Rohit Kumar Singh, IT Secretary, Rajasthan, adheres to Abraham Lincoln’s approach when it comes to implementing e-governance in the state: “If I have ten hours to cut a tree, I shall spend eight hours in sharpening my axe.” For Singh, an e-government can only be successful if a conducive environment is created first.
Rohit Kumar Singh: These observations were true about a decade ago. We certainly missed the bus and haven’t been able to catch up with the likes of Kerala, Maharashtra and West Bengal. But, being a late starter in IT has worked to our advantage. We have access to the best of new and cost-effective technologies, which others haven’t been able to benefit from. We leapfrogged past the stage of having to carry the burden of legacy systems. I’ll say it firmly: we, as a state, are making a virtue out of necessity. So far, IT has not only given us automation and an online presence for various departments, but has also provided us with a different way of working. Process reengineering and change management have had an impact largely because of a very subtle vision of IT that we have implemented in the state.
So far, what has e-governance given Rajasthan?
We are working with a three-fold, multi-pronged e-governance strategy. Investment promotion is the first prong of this strategy. Our state is traditionally known for tourism, and its income is limited to activities around this. But by taking advantage of the national scenario where ‘IT cities’ are getting clogged, we want to promote Rajasthan as the next best IT destination. Jaipur is poised to become the next IT-enabled services destination and we will see that through. Special Economic Zones have been created to that end. These will introduce plug-and-play infrastructure to encourage IT companies to move here.
Secondly, we are looking to upgrade the skills of human resources. Our talks with companies pointed to a lack of skilled human resources. Still, companies like Wipro have shown interest in setting shop here. And third comes what I call e-government, as opposed to e-governance, because it’s not about governing electronically but about e-enabling the government. In states like Rajasthan that started late, you need to push the ecosystem both from the demand and the supply side. We have to create a demand for IT in this state. If there is demand and market forces can take care of supply, then e-government will be successful.
We, in the IT Department, work as catalysts. We explain to various departments how effective IT could be if it is used wisely. This is also another way of creating ‘buy-in’ from the user departments.
What has your success rate been?
I’d say, we are at 55-60 percent in terms of success. The critical parameter is leadership from the departments. They need to become more proactive in adopting IT.
My measure of success, however, is slightly different. Success in IT solutions is measured by the drop in hassles for your clients—both citizens and businesses. For example, we have 200 e-mitra (common services) kiosks running in the state. They have made a huge difference in terms of utility bill payments and other services. It surprises many people that we’ve collected Rs 15 crore in utility payments from 10 kiosks in Jaipur, which is huge by any standards.
Our municipal corporations is another success story. I also head the Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development Project (RUIDP), and we are involved in a massive e-government project for six of the largest municipal corporations (MCs) in Rajasthan. There is an issue of house tax within these MCs. The departments don’t know who is liable to pay house tax and who’s not. Even before we talked about computerization, we told the MCs to conduct a survey of the houses which come under these areas. Then we created a database of these houses and, from January to March 2006, we saw an increase of over 30 percent in tax collection over the previous year. So, we have infused IT-enablement as well as process change in government departments.
You talked of change management. How effective has it been?
With change management, process reengineering is also important. In a bureaucracy, we tend to get caught up in following rules and forget that they are a means to achieve outcomes. When departments understand that processes need to be changed before IT-enablement, then we can reach the efficiency levels we planned for. Systems, by themselves, cannot bring about change. We have decided to hire a business process reengineering consultant to improve processes in 15 critical departments which involve higher levels of public interaction.
Our roadmap is based on where IT-enablement projects stand today and what’s needed for them to advance quickly. For this year, we have asked every department to identify three services that deal directly with citizens. These will be IT-enabled during this fiscal. Change management is not easy in the government sector, but it isn’t as bad as people think. It’s a matter of effectively communicating the benefits of using IT, and then it’s not difficult to change mindsets. Instead of imposing IT on them, we encourage them to demand it.
What is the status of project Aarakhi, which is meant to track crime records?
Project Aarakhi tracks criminal cases from cradle to grave. It encompasses lodging an FIR, monitoring investigations, and a database of both stolen properties and criminals. It was piloted in north Jaipur and, after its success, we are rolling it out in other parts of the capital city. It has helped a department that has not found too many good IT implementations across the country. The efficacy of the criminal justice system has improved. That was the most important parameter and we have been able to achieve it. This database is linked (offline) with the National Crime Records Bureau.
What are some of the other initiatives that you’ve taken?
As I have mentioned, I also head the RUIDP, as part of the development of urban infrastructure program. We have received funding worth Rs 1,700 crore for infrastructure projects, including water supply, sewer lines, hospitals, flyovers, etcetera. We have 200 such jobs queued up. There is a need for IT to monitor processes, including payments to contractors and procurement of material electronically. We have about five departments from where we procure electronically, and we’ve had close to 10 tenders worth Rs 100 crore. Now, the contractors also want to procure using IT. We’ve developed a model for e-auctions that’ll facilitate auctions online in real-time, and we’re getting more and more departments to use e-procurement.
What’s your mission for 2007?
With funding worth Rs 10 crore from NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development), we will create 1,000 IT kiosks in rural areas; these will be operated by women entrepreneurs only. It’s a good step to take in Rajasthan, where the gender divide needs to be proactively addressed. We are working out a model for it and have tied up with a reputed university called Vanasthali Vidhyapeeth to train 50 women in 32 districts. We have trained close to 1,600 women so far.
We have also launched a Rs 25-crore project called CARISMA (Computerisation & Refinement of Integrated System of Management and Accounts). This will connect 1,100 Panchayats through Asia’s largest wireless network; 182 are already connected. Mission 2007 is to have at least one IT facility in every village of Rajasthan for citizens to access essential services.
Autor/Author: Rahul Neel Mani
Quelle/Source: CIO India, 19.05.2006
