locations where services can be obtained

► Key service

► To spread the basic minimum information in a cost effective manner

► To reinforce the information in public mind

Internet

► Detailed information of services, locations, schemes, procedures etc

► Once citizens are interested, this channel will serve to provide detailed information they seek

8.2.2 PRIs



Workshop / Training


► Salient Features ► Benefits ► Major Changes at

work place ► Time Lines

► To introduce them to broad features

► Prepare them to accept the change

► Appreciate the benefits it will accrue

► Employees are sceptical of benefits

► Employees fear their work load will increase because of this initiative

► Identify such employees and explain the initiative to them and take their buy-in.

► Identify opinion makers in the group and try to convince them first

Web Based Programs

► Operating and Navigating the new system

► Procedures Involved

► Rules and Guidelines

► To improve operating skills of employees

► To make system more acceptable to people

► People not attending such programs

► Effectiveness of such programs can

► Make the training mandatory for all and track the attendance using various online tools available

► Take feedback and continuously modify





not be easily judged

program to improve effectiveness

User Manuals

► To provide detailed guidelines and instruction for any time reference

► To improve skills further and making system more efficient

► People are not reading the manuals

► Manuals are bulky and finding the information is difficult

► Ensure manuals are written in simple lucid manner

► Index and table of content are detailed to enable quick location of sought information

Emails

► To update people of any recent changes

► Updating them with new tips and features introduced

► Continuously updating the skills of people

8.2.3 Government Departments (PR and Other Line Departments)

Medium of communication


Workshop


► Salient Features ► Benefits ► Major Changes at

work place

► To introduce them to broad features

► Prepare them to accept the change

► To get their buy-in by telling them their departments gain, if they fully participate in initiative

► Employees are sceptical of benefits

► Employees fear their work load will increase because of this initiative

► Identify such employees and explain the initiative to them and take their buy-in.

► Identify opinion makers in the group and try to convince them first

Web Based Programs

► Operating and Navigating the new system

► Procedures Involved

► Rules and Guidelines

► To improve operating skills of employees

► To make system more acceptable to people

► People not attending such programs

► Effectiveness of such programs can not be easily judged

► Make the training mandatory for all and track the attendance using various online tools available

► Take feedback and continuously modify program to improve effectiveness

User Manuals

► To provide detailed guidelines and instruction for any time reference

► To improve skills further and making system more efficient

► People are not reading the manuals

► Manuals are bulky and finding the information is difficult

► Ensure manuals are written in simple lucid manner

► Index and table of content are detailed to enable quick location of sought information

Emails

► To update people of any recent changes

► Updating them with new tips and features introduced

► Continuously updating the skills of people



9. Implementation strategy

This section elaborates on the implementation plan for Phase-wise e-PRI MMP roll out in Gujarat. It details out the related activities to be performed, covering all areas such as application development, IT infrastructure deployment, training of staff etc.

Gujarat is one of the most prosperous and advanced state of India in terms of industrialization and ICT enablement in governance. It borders with Pakistan to the north-west, bounded by the Arabian Sea to the southwest, the state of Rajasthan to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and by Maharashtra, Union territories of Diu, Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south. Gujarat has an area of 75,686 sq mi (196,077 km²).

The population of the Gujarat State was 50,671,017 as per the 2001 census data. The density of population is only 258 persons per km² and compares favorably with the other states of the country.

Gujarat, as a heavily industrialized state of India, attracts lots of outsiders from various parts of India.

In terms of PRIs, there are 26 district panchayat, 224 taluka panchayats, and 13,693 gram panchayat in Gujarat state, while revenue villages are 18,356.

9.1 Key Considerations for Implementation

The key considerations to be undertaken while implementing ePRI MMP in Gujarat are enlisted below:

1. Guidance, ownership and support from leadership: ePRI is a big initiative which is cutting across many departments and many tiers of governance. To ensure success of such wide ranging initiative proper guidance and support from leadership is immensely important. Capacity building of the PRI members, both elected representatives and government officials, at the district, block and gram level is one of the major components in the project. Thus, it becomes imperative for both the elected members as well as the government employees to provide their assistance in computerisation of the PRI offices and delivery of the citizen services through electronic mode. Effective coordination among the elected representatives and the government employees is essential for smooth functioning of the system.

2. Ease of implementation: In Gujarat, because of its big size, it would be difficult to launch the project at one go all across the state. Thus ePRI implementation at PRI offices at the district, block and gram level is required to be done in phases. In order to ease the implementation process, in the first phase, the project should be launched at those districts where the local government as well as the citizens are proactive in their approach. For example, implementation of the project would be, to some extent, easy in the Gandhinagar, Junagarh etc. During the study, the study team interacted with the citizens and PRI officials in order to sensitise them about the objectives of the project. Thus the awareness level of the people in those districts (Dahod and Banaskantha) also would be more than any other district in the state which would in turn smoothen the implementation of the project.

3. Level of expenditure while implementation: In Gujarat, the district, block and gram panchayat offices are already provided with hardware and basic software applications. However, connectivity is



one of the issues which need immediate attention of the central and the state government. Due to lack of proper and stable internet connectivity and skilled manpower, in most of the district and block panchayat offices, the IT assets are not utilized optimally. Thus, at the district and the block level, implementation of the project could be done only by providing stable connectivity (either through GSWAN or ISPs) and by providing technical manpower.

4. Third party interventions: The most important factor influencing the implementation is the proposed business model for the project. The most suitable business model for implementation of the project is the involvement of the private agency along with the government machinery. The private agency could play a pivotal role in daily functioning of the newly introduced setup. The private entity would be able to provide technical assistance to the PRI officials in their day to day functioning. Moreover, the technical staffs at the DP, BP and GP offices could be hired on contract from a private agency for the first three years of project implementation. The private entity could also provide their assistance in capacity building of the in-service PRI employees and could organise periodic training programmes on usage of computers and other software applications. This would, in turn, minimise the total project cost.

5. Awareness among citizens about the new system: One of the major target groups of ePRI project is the citizens. ePRI project aims to re-engineer the delivery mechanism of the citizen services provided by the PRIs. Post implementation key services identified during the study phase such as birth, death and marriage registration and issuance of certificates, provision of work under NREGA, provision of financial assistance for construction of houses, etc are envisaged to be delivered through electronic mode. This would enhance the transparency and accountability of the government machinery towards the citizens. However, dissemination of awareness among citizens would play an important role in successful implementation of the project. Thus, at the preparatory phase of the project implementation, awareness level of the citizens is required to be addressed by the state PR department.



9.2 Project Phasing (Time Schedule) Implementation of e-PRI for Gujarat has been envisaged through coordinated efforts between Centre and States for the roll out of e-PRI. This approach advocates laying down the common guidelines and project artifacts (e.g. RFP), along with a robust monitoring and implementation structure at the Center and anchoring the project implementation at the State. The project will be executed in a Service Procurement Model (SPM), where a Service Agency(ies) (SA) will be selected through a competitive bidding process by the States. The implementation plan is divided into the Preparatory Phase, RFP phase, Deployment phase, Operations & Maintenance and Ongoing Project Management. The deployment is based on assumption that on an average 75-80 PRI sites go up in a day to complete the deployment phase in 7 months duration. The State may decide to engage multiple SA, region-wise or district-wise depending on local suitability and the size of implementation as per the number of PRIs in the state to follow the implementation plan proposed. The phases and activities to be undertaken during implementation have been presented in the project plan below.

Sn Tasks

Month

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12

13

14 to

48

A Preparatory Phase

1. Formation of CPMC by MoPR in consultation with CLMs and NIC

2. Visioning workshop for CPMC by MoPR

3. Directing the state government to form SPMC comprising of SLD and NIC representatives

4. State-level visioning workshops in the state (also involving DDO ZPs/ CEO ZP)

5. Formation of CPMU to assist the CPMC

6. Selection from empanelled agencies for formation of SPMU

7. Formation of SPMU to assist the SPMC

8. Directing the 26 Districts to form DPMC (headed by DDO, ZP / CEO ZP) comprising of SLD and NIC representatives

9. District-level visioning workshops in 26 districts



Sn Tasks

Month

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12

13

14 to

48

B RFP Phase

1. Preparation, Approval & Release of Model RFP including SLA at central level

2. State-wise prioritization of services to be rolled out and issue of necessary GOs

3. Data gathering by SPMU for finalization of BOM based on inputs by DP/BP/GP

4. Customization of Model RFP at the state and approval by SPMC

5. Release of RFP, Pre-bid, corrigendum & proposal submission by Service Agency

6. Techno-commercial evaluation, selection of service agency, negotiations & contract signing

7. District-level kick-off meetings in 26 districts with vendor

8. Finalization of implementation plan with vendor

C Deployment phase

I. ICT Hardware

1. Site survey for the user level hardware and Network installation

2. Preliminary inspection of hardware and network components

3. Network and hardware Installation and commissioning at data centre and State PRD

4. Network & hardware Installation & commissioning a ZP

5. Network & hardware Installation & commissioning at BP

6. Network & hardware Installation & commissioning at GP

7. Acceptance tests for the network and hardware by Panchayat Secretary, EO-BP, CEO-ZP

8. Onsite inspection

II. Data Entry



Sn Tasks

Month

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12

13

14 to

48

1. Mapping of Data, data entry and validation

III. ePRI application development

1. Preparation of SRS, Design documents and test plans

2. Software development / customization / integration

3. Installation and Configuration of software

4. User Acceptance Testing for state-specific applications

IV. Training

1. Preparation of state-specific training plan and approval

2. Imparting training as per training plan

3. Training Completion report, feedback and sign offs

D Operations and Maintenance

1. Provide ongoing support

E Ongoing project management

1. Sustenance Effort

2. Project Evaluation



Key activities covered in the implementation plan has been described below with the list of deliverables that shall be provided by the Implementation at the time of Implementation

No. Area Scope of work a. Setting up of Program

Management Committees & PMU ( Central &State)

Refer section 10 for detail roles &

responsibilities of Program management Unit

The preparatory phase beings with the setting up of program management committees at all three levels Central, State, District. These committees shall perform their roles for implementation of e-PRI. Detailed Roles and Responsibility of each committee is provided in section 10.

Milestone

Formation of Central Program Review Board, State Program Management Committee and District Program Management Committees

b. Preparation, Approval & Release of RFP for Implementation Partner

Model RFP (Request for Proposal) for the selection of implementation agency shall be prepared at the central level and would be provided to the State Program Management Committees for customization and release or whichever agency would be authorized for such task.

RFP shall include all major tasks to be performed by the implementation agency like training, data digitization, supply and installation of Hardware and network equipment, customization and development of application, manage IT services and providing IT trained manpower.

Milestone

• Request for Proposal

c. Evaluation and Selection of Implementation Partner

Various agencies shall bid for the RFP released by SPMC. These bidders shall provide response to the RFP which shall be evaluated by the evaluation committee/SMPC. Finally the successful bidder shall be awarded the contract based on evaluation criteria of RFP.

Milestone

• Selection of Implementation Agency

• Awarding contract and Contract Signing

d. Onsite assessment by Implementation Agency

The Implementation Agency (IA) must clearly understand e-PRI’s envisaged scenario requirements and proposed solution. IA must study the ICT infrastructure needs for e-PRI project and gather the detailed requirement, understand the setup and perform the gap analysis (if required) with the proposed solution as given in RFP.

Deliverables: • Inception report



No. Area Scope of work • Sign off

e. Preparation of FRS( Functional Requirement Study) and SRS(System Requirement Study)

The selected Implementation Agency (IA) shall prepare the Functional Requirement of the application; these functional requirements shall be vetted by the SPMC. On approval of the FRS the vendor shall proceed to prepare the System Requirement Specifications.

Milestone: • Functional Requirement Specification • System Requirement Specification • Sign off

f. Solution Design and Solution Architecture

The vendor shall perform the following tasks: 1. Design of State Specific Application considering integration with Core Common Applications

at Central / National level 2. Design of Workflow with well defined business rule for the application 3. Design of LAN and Internet connectivity as per requirement with proper documentation. 4. Design of Application Architecture 5. Design of Network & Security Architecture 6. Data Digitisation and migration methodology. 7. Design of Overall IT Infrastructure 8. Design of Logical and Deployment Architecture 9. Design of Integrations methodology 10. Design of Quality Assurance Plan & Methodology 11. Design reports as required by SPMU

Deliverables: • Final Bill of Material (BOM) for Solution Implementation • System Design, solution design and Architecture Document • All Policy, Plan & Methodology Documents • Sign off

g. Application Development

The selected Implementation Agency shall develop e-PRI system based on the specifications finalized through the System Requirement Specifications and Solution design.

Deliverables: • Delivery of e-PRI Software by the Implementation vendor, Licenses, Operational/Technical

manuals, library files, setup programs etc. • Sign off



No. Area Scope of work h. Deployment of Hardware and

Network Equipment Implementation Agency shall be required to undertake all the necessary installation of DC. Installation shall mean, to install and configure / integrate every component and subsystem component, required for functioning of the e-PRI system

Procurement of infrastructure/facilities as proposed by the implementation vendor in the Bill of Material (BOM) as per the requirements of new system. IA will be required to provide the proposed IT trained Manpower at each PRI as proposed in the solution.

Deliverables: • IT infrastructure required for new proposed solution/system. • Infrastructure Delivery Certificates. • IT trained manpower at PRIs • Sign off

i. Data Digitization & Migration Manpower supplied at PRIs by the Implementation Agency with assistance of PRI’s, would collect data in paper or electronic form and would digitize it in the required manner for storage and retrieval by the system. The implementation agency shall be responsible for master data creation. Collection and entry of various historical data for creating Knowledge Data base for trend analysis, Decision support system and faster retrieval with document searching facilities.

Deliverables: • Meta Data & Master Data creation • Data digitization and migration completion • sign Off

j. Comprehensive Training and Change Management

Implementation Agency shall impart training to relevant stakeholders and shall undertake Change Management interventions as identified during the previous stages and improvements thereupon.

Implementation Agency shall be required to train the officials as per the indicative training plan by SPMU to enable them to effectively operate the system.

Also the Implementation vendor would deploy a single resource for data entry related tasks at all the three levels of PRI.

Deliverables: • Training Plan & training strategy • Undertake Change Management and training interventions as per training plan approved by

SPMU • Training outcomes monitoring • Documentation such as Training material, User Manuals, Maintenance Manuals, etc on 1:1

basis. • Sign off



No. Area Scope of work k. Over all Testing and UAT The Implementation Agency shall design Test plan and Cases for the solution testing which will

need to be approved by the SPMU.

The Implementation vendor shall perform the testing of the solution based on the approved test plan, document the results and shall fix the bugs found during the testing to the satisfaction of the SPMU. The implementation vendor shall arrange the equipment for testing. The test environment should match the roll-out environment as closely as possible. SPMU will sign-off on the testing environment. Following shall be the Scope of testing

1. All levels of testing will be conducted at the installation site. 2. Testing must demonstrate that the new systems satisfy the operational and technical

performance criteria. 3. It shall be Agency’s responsibility during the tests to evaluate and recommend any further

changes to the infrastructure & application 4. The Implementation Agency must outline the methodology that will be used for testing. 5. The Implementation Agency must define the various levels or types of testing that will be

performed. 6. The Implementation Agency must provide necessary checklist/documentation that will be

required for testing. 7. The Implementation Agency must describe how the testing methodologies will conform to

requirements. 8. The UAT shall be conducted with the real data.

Deliverables: • Testing approach, Plan and Test Cases. • Documentation on the results of the software testing • Error free e-PRI system • Testing of IT infrastructure solution. • Signoff

l. Solution Implementation (Go Live) and Operations & Maintenance

Implementation Agency (IA) shall be responsible for implementation of the e-PRI system and overall system integration. IA shall also provide operations & maintenance support for a period of three years adhering to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) finalized between State Level Body and the IA.

Deliverables: • Completion of Solution Implementation • All the relevant documents related to Implementation. • Demonstration of few sample transaction of various departments on Live environment • Sign off



10. Project Management Structure

This section details out the Program Governance and Management structure to be put in place in order to ensure that proper accountability and responsibility for rollout of planned initiatives are defined, and that decision making authority is appropriately assigned across various levels. Considering the mammoth size of the initiative, adequate Block Support group at each block level is proposed to ensure smooth monitoring of the project till the grass root level. The total estimated cost for PMU is Rs. 8.50 cr and Block Support group is Rs 11.10 cr.

10.1 Governance Structure

The design and implementation of ePRI MMP is a complex exercise under the federal structure which involves formulation of detailed scope and project plan with necessary commonalties at the National level while allowing adequate scope for interplay of local variations, rules, procedures and implementation at the State level. Some of the key issues that need to be addressed are: � Clear Roles and Responsibilities � Implementation Structure � Reach till the grass root level � Participation till Grass root level PRIs function at the village, intermediate (block) and district level. There are approximately 2,34,030 Gram Panchayats at the village level, 6053 Janpad Panchayats at the block level and 535 Zilla Panchayats at the district level. There are more than 31 lakhs elected representatives at all three tiers. Given the enormity and complexity of the project, the implementation of the same requires a robust and still flexible project governance and management structure. The objective of project management is ensuring the implementation of the project as per the defined requirements, timelines, deliverables and budget. The project monitoring teams will be responsible for managing the overall project execution by the selected Service agency(ies) and ensuring that key objectives of the project are met and issues are highlighted in a timely manner. It is proposed to have well defined governance structure at Centre i.e. the Program review board with representatives from MoPR and each State. Further, it is proposed that Project Management Unit (PMU) to be designed and set up at two critical levels of project implementation namely at the centre – MoPR – and at the state – State PR. It is imperative to have participation from all the key stakeholders viz MoPR, NIC, DIT and key Central Line Ministries at the Central level. Entire project implementation will be led by the center and states have to be key participants in this Endeavour. Unlike other MMPs, ePRI MMP program governance structure will have participation till the grass root level i.e. the Gram Panchayats, which can be made possible by involving the Districts and blocks in the implementation process. Hence a three tier structure is proposed for program governance of ePRI MMP implementation: � Central Level Body – Headed by Program Review Board (PRB) � State Level Body – Headed by State Programme Management Committee



� District Level Body – District Programme Management Committee Sections below detail out the structure, roles and responsibilities of each of the above mentioned level of program management structure proposed. 10.1.1 Project Management & Governance Structure at Centre

The project governance structure provides a framework for the operations to support the MoPR and State PR for various activities and options relevant to successful implementation of the ePRI MMP, right from project conceptualization stage to complete roll out phase. The Governance Structure for project at Centre would be a three layered structure as illustrated in the figure below. The first layer would consist of a Program Review Board. The second layer would consist of key committees to act as advisory committees to the PRB on various aspects such as Technical, Functional, eGov Standards and Change management and the third one consisting of Central Programme Management Unit (CPMU). The first two layers would comprise of the Central Project Management Committee (CPMC) and would have the overall responsibility of steering the project nation-wide.

Central Level Body for ePRI MMP implementation Program Management



a. Programme Review Board (PRB) - It is proposed to setup Programme Review Board to advise the government and monitor the progress of the over all programme. The board will have representation from all states and NIC under the coverage of e-PRI MMP. This will be chaired by Secretary, MoPR, GoI and convened by the Mission director / JS, e-PRI.

b. Sub-Committees - As part of the PRB, it is proposed to setup the following sub-committees to manage the respective areas. These committees will have representation from a few states:

1. Technical and Standards Specification Committee – This will also include members of technical institutions. Its responsibilities will include:

a. Scan emerging technology scenarios b. Provide & finalize technical specifications, keeping in mind the cost and

sustainability issues, so that the same could be adopted in proposed software c. It will also include domain experts and members of academia (NIRB, IIPA etc.)

engaged in study and research on matters relating Panchayati Raj and local governance. Its responsibilities will include:

i. Ensure adoption of the prevailing suitable standards ii. Develop domain specific standards if any

2. Domain Advisory Committee - Its responsibilities will include provide domain expertise in the following areas:

1. PlanPlus 2. ActionSoft 3. National Panchayat Directory (NPD) 4. PRIAsoft 5. ServicePlus 6. Profiler 7. Taxation 8. National Panchayt Portal (NPP)

c. Central Programme Management Unit (PMU) - It is proposed to setup Central Programme Management Unit, headed by Mission Director i.e. JS, MoPR, to manage the future action plan on the e-PRI MMP including software development, deployment, operationalization and change management. The constituents of PMU will include:

i. Officials from NIC and MoPR ii. Contract / Consulting staff iii. Support staff

Structure of CPMU for Implementation of ePRI MMP: The team of Central Programme Management would comprise of 13 personnel, primarily to focus on co-coordinating the whole project at the India level with all the States. The Central Programme Management Unit (CPMU) would timely avail the inputs provided by the State project management units (SPMU) and the State representatives.

• Project Leader - 1, NIC • Project Manager – 1 PC • Technology Consultant - 1 (SC) • Capacity Building Consultant - 1 (SC) • Bid Process Expert – 1 (PC) • State Project Coordinators – 9 (1 each for minimum 4-5 states)



CPMU structure

The CPMU’s primary responsibilities will include:

The broad responsibilities include timely completion of the project, Quality of deliverables, SLA Monitoring mechanism, Risk Assessment Framework, Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism and the Methodology and framework for reporting. The detailed responsibilities of the Central PMU would include, but not be limited to, the following:

� Execute the guidelines finalized by the PRB � Execute the decisions finalized/approved by MoPR � Analyze proposals on ePRI received from states. � Manage coordination between the sub-committees and the PRB � Provide support to the sub-committees and the PRB. � Oversee day-to-day functioning and � Manage overall coordination and liaisoning with states � Preparation of Project Plan with detailed activities and timelines in consultation with Service

Agency (ies) � Validation of Design formats prepared by Service Agency (ies) for data exchange between

centre and state, to meet the MIS requirements of MoPR � Monitoring of Project Implementation in terms of managing the Project timelines, Quality of

deliverables by close coordination with both Central implementation agency (NIC) and State Service Agencies.

� Ensuring Strategic control of the project with Centre � Working on the regular inputs provided by the State PMUs



� Designing Model RFP for the States to customize according to the state specific requirements � Appraisal of DPRs, RFPs received from the states based on the detailed guidelines, SLA s

issued by the MoPR from time to time � Guiding and assisting the Bid Process Management for the MoPR and State PR departments

for selection of Service Agency(ies). � Ensuring the incorporation of open standards for interoperability, seamless data transfer

between State and Centre in the recommended solutions as per the E-Governance standards. � Coordination and Liasoning by State Project Coordinator with various State PMUs. � Resolve the issues raised by the SPMU on the implementation issues like SLA, technology,

standards and domain issues etc. � Setting Guidelines for SPMU to Review / monitor the progress implementations by the the State

agency � Assist to approve release of funds to the states for the project and their utilization. � Guiding and assisting the SPMU on maintaining quality and on time delivery / closure of

milestones of the Project by State Service Agencies. � Design parameters, metrics and methodology for collecting actual hardware and other

supporting infrastructure requirement at the 3 tiers of PRIs for the states. � Designing the MIS reporting & monitoring frameworks for the project � Issue identification, tracking, escalation and resolution management between Centre, SPMU

and state Service agencies in all aspects including customization of core application , data exchange and interoperability between Centre and States

� Coordination with different stakeholders and agencies and ensuring common understanding of issues between stakeholders

� Tracking timelines vis-à-vis the project plan and taking necessary action in case of slippages in coordination with SPMUs

� Validate the various training plans developed by Service Agency(ies) in coordination with SPMUs

� Monitor implementation of training plan in coordination with SPMUs � Vetting of reports and deliverables of the State IA through respective SPMUs � Supporting the MoPR in selection of an agency for conducting 3rd party Audits of the ePRI

MMP, as required under the RFP. � Maintenance of central repositories / tools for best practices, knowledge sharing � Validate the Exit plan for the various Service agency (ies) � Develop detailed Exit plan for the CPMU at the end of contract period � Capacity Building and Knowledge transfer to the MoPR as per the Exit plan

10.1.2 Programme Management and Governance Structure at State

The State Governance structure would have two layers as shown in figure below. An Apex State Programme Management Committee (SPMC) for guidance and direction headed by the Chief Secretary PR of the state, and a second level consisting of State Programme Management Unit (SPMU).

Programme Governance Structure at State Level



Constitution of the Governance entities at State Level

State Programme Management Committee:

� Chief Secretary � Principal Secretary (In charge of the PR Department) � Representative of Finance Department � HODs of identified SLDs Department � State IT Secretary � NIC Representative � Internal domain specialist (full-time) � Representative of State DIT � Representative from NIC – (SIO / SIO coordinator) � Representatives from 3-4 District Programme Management Committees on Rotation basis � Technical & Change Management Experts - Internal / Hired from industry and reputed institutions � Any other person deemed fit by the Secretary

Role of State Programme Management Committee at the State level:

� Overall guidance � Decisions on Policy matters � Approval of all deliverables by various agencies/groups



� Financial Powers as per delegation

� Selection of Service agency / ies at the State � Monitoring and quality audit of activities performed by service agency at the State � Review of FRS at State level � Monitor implementation of BPR and Change management � Exercise Strategic Control � Ensure certification from Certifying agency on application developed before full State level roll-

out � Ongoing support and guidance to SPMU

Structure of State PMU for Implementation of ePRI MMP

� Project Manager- 1 (PC)

� Technology Consultant- 1 (SC) � Capacity Building Consultant- 1 (SC)

� Bid Process Expert - 1 (PC – Part time) � Zonal Coordinators (1 SC and 1 JC, each, for a zone of 5 districts) i.e. 5 SC and 5 JC for

Gujarat



SPMU structure

Role of State PMU

The broad responsibilities include timely completion of the project, Quality of deliverables, SLA Monitoring mechanism, Risk Assessment Framework, Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism and the Methodology and Framework for reporting. The detailed responsibilities of the State PMU would include, but not be limited to, the following:

� Design parameters, metrics and methodology for determining the actual requirements before project commencement

� Designing the MIS reporting & monitoring frameworks for the project � Assist the SPMC in selection of service agency / ies at the State

o Customizing the Model RFP o Bid Process Management for the State PR for selection of State Service Agency

§ Pre-bid conference § Techno commercial evaluation

o Negotiation and contract finalization � Preparation of Project Plan with detailed activities and timelines in consultation with State Service

agency (SIA). � Review of FRS � Assist the SPMC in identifying areas of customization needed in the core applications. Monitor the

customization of core applications by SIA.



� Validate the IT security/Business Continuity Plan developed by IA and monitor its implementation � Monitoring of Project Implementation in terms of managing the Project timelines, Quality of

deliverables by close coordination with State Implementation Agencies � Tracking timelines vis-à-vis the project plan and taking necessary action in case of slippages � Assist the SPMC in prioritizing the legal changes required for implementing the reengineered

processes. � Validate Training Plan developed by Service Agency � Monitor implementation of process changes. Assist SPMC in issue of GOs for institutionalizing the

changes � Monitor the imparting of training till GP level by SIA. � Vetting of all progress reports and deliverables of the SIA � Providing the required inputs to the Central PMU on regular basis � Serve as secretariat for SPMC for the Project � Ensure certification from Certifying agency on application developed before full State level roll-out � Impact assessment after project go live with respect to evaluation parameters gathered during the

baseline survey � Defining detailed Exit plan for the PMU at the end of contract period

o Ensuring knowledge transfer to the SPMC as per the Exit plan

The Zonal Coordinators will have overall responsibility for the implementation of the project in districts and is accountable to SPMC and Project Manager, SPMU. The responsibilities of the Zonal Coordinators will be:

� Implementation of direction received from SPMC and Project Manager, SPMU � Project implementation in the respective district � Providing directions and guidance to Block Support Group and PRIs � Liasoning and Coordinating with the relevant officers at district level � Enabling full knowledge and systematic application guidance to the implementation agency team in

the initial stages and the testing and approval of the deliverables at the intermediate stage and finally the monitoring and analysis of reports for their respective districts as well as centrally for the entire state, to assist the SPMU and SPMC.

� Orienting the stakeholders on the structure and methodologies of project implementation and usage by conducting periodic workshops to discuss progress on the project and to identify and solve emerging problems

� Enabling effective transfer of knowledge and lessons learnt to the people involved in the project � Address concerns / enquiries / complaints referred to the SPMU by stakeholders for their

respective districts under the Zone � Implementing procedures developed by SPMU to regularly monitor the performance of the project,

and preparing regular monitoring reports based upon information submitted by the Block Support Group and the various service agencies

� Guiding Block Support Group to prepare progress reports on a regular basis and collating the same at SPMU level for their respective districts

� Coordination with the other Zonal Coordinators to ensure effective knowledge transfer/ adherence to common guidelines and adoption of best practices across all the districts

� Enabling regular monitoring through visits by block support groups to various PRIs under the blocks and escalating concerns if any.



� Enabling effective adherence of of SLAs by Service Agencies by setting common standards / reports to and guiding block support groups to monitor the same for their respective PRIs under the block.

� Monitoring Training Plan and adherence to the same by coordinating and liasoning with the various stakeholders and service agency

� Enabling adherence to the Exit plan by the service agency with help from block support group at the end of the Contract.

A District Programme Management Committee (DPMC) will be constituted at each District level headed by the Chairman ZP/ DDO Zilla Pachayat / CEO ZP of the district, for guidance and direction to the the Block Development Officers of the respective blocks who will work in close coordination with the Block support group for monitoring the implementation of the project in the Gram Panchayats under the respective blocks.

DPMC and BDO will have responsibility of district wide successful implementation of the project. The structure of DPMC is shown below with the help of following organization chart.

Programme Governance Structure at District Level



DPMC structure

DPMC will be headed by Chief Executive Officer, ZP. DPMC should have District Officials of line departments who are implementing their schemes through PRIs; DIO, NIC for technical support; 3-4 BDOs on rotation basis; representative from 3-4 GPs on rotation and if required, locally recognized activist working for improvement of PRIs system in the district.

The DPMC has the responsibility for overall implementation of policy directives of SPMC, guidance and coordination for all project activities related to ePRI.

The DPMC will play a key role in implementation of project and the systemic reform that the project will initiate. The DPMC will monitor the district wide ePRI project implementation at district level by coordinating with the BDOs and the Block Support Group.

DPMC will have following role and responsibilities.

► Implementing the direction received from SPMC ► Guiding the work of the BDO and Block Support Group ► Reviewing implementation progress periodically ► Considering recommendations put forward by BDOs

The DPMC is proposed to meet at least monthly although ad-hoc meetings may be convened by the Chairperson based on needs.

Block Support Group at all the blocks will have the responsibility of providing the necessary support to the BDO, DIO and assisting the Zonal Coordinators of various districts at the SPMU level. 1 contractual staff is proposed to be provisioned as Block support at each block in Gujarat for monitoring the implementation and operation of the project till the grass root level.

The responsibilities of the Block support group will be:

� Implementation of direction received from Zonal coordinators at SPMU � Project implementation in the respective PRIs under the block � Liasoning and Coordinating with the relevant officers at block level � Assisting the Zonal Coordinators to collect the actual requirement of hardware for the PRIs at

Block and below level. � Liasoning and Coordinating with Service Agency contact person at Block level and below.



� Regular Monitoring and reporting on the actual status of implementation, hardware deployment, training etc.

� Enabling adherence to timelines and project plan by effective coordination � Surprise visits to various PRIs under the block to check the actual implementation status and

validate the status reported by the Service agency.



10.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Structure

The Monitoring and evaluation mechanism is indispensable for successful implementation of such a large scale project. A standard approach is required to minimize the risk and deviation of the project from timeline and scope. Three tier structures have been proposed for monitoring the project as explained under above section. The various reports along with frequency and content is shown below.

Details of State Level Review Meeting

SR. DETAILS MONITORING ASPECTS

PARTICIPANTS

1 Monthly Progress Review Meeting

• Deviation from Project Plan

• Key issues in implementation of Project plan

• District specific challenges

• Strategic decision required by SMPC

SPMC, SPMU and respective DPMC representatives

2 Quarterly Progress Review Meeting

• Strategic decision from SPMC

• Review of Monthly progress meeting of SPMU

• Financial and physical progress of the project

• Support and guidance required from CPMU

SPMC and SPMU

3 Half Yearly Progress Review Meeting

• Key challenges for implementation of the project

• Revision of project plan if required

• Changes in SPMU structure/ staff

SPMC and SPMU



SPMC and SPMU should also conduct the field visit to assess the project progress and gaps in implementation. State level filed monitoring components are shown below.

State Level Field Monitoring Component

SR. DETAILS COVERAGE ASPECTS TO BE COVERED

ACTIVITIES

A State Committee

Surprise Inspections A PRI

• Resources provided to PRIs

• Functioning of PRIs

• PRI elected member satisfaction

• Citizen satisfaction

• Compliance report from ePRI portal

• Grievance from ePRI portal

• PRI home page at PRI portal

• Interviews and interactions

• Inspection of documents

B SPMU

1 Monthly Field Monitoring Plan

5 district

10 BP

10 VP

• Installation/ functioning of ICT hardware

• Installation/ functioning of networking/ connectivity

• Installation/ functioning of ePRI application

• Functioning of DPMC and Block Support Group

• Implementation of Training Plan

• Key issues hindering implementation

• Best Practices

• On spot verification of all the aspects and filling up these details in portal in detailed format developed by CPMU



The various reports from SPMU to CPMU will be required for enabling regular monitoring by CPMU of the project. The trigger will be generated to CPMU if SPMU has not submitted the report on time. The CPMU is responsible for reminding the SPMU for submission of report on time and presenting the multiple default case to CPMC.

SR. NAME OF THE REPORT INFORMATION CONTENT

1 Monthly Physical Progress Report

• Schemes and service implemented from PRIs

• Installation/ functioning of ICT hardware

• Installation/ functioning of networking/ connectivity

• Installation/ functioning of ePRI application

• Functioning of DPMC and Block Support Group

• Implementation of Training Plan

• Financial and resource requirement for the respective state

2 Monthly Financial Progress Report

i. Ratio of Utilization reports from ePRI system and manual submission

ii. Total number of Statement of Expenditure (SoE) from ePRI system

iii. Fund utilization status of schemes and ePRI project

3 Half Yearly Progress Report – Financial & Physical

i. Regularity of physical and financial reports from district/blocks

ii. Quality of data available in reports iii. Deficiency in reporting

4 Quarterly Hardware Installation report

i. Issues in functioning of ICT hardware ii. Issues in functioning of networking/

connectivity iii. Issues in ePRI application

5 Quarterly Training Status report

i. Number of people trained in a quarter ii. Type of the training and batch size iii. Utilization of fund and future requirement iv. Estimated number of people to be trained v. Specific training requirements from SPMU

6 Quarterly Networking report i. Connectivity mapping with required and

existing



SR. NAME OF THE REPORT INFORMATION CONTENT ii. Approximate uptime of the network iii. Issues in functioning of networking/

connectivity

7 Monthly application development report

i. Average uptime of the ePRI application ii. Extent of usage of ePRI application iii. Bugs/ improvement areas in ePR

application iv. Additional requirement in ePRI application

8 Monthly Service agency performance report

i. Compliance of SLAs related to ICT hardware, networking, Manpower, ePRI application and Training.

All the reports will be posted using web forms available under MIS and KPIs module of the ePRI application. The Block reports will be sent through BDOs and DPMCs after their review and then collated at Zonal Coordinator level at SPMU level. Zonal Coordinator will be responsible for collation of block reports sending it to Project Manager, SPMU. However, if there is administrative dependency and the delay is because of non responsiveness of the person out of the control of Zonal Coordinator or Block Support group; the Zonal Coordinator, Block support group and the BDO should be highlight such case to DPMC and same should be reflected in the MIS reports.

The same set of the collated report will also be required from SPMU to CPMU with status of their respective States.



10.3 Risk Mitigation Strategy

Risk mitigation implies identification of risks in the implementation of ePRI MMP and preparing for their resolution. These risks are the impediments which may arise prior to, during, or after implementation of ePRI MMP. The risk mitigation plan is adopted by the state based on the priorities identified through risk management framework. The risk management framework categorises each risk into three areas – its impact on ePRI MMP (severity), chance of such risk (occurrence), and possibility of its detection during implementation of ePRI MMP (detection). These risks have been given rating based on the understanding in the local context for severity, occurrence and detection.

In the following table, all the risks associated are listed down along with their mitigation plans. All the risks are rated on three criteria to prioritize them in order of risk extent

The criteria are ► Severity – This rates the severity or seriousness of risk ► Occurrence – This rates the risk on the basis of the probability of its occurrence ► Detection – This rates the risk on the basis of the probability or ease of its detection

The table below gives the explanation of rating numbers for different risks

Definition Chart for Values of Risk Priority Numbers

No Severity of impact Chance of Occurrence Chance of Detection

1 No Impact Never Obviously detected

2 Almost No impact Almost never Easy to discover

3 Some Impact Rarely Detected through inquiry

4 Low Impact Sometimes Can be detected with little effort

5 Visible Impact Irregular Not so easy to detect

6 High Impact Random Detected with Difficulty

7 Significant Impact Frequent Detected with great Difficulty

8 Impact nearing failure Almost always Almost Never detected

9 Failure Always Never detected

The table below lists the risks associated with implementation of ePRI. These are the risks which hinder the implementation of ePRI and the risks after ePRI. Implementation

ePRI MMP Risks and Mitigation for Gujarat Mitigation Plan Severity Occurrence Detection RPN Pre Implementation Risks

1 Funds are not released on time and are inadequate for implementation

Prior approvals and fund disbursement plans. Transparency and procedural simplification for fund release

7 4 2 56

2

State government does not initiate the modalities for implementation of ePRI

Communication from central ministry to state and appropriate political and diplomatic assertion

8 3 2 48

3 Centre and State have Consensus building and rapid 8 3 4 96



ePRI MMP Risks and Mitigation for Gujarat Mitigation Plan Severity Occurrence Detection RPN

divergent views on components of ePRI

sharing among key agencies implementing ePRI through NIC

4

Central government is perceived to be forcing implementation of ePRI on the state

Appropriate mediation through NIC and communication by the central ministry to state departments

6 4 4 96

5

State government demands total central assistance in implementation of ePRI

Consensus building and communication between the state and centre

7 4 4 112

6

State government desires inclusion / exclusion of all the state owned or sponsored IT agencies apart from the ones recommended by ePRI study

Design appropriate criteria and terms of reference for incorporating best possible model for state ePRI

7 4 5 140

7

Absence of political will in providing desired powers (funds, functions, functionaries) for effective implementation

Communication through PMO, central cabinet to state CMs and cabinet. Participation of state PR department. Co-opting elected representatives into the initiative and offering a perspective of the citizen-centricity / goodwill generated by e-PRI would act as prime motivators for fostering political will. Getting National Consensus on the MMP from all political parties could also help.

7 7 6 294

8

Resistance to change by the stakeholders (State PR, MoPR, ZP, BP, GP or any other)

Change management and participative approach adopted by implementation agency and NIC. Communication and stakeholder mapping

8 9 6 432

9

Inadequate preparation, ground work by the state before implementation of ePRI (PMO establishment, project planning, activity mapping, service authorisation etc.)

Gazette notifications for activity mapping, conditional funding based on appropriate ground work and validation of the same by the central coordinating agency for ePRI implementation

8 7 6 336

10

Inappropriate or Inadequate legal authorisation for citzen service delivery, G2G functions and information flow

Appropriate inter deparmental communication for authorisation of delivery of services through PRIs. Legal changes in the state acts and departmental functions

7 5 5 175

11

Appropriate quality assurance and monitoring for control over implementation partners

Guidelines for implementation to include quality assurance at each stage of implementation before handover for regular functioning

6 7 7 294

During Implementation Risk

12 Inappropriate guideline for testing software - piloting and replication

Implementation plan to take sample based simplistic implementations on priority and address one issue at a time. The lessons learnt to be captured and replicated for implementation

6 6 7 252



ePRI MMP Risks and Mitigation for Gujarat Mitigation Plan Severity Occurrence Detection RPN

13

Absence of quality assurance in procurement of equipment and assurance through audit

Procurement policy and guideline for quality assurance, and periodic internal audit

6 6 6 216

14

Retention of ePRI trained staff as mentors and guides for replication of success

Performance management (rewards, recognition) of staff in the ePRI implementation

5 5 4 100

15 Appropriate knowledge management and best practice sharing

Implementing agency or partners to ensure capturing of lessons learnt in central repository and appropriate authorisation for communication of the same across locations

4 7 5 140

16

Data security and safety during baselining or data transfer/migration from legacy to ePRI systems

Appropriate data migration plan or data gathering templates and tools for data quality and integrity

7 5 7 245

17 Inadequate civil infrastructure in GP

Use of central government assistance through other schemes for providing civil infrastructure

8 6 6 288

Post Implementation Risk

18 Absence of appropriate maintenance for hardware and software

Maintenance to be incorporated within the procurement guidelines 7 8 5 280

19 Issue resolution and control on daily basis through nodal agencies

Central monitoring agency of daily issue log maintenance and decision making

6 5 5 150

20 Retention of service staff in remote locations

Appropriate performance management and monitoring by state PR department and implementation partners

7 7 5 245

21 Safety and security of life and property in adversely affected areas

Appropriate provision of security by the state Police and communication regarding the same by state PR

7 4 3 84

22 Maintenance of data against misappropriation of information

Data security and delegation of authority for data entry, review and approval in IT systems

6 5 4 120



11. Financial Estimates This section provides the financial requirement for the roll out of e-PRI MMP in Gujarat. It details out the total project cost as well as head-wise & year-wise cost break up of e-PRI solution proposed to be implemented in Gujarat. The total cost of implementing e-PRI Project is Rs. 207.13 cr.

11.1 Project Costing The e-PRI project implementation in the state of Gujarat is estimated to cost about Rs 207.13 crores, including the cost of provisioning the ICT infrastructure, Training, Manpower, Project management units, Block support group and Information Education & communication. The major assumptions on for financial estimation are listed in Annexure B:

Over all Head Wise Break up

Implementing e-PRI project in Gujarat would incur a total cost of Rs. 207.13 cr. This includes costs related to ICT (Rs. 153.43 cr), training of officials and PRI members (Rs. 31.12 cr), providing block support group (Rs. 11.10 cr), establishment of State Program Management unit (Rs. 8.50 cr) and finally towards Information Education and Communication - IEC ( Rs. 2.99 cr). The table and graph below presents a brief snapshot of head-wise break up of total cost that shall be incurred in implementing e-PRI project in Gujarat.

Year Wise Break up

No Head Cost (cr.)

1 ICT 153.43

2 Training 31.12

3 BSG 11.10

4 Program Management Unit 8.50

5 IEC 2.99

Total 207.13



The total cost of the project has been distributed in four years basis the implementation plan provided in section 9. The table below presents the overview of the year wise breakup of the total cost that shall be incurred during implementation of e-PRI project.

It can be inferred from the table above that nearly 13% of the cost is estimated to be incurred in the first year. 32% and 33% shall be incurred during year 2 and year 3 respectively. Finally the rest 22% of the total cost would be incurred during year 4.

Yearly – Head wise breakup

Broadly the cost estimates have been categorized under State ICT cost, Payout to Service Agency (PRIs ICT), Training related cost, cost related to BSG, Program Management Unit and IEC.

The following table depicts the yearly cost estimates against each of the cost heads.

Table: Year Wise and Head Wise Cost Estimates (in crores)

No Items Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Total

1 State ICT Cost 2.58 0.96 1.03 0.56 5.12

2 Payout (PRIs ICT) 12.02 48.82 49.61 37.85 148.30

3 Training 5.19 10.37 10.37 5.19 31.12

4 BSG 0.81 3.48 3.76 3.05 11.10

5 Program Management Unit 2.57 2.82 3.11 0.00 8.50

6 IEC 2.99 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.99

Total ePRI Project Cost 26.15 66.46 67.89 46.64 207.13

Year 1

No Year # Cost (cr.)

1 Year 1 26.15

2 Year 2 66.46

3 Year 3 67.89

4 Year 4 46.64



Year 1 would be stone setting year for the project. Project will be kicked off with constitution of various committees and State Program Management Unit. It can be inferred from the graph that 46% of the total cost incurred during Year 1 shall be towards deployment of ICT infrastructure at each tier of PRIs in terms of payout to the PRIs. The first 5 months as per the suggested implementation, the RFP will be floated to select the implementation agency and the deployment of the IT Hardware will begin from the 6th month of Year 1. Thus deployment of hardware and manpower at all PRIs will be incremental over later 7 months of the year 1 and hence the payout will be incremental in year 1 as well, which will depend upon the number of sites deployed in that manner. The lump sum IEC cost is provisioned in Year 1 only and may be utilized by state across across 3 years to generate awareness amongst the citizens and PRIs

Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4

As per the implementation plan, the deployment of IT Hardware will happen incrementally in 7 months of the 1st year itself. Year 2 and 3 will see full fledged operation and maintenance support of IT infrastructure supplied for ePRI system at all PRIs, thus the payout to service agency for hardware will be larger as compared to year 1. As the provision for IT infrastructure operation and support is made for 3 years or 36 months for each PRI site, hence in year 4 the Operations and Maintenance support will end incrementally at PRIs after first 6 months of full support.

The cost incurred during these years would be heavily constituted of IT hardware deployed at each tier of PRIs. Service Agency will be responsible for rendering the services as per the SLA defined. As seen in the graphs for year 2, 3 and 4, the ICT payout is the larger cost head. PMU will also continue to provide its services for the duration of 36 months (3 years) during the ePRI project implementation.

Training cost is budgeted for 36 months staring 6th month of year 1 till year 4.



Monthly Payouts to Service Agency

The roll out of ePRI in Gujarat is proposed to be based on a a Service Procurement Model (SPM), where a Service Agency(ies) (SA) will be selected through a competitive bidding process by the States. The States may decide to engage multiple SA, region-wise or district-wise depending on local suitability

Once the contract with the SA is finalized a detailed implementation plan will be prepared by the SA in consultation with the SPMC. The roll-out, in Gujarat, is expected to take 7 months time during which the SA will deploy computers at all GPs / BPs/ ZPs in the State and also provide trained manpower for providing services to the GPs/ BPs/ ZPs. Once the services start at any GP / BP/ZP the SA will be provided a monthly payout for a period of 3 years as per the following table:

Table: Monthly Payout table to PRIs

SR NO Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

1 ZP 15124.16 15152.01 15182.10 15214.58

2 BP 5523.85 5551.71 5581.79 5614.28

3 GP 2799.24 2843.10 2890.46 2941.61

The above monthly payouts have been calculated by assimilation of monthly cost incurred to SA on following components: • CAPEX: This includes the cost of ICT infrastructure commissioned at each tier of PRIs • OPEX: This includes the cost of maintenance of ICT infrastructure

The table below detailed out the monthly cost estimation considered for the calculation of payouts.



Items PRIs In Year 1 (Monthly Payout)

In Year 2 (Monthly Payout)



CAPEX

ZP 14775.98 14775.98 14775.98 14775.98

BP 5175.67 5175.67 5175.67 5175.67

GP 2251.06 2251.06 2251.06 2251.06

OPEX

ZP 348.18 376.03 406.12 438.61

BP 348.18 376.03 406.12 438.61

GP 548.18 592.03 639.40 690.55

Total Annual Payout

ZP 1179684.37 4727428.04 4736813.85 3560212.89

BP 3712029.24 14922989.48 15003851.80 11318387.34

GP 115334365.62 468565012.26 476370766.02 363600735.07

Total Payouts (in Crores) 12.02 48.82 49.61 37.85



12. Recommendations

Gujarat has cemented its way to the fore in the implementation of ICT in government setup to deliver citizen services and improve government efficiency & convenience.

The following is a brief summary of the recommendations that came out of ePRI study project

► Integration & Sharing of Databases: It was attained during the ISNA phase that each department has its own unique way of data collection and management thus variances are often noticed amongst data sources for the same set of data. Thus integration of the same set of data used by various departments is required. It is recommended that the sate initiates an integration of same set of data used by various departments by introducing a single data collection method, entry or coding system for all departments. Further this data be made available on a common database that is accessible to all users

► Uniform Integrated Panchayat Portal for Providing All Services: An integrated Panchayat Portal to be provided at the gram level (eGram) to provide all services under one roof. Multiple portals create confusion. A single Panchayat Portal with multiple tabs for multiple services of all line department/ PRIs will enable user-friendliness of the Panchayat Portal thus quicker and on-time service delivery, Moreover citizen need not visit multiple location to avail a service. This will bring down the cost of

► Availability of Adequate manpower: Adequate number of manpower is available at all levels to ensure timely completion of work at each level. Availability of right total of manpower is imperative to the quality of the output by each individual at each level.

► Training, Developing and Retaining Manpower: A periodic training assessment to be carried out to ascertain the up-to-date training needs at each level. Based on the periodic assessment a yearly training calendar is prepared incorporating level-wise/ department wise training needs. This shall help improve the productivity of individuals, thus the quality of the output at each level.

► Demand assessment of bandwidth: Keeping in mind the current and expected service volumes and current and new software needs a periodic demand assessment be carried out. The bandwidth requirement maybe carried out by monitoring the daily usage of bandwidth, increase in the service volumes on a periodic basis and comparing the data produced therein of two separate periods.

► Maintenance and Up-gradation of Hardware & Software: Demand assessment of volume of service, the need for integration etc to be considered on a periodic basis to ensure timely up gradation hardware and software. Further, periodic maintenance to be carried out of all hardware and software. The state may initiate an AMC for the same.

► Information Dissemination by multiple channels to create awareness: An effort should be made by the state to increase awareness amongst citizens. The state may initiate a periodic awareness campaign in all villages in the state. The campaign may include, conducting more frequent meeting, exploring new channels of communication, street-plays, SMS etc

► Service delivery of all services initiated at the Gram-level: through the BPR report, emphasis has been laid on provision of services to the village-citizen at the grass root level/gram level. All services that are currently not available at the gram level maybe provided via eGram

► Power Backup: An Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) of 600VA with 1 hour backup has been provisioned through ePRI project. However considering the power situation in rural India, various



power backup options like inverter, Genset and Solar power option can be considered depending upon the power situation in the state. The various power options and their cost implication on the overall project cost is provided in Annexure F



13. Way Forward

This ePRI Study project, which is a precursor to the ePRI MMP, was initiated with a comprehensive study to assess the current information and services needs of citizens, PRI and other stakeholders. This study lead to the identification of the information and services needs of various stakeholders, scope for re-engineering various functions and services carried out by PRIs, formulation of detailed roadmap for the transformation of Panchayati Raj system from existing state to e-PRI in Gujarat.

The key activities in the DPR phase included: estimating ICT requirements, defining strategy for roll-out, defining capacity building strategy, defining project management structure, defining monitoring and evaluation structure, defining communication plan, defining change management strategy.

This phase focused on defining these components along with the associated outlays. The Indicative Implementation Plan, detailing out the activities to be undertaken for project implementation is charted out and the financial model for executing the ePRI MMP in Gujarat is also defined. This phase has resulted in head-wise cost break up of the ePRI MMP in the State, which will be further aggregated with similar cost break up from a similar study being parallely conducted in other states to arrive at a nation-wide cost for executing the ePRI MMP across the country.

As a next step, the aggregated National Detailed Project Report along with the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) note will be submitted by Ministry of Panchayati Raj to the Cabinet for approval.



14. Annexure

14.1 Annexure A: Glossary

Abbreviation Explanation Abbreviation Explanation ANM Auxiliary Nurse Midwife LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol AO Accounts Officer LDP Local Development Plans APL Above Poverty Line MoPR Ministry of Panchayati Raj ASHA Accredited Social Health Activist MIS Management Information Systems

ATDO Assistant Taluka Development Officer

MO Medical Officer

BDO Block Development Officer MPHW Multipurpose Health Worker

BHO Block Health Officer MPLADS Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme

BPL Below Poverty Line NAS Network Attached Storage BPR Business Process Reengineering NeGP National E-Governance Plan BRGF Backward Region Grant Fund NFSM National Food Security Mission BSNL Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited NGO Non-governmental Organisation Capex Capital Expenditure NHM National Horticulture Mission CDHO Chief District Health Officer NIC National Informatics Centre

CDP City Development Plan NREGA National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

CDPO Child Development Program Officer

NREGS National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

CEO Chief Executive Officer NRHM National Rural Health Mission CMT Change Management Technology Opex Operational expenditure

CPMC Central Program Management Committee

PC Principal Consultant

CPMU Central Program Management Unit

PHC Primary Health Centre

CSC Common Service Centre PIU Project Implementation Unit CSO Central Statistical Organisation PMGSY Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana CSS Centrally Sponsored Scheme PMU Project Management Unit DAO District Agriculture Officer PO Program Officer DDO District Development Officer PPP Public Private Partnership

DES Directorate of Economics and Statistics

PRI Panchayati Raj Institution

DIO District Information Officer RFP Request for Proposal DLE District Level Executive RKVY Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana DM District Magistrate (Collector) RPN Risk Priority Number

DMZ Demilitarized Zone (Extra layer of security outside computer firewall)

RTC Regional Training Centre

DPC District Planning Committee RTI Right to Information DPEO District Primary Education Officer SAN Storage Area Network DPMC District Program Management SC Senior Consultant



Abbreviation Explanation Abbreviation Explanation Committee

DPMU District Program Management Unit

SDC State Data Centre

DPR Detailed Project Report SDLC Software Development Life Cycle DPU District Planning Unit SHG Self-help Group DRC Disaster Recovery Centre SIRD State Institute of Rural Development DRDA District Rural Development Agency SJGSY Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana DSO District Statistical Officer SLA Service Level Agreement EM Executive Magistrate (Mamlatdar) SMS Short Messaging Service

EMS Element Management Services SPIPA Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration

FTP File Transfer Protocol SPMC State Program Management Committee GAM Gujarat Asset Management SPMU State Program Management Unit GIS Geographical Information System SSA Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

GRAM Gujarat Rural Accounting Management

STD Senior Technical Director

GRCC Gujarat Ration Card Computerization

TDO Taluka Develoment Officer

GSWAN Gujarat State Wide Area Network TLE Taluka Level Executive IAY Indira Awas Yojana TSC Total Sanitation Campaign

ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme

TSP Tribal Sub Plan

ICT Information and Communication Technology

TSTSP Technical Support and Training Service Provider

IDDP Integrated District Development Plan

UID Unique Identification

IHSDP Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme

VCE Village Computer Entrepreneur

IPS Internet Service Providers VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal (Wireless Internet Connectivity using Satellites)

JSK Jansewa Kendra ZP Zilla Panchayat LAN Local Area Network



14.2 Annexure B: Assumptions for financial estimations

S No. Assumption / Standards used in respective areas Value (If

applicable)

A ICT Infrastructure

A.1 Cumulative Security Audit cost for all state modules (INR) 200000

A.2 The PCs at GP level have been estimated at the NICSI empanelled rates and intrernet connectivity charges have been estimated @ 200 per month per GP.

A.3 Internet connectivity charges have been budgeted for only GPs as the ZPs and BPs are assumed to be connected through a Government Network like SWAN, NICNET

A.4 Open Source solutions are being proposed for all system software. Hence, there will be no CAPEX; only annual support cost will be budgeted for.

A.5 Maintenance cost of hardware is included in the Warranty support of 3 years.

B Training

B.1 Training Costs are budget only for IT related training

B.2 Average training costs are taken for all participant

B.3 No of Training days for PRI officials are assumed is to be 12 days in 3 years 12

B.4 No of Training days for elected members are assumed is to be 6 days in 3 years 6

C Contractual Manpower

C.1 One Contractual resource at each PRI level is provisioned through e-PRI 1 at each PRI level

C.2 Man Month Rate of Contractual Resource with Basic IT skill set at

I GP Level : INR Per Month 3000

II BP Level : INR Per Month 3000

III ZP Level : INR Per Month 5000

C.3 The Manpower is being provisioned for a period of 3 years

D PMU

D.1 Civil Infrastructure (Rent, Electricity, support infrastructure etc) for PMU is not provisioned through ePRI and the state PR department is expected to provision for the same. That Implies No CAPEX cost for PMU is provisioned through ePRI.

D.2 Computing devices (Laptops etc) for External Consultants in PMU will be provisioned by Empanelled agency themselves and not through ePRI

D.3 OPE is have been provisioned @ 15% of the PMU Cost

D.4 Other Administrative Expenses are considered as 1% PMU Cost

D.5 1 Document Scanner, 1 Network Printer is provisioned at each State PMU

D.6 10% increase in the PMU External Consultant rates every year is considered



S No. Assumption / Standards used in respective areas Value (If applicable)

D.7 The PMU cost is being budgeted for a period of 3 years irrespective of the project implementation plan as it is the handholding supporting being provided to the State.

E Application Software

E.1 As a standard each module can be developed by 2 S/w developers in 3 months timeframe which implies development effort of 6 man months per module. This would include the entire development and integration activity pertaining to the module including development of Admin modules for database management.

E.2 Customization Effort for central modules at state level is 1 resource for 3 months which would also include effort for integration of state specific modules with Central modules



14.3 Annexure C: Detailed Costs



Payout



PMU



Training

Base cost for training



IEC

Application Development



14.4 Annexure D: Configuration of Server and PCs

Server

Computer



Laser Printer



14.5 Annexure E: ICT Base Costs



14. 6 Annexure F - Power back up options The power situation in rural India is characterized by low and inconsistent power supply. In a scenario where it is envisaged that all Panchayats would be computerized, it becomes imperative to give due diligence to the options of power backup.

Therefore different options for power backup, available in the market were studied. Given below are some suitable options which the state could consider, depending on the situation of power supply in the state.

However under e-PRI to avoid data loss due to inconsistent power supply, 600VA UPS with 1 hour back up has been suggested. The overall project cost is estimated to be Rs. 207.13 cr. considering the UPS only.

Along with the UPS provisioned through ePRI project, the various other options the state could consider are as given below:

Power back up option for Areas with moderate power supply

Inverter - • Average cost of 1200 VA inverter needed to operate 1 fan, 1 tube light and 1 PC: Rs. 5,000. • 2 batteries for an 8 hr continuous backup @ Rs. 10,000 per battery with a 2-year warranty. Total cost:

Rs. 20,000. (Would typically run for 3 years) • No OpEx costs besides occasionally putting water in the batteries

State with rural areas having regular moderate power supply can consider Inverter with batteries as the batteries can be charged during the availability of power supply in the rural areas and can be put to use during the day’s time while GP needs to function and operate.

Considering the above option at all the GPs in the state, the overall cost for the ePRI project in state is estimated to be around Rs. 241.46 cr.

Option for areas with no, low or inconsistent power supply

GenSet - • It is assumed that a 1200VA generator would suffice the need for power in a GP to operate 1 fan, 1

tube light and 1 PC . The average cost of the same is Rs 30000/- , with a recurring cost Rs 12-15/hr for fuel.

States with no or irregular power supply can consider the Genset option to provide power back to the GP during the day’s operation during power outage or no power supply at all. However the Genset option would require a recurring cost of fuel to operate and would also create noise and air pollution.

However, considering the above option at all the GPs in the state, the overall cost for the ePRI project in state is estimated to be around Rs. 316.31 cr.

Solar Power Battery Back up Systems / Solar Photo Voltaic Cells -



In a scenario where the State electricity board’s power supply is inconsistent, is poor or there is no power supply in such rural areas, the most feasible option seems to be the Solar-powered battery backups or the Solar Photo Voltaic Cells which can provide an extremely reliable system for keeping the computers and other electrical equipments in the panchayat ghar up and running.

Unlike other backup systems that burn propane gas, natural gas or fuel, these batteries are powered entirely with clean energy from the sun.

Solar power system backup batteries are particularly well-suited to small businesses / setups with critical loads that must stay powered up, even during an outage or absence of power at all. Hence the solar power options are quite expensive and the upfront investment is significantly higher, however the operating expenses are negligible

The GPs might not have a very critical workload to be available online 24x7 and providing services, however considering there is no power in rural area, the solar power option seems to be feasible and the Gram Panchayats can continue to operate the computers and provide services in the envisaged scenario to citizens during the 6-8 hours of day’s work. The solar panel can support the charging of batteries during the day’s time using clean solar energy and can allow uninterrupted power supply and hence uninterrupted operations at GP for upto 12 hours.

Case study: In the state of Rajasthan, the state government has already gone ahead for installing off the grid lighting concept based on solar photovoltaic technology in all 9168 GPs. Currently it is quite expensive proposition for state to transmit electricity to all GPs through conventional grid. Further the conventional grid if available might not be regularly able to supply the required power. Therefore Solar Photo Voltaic Cells or Solar Panel technology has been considered for transmitting power to GPs in Rajasthan. The project has been rolled out in a service procurement model, whereby the service providing agency shall be paid, based on the number of hours, service has been provided.

The total cost for the solar power panel pack per GP is Rs 3.10 lacs, with 5 years maintenance. Under the project 1120 Wp SPV power pack shall support five computers and one LAN for a duration of 6 hours and one printer for one hour.

Considering the solar power back up option at all the GPs in the state, the overall cost for the ePRI project in state is estimated to be around Rs. 632.88 cr.

Summary table for total project cost with various power options as described above

Power backup option Total Project Cost Estimate (in crores)

UPS (provisioned through ePRI project) 207.13 cr.

Inverter 241.46 cr.

Genset 316.31 cr.

Solar Power back up 632.88 cr.