eCity(AMC), a project undertaken by the Revenue Department, Government of Gujarat

The Objective of the Project
Provide better services to CITIZENS of Ahmedabad
Provide easy access to the information
Eliminate discretionary human interface
Reduce files, process data and make the decision making processes faster
Raise resources for AMC
Salient Features:
Citizen can avail services from any counter in any of the centers
Help Desk fully equipped with necessary documents, forms and other assistance
Speedy delivery of services
Trained operator for providing services
Necessary provision of allied services
Services can be provided beyond office hours

What is the Project?
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is the first Municipal Corporation in India to facilitate better performance of the delivery of municipal services like birth and death registration, building plan, primary health and education, city cleanliness, water supply, sewage, road, street-lights, parks and garden through e-governance to the 36 Lacs citizens of the city. For this Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has established six City Civic Centers located in five zones of Ahmedabad city and also created forty-three ward civic offices all these interconnected via intranet/ Internet connectivity. AMC has endeavored that a Citizen need not to come to Municipal Office for paying any fee/ taxes which he can pay through net/bank/ cyber café. All this information is available on the website www.egovamc.com so that 24-hour remote access to AMC transactions and services are available.
Now at the click of the button, the citizens are able to see the property dues pertaining to them as on that moment or can access their birth and death record to check their entries. The Citizens are also able to look at the Infrastructural works being taken up in the Corporation while contractors are able to access the various tender notices alive at that moment. A builder can check the status of disposal of the building application made by him while citizens are able to track the status of disposal of the complaints or grievances made by them through the internet or through the Civic Center or in person.
The Web Site also gives online information related to the information as to how the property tax is arrived at, related procedures and government rules, building rules, regulations etc. There are so many information is available on our website like NRI directory, AMC Balance sheet, Voters list etc. The web site also carry linkages to the office Internet for the management, allowing them to gain access to it from any where by using their specific password.

CITY CIVIC CENTRE - A ONE STOP CIVIC SHOP

Not everybody in the country like ours has access to internet or much more so has the knowledge of computers. To mitigate this, the project decided to establish six computerized City Civic Centers which act as an outlet for citizens to have access to the civic services. The Civic Center has string of computers on the network and allows citizens to avail facilities like payment of property taxes, getting a death/birth certificates, file a water tap/ drainage connection request, apply & get building plan approval, lodge a complaint/grievance related to property taxes or sanitation, make miscellaneous payments and everything which requires physical presence and can't be transacted on the net through website.
As the Civic Center is on the network and connected to the main server which in turn is connected through the global internet protocol, the citizens can track the status of their application later on through the Corporation Website. For doing so, a unique registration number is allotted to every applicant, which can be later used to track the status. The system also helps system managers and corporation management to carry out internal monitoring about the disposal and redressal of such applications putting paid to any chance of delay, harassment leading to nepotism and corruption. The operation of the City Civic Center have also been connected to the web thereby bringing in transparency about the number of applications received and the concerned department to which they relate.
It's only a beginning as the areas where technology can make governments do their job better are endless. The gains are palpable, citizens are getting used to it considering the hits the site is getting. With Internet kiosks spreading all over, this can really become a harbinger for uniting the communities and making them feel better.

At present following services are offered at each City Civic Center:
Registration of Complaints
Instant Issuance of Building Plan Permissions
Payments of All Municipal Dues (Property Tax and Vehicle tax etc.)
Registration & Issuance of Birth and Death Certificate
Issuance of Licenses for Shops and Establishments
Information on Infrastructure Projects and Tenders
Issuance of Health and Hawker’s Licenses
Right to Information Application Received
Professional Tax
Pro Rata Charges (PRC Connection) water meter

Benefits:
Though the project is just an effort to leverage the benefits of ICT to the Citizen at large, as are other ICT projects, the following are perceived as the particular benefits of the pilot project:
Transparency to the citizens
Information & Accountability at the finger tips both for the citizens as well as employees of the Corporation
Increase in revenue for the Corporation

Way to go Narendrabhai

Educating the Girl Child : "Kanya Kelavani"
For any revolution, the spirit of revolt and readiness for change are essential and hence Modi’s emphasis on education, especially female education. Commitment, conviction and concern distinguish a statesman from a politician. Modi deposits each and every gift/souvenir received by him in the government treasury (toshakhana) for the cause of girl child education (kanya kelavani) a special fund Kanya Kelavani Nidhi has been created for this cause.

Within a span of 41 years, his 13 predecessors had deposited a meagre amount of Rs.4.55 lacs, whereas the present Chief Minister has deposited Rs.287.37 lacs in a period of 5 years. He has thus set a new trend of adding to the state exchequer, the trend that may prove to be a great challenge as well as inspiration for his successors to follow.

The dedication of a person of the stature of Chief Minister has influenced the society as a whole. Gradually people were touched by Modi’s commitment for the cause of female education and in public functions, instead of felicitating him by gifts or souvenirs, they have started donating cheques for Kanya Kelavani Nidhi. For this benevolent cause, they have voluntarily handed over more than Rs.11 crores to their beloved leader. This only vindicates the fact that when the intentions are noble and the commitment total, support flows from all directions.

Kanya Kelavani Nidhi has been created with a long term goal that no girl child in Gujarat remains illiterate; and the efforts have started yielding results. In 2006-07, the dropout rate of girl child has dwindled to 3.68 from 20.81 in 2000-01 (std 1 to 5) and to 11.64 from as high as 36.30 (std 1 to 7). The dwindling drop-out rates are equally supported by new enrolments through Kanya kelavani Rath Yatra (girl child enrolment drive), a unique initiative in Gujarat. Since 2003, every year in the month of June, the Chief Minister along with his team travels to remote villages to encourage parents to enrol their children in schools. It is a three day long statewide drive covering all the villages and the urban areas in scorching summer heat. An atmosphere of festivity and celebration is created. The young children now wait keenly to get themselves enrolled into schools.

Yet another initiative is Vidyalaxmi scheme, introduced during the last 5 years in villages where female literacy rate is lower than 35% and in the urban areas for the girls belonging to the below-poverty-line families. Vidyalaxmi bond of Rs. 1000/- is given to girl students who take admission to the 1st std and 8th std. The girl receives the amount of bond with interest on completion of std 7th and 10th respectively. This ensures higher retention rate.

Kanya kelavani is now a movement in Gujarat addressing the cause in totality. The initiative from the level of Chief Minister has moved the hearts of the society and state administration alike. The mood in Gujarat is to set new records; in the area of education in general and girl-child education in particular.

An update on SWAGAT

In 2003, the State Government in Gujarat, India, introduced an ICT-based communication application to improve the way that public grievances were dealt with.

Government plays a sizable & important role on socio-economic front of any individual/society in India. Citizens can submit a "public grievance (PG)" – a complaint that their application/registration/case has not been dealt with for a long time without any reason given, or has not been dealt properly. The Public Grievance system, if it works well, is critical to the transparency and accountability of Government, since it offers a key mechanism by which public servants can be held to account for their actions/inactions.

GoG started so called “Jansampark Cell” in 1998 where grievances were received, processed, forwarded, monitored, analysed for preparation & submission of summary reports.

It was then suggested that the Chief Minister (CM) become directly involved in the process. Thus the idea of SWAGAT day arise – a single day in each month when applicants can submit long-standing grievances to be reviewed by the Grievance Cell (GC), with hard-to-resolve cases passed up for direct intervention of the CM. He hears these grievances direct from the applicant, takes up the case with Government stakeholders involved, & then attempts to resolve the grievance.

Citizens can register a grievance on any day, & most should be resolved without need for recourse to the SWAGAT mechanism. However, on SWAGAT day (the 4th Thursday of each month), applicants whose grievance has not been resolved can press for that grievance to be taken up under SWAGAT. They deposit their grievances between 10.30 & 12.30 in reception area of the GC in the CM's Secretariat. The GC's SWAGAT determines which grievances are eligible. Cases selected are those that are particularly long-standing/where there is some acute humanitarian issue.

By 14.30 on SWAGAT day, GC presents a summary report to the CM with details of all the grievances. His attention will be drawn particularly to those cases that are outstanding on the day (i.e. for which the status report from the concerned department does not resolve the case). However, the CM reviews all cases submitted & may well speak to applicants even where the case is shown to have been resolved on the day. Where the case has not been resolved, the applicant can make a brief initial face-to-face presentation to the CM, who then contacts Government staff involved by video-conference (VC). Multi-Party VC facilities are available, enabling discussion between applicant, CM, & officials. The aim is to resolve outstanding grievances on the day.

The goal for SWAGAT was to improve the efficiency & effectiveness of Public Grievance handling in the state: both directly through SWAGAT & indirectly through the incentive effect on other grievances of staff not wishing to have to be called before the Chief Minister. Resolving long pending issues on the SWAGAT day will inculcate the faith & confidence in Governance as well as providing a demonstrable example of transparency & accountability.

The secondary goals for SWAGAT were to provide an effective ICT application that made good use of the high-bandwidth infrastructure set up in the state. Government recognised the strength & potential of ICT tools to bridge the gaps between the “demand & supply” of services to the public & “reciprocal access” between the two. GSWAN/SWAGAT sends clear messages inside & out side the Government about the modernity of Government, & the relevance of ICT.

This programme is presently a two tier arrangement at the State level as well as at the district level. At the district level a prior public notice is given to the people to represent their grievances. The grievances are collected, compiled and processed and on the day of the SWAGAT programme, the applicants are heard and their grievances redressed in the presence of a team of key officers of the district led by the district Collector. This district level programme takes place in the morning hours.

At the same time, those who are not satisfied with their previous encounters with the local administration, a forum has been made available at the level of Hon. CM at Gandhinagar. Such applicants may come to Gandhinagar along with their representation and approach the Hon. CM’s office for redressal of their grievance. A day in a month – 4th Thursday has been fixed and announced for such representations. Both the above arrangements are over and above the existing arrangements for public accessibility, hearing and redressal.

SWAGAT online program is held on every fourth Thursday of each month in the Chief Minister’s office in Gandhinagar. On this day the district level SWAGAT program is also held in each district by the district collectors in the forenoon. Prior notice to the public is given to enable them to represent their grievances. All government officers remain in their offices on this day to redress the grievances, provide information and to follow up the decisions taken.

Benefits

The system has reduced the response time & cost of settling grievances: a benefit for both Government & citizens. The direct resolution of grievances, SWAGAT has had an even more powerful indirect impact in encouraging state officials to resolve grievances before they reach the SWAGAT stage, given the significant threat that the CM may become personally involved.

Status:
GRIEVANCE STATISTICS FOR SWAGAT (From 24/04/2003 to 31/08/2008)

24/04/2003 to 31/08/2008
State Level District Level Taluka Level
Total Grievance received 934 40423 16147
Total Grievance redressed 907 38307 14419
Total Complaints Pending 27 1044 1728

Achievement:
§ Selected as one of the three international best practice case studies on e-transparency from Developing Transitional Countries in a project sponsored by COMMONWEALTH TELECOMMUNICATIONS ORGANISATION & coordinated by THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER in 2003.
§ Selected as Special mention in e-Government category for MANTHAN AWARD for the year 2005.
§ Selected as the finalist for United Nations Public Service Awards, 2006.
§ Selected as a finalist for MICROSOFT e-Governance Awards for the year 2006.
§ Replicated in Madhya Pradesh for online Grievance Redressal System of Chief Minister under “SAMADHAN ONLINE” banner in January,2006 as a hindi version of “SWAGAT”
§ Replicated in Rajasthan for online Grievance Redressal System of Chief Minister under “e-SAMADHAN” banner in January,2007 as a hindi version of “SWAGAT”

Wish he were still around at this point in time!

Dr.Shrikant Jichkar (September 14, 1954 - June 2, 2004) was a well respected and highly qualified Indian politician. He was born in a farmer's family in Aajangaon near Katol in Nagpur district, Maharashtra, India. He has 20 post-graduate University Degrees to his credit. Beginning as a Medical Doctor (MBBS and MD ) he did his Law (LL.B.) with Post-graduation in International Law (LL.M.) and his Masters in Business Administration (DBM and MBA) and in Journalism (B.Journ). He did his Masters in ten subjects. M.A. (Public Administration) ; M.A. (Sociology) ; M.A. (Economics); M.A. (Sanskrit); M.A. (History); M.A.(English Literature); M.A. (Philosophy); M.A. (Political Science) ; M.A. (Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology); M.A (Psychology). He got his D. Litt (Doctor of Letters) in Sanskrit , the highest of any Degree in a University. Most of his Degrees are with First Merit and he has obtained 28 Gold Medals. Between 1972 and 1990 he has written 42 university examinations. Limca Books of Record list him as the most qualified person in India. He held ministers post in almost all departments. A very good painter, professional photographer and a good stage actor, He was an Aahitagni and Agnihotri who established and maintained the three sacred Vedic fires. He performed one of the rarest and ancient Vedic sacrifices known as Agnishtom Soma Yajna and got the title of Dixit and Somayaji.
In 1977, he was elected President of the Nagpur University Student's Council. In 1978 he wrote the IPS (Indian Police Service) examination and got into it, resigned, wrote the prestigious IAS (Indian Administrative Service) examination in 1980 and got into it, resigning in four months to contest his first general election.
He belonged to the political party Indian National Congress. In 1980 he was elected to Maharashtra Legislative Assemble becoming the youngest MLA in the country at 25 and subsequently became a very powerful government minister holding 14 portfolios at a time. After 12 years in the Maharashtra Legislature he was elected to the Indian Parliament in 1992 where he was MP till 1998. In 1999 he lost the election to the Loksabha by a slender margin of 3000 votes in an electorate of 1.4 million voters.
He rose in politics as a student and youth leader. He has worked on several important committees of the State and Central Government , including the Parliamentary Standing committee on Finance; Patents committee; the Planning Board; Resources Mobilization Committee; Taxation Reforms committee , High Power committee on Irrigation and on Transport.
He served as a member of legislative assembly of Maharashtra from 1980 to 1992 and member of Rajya Sabha between 1992 and 1998. He also contested the Lok Sabha election from Ramtek in 2004 but lost to Shiv Sena's Subodh Mohite. He survived cancer.
He had travelled all around the world representing India and leading Indian delegations on several forums including the UNO, the UNESCO etc. He had one of the biggest personal libraries in India with 52,000 books. He travelled all around India speaking on economic topics and giving religious discoursesHe was killed in a car accident. His car collided with a bus about 60 kilometres from Nagpur while he was on his way back to Nagpur from his farmhouse in Amravati. He sustained multiple injuries and was rushed to a private nursing home where he succumbed to his wounds.

Narendra Modi's Green Revolution

Gujarat is all set to lead the country into the second green revolution. With a holistic approach adopted for water management, the implementation of Jyotigram Yojana (scheme for uninterrupted power supply) for providing round-the-clock 3-phase power and a host of other initiatives including Krishi Mahotsav (agricultural festival), Gujarat has witnessed impressive agricultural performance during the last five years.
Agriculture production has increased by 16 lac metric tonnes. GSDP from agriculture at current prices has increased by 128% during the period 2000-01 to 2005-06 reaching a whooping Rs. 33,659 crores. Gujarat is far ahead of the target of 4.03 % average annual growth rate set by the Planning Commission, in the first four years of 10th Five-year Plan.
The overall production/cultivation cost has come down dramatically from Rs 9150 to Rs 5025 per hectare and the land brought under cultivation has increased significantly.
In order to economize the use of water, Gujarat has also speeded up the promotion, awareness and application of micro-irrigation techniques such as Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation. While the centre has allocated Rs 400 crores towards drip irrigation for the entire country, the Government of Gujarat has already started work on drip irrigation schemes worth Rs 1500 Crores. The state government has also created 2.94 lac water harvesting structures like check dams, boribunds and Khet Talavdis (farm ponds) through people's participation.
Gujarat now has four Agricultural Universities which are networked for collaborative research. A strategy of "Lab to Land," offering technical assistance to the farmers with the help of scientists of agriculture universities has been introduced. This Lab to Land approach has enabled agri-research from the labs to reach the grass-root levels. The Government is setting up Agri Export Zones, one covering central and southern Gujarat and two in Saurashtra region are already notified.
Yet another initiative unique to Gujarat is the concept of Soil Health Cards. To ensure that the farmers know the quality of their soil and the ideal crop for their soil, a major programme of testing and analyzing the health of soil was taken up for all the villages in the state. Based on the data collected, the government has issued soil health cards to the farmers. These cards contain detailed soil analysis with recommendation for usage of right kind of fertilizers and seeds. More than one lac soil samples have been collected and scientifically analyzed and more than 235,000 soil health cards have been distributed.
Fruits and spices also saw a major jump in their production as compared to earlier years. Apart from traditional crops, the state is now going to be known for roses, strawberries, organic products and above all bio-diesel.

Great thinking by Narendra Modi

The piling up of court cases is a nationwide problem and everybody, from the poorest man to the highest authority, talks about 'justice delayed is justice denied;' but it is only Gujarat that came out with an innovative way to improve the situation by starting Evening Courts since November 2006. The initial response has been overwhelming. Using the existing infrastructure, 67 such courts have already been made operational and in a short span of time, 1,16,000 cases have been disposed off. The evening courts do not imply only additional working hours but also a system which enables the common man to seek justice without wasting his working hours during the day.
In addition to this, the experiment of Lok Adalat (People's Court) is also gaining ground. More than one million cases have been disposed off during the year 2006. Another innovative approach is the Nari Adalat (Female Court). Women groups have organized themselves into these informal judicial forums in order to redress the grievances and cases of women through consultation and negotiation. So far, 19 Nari Adalats have been set up and are functioning in a very professional manner.
Why is other part of the country doing? Why has the Government of India and other Chief Ministers not taken the example which is working well in Gujarat?

Bravo! Narendra Modi

SWAGAT is an innovative concept that enables direct communication between the citizens and the chief minister. In Gandhinagar, the fourth Thursday of every month is a SWAGAT day wherein the highest office in administration attends to the grievances of the man on the street. Grievances are logged in, transmitted and made available online to the officers concerned who have to reply within 3 to 4 hours. The departments concerned then have to be ready with the replies, before 3 p.m., when the Chief Minister holds video conferences with all the districts concerned. Applicants are called one by one and the chief minister examines each complaint in detail. The information sent by the department is also reviewed online in the presence of the complainant and the Collector/District Development Officer/Superintendent of Police and other officials concerned. Attempts are made to offer a fair and acceptable solution on the same day and no applicant has ever left without any firm reply to his grievance. The record is then preserved in the 'SWAGAT' database and a separate log is maintained for each case.
Owing to the innovative use of technology that injects in accountability in the government machinery, the International institutions such as the Commonwealth Telecom Organization and University of Manchester have considered SWAGAT as an excellent model of e-transparency.
Narendra Modi! The New Age Leader to take us forward.