minimum government - maximum governance
TRANSCRIPT
सत्यमेवजयते
Minimum Government - Maximum Governance
Special issue on initiatives conferred Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration on 21st April, 2015 at
Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi India
Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances Government of India
New Delhi
प्रशासनिक
सधुार
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Jou
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Vol. I No. 2 July - September, 2015
Vol. 1 No. 2 July-September, 2015
CONTENTS
Articles
1. Fulwari – An Initiative to Tackle Malnutrition 1
2. Emotional Drive Campaign - Towards Emotion-Centric People’s Development 12
3. Sakala - No More Delays - We Deliver on Time 28
4. Rationalisation of Affidavits for Reforming Public Service 41 Delivery System
5. Eraviperoor Grama Panchayat – Success story of Local Self 45 Governance
6. IT Consolidation of CBEC 50
7. Hum Chhuyenge Aasman 54
8. Saving the Wombs 59
9. Jashn-e-Jamhuriat : Reasi-Celebrating Democracy 69
Fulwari – An Initiative to Tackle Malnutrition
______________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Fulwari, an initiative to tackle Child Malnutrition in tribal areas, was set off by Surguja District
Administration as an innovation in 2012. It became a State scheme in 2013-14 and is
implemented in all 85 tribal blocks of Chhattisgarh. The initiative has created community-based
‗Nutrition cum Daycare centre‘ known as Fulwari centres. These centres provide feeding to
children (six months to three years of age) as well as to pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Funded through Gram Panchayats, these centres are managed by groups of mothers only.
Need for Fulwari Initiative
Chhattisgarh State had a very high prevalence rate of child malnutrition with 47 per cent children
being under-weight and 52 per cent stunted in 2005 (NFH-3, 1). Indicators of maternal nutrition
and birth weight have also been very poor. The situation was worse in tribal regions of the State.
Child malnutrition results in poor health outcomes and contributes to around one-third of child
mortality under age of five years. It also affects child development including cognitive
development.
*An Initiative of State government of Chhattisgarh.
The main reasons for malnutrition in tribal areas were found to be the following:
a) Lack of access to diverse foods, particularly, high quality foods for children.
b) Gaps in child feeding in terms of frequency of feeding, variety, quantity, calorie density.
c) High levels of malnutrition amongst pregnant women and low weight gain during
pregnancy due to poor diet and inadequate rest have resulted in high incidence of Low
Birth Weight
d) Mothers and other caregivers having inadequate time for child care and feeding
e) Recurrent infections amongst children
f) Gaps in knowledge and practices related to child nutrition
The above situation has persisted despite multiple interventions being in place.
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) has been the leading programme in India for
addressing child and maternal nutrition. However, the design of ICDS places more resources for
needs of three‐to six‐year‐old children who come to Anganwadi centre daily. The Anganwadi
worker provides them pre-school education and growth monitoring. The Anganwadi helper
cooks for them and a hot cooked meal is provided to three‐to six‐year‐old children. Thus, the
infrastructure and manpower of ICDS is concentrated on services to three‐to six‐year‐old
children. Whereas, global evidence suggests that malnutrition can be addressed best by focusing
on under-three years of age and pregnancy.
ICDS does cover children under-three years of age but the main intervention remains provision
of Take Home Ration (THR). The THR strategy has its limitations in addressing variety of
nutritional needs including high quality protein. It is also difficult to ensure that the THR given
to family is consumed by the children. Similarly, THR for pregnant women also has its
limitations. Children under-three years of age come to Anganwadi quite infrequently. It was
found that the average number of visits till reaching three years of age was around 10, mainly for
immunisation and sometimes for weighing. As a result, it becomes difficult for health workers
like ASHA and ANM also to reach children under-three years.
One major challenge in child care and feeding at homes is lack of adequate time available with
mothers. Most tribal mothers are involved in forest produce collection, farm operations and other
wage work. Therefore, interventions are required, in addition to ICDS, to address diverse and
frequent feeding, providing child care services and linkage with health. Crèche can be a strategy
for addressing all three needs for children under-three years.
Genesis of Fulwari Initiative
The initiative was conceived by the Collector of Surguja. A gathering of ‗Health Issues of
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (called Pahadi Korwa)‘ was organised in block Lundra of
Surguja on April 01, 2012. It was organised with the help of State Health Resource Centre
(SHRC), an autonomous society providing technical support to Department of Health. Two
NGOs - Public Health Resource Network (PHRN) and Chaupal Gramin Vikas Prashikshan evum
Shodh Sansthan were partners in organising the tribal meet. In the event, issue of malnutrition
was put forward by tribal women in front of Collector, Surguja. He decided to work out a
strategy with SHRC to address the issue.
Collector, Surguja and SHRC looked at the existing evidence on child malnutrition. A civil-
society based group (Working Group on Children below six years) had advocated the need for
crèches as an intervention to combat malnutrition. Jan Swasthya Sahyog (JSS), an NGO in
Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh, had been running crèches successfully for more than five years
at that time. Another organisation, PHRN initiated a project called Action Against Malnutrition
(AAM) in multiple States to demonstrate efficacy of crèches in solving malnutrition. Caregivers-
based model tried out by NGOs in Malawi of Africa was another inspiration.
Based on the above evidence, Collector, Surguja decided that a model should be designed with
the help of SHRC for community managed crèches based on involvement of mothers and other
caregivers. A campaign called ‗Surguja Suposhan Abhiyan‘ was designed. It had two main
components: a) Fulwari Crèches b) Promoting household-level production of diverse foods.
Collector, Surguja felt that pregnant women should also be covered so that the issues of maternal
nutrition couled be addressed.
The Collector organised discussions with district officials of Panchayat, SHRC and departments
such as Health, Agriculture, Women and Child Development, Horticulture, Watershed
development and Veterinary. Based on the consensus, a detailed plan was prepared. The plan
was presented before the General Assembly of Zila Panchayat and was duly approved by the
elected representatives of Zila Panchayat who showed keen interest in the proposal.
Design and Implementation of Fulwari Initiative
The key features of Fulwari were decided as:
a) Focus on feeding and care of under-three years old children, pregnant and lactating women
b) Organise daycare through habitation based collective of mothers
c) Promote household /community level production of diverse foods
Implementation
Mobilising Panchayats
After obtaining approval for Fulwari initiative from the Zila Panchayat, workshops were
arranged in all blocks of Surguja to discuss the intervention with Block Panchayat
representatives and the presidents and secretaries of Gram Panchayats. In addition, Community
Health Workers called Mitanins and volunteers from literacy programme were also invited to
these workshops along with the Mitanin Trainers (MTs), the field-level facilitators who provide
supportive supervision to Mitanins. This exercise helped in creating an understanding of the
initiative amongst Panchayats and Mitanins.
Selection of Habitations
Fulwari is a ‗demand-based‘ programme instead of a ‗target-driven‘. In each tribal block, a
shortlist of needy habitations is prepared by Mitanins and MTs based on the level of poverty, low
socio-economic status of community, remoteness and levels of malnutrition. The MTs are trained
to conduct community meetings regarding Fulwari. The MTs organise community meetings with
the help of Mitanins and local Panchayat members in each shortlisted habitation. MTs explain
the purpose of Fulwari and the role community has to play in it and ask the community if they
would be willing to run a Fulwari in their habitation on voluntary basis in terms of time and
space. Two to three meetings are done to confirm the willingness of the habitation. It is
formalised in the form of a resolution and the Gram Panchayat forwards the demand for Fulwari
to the Block Panchayat. The Block Panchayat sanctions the Fulwari based on such demand notes
received from Gram Panchayats.
Thus, initiating a Fulwari requires significant mobilisation of communities and dialogue with
them to take a collective decision. Mitanins are able to conduct this due to their own experience
and credibility as community based volunteers. Involvement of Panchayats also helps this
dialogue.
Cost and Fund-flow for Fulwari
The Government provides through Gram Panchayats, an average annual grant of Rs.50,000 to
each mothers, that runs a Fulwari. It includes Rs.4000 for initial set-up in terms of utensils, mats
etc. The rest of the funds are used on procuring local food stuff. The cost norm for food is rupees
six per child per day and for pregnant/lactating women is Rs.15 per woman per day. Children get
three meals in Fulwari daily including the breakfast. The breakfast is usually cooked from the
Take Home Ration (from ICDS) contributed by mothers to Fulwari kitchen. Thus, the actual
availability of resources with Fulwari increases in convergence with ICDS.
The funds flow in the manner below
from Zila Panchayat Block Panchayat Gram Panchayat Village Health Committee
Mothers group.
While the flow is through bank till Village Health Committee, they in turn give advance to
mothers in cash. The mothers group elects a Purchase Committee of three members to handle
cash and purchases. Pregnant women and lactating mothers get one breakfast and one meal in
Fulwari daily.
Day to Day Functioning of Fulwari
The key design feature different from conventional crèches was the importance given to the
involvement of mothers in managing the centre. Fulwari does not have a full-time worker for
cooking or child care. Fulwari crèche is set-up in space donated by a member of community for
the purpose. This space is usually a room or a courtyard of a family‘s house. Fulwari runs for
about 6-7 hours a day. Most of the mothers are free to do their work once they leave their
children in Fulwari.
The mothers‘ group, which runs the Fulwari, cooks and takes care of the children of Fulwari turn
by turn on voluntary basis. The group creates a weekly roster with two women on duty in
Fulwari each day. Thus, each woman contributes one day per week to Fulwari and is allowed to
have meals in Fulwari on the day of the duty. In addition, being part of the centre gives freedom
to the mother from child care for six days in a week. Thus is a Fulwari crèche, run with mutual
pooling of labour by mothers by shifting part of the child-care from mother to community. The
mothers, on duty in Fulwari, not only cooks, feeds and takes care of children but also arrange
play time for the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of the children.
Menu
Since nutrition is a key objective of Fulwari, menus are a crucial component. It emphasises the
need to include eggs (half to full egg per child depending upon age, four days a week), green
vegetables (daily), addition of oil in each feeding along with rice and pulses. The menu is
finalised by mothers‘ group keeping the local tastes and the above ingredients in mind.
Records in Fulwari
The registers in Fulwari record the following:
Daily Attendance of children, pregnant and lactating women, mothers on Fulwari duty
Monthly weights of all children and pregnant women
Place of delivery, weights of newborn
Expenditure on each item purchased
Capacity Building and Hand-holding Support
The mothers‘ group requires regular guidance and hand-holding support which is arranged
through Mitanins and MTs. Each Fulwari has fortnightly group meetings which are facilitated by
MTs. Mitanin being a resident of the habitation is always accessible to Fulwari. MTs also
provide capacity building inputs to Fulwari mothers on how to manage Fulwari and its records
regarding health and nutrition.
Linkage with Health
Nutrition is an issue with a close relationship with health. Recurring infections are a key cause of
malnutrition in children. Therefore, Fulwari ensures a close linkage with health services through
Mitanins. One component is on prevention of infections which includes proper handling and
storage of drinking water, hand-washing and use of mosquito-bednets.
Fulwari also makes it easier for health workers to access under-three year old children as they are
available together in Fulwari. Mitanin monitors absence of children and follows-up their well
being at their homes. In case any child is sick, Mitanin is able to intervene immediately. Thus,
monitoring sickness in children and its treatment gets facilitated by Fulwari.
Monitoring of Fulwari
Monitoring of Fulwaris is done by the Mitanin Trainers (MT) in fortnightly meeting of mothers‘
group. The Block coordinators of Mitanin Programme also make a monthly visit to each Fulwari
and record their observations in a monitoring check-list developed for the purpose. The
monitoring is supportive in nature and gaps identified are resolved in consultation with mothers.
The reports are compiled by State Health Resource Centre, the society that coordinates the
Mitanin programme on behalf of Health Department.
Benefits from Innovation and Factors Responsible for its Success
a) Impact on Malnutrition
• Baseline: Underweight 29%, Severe-underweight 16%
Second Round Survey: Underweight 24%, Severe-underweight 10%
24% reduction in overall under-weight rate
• August 2013, Rapid Assessment By Ravishankar University and JN Medical College,
Raipur showed 600 gm additional mean weight gain for children in Fulwari compared to
children without Fulwari over the period February to August 2013 (six month period).
• Chhattisgarh Interim Assessment Cohort Study (by SHRC) shows that 64% of severely-
underweight children enrolled in Fulwari, were able to come out of severe-underweight
category.
• The Low Birth Weight incidence has come down from 26% to 14% for newborns born to
pregnant women enrolled in Fulwari.
b) Fulwari‟s Additional Benefits
High Acceptability – As per required voluntary effort from mothers – in 92% of the
Fulwaris, mothers continue to be willing to contribute their time while communities are
willing to give space.
Practices related to hygiene and feeding have improved with the time and efforts.
Mothers have of Fulwari learnt more about preventing infections and child feeding by
participation in activities.
It made it easier for Mitanin, Anganwadi worker and ANM to reach young children and
pregnant women. Due to linkage with health, it is likely to reduce infections, improve
access to treatment without delay, reduce mortality.
It has helped in reducing the episodes of illnesses (diarrhea, malaria, ARI – Active
Respiratory Infections) and also seems to have reduced child deaths as sick children get
identified faster.
Pregnant women get rest and good diet in Fulwari. It results in better weight gain by
pregnant women and improvement in birth-weights of babies.
Growth monitoring has also improved.
Mothers were able to be free from child care for six days a week as childcare was
provided in Fulwari. It acts as a mutual support group for mothers.
Psycho-social development of children has improved as Fulwari promotes holistic early
child development practices in form of local made toys, home-like ambience, play, songs
and activities of children. It also brings together elements of nutrition, health and psycho-
social development for this critical age-group.
Household level production of vegetables etc. have increased.
Panchayats have started getting involved in Nutrition and Health.
It strengthens social image of Panchayats.
Fulwari brought the community together around the issue of improving child nutrition
Fulwari ‗s collective ownership by mothers and their control over funds has minimised
chances of pilferage.
It brought in inter-sectoral convergence for nutrition which is much needed for a multi-
factor problem of malnutrition.
Fulwari does not involve any fixed costs as there is building or salary to be provided.
This makes its scale neutral i.e. very small habitations having even 10 children can be
covered. There are a large number of such habitations in tribal areas.
c) The key factors in its success
Focus on the feeding and care of the right target groups – under-three year old
children and pregnant women
Linkage with health
Involvement of local communities in its implementation
Support of Mitanin community health worker programme
Inter-sectoral convergence
Documentation and Impact Assessments
Fulwari Initiative is being documented with the help of an external agency arranged with support
from UNICEF. A detailed baseline survey has been conducted on key indicators. Interim
assessments have been conducted with the help of a Medical college. The documentation on
Fulwari includes:
• Detailed Baseline Survey through UNICEF support and by External agency for Surguja
and then for Chhattisgarh.
• Rapid assessment of the impact was done by the team of experts from Pt. J.N.M. Medical
College, Raipur (C.G.) & Pt.Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur (C.G.) – early
August 2013
• Surguja Interim Assessment Survey after one year of Baseline survey -through UNICEF
support and by External agency February 2014
• Chhattisgarh – Interim Assessment Survey 2015 by SHRC
• External documentation done by CIPS Hyderabad
• External evaluation study conducted by hiring expert on orders of Panchayat department
Recognition
Fulwari Initiative received the Prime Minister‘s Award for Excellence in Public Administration
in April 2015. It was presented as an important segment of innovative practices at many national
and international forums.
Replication
The Fulwari model was developed keeping its potential for replication in mind. In order to
reduce its dependence on individuals, involvement of local stakeholders was built into the
design.
The model initiated in Surguja District has already been replicated across 19 districts of
Chhattisgarh. The State government has made it a State scheme in 2013-14. The replication roll-
out has been done successfully by following the processes designed in Surguja experiment. PRIs
play the key administrative and fund-flow role in district, block and village level. Mitanin
programme and SHRC (associated with Health Department) provide the capacity building,
supportive supervision and problem-solving support. Recently, Women and Child Development
Department has also been involved at the State level. The replication process has thrown some
challenges also: a) ensuring departmental involvement and designing their role in a programme
built on multi-sector convergence and community ownership b) improving fund-flow to Fulwaris
by reducing delays and bottle-necks.
Today, there are 2,850 Fulwaris operational, covering all 85 tribal blocks of the State with
enrollment of around 35,000 children and 16,000 pregnant/lactating women. The State
government has increased the allocation to Rs.30 crore in year 2015-16 to allow expansion into
6000 Fulwaris.
The initiative is needed for any area with a problem of malnutrition and poverty. Since, it
depends on collective community involvement, areas with close-knit communities are more
suitable for successful replication. Tribal areas offer both the above ingredients and therefore, are
best suited for replication. Further, it needs an active support structure like Mitanin to facilitate
community based processes. Such support structures which are empathetic to tribal mothers can
be promoted through civil society-government collaborations.
*****
Emotional Drive Campaign - Towards Emotion-Centric People’s Development
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Emotional Drive Campaign, a Campaign towards a citizen centric development was started in
2013-14, with the collective thinking of the Valsad administration. This is a sterling example of
how a sensitive district-level government mechanism has struck an emotional chord with the
tribal communities, thereby, successfully nurtured this rapport towards impressive results
through utilising government resources. The project, very aptly called ―Emotions drive people;
people drive CHANGE‖, is located in Valsad District in the State of Gujarat. It addresses a
hitherto unknown concept of ―Emotion-centric People‟s Development”, wherein a gamut of
government schemes has been put to an optimum use through convergence, providing the tribal
community with much needed social and economic security.
The project underlines the need for the government agencies to walk that extra mile to facilitate
community development processes that address issues and problems beyond the project targets.
It has strived to bring these remote tribal communities in touch with mainstream development
benefits. For communities, always deprived of land rights and traditional ownership over natural
resources, a generations-long wait is over.
The project has brought a visible succour to their pains, their suffering and their state of almost
nonexistence, thus replenishing their life basket with flowers and colours, as it were. It is also a
great advertisement of what a committed team of stakeholders can achieve, if they have the
belief; are willing to invest time and efforts; and most are ready to stand by a set of indigenous
values. The present campaign of Emotional Drive covered four flagship programmes and others.
Situation before Initiative
Earlier the people do not have any idea about the Forest Rights Act (FRA), people were just
waiting to avail their rights for the land ownership. Forest Rights Committee (FRC) was not able
to work on fast track mode because of limitations of data availability, maps besides, proper land
measurements were also not available with the District authority. All the Departments were
working with their own separate plans with limited awareness and without any proper
implementation of framework. There was a significant gap between claimed user rights and the
forest resources that the community uses.
Reasons for Undertaking the Initiative
Valsad district lies in the southern part of Gujarat with four of its talukas are designated as
‗backward‘. Of these, two talukas, namely, Kaprada and Dharampur are having 90 per cent of
An Initiative by the government of Gujarat.
tribal population. As per the census of 2011, in Valsad 55 per cent of their residing population is
tribal. This project was started in the absence of official process for FRA. Tribal people of these
talukas did not have any hope of land ownership and their rights about the FRA while land
encroachment was another issue at administration level. District administration studied all the
bottlenecks which were playing vital role for the backwardness; discussion at all levels gave
mirror image of the reality. The image said that ‗it is not only that land allotment under FRA can
serve all the problems. It is required to have bunch of the sequential convergence approach and
also need to cover all the government schemes under one umbrella. Combination of government
programmes can only be the perfect solution to remove or to decrease the poverty‘.
Effective Structure at Various Levels for FRA Implementation
Project Glimpses
Officers of the team giving information to tribal people about the schemes
Benefits
Project Approach
The project follows a two-pronged approach so that the benefits of government sponsored
development projects / programmes must reach both the individual tribal families and the
communities as a whole.
The basic method to realise this approach was to convene formal meetings and chintan shivirs
with all the three types of stakeholders: Primary, Secondary and Key stakeholders where the
participants hold healthy discussions on critical issues that they feel impede the present
development processes in the district and then prioritise them towards converging onto
sustainable solutions for each of them. The top most priority was identified as enhancing
maximum and legal access for the tribal population over land and forest resources, an issue that
has been hanging by fire for over a decade. The mode of delivery is in a mission mode, fortified
with scientific and transparent processes. This mission mode objective was divided in to three
phases: Planning, Implementation and Output. The Campaign commenced in 2013 and its
journey lasted for a year.
Planning
To execute the Forest Rights Act (2006), a large number of meetings were organised with
primary, secondary and key stakeholders hailing from the government, the community and civil
society organisations. For evidence, Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and
Geoinformatics (BISAG) map was provided to every member of community. Special meetings
were organised in Dharmapur, Kaprada and Umbergaon with forest officer, talati and members
to review the committee and provide guidance.
Implementation
For speedy implementation, constant follow-up and monitoring mechanism was developed for
various Forest Right Committees‘ work and progress of work done by Forest Rights Committee
and sub-divisional Forest Act Committee. All the land claims produced during GRAM SABHA in
front of Sub-Divisional Level Committee (SDLC) were approved and delivered, during the year
36 SDLCs called for this campaign. The highlights included night meetings (for spreading
awareness among the working labourers) with the involvement of village elders.
In India, a singular case covered the largest number of beneficiaries under History of land
allotment in the District. Within short period, District with tremendous efforts made miraculous
acheivements in the development sector.
Statistics of the land allotment
Valsad Comparison with State
Types of allotment No. of
Cases
Area of
Land allotted Amount %
% of Allotted Land
under FRA - Valsad
% of
Allotted Land
under FRA -
Gujarat
Individual 17,204 5069 Hectare 6509
lakh 62.62 62.57% 37.20%
Community 257 75414
Hectare
39458
lakh 100
During the process, 184 clusters have been formulated in the District. Initially, night meetings
were organised with the tribal people to spread the awareness about the FRA and other
Government programmes as it was not easy to convince the people to leave extra land
encroachment. Focus on FRA, Poverty, Agriculture, Health, Gender Empowerment, Education,
Social Welfare and on many more areas was proved to be a bundle of joy for the tribal families.
A few measures such as promotion of Land title on women name and prioritising marginalised
families were instantly brought in. For map and land data, Scientific method used to confirm the
claims (satellite maps used) with the help of BISAG. Joint survey was conducted by Forest
Department, Tribal Department and beneficiaries.
Value Addition Activities
During the campaign, though the land allotment was found to be main task but in order to make
safe, secure and happy society, the need arose to add some such activities which could create
obstacle less path for a sustainable society. In this regard, following services have been provided
to the community:
• Capacity Building of the tribal people to enhance their skills in modern agriculture
techniques, irrigation technology, value addition in the farming, future of agriculture and
women empowerment.
• Convergence with other government agencies like MGNREGA, GLDC (Gujarat Land
Development Corporation), Forest, Tribal, Horticulture and Floriculture, and all joined
hands successfully to develop safe, secure and sustainable society.
Social Security Scheme
This initiative is considered to be one of the "Swanta Sukhay Project" and it gives immense
personal satisfaction and gratification to be able to help and use all the resources of the District
under different schemes of the Government for the better future of most deprived section of the
society. Total 2,58,536 household (cent per cent) were covered for the survey.
Out of the BOX Initiatives
Door to door campaign covering 100% beneficiaries;
Taluka wise teams were formulated for identifying and verifying beneficiaries;
Dissemination of Information (both oral & documented) was undertaken by officers;
Special camps of “AGE CERTIFICATION” were organised at village level;
The Rights over Forest Land were ―distributed‖ on a single day in the presence of the then
Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Developed an automated software with SMS facility to the beneficiaries about the status;
Saving the time for money order and other paper work;
Statement generation which is useful for bill preparation in treasury; and
Software provides manually money order forms to submit in the post office.
Software Snapshots
Social Security Scheme – Allotment to the beneficiaries
Different Social Security schemes Order distribution by Hon'ble Minister
Programme Statistics
No Scheme Beneficiaries Amount (2013-2014)
1 IGNOAPS 22645 10.87 crore
2 NOP 3971 1.9 crore
3 RKS "Sankatmochan" 276 55 lakh
4 Widow Pension 5080 5.5 crore
5 IGNHPS & SSHPS 1067 51 lakh
Total 33039 19.3 crore
Orphan / Single Parent Identification
‗The one permanent emotion of the deprived society is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex,
the inexplicable, what he wants above everything else is safety and security‘.
• In financial year 2013-14, survey was done to
find out the single and orphan children,
Observation committee has executed the
project. Under the guidance of District
Collector and in the presence of Taluka
Mamlatdar, Chairperson CWC, Programme
Officer ICDS, District Social Defense Officer,
District Child Protection Officer, by staff of
DCPU and with the help of Anganwadi
workers these children were identified.
Outcome of the Project
• All the identified children were rehabilitated in various schools and government
residential schools
• Provided enough help to needy children and also provided counseling to many children.
Training given for identification of single child
222
1470
10
293
4
215
Orphans Single parent
Parents in jail
Handicap children
H.I.V. affected
Other
Types of single children
Synergy of Private, Public and Partnership(PPP) Model
" We are governed by lines of intellect, but need to by curves
of emotions"
A Parichay Sammelan was orgnaised by District
Administration with the help of 18 NGOs and industry
associations for the differently abled youth at Vapi.
Parichay Sammelan was conducted to cover following three
sections:
Parichaya Sammelan (Partner Selection): Total 850
entries were registered out of which 48 couples have
selected their partner and got a token of Rs. 20,000 as an
appreciation from the government.
Rojgar Sammelan (Employment Fair):
Industries from all over western region
of India participated in it to provide
employment to the differently abled.
298 youth were issued appointment
letters from companies of their vicinity.
Chintan Shibir (Solving queries &
providing solutions): The government
officials organised an interactive session for the differently abled to solve and explain the doubts
regarding the policies and benefits given to them.
For the first time ever, the government has come up with the directory with
At A Glance details of all the differently abled people living across
Western India; also Vapi emerged as a nodal centre for projected dealing
with differently abled.
Meeting at collector office reg. program
Swachch Bharat Mission
Swachch Bharat Mission, accessing sanitation facility from a basket of technologies, mainly
toilets, through one missed call given by the intended beneficiary! This concept was not easy
to digest initially by many, but the Collector of Valsad District (Gujarat) saw to it that it was
implemented!
A basket of various activities
were held in the district for this
mission. An exhibition titled,
‗Toilet Dom‘ was organised at
the District headquarters.
National level agencies
showcased their counters,
featuring 67 types of toilet
technologies.
To execute this scheme at the
grass root level, it is necessary to
have easy and single step support
system. A ‗Toilet Tracking Software‘ is not only an innovation but it is certainly a paperless,
no-queue initiative that people can reach out to. Any citizen can give a missed call on toll free
number 1800 200 1004 and a representative of the concerned government department would
arrive at the caller‘s door-step for programme formalities.
Strategically, the Collector of Valsad roped in a number of corporate partners in the vicinity for
support. Various committees were formulated at District level for planning, implementation
and monitoring.
With the help of 16 CSRs, target of 40,000 toilets was reached in rural and urban area of the
District costing approximately Rs. 19 crore.
Process Flow – Field Inspection
internet
GSM/ GPRS
Server
Field inspection officer with Tab
do the inspection of progress
in toilet workInstant Report in all
Stakeholders Mailbox.
database
Access all details &
Reports
anytime, anywhere
Remarkable Outcomes
To all beneficiaries of FRA have taken pledge
100% coverage in Umbergaon Taluka within short time period, total 11,485 toilets have
been sanctioned
Up to 2016, District has set up the target to construct 53,702 toilets through MGNREGA
and 40, 000 from CSR fund
Initiated solid waste and liquid waste management programme
Commitment for 16,915 toilets from industries under CSR
Single missed call and Toilet Tracking Software develop bridge between community and
Government received 4,686 calls out of that 4,471 calls were tracked, 3,759 toilets were
sanctioned for the construction.
Received 712 calls from various district to get information about the mission.
Some More Colours
Many more initiatives were taken in the campaign, it was started with one objective but during
the entire journey it reached many development milestones. Some of them are as follows:
Fariyad Nivaran Camp, Under the programme "Prashasan Aapna Dware", Fariyad Nivaran
Camps were organised at Taluka level in remote villages
Urban Area free from Malnutrition, under a special drive many programmes were organised
regarding malnutrition in the urban areas of the District
Integrated Web – Mobile Projects Monitoring System for District Urban Development
Agency : www.dudavalsad.in . Nominated for the CSI Nihilent e-Governance
''Dudh Sanjeevani Yojana'' provided flavoured milk to 22,000 children of tribal areas of
Kaparada and Dharampur with the help of CSR fund
On the occasion of former Chief Minister & present Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra
Modi‘s birthday, ―Dudh Sanjivani Scheme‖ was launched in Public-Partnership Model.
Under ''Dudh Sanjeevani Yojana'' milk bags are provided twice in a week – Tuesday &
Friday to approximate 22,000 children of tribal area of Kaprada and Dharampur talukas,
with help of different NGOs/ donors and Sumul Dairy by the Administrative Department of
Valsad District. The project is executed by Women & Child Development Department.
• This project cost is Rs. 642 / child / year and approx 22,000 children covered. Approximate
project cost is Rs. 1.43 crore.
• Looking upon the success of the project, government of Gujarat adopted the policy,
incorporated in their budget & given expansion to all the tribal talukas of the District.
• In Umbergaon taluka, 200ml of milk was provided to Eklavya Model Residential School
(E.M.R.S) / Girls‘ Residential School (G.R.S.) and Ashramshala students.
Distributions of Beans & Dry fruits
On the occasion of ―Gatishil Gujarat‖, a
programme ― Adivasi Adhikar and Sashaktikaran
programme‖ – villagers / leaders / NGOs donated
51 ton grains and 1971 kg Dry fruits (of Rs. 5.48
lakh) was collected.
Grains were distributed in all the 352 Anganwadi
of Kaprada and 32 Anganwadi of Dharampur
Taluka. Total 48,975 children were benefited.
Dry fruits were distributed in all the Anganwadi of
Valsad District and total 1,17,388 children were
benefited.
Data of Malnutrition of Valsad District (Impact of Dudh Sanjivani Programme)
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
Yellow Zone % Red Zone %
2011-12
2013-14
43234
74
1702142
Non-tangible during the Emotional Drive: Benefits to the TEAM
• Each of the staff members has become a change catalyst.
• Various departments have started working in collaboration with each other instead of
working silo to achieve the desired goal of the Government.
• While conducting house visits and working pro-actively to help the deserving and needy,
the staff felt very much connected to people and each other which leads to great work
satisfaction amongst the staff.
Third Party Evaluation & Impact Assessment
• An Impact Assessment is a tool designed to examine the efficacy of a project. Its efficacy
is considered in terms of the project‘s ability to bring about an overall positive change in
the lives of the project‘s beneficiaries and partners.
• In the present context, examining the impact of the emotional drive campaign would
simply mean asking: ―What changes have occurred in the lives of the FRA‘s
beneficiaries, now that their emotions have been enhanced as a result of owning an asset
as precious as forest land?‖
• Normally, impact assessments are carried out by a third party to bring in a sense of
neutrality, transparency, non-bias in the exercise. In the present case,
―GRISERV‖(Gujarat Rural Institute for Socio-Economic Reconstruction, Vadodra) was
commissioned to perform this role.
Major Outcome of the Emotional Drive:
• Development of quick and speedy delivery and implementation system
• Development of enthusiasm team for mission mode project
• Breed the concept of the ownership, participation and sustainability amongst the tribal
community
• Made a new initiative in the system ‗Sarakar Aapke Dwar‘ a direct dialogue with
community
• Improvement in measurable indicators with the support of Information Technology
• Provide secure livelihood with promotion of agriculture
• Provide backward and forward linkages
• Convergence with multiple agencies and programmes
• Draw the colorful image of the government in the community „Ready to lend a Hand‟
• Direct effect on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and HDI (Human Development Index)
• Up gradation in the life style, increased happiness index and high rate of security and
satisfaction index of the community
• Reduction in migration
• Solved problems of riots, loot fat and unemployment
• Turn down the mal nutrition status of the women and children
• Capacity building through vocational skills trainings
Salient Features of the Project
In a space of just 18 months, the project has regularised the highest number of cases
under Forest Regulation Act and allotted land to more than 17,000 families
―Prashashan Aapke Dwar‖, a concept to bring the government administration at the
doorstep of people made easy, thus making the citizens‘ access to Government both
smooth and quick
Evolving a Delivery System that is Easy, Efficient and Effective
Creation of a large pool of skilled women (1500) through a single programme
Optimum use of ICT for Rural Innovations
Creating a mechanism to facilitate participatory macro & micro planning
Convergence in a real sense, created durable assets and Innovative programmes
Transparency and Stakeholders‘ participation including the CSOs and the Corporate
sector
Provided Backward and Forward Linkages, from land allotment to marketing the
products grown on these land
Third party evaluation of the project to ensure transparency & neutrality
No extra financial support demanded from the State, all the fund management and
modification done at District level.
Great Team work at District level with dynamic Leadership
Project was reviewed by a Central Government team and nominated for the award
More than 2000 people have taken the pledge on SWACHCH BHARAT MISSION
Focussed on physical disabled marginalised people of the community through ‗Parichay
Samelan‘ and them to mainstream for development through employment, marriage (48)
of handicap people and provide support to single parent children.
Promotion of women empowerment through land ownership(100%).
100 % coverage of IAY (Indira Awaas Yojana) under below poverty line(1 to 20 score)
Way forward
In way forward, District Administration has tied up with Sula wine while replicating the same
MODLE in Silvassa (UT).
Financial Inclusion: Compare to last year 40 per cent FI has been increased; people have been in
contact of banks and taken loan to enhance their small scale business. 30 per cent families have
taken loan from SHGs. In coming year, District authority has started to cover cent per cent
beneficiaries.
Convergence: A bunch of schemes provided backward and forward linkages to the people. Many
agencies and schemes were planned and converge with each other in a sequential manner to
support each and every activity which escorts to end result of the development and sustainable
society.
Social Security and Utilisation of Government Programmes: Through various programmes,
awareness level has been increased about the government programmes in the community. Cent
per cent of intuitional delivery utilisation of 108 services in all deliveries, cent per cent coverage
of social schemes are the major achievements of the drive.
Sakala - No More Delays - We Deliver on Time
Introduction
Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed Karnataka Guarantee of Services Act in December 2011.
The Act mandated in-time delivery as well as penalty on government officers for delay/defaults
in delivery of services. Sakala Mission was constituted for effective implementation of
Karnataka Guarantee of Services Act, 2011 to ensure in-time delivery of Citizen Centric Services
offered by the government. Sakala Mission was founded with the mandate of implementing the
Act across Karnataka, spread over 30 districts and 177 talukas and covering a population of 6.2
crore people.
Situation before the Initiative was taken
Before the Act was implemented, there was a lack of uniform service procedures and
standardisation of services and documents required for availing a public service. There was no
way for a citizen to know, as to when will he/she get a public service, or even get to know about
the status of the applications. As a result he/she had to make multiple visits to various
offices/desks, to chase the files. In case an application was rejected, the citizen had no right to
know as to why the application was rejected. Hence, citizens were powerless and helpless vis a
vis the government employees, in respect of availing government services.
Also, there was no mechanism for the government to know as to which districts and which
departments are doing a good job while delivering services. Basically, at the core of
administration, there was no system for objective measurement of performance while delivering
the public services.
Reasons for Bringing in Sakala
The State government decided to enact Right to Services Act with the following objectives:
1. To reform the administrative set up for ensuring good governance.
2. To create a single monitoring system for service delivery.
3. To fix time lines for each service delivery.
4. To fix accountability on a single official responsible for the service.
5. To empower the citizen to avail of the services as a matter of right.
_____________________________________________________________________________
It is an Initiative by the State government of Karnataka.
6. To reduce human interface by use of information technology.
7. To prevent corrupt practices and enhance government efficiencies.
SAKALA Gets Its Name, Slogan and Logo from Its Citizens
Sakala in Kannada means ‗in time or good time‘. The citizens chose this name and slogan, "No
More Delays, We Deliver on Time", as time consciousness among employees was considered to
be the most critical attribute of Good Governance by them. The logo shows that if Time lines are
not adhered to, the hammer of Justice will strike!
Challenge and Opportunity to Build Service Delivery
The commitment of the State Political leadership to this reform was the major motivational
force behind of its success. Since Government had notified services to be included under the Act
in a time bound manner, the challenge was to build a uniform service delivery and monitoring
system which should also get integrated with existing departmental applications, as officials are
reluctant to move from one application to other. Efforts were thus made, to reduce the volume of
work for each of them, to have a built-in incentive for adopting the change or reform.
First thing to be ensured was that every citizen must get an acknowledgement with the date of
submission and date of delivery printed on it. And this data should be available at all levels- from
Principal Secretary to the field office level, for facilitating on-line monitoring.
What Gets Measured, Gets Done
The Creation of a common Management Information System and data flow in the system, was a
tough task. There was hardly any such large e-Governance programme existed, to ensure real
time data entry and monitoring in the public domain. Hence, there was a need to Innovate!
National Informatics Centre (NIC) was taken as the IT Solution provider for the development
and roll out of Sakala Software across the State and they did a wonderful work. Development
and implementation of this portal became the first priority and consumed a lot of time but at this
point it was more than worth the effort!
Pilot Districts
The Act was passed in December, notified in January and the pilot was planned in March 2012.
Initially, 151 services of 11 Departments were taken on voluntary basis. As most of the
Government Service Delivery take place at Tehsil offices, Deputy Tahsildar Offices, Police
Stations, Gram Panchayats etc, before rolling out this portal at such a large scale, that its efficacy
in actual field usage was tested. Hence four districts of Bidar, Dharwad, South Canara and
Chitradurga were taken as Pilot districts, where the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) were pro-
active. DCs were made the leaders of the team to co-ordinate with all government officers
serving in their jurisdiction. They were asked to select one Taluka each where the Tahsildar was
proactive and efficient. The pilot districts gave 99 per cent success rate which paved the way for
State under roll out in April 2012.
How Does Sakala Work?
A comprehensive IT Solution has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) to
enable implementation of the Act by providing a transparent on-line monitoring mechanism for
the services requested by a citizen at www.sakala.kar.nic.in/gsc_rpt. Whenever the request for
the service is made, the citizen receives an acknowledgement slip with a unique 15 digit number
called the Guarantee of Services to Citizen (GSC) number. With the help of the GSC number, a
citizen can monitor the status of his application on the web-site www.sakala.kar.nic.in which is
impregnated with all information about the Act, department, services, time frames, service
procedures, check lists of documents to be submitted frequently asked questions downloadable
application for me etc. This system also has a ‗mobile interface‘. Citizens can check the status of
their application by sending an SMS from a mobile phone by typing their 15 digit GSC number.
The system will send a reply back to them with current status of their application. Citizens are
encouraged to give their mobile numbers at the time of registrations so that they can be
automatically intimated about the interim status of their applications. Citizens can also call up
the Call Centre (080-44554455) to get any information related to the Act or their application.
Hence their visits to offices were reduced and the Government services were only a call way!
Sakala Portal [www.sakala.kar.nic.in]
Sakala Portal is available in both Kannada and English Language. Portal gives information
about individual Sakala Offices (where the services are delivered under time bound manner) ,
Service Procedures for each service under Sakala, Tracking of Sakala Service Applications,
Reports, Government Orders etc.
Sakala Portal is accessed by more than 40,000 Government Offices in the State of Karnataka for
Service Delivery and MIS Monitoring Reports (Due Today, Due Tomorrow)etc. Sakala Portal
also sends automatic SMS alerts at beginning and end of day to designated officers regarding
applications to be disposed off and total number of applications received.
Single Window Approach
Call Centre is a bridge between citizens and the Mission. For a large number of people who may
be unable to use either the SMS mode or the website, a ‗Call Centre‘ is available to assist the
citizens (080-4455 4455). A single call by the citizen giving the GSC number is sufficient to set
the appeal process rolling. The Call Centre functions as a hub for collecting complaints,
providing information and serving as a feedback tool to understand the pulse of our citizens.
Grievance Redressal
In case the application is rejected or if the service is not provided within the stipulated time,
citizens can file an appeal before the Competent Officer (CO) to redress their grievance quoting
the GSC number by simply calling the Call Centre – 080 4455 4455. The CO will hear the
appeal and redress the grievance within the specified time. Citizens can claim in cash the
compensatory cost of Rs. 20 per day for the delayed period subject to a maximum of Rs. 500
from the CO, upfront. The same shall be deducted from the salary of the designated officer or his
subordinate responsible for delay or default, automatically in the next month.
A corpus of rupees five crore has been provided by the State government for the COs to draw as
„impress amount‟ for paying compensation in cash to the citizens without any delay.
Performance Management in Sakala
Every month, a report card of all departments and districts is published and released by the
Minister to the media. A healthy competition is generated due to ranking of districts, talukas,
departments, Assembly/Parliamentary constituencies, based on the efficiency and effectiveness
of Service Delivery. To account for differences in population size among the districts, weightage
is given so that they are normalised with respect to their population.
Performance Ranking Report
Parliament Constituency Wise Performance Management Report
Source: http://sakala.kar.nic.in/gsc_rpt/gsc_Reports/PerformanceReport.aspx
Data Driven Analytics in Sakala Service Delivery
Sakala uses extensive Data Driven Analytics for improving Service Delivery. Service/District
wise performance is measured on rejections, their percentage and average time taken for Service
Delivery. Data Driven and analytical measurements are done at Service Delivery Offices, Taluka
Offices, District Offices and at overall State level.
These measurements are used for Government Process Re-Engineering of Services. Average
Service Time measurements are used for reducing the average service delivery time for example
Police Verification Time for Passports was reduced from 90 to 20 days.
Rejection Analysis
Pendency Analysis
Standardisation of Service Delivery : ISO Certification of Sakala
Sakala Mission has been certified for ISO 9000 in a record time of 60 (sixty days). This has also
lead to Sakala Mission winning DL Shaw Quality Award.
Use of Social Media for Citizen Participation
A multi-pronged communication strategy through Information Department has been adopted to
make Citizens aware about their Right to Services. They have been empowered to raise questions
or give suggestions through phone in programmes in Doordarshan, or through Call Centre,
Facebook, Twitter etc.
STREET PLAY IN YADAGIR
The services for which Citizen grievances were received, they were taken up for inclusion in the
next phases of expansion of services under the Act. Some of the citizen led reforms/feedbacks
are sampled below.
Scale: Sakala Today
a) More than 40000 Government Offices delivering Sakala Services
b) 689 government Services in 52 departments delivered in time bound manner
c) More than 8.9 crore citizens benefited with time bound Service Delivery
15. Benefits of Sakala
1. Citizen Empowerment for Demanding time bound delivery of 689 Services acros
5Departments, with 99% success rate.
2. More than 8.9 Crore Citizens Benefitted.
3. Data Driven Approach for Objective Performance Evaluation of Districts, Departments,
Legislative and Parliamentary Constituencies.
4. Standardization and simplification of Services Procedures, Documents Desired, Fees of
Services.
5. Local Employment Generation - Help Desks set up at each Taluka Office.
6. Reduction of Time in Delivery of Services.
7. Reduction in Rejections of Applications
8. Positive Mindset of Government Employees regarding Citizens‘ Service Delivery.
9. Objective Performance Appraisal & Monitoring System
Concurrent Evaluation
Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore has been entrusted with the job of concurrent
evaluation of Sakala. A monthly appraisal report is being prepared by the Institute to guide the
Mission and on any new programmes. IIMB‘s evaluation reveals that staff is very happy with
ease in work after Sakala‘s effective implementation.
Independent Evaluation by International Marketing Research Bureau (IMRB)
Sample of 10050 covered across 117 Top requested Services under 17 departments. Six districts,
Belgaum, Bengaluru, Chamarajnagar, Dakshin Kannada, Davanagere and Gulbarga were taken
to evaluate the quality of public service delivery, before and after Sakala. The targeted sample
for each service was restricted to 25 for Bangalore and 20 for other districts.
Highlights of Independent Evaluation Findings
Experience Before Sakala / Pre- Sakala After Sakala / Post- Sakala
Overall experience with the
Application related information
44% (combination of Good &
Very good rating)
97% (combination of Good &
Very good rating)
Overall experience with the
application status tracking
44% (combination of Good &
Very good rating)
99% (combination of Good &
Very good rating)
Overall experience with the
fulfillment of Service request
43% (combination of Good &
Very good rating)
94% (combination of Good
& Very good rating)
Ease of application of service 37% (% of Yes) 95% (% of Yes)
On-time delivery of service 36% (% of Yes) 94% (% of Yes)
Need to meet more than 1 official
for service fulfillment 52% (% of Yes) 7% (% of Yes)
Politeness and helpfulness shown
by officials during submission of
application
46% (% of Yes) 99% (% of Yes)
Experience Before Sakala / Pre- Sakala After Sakala / Post- Sakala
Receive the GSC number as
acknowledgement NA (it was slip/chit earlier) 90% (% of Yes)
Rejection of application 4% (out of 6148 Citizens) (% of
Yes)
1% (out of 9656 Citizens) (%
of Yes)
Issue (if any )resolved by
Appellate authority NA 99% (% of Yes)
Sakala Awards and Accolades
Google “CLUB INNOVATOR”
Award
D L Shaw Quality Award IELTS CloudGov Award
Sakala - Way Forward
SAKALA Mission is a highly innovative organisation, facilitating continuous brainstorming for
new programs to be brought out for the benefit of the civil society, viz:
• SAKALA FOR WOMEN: An exclusive women centric citizen services provided to
cater to the emerging needs of the Women and removing social barriers.
• EASE OF BUSINESS: Industry and Commerce related services included under the Act.
• SMART-SIP FOR SAKALA STUDENT INTERNSHIPS attracting
IIT/IIM/International students for assisting various citizen centric projects.
• SAKALA CSR: Attracting Corporates to empower citizens through publicity and
generating employment through Cyber Cafes.
Sakala Service Delivery through Cyber Cafes
Over 912 MOUs in all 30 districts/talukas have been signed with IT entrepreneurs to start
operations for providing 150 online services to citizens. Now citizens can get the services
delivered at their finger tips, in the comfort of their homes and office computers or mobile
applications. The merits of the proposed model are that the Government can capture data of
citizen needs, satisfaction and happiness index in reaching the required services. This will also
help in local employment generation and bridging the digital divide in rural Karnataka.
Rationalisation of Affidavits for Reforming Public Service
Delivery System
______________________________________________________________________________
Background
The Interaction of the State vis-à-vis citizens continues to remain divergent, even antagonistic, in
terms of realisation of the claims, entitlements and the basic rights. The institutions, norms and
procedures continue to function as colonial constructs, causing a visible disconnect between the
State and the people. However, denial of key values such as identity and dignity to the large
sections of the population results into an ‗exclusion‘ experience. In this case, they remain
‗deficient citizens‘. This denial of ‗personhood‘ across board has led to a call for ‗the right to
have rights‘.
Affidavits were required in support of facts given by the applicants for issuing of various
certificates, related to income, residence etc. Affidavits are affirmations by the applicants
(supported in some cases by third parties). For example, in the case of delayed registration of
births up to one year, an affidavit by an applicant is sufficient, whereas, in the case of income
certificates, affidavits of third parties are required. The practice was also prevalent in public
utility services and affidavits may be required for getting new power connections, water and
sewerage connections/ new constructions. An affidavit, thus, was an important pre-requisite for
most of the need-based services. Generally, affidavits required stamp paper/stamp fee and need
to be sworn before a Magistrate or a Public Notary.
Cost to Citizens
Affidavits imposed their own cost on the citizens - buying stamp paper, locating a deed writer,
payment to the Notary for attestation and, of course, the time and efforts consumed in these
processes. On the other hand, affidavits have no particular sanctity in law and the same function
can be easily performed by declarations.
In Punjab alone, it is estimated that at least half the households file affidavits annually for one
service or the other. Extrapolating this figure to India, the total number may be more than 20
crore citizens/affidavits and assuming a cost of Rs.400 per affidavit (one day wages plus stamps,
fee and charges), the total expenses incurred by the citizens in India could well be to the extent
of Rs. 8,000 crore, approximately.
It is an initiative of State government of Punjab.
Abolition of Affidavit for Public Service Delivery
Affidavits, therefore, have been replaced by Self-Declarations for most of the services in the
public utilities/agencies. The applicant/signatory continues to be responsible for the statement
made. An advantage, that the public agencies have, is that they can also impose penal liability for
making wrong statements in terms of suspension of the services (suspension of ration card
facilities, disconnection of power supply etc.).
This practice of Self-Declaration has been adopted in place of Affidavits. This has saved a lot of
bother and sizeable expenses to the citizen, having to procure stamps/stamp paper that is mostly
not available at the place where the affidavit is to be submitted. Some of the Central Government
agencies (passport, income tax etc.) have already adopted this practice.
There appears to be no legal problem in adopting this practice. The Indian Penal Code contains a
number of Sections such as 177, 193, 197, 198, 199 and 200. These Sections specifically deal
with the implications of any false information/evidence/disclosure/declaration made by the
deponents and any such instances have been included to be subjected to the imposition of
penalties, fines, registration of criminal cases and even imprisonment.
The Punjab Governance Reforms Commission (PGRC) recommended abolition of affidavits for
getting various government services, where these were not required under any statutory
provision. By abolishing this practice of seeking affidavits from the citizens, government has
achieved the prime objective of trusting the citizens and their self-declarations as well as saving
precious time and money relating to the preparation and submitting of affidavits.
Objective
Implemented on April 01, 2010, the initiative helped reduce the efforts put by citizens in
confirming their identities and statements while applying for public services. It has also reduced
the financial burden and time of citizens and government officials involved in the Affidavit
process required for Public Service Delivery.
Strategies Adopted
Different strategies were adopted for bringing about the transformation having a positive impact
on Public Service Delivery system. Following are some of the strategies involved:
Analysis of the different departments‘ services where Affidavits were required.
Discussion with the concerned departments/agencies to review the requirement of
Affidavits for services of their respective departments.
Selection of those services where Affidavits can be replaced with the Self-Declarations.
Field implementation of the changed process in Suwidha centres/departmental offices.
Role of Various Stakeholders
Department – Departments verified the importance of the Affidavit in various citizen
specific services and then segregated them into two parts - where Affidavit really
required and where Self-Declaration was enough to prove the citizen statements.
Suwidha Centres- For effective implementation of this initiative as most of the Public
Services are applied through these centres established by the government of Punjab.
Citizens - Citizens have benefitted as the Service Delivery process has become hassle
free.
Highlights
Innovativeness of the Initiative and its Replicability: Before starting the practice of Self-
Declaration, Affidavits were required for various citizen centric services like Residence
Certificate, Issuance of Ration Card etc. Now since the new practice of Self-Declaration is
started, it has reduced the time, efforts and costs to the citizens. As per the estimation, more than
20 crore Affidavits are required in India for various services and it costs approximately, Rs. 8000
crore to the Indian citizens in an year. The total expenses include the one-day wages of applicant,
stamps, fee and charges etc.
Increased Efficiency of Outputs/Process and Effectiveness of Outcomes: Number of applications
regarding the Affidavits has been reduced at SUWIDHA centres drastically. In 2009, the
Affidavit-related applications were 14,88053, approximately 65.05 per cent of total requests. In
2012-2013, it is only 3,20,963, approximately 9.81 per cent. Due to this, now SUWIDHA
centres‘ efficiency has been increased in terms of providing other services to the citizens.
Sustainability of the Initiative: The initiative is already implemented in more than 40 citizen
related services and work is in progress to achieve more such services to make this initiative
further useful and forever.
Benefits
Improvement in Delivery Time of Services: SUWIDHA centres are delivering the other
services within specified timelines and the actual number of the services being dispensed
at these centres have gone up four times between the 2009-10 and 2012-13.
Better Beneficiaries‟ Feedback: This is general perception and the same is reflecting in
numbers also since the Self-declaration has replaced the Affidavit, the process to avail a
lot of services has became smooth. It is beneficial to the citizens a lot in terms of efforts,
time and money.
Improvement in Measurable Indicators: Number of applications regarding the Affidavit
have been reduced at SUWIDHA centres drastically. In 2009, the Affidavit related
applications were 14,88,053, approximately 65.05 per cent of total requests. In 2012-13,
it is only 3,20,963, approx 9.81 per cent.
Simplified Procedures: The practice of Self-Declaration has been adopted in place of
Affidavits. This has saved a lot of difficulties, and sizeable expenses for the citizen,
having to procure stamps/stamp paper that is mostly not available at the place where the
Affidavit is to be submitted.
(A comparative analysis of the key result areas, key performance indicators and other socio-
economic impact parameters, before and after the implementation of the initiative, in the form of
a table, is a MUST)
Parameters 2009-10 2012-13
No. of Total Services at Suwidha in Punjab 22,68,439 32,70,715
Count of Affidavit in Punjab 14,88,053 3,20,963
Affidavit % in total no. of services in
Punjab
65.5% 9.8%
Cost @ 400/- Approx. per Affidavit (in
Punjab)
59.52 crore 12.83 crore
Cost includes one-day wages, stamps, fee and other charges**
*****
Eraviperoor Grama Panchayat – Success story of Local Self Governance
______________________________________________________________________________
The Initiative - Eraviperoor Grama Panchayat has been a step forward in achieving the goal of
Good Governance that ensures the well being and better livelihood opportunities for the people.
The Panchayat has given priority to e-Governance at the grassroots level, making local self-
governance citizen-centric, efficient, responsive, cost-effective, and result-oriented, thus giving a
fillip to rural development. It was formed and implemented by the Board members of the
Panchayat and various officers of the organisation jointly. Its implementation was completed by
March 31, 2014.
Decentralisation process in Kerala has empowered the local self-governments and Eraviperoor
Grama Panchayat to take active role in various development activities.
Objective
To boost the various developmental activities, the Initiative has proved to be a milestone. These
activities include - Paperless Office, Village Knowledge Centre, Environment Gramasabha,
Waste Management, Mini Water Supply Scheme, Arogya Sabha, Jagratha Samithy, Haritha
Gramam and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
i) Paperless Office – Modernisation of the Panchayat office was completed in target time
thereby, achieving the target of total quality management.
Modernisation and e-Governance are applied in the administration of the Panchayat office.
Installation and application of 12 softwares developed by Information Kerala Mission (IKM, a
Government agency) have helped run the office functions in modern, systematic and speedy
way. Civil registrations of Birth, Death and Marriage from 1970 onwards are fully digitalised
during 2013-14. The digitised data ported to the website and extract of the certificates are
available on the website. The activities of the Panchayat are informed to the public through SMS
alert (voice and text messages). Giving a lot of stress on e-Governance at the grassroots level, the
Panchayat‘s public information is being passed over to people by SMS alerts. Honorarium as
well as salary of the Panchayat staff are being sent online, directly to their bank accounts on the
first working day of every month.
All sections of the office, including Front office, were under network. A Touch screen has been
fixed near the Front office to trace the file movement and information while the boards were also
displayed to inform the services provided by the office and the procedure for filing of application
_____________________________________________________________________________ It is an Initiative by the State government of Kerala.
for the service concerned. It is also the first Panchayat in the State to get ISO-9001 certification
for its Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Othera.
The PHC has taken several steps to ensure quality healthcare, like computerisation of the out-
patient wing and modernisation of the pharmacy.
Records and Documents of the office are arranged subject and year wise, in order to trace out the
files and to deliver the service in time. The office is also connected with Wi-Fi.
ii) Village Knowledge Centre - Panchayat Library changing its functions to cultural and
education activities
The project for Village knowledge Centre is a unique project by the Panchayat. It involves the
upgradation of Panchayat Library in order to make it as a good reference library. Equip brilliant
students to achieve Civil Services and other competitive examinations. Develop a directory of
history of the village, its cultural richness, collection of the traditional knowledge, classes on
Sanskrit etc are the other activities of Village Knowledge Centre. It is a long term project and the
first stage is completed by equipping the centre with reference books and starting training classes
for 123 specially selected school students on preliminaries on civil service examination.
iii) Environment Gramasabha - The project relates to awareness programme on environment
and waste management. Special gramasabhas has been called in all Wards to consider the
environmental issues and priority schemes. Awareness classes are taken by the experts in the
field in these gramasabhas. Based on the discussions held in gramasabhas, various projects in
waste management, rain water harvesting, planting of the trees etc. are undertaken by the
Panchayat. These special gramasabhas are enriched with the participation of the people.
iv) Waste Management – With the help of aid given by the Government and Suchitwa Mission
along with the plan fund of the Panchayat, the project under Waste management achieved the
object of complete waste management. Following are some of the programmes under the project:
Distribution of equipments - 95 biogas plants, a total of 174 vermi -pipe-ring
composting units were distributed to achieve the object of waste management at
the source.
Plastic Recycling Unit – Plastic waste, the most dangerous form of threat to
nature is avoided effectively by the implementation of a plastic recycling unit in
the Panchayat, which is the first and only one of its kind in the whole District of
Pathanamthitta. Plastic waste is collected using the dust bins kept in the schools,
Anganawadies and public places. Awareness to the public was given through
environment gramasabhas, eco club, NCC Cadets and Self Service Organisations
etc. Plastic Shredding Machinery that cost an amount of Rs. 2.10 lakh were
installed by this project. Haritha plastic a group of five Kudumbasree Women is
running the unit by shedding plastic collected as above described plastic waste is
collected from the near by Panchayats with a wider view of making them plastic
free.
Plastic Road - The shredded plastic is mixed with bitumen for construction of
roads, which increases the quality of the road and thus, the life span of black top
of roads. Thus, the Panchayat successfully implemented the project of plastic
waste management scientifically. Various international Agencies like Sweden
based International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) have visited the project
and recorded words of praise in the visitors dairy.
Compost Pit – Near about 500 compost were digged by MGNREGS labourers in
house plots where the watershed activities were initiated.
Modern Slaughter House – The construction of slaughter house is undergoing as
per the norms and conditions of Suchitwa Mission, Pollution Control Board etc.
which is the first of its kind in the district of Pathanamthitta. As 90 per cent of
work has been completed, it is most probably the first of its kind in the whole
State of Kerala.
Modern Fish Market – The construction of a modern Fish Market is undergoing
under the annual project of Grama Panchayat along with the financial aid of
Fisheries Department with new Civil and electrical work.
Ward Committee Giving Importance to Ecology – Ward committees in all 17
words held in 2013 August for giving awareness on the importance of protecting
ecology and environment into pollution free. Experts in the field lead classes
regarding the issue. Around 20,000 plants distributed in connection with these
special ward committees and a garden of Ayurvedic plants was setup in the
government U.P. School Vallamkulam.
vi) Mini Water Supply Scheme – The scheme has complied the demand for drinking water from
various Gramasabhas. Eight mini water supply schemes were implemented in different
Scheduled caste colonies is the Panchayat with SC Development plan fund during the year 2013-
14. Implementation of four schemes started and 60 per cent of the estimated work has completed.
This scheme helps to reduce the shortage of drinking water up to a considerable extent.
vii) Arogyasabha – It is related to effective implementation of following government
programmes and Panchayat annual projects based on health:
Yoga Class - Yoga class was conducted for 45 days once a year as a
remedy for life style disease like Diabetes, hypertension, Obesity etc. As
many as 250 people took part in the yoga classes conducted at different
centres. This project invite the attention of various mainstream national
media.
Ayush - Sub centres of Ayurveda and Homeo Dispensaries functioning at
different areas of the Panchayat were brought together to the Primary
Health Centre compound along with a yoga centre. Essential medicines
are also available in this centre bought with Panchayat plan fund.
School Karate Class - Karate Class for girls between 10 – 15 years of age
was conducted in various schools of the Panchayat aiming at the
development of self-confidence alongwith physical and mental
development of girls through learning a self-defense method. 105 students
were passed out by successfully completing their six months, second level
course.
Renovation of PHC - The PHC was renovated improving the physical and
infrastructural facilities using Panchayat plan fund.
Pains & Palliative - Various pain and palliative projects were
implemented like treatment, distribution of medicine and other needs of
the beneficiaries. A nurse was appointed and an ambulance was bought for
house visit. Beneficiaries in this scheme were selected through a survey
and an amount of Rs. 5.5 lakh has been accounted during the last year to
meet the expenses under the scheme.
Insurance coverage for Cancer-Treatment - A scheme for insurance
coverage for Cancer treatment at Regional Cancer Centre,
Thiruvanathapuram was implemented in the year 2013-14. Beneficiaries
are 176 women labourers who have completed their hundred days of
employment under MGNREGS.
viii) Jagratha Samithi – Women and children need not go to police station or court to get
remedy on their complaints. Jagaratha Samithi acts as a local court for resolving the complaints
and petitions raised by the women and children without approaching the judiciary or the police.
The Samithi makes its sitting on the first Friday of every month and deals with various
complaints like maintenance allowance, partition of family property, protection of senior citizen
etc. and gives counseling to the needy. The Samithi came into exstistence in 2010 and in the last
48 months, around 182 petitions were received and 173 among them had been settled amicably.
ix) Haritha Gramam – All productive sector projects are coming under the title Haritha
Gramam. Fallow land cultivation and modern cultivation schemes to improve the agriculture
productions has implemented during the year 2013-14. Twenty five acres of Fallow paddy land
was cultivated in the scheme. It inspired the farmers to start cultivation in polyhouses. 1250
numbers of grow bag with seedlings and two rain shelters were distributed in the year 2013-14
to promote roof gardening. The preparation and supply of grow bag was by the Labour Bank
formed in the Panchayat.
x) Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme – Under the
MGNREGS various notable asset created projects were implemented during the year 2013-14.
„Varattar Punarjeevanam‟ – Rejuvenation of a River - Varattar is a river
that died and stopped flowing 30 years back. The plan is to clear river
path, remove sand and mud, and to regenerate the water flow. The first
stage of the work is completed during 2013-14. By this the river is
sketched and the river plough was natural by monsoon season.
Improvement of Road - Metalling the village roads (1280 mtrs.) in ward 2,
7, 8, 12, 13 during 2013-14 MGNREGS. The tarring works of the same
road area completed in the same year using Panchayat road maintenance
grant.
Rain Water Harvesting – 38,000 Rain water harvesting pits were taken in
the Panchayat area under MGNREGA. It increased the ground water level
and proved to be a remedy to drought in some areas, to an extent.
Banana Cultivation - The scheme was formed and implemented under
productive sector in which MGNREGS and Panchayat plan funds are
integrated. Forty two groups were the part of the project and 13,860
banana seedlings were planted. Subsidy was given for seedlings and
fertiliser under plan fund while labour charges were issued from
MGNREGS estimate.
Outcome
To get feedback about the services after the implementation of the initiatives, a survey was
conducted throughout Panchayat. The consolidation of the survey gives a result that the positive
changes made are appreciated by the people and comments in the survey show the improved
quality of the services in tandem with the contemporary scenario. The formation and
implementation of above mentioned projects are result of the Panchayat Board‘s view that aims
at Good Governance to ensure the well-being and better livelihood of Panchayat people. The
completion of the implementation of each of the projects results in the better growth of the
Panchayat as a whole than ever before.
Recognition Received
The Initiative, besides selected for the Prime Minister‘s Awards for Excellence in Public
Administration for the year 2013-14, it was also conferred the State‘s Bio-diversity Management
Committee Award. Elected as Model High Tech Green Village, it was given an additional
government aid of rupees three crore.
It not only received accolades from national quarters but also got recognition on the international
platform. The organisation was also elected as the best Panchayat on its diversity of project
implementation, by the Sweeden-based International Centre for Local Democracy that visited the
Panchayat with its research persons from 11 Nations.
IT Consolidation of CBEC
______________________________________________________________________________
IT Consolidation of CBEC (the Central Board for Excise and Customs) - is the project to
provide quality services to all stake holders, including tax payers, by consolidating
CBEC's Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. The Directorate of System, CBEC has
implemented this consolidated IT infrastructure to host all its IT-enabled services across
Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax from a central data centre. This infrastructure has
enabled high quality IT services for taxpayers, other external stakeholders and internal users. The
highlight of this initiative is a standardised, stable, secure IT platform, compliant with the ISO
27001 standards for Information Security and using the best practice framework of IT service
management as embodied in Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
Objective
The Objective of project was to improve the quality and coverage of existing IT services for
taxpayers and internal users, key priorities of the project include the following:
Better Taxpayer Service
Enable taxpayers (Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax) to file
Documents/Returns/Payments online
Centralised processing of documents with e-Acknowledgements and document tracking
Higher system availability and better response times
Centralised Help desk(s) to support taxpayer queries
Managing Costs and Complexity of the IT Infrastructure
Optimising total cost of ownership for the IT Infrastructure – leveraging the centralised
architecture, vendor and tools management (including licenses and maintenance costs)
Operational Efficiency and Security
Smooth roll out of new software applications and ease of adding new locations to the
CBEC network
24X7 X 365 operation
Process standardisation
It is an Initiative by the Central Board for Excise and Customs, Government of India.
Industry Standard Information Security and IT Service Management
Implementation Highlights
There was a strong business case for IT consolidation in CBEC as there was a clear need
for a central, standards-driven, professionally-managed IT services, leaving field offices free to
attend to their core business activities. Some of the key tenets of the strategy adopted by CBEC
towards implementation include:
Commitment from the Top - A major success factor of this initiative has been the support it
received from the Ministry of Finance, Senior government officials, the Board (of CBEC) and
Senior officers at the Directorate of Systems (DoS) and Commissionerates.
Process-oriented and Structured Framework - CBEC adopted ITIL as its governing framework
for the implementation and management of this project.
Role of CBEC Officials - Every sub-component of the project is managed and monitored by
CBEC officials. The Chief Information Security Officer and Information Security Officer of the
organisation are career IRS (Indian Revenue Service) officers.
Effective Communication and Training Programme - About 20,000 personnel were trained on
Change Management and more than 100 on ITIL. Some senior officers are ITIL Experts and are
certified for COBIT, TOGAF, CISA and SAS.
Robust Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - Measurable and meaningful Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) have been defined to monitor and measure programme objectives and its
achievement. These are being reviewed on a quarterly basis by senior management.
Benefits
The project has touched stakeholders across the categories of taxpayers, departmental
officials as well as other government official (across ministries / departments). Key outcomes of
the project are:
Enhanced Service Delivery and Transparency: The IT consolidation initiative has
resulted in significant enhancement in the services, along with provision for business
continuity and transparency both at the taxpayer level and CBEC.
Increased Efficiency of Outputs/Processes and Effectiveness of Outcomes: The
initiative has brought the benefits of standardising processes and their governance, cost
benefits, enhanced security, reduced manual dependence, higher service availability, and
improved compliance and reporting.
Enhanced Reporting and Data Exchange: This is achieved through an integrated
Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence System.
Some of the indicators demonstrating the outcome of the project are tabulated below:
Sl. No. Benefit area Earlier Currently (leveraging
consolidate IT
Infrastructure)
1. Availability of ICES (Customs
automation) system
35 locations 118 locations approx. 1.3
crore customs document
processed yearly
2. Availability of Risk Management 23 locations 70 locations
3. Availability of workflow based
ACES (Central Excise and
Service Tax Automation) System
NA 105 locations approx 28
lakh (ST/CE) return
processed yearly
4. Number of internal users
supported by the consolidated IT
infrastructure
NA 20,000+
5. Yearly Customs e-Payments
supported by consolidated IT
infrastructure
NA Approx Rs. 1,50,000 crore
6. Yearly e-Payment in Central
Excise supported by consolidated
IT infrastructure
NA Approx rs.1,78,000 crore
7. Yearly e-Payment in Service Tax
supported by consolidated IT
infrastructure
NA Approx Rs.1,08,000 crore.
8. Availability of application(s) Business hours 24x7x365
9. Average yearly number of
website hits supported for
CBEC‘s e-Commerce websites
(icegate.gov.in, aces.gov.in)
NA 280 crore +
10. Time taken to respond to data
requests from Ministries/ Field
Officers
Approx. 4-6 days Approx 2-3 hours
11. Advanced analytics / trend
analysis for policy formulation
NA Fully automated through
enterprise Data
Warehouse hosted on the
consolidated IT
Infrastructure
12. Additional revenue for the
country using the Taxpayer
profiling
NA Significant amount of
revenue collection using the
analysis available through
the EDW hosted on
consolidated IT
Infrastructure
13. Security breaches post IT
Consolidation project
NA NIL
Evaluation
CBEC has engaged a Third Party Auditor (TPA) to provide CBEC with a standard, structured
mechanism to evaluate the performance of KPIs of the IT Consolidation project. Additionally,
CBEC has also set-up a Programme Management Unit (PMU) (manned by an independent
agency ) which assists CBEC in monitoring and manning the IT Consolidation project and
various services providers. The PMU also helps in monitoring the KPI dashboard, which is
presented to the senior management.
Recognition
The success of this initiative is attributable largely to the expertise and experience of
departmental officers. The project has been conceptualised, architected and implemented by
CBEC officers. In addition, nodal officers at each location have been involved in sign-off site
readiness, site acceptance, LAN acceptance etc. All this has been monitored by the Cabinet
Secretariat, Secretary Revenue and senior functionaries of CBEC Board. The due efforts of all
mentioned stakeholders helped it got Prime Minister‘s Award for Excellence in Public
Administrationfor the year 2013-14.
The IT consolidation project of CBEC has also been conferred with Data Security Council of
India (DSCI) Excellence Award 2012, for Security in e-Governance.
*****
Hum Chhuyenge Aasman
______________________________________________________________________________
The initiative ‗Hum Chhuyenge Aasman‘ launched by the Directorate of Sports and Youth
Welfare aimed at promoting girls in sports activities and working towards gender mainstreaming
in a masculine domain. To improve women's participation in sports and create a safe and female
friendly environment, the ‗Hum Chhuyenge Aasman‘ scheme was conceived and implemented.
Youth Welfare aimed at promoting girls in
The uniqueness of the initiative relates to the understanding that sports can be a powerful tool for
the empowerment of Girls and Women. Scientific training through expert coaches, balanced
nutritional diets, regular medical check-ups and free formal education were some of the
strategies that are being adopted. The inclusion of ICT softwares like Omega Wave (measuring
physical, psychological and physiological parameters), Quick Board (improving reflexes), Visual
Coaching Pro (for quickly accessing thousands of visually descriptive exercises), Dart Fish
(provides visual feedback and analyses tactical performance and shares video or analysis with
the team or on the web) and Myotest (for the development of strength, speed, and power) have
helped women athletes to aspire for international competitive standards of performance.
The initiative has been effectively operationalised through effective campaign, wide publicity
using various audio-visual communication tools, conducting focus group discussions with
women having interest in sports. The District Sports Officers and Block Coordinators along with
sports academies and sports clubs, have organised scientifically designed Talent Hunts to
identify potential women athletes. These talent hunts were organised in the remotest of villages
to identify future champions. Women were sensitised about the economic benefits that sports can
bring such as attractive prize money and better avenues of employment.
Situation before the Initiative
Girls and women face a disproportionate number of life challenges, which reduce their ability to
achieve their full potential. Despite formal guarantees of equality, the overall rate of progress for
women, particularly those from the poorest and most marginalised section of the society, is slow.
Women and girls continue to encounter inequalities and deprivations in their daily lives, which
prevent them from contributing towards both the creation of more equitable societies and
sustainable development within their communities and beyond.
Women are, particularly, disadvantaged by gender constraints, which prevent them from fully
realizing their rights, accessing resources, and harnessing opportunities. Empowerment in this
sense refers to the process through which women gain the confidence, strength, and in some
contexts the information and skills, needed to make strategic choices to improve their lives.
Evidence of gender inequality includes the widespread preference of sons over daughters, limited
education and work opportunities for girls and women, and high levels of physical and sexual
It is an initiative of the State of Madhya Pradesh.
violence against girls and women. More subtle forms of discrimination are arguably equally
problematic and include gender stereotyping and institutional discrimination. Some cultural
traditions that favour men over women, and the subsequent cultural practices that perpetuate that
discrimination, lead to social exclusion.
Sports is an integral part of the culture. However, its use to promote gender equality and
empower girls and women, is often overlooked because sport is not universally perceived as a
suitable or desirable pursuit for girls and women. Existing social constraints of masculinity and
femininity — or socially accepted ways of expressing what it means to be a man or woman in a
particular socio-cultural context — play a key role in determining access, levels of participation,
and benefits from sport.
It is true that girls and women are less likely than boys and men to participate in sports, and
sports continues to be dominated by men. It is a mistake, however, to assume that this is because
girls and women do not wish to participate. Poverty, heavy domestic demands, safety concerns,
lack of accessible transportation, inadequate sports and recreation facilities, and few
opportunities for physical education and skill development frequently prevent women‘s
participation in physical activities and sports. Socio-cultural norms and constraints preventing
girls and women from being physically active, leaving home unaccompanied, or being seen by
men outside their family, are additional barriers preventing girls and women from getting
involved in sports and physical activities.
Reasons for undertaking the Initiative
The initiative was taken considering the established fact that sports can benefit girls and women
by
• Enhancing Health and Well-being - Through structured sport programmes, girls and women
can become more physically active, benefiting their physical and mental health, including the
reduced risk they will suffer from chronic diseases. Sports can contribute to women‘s health by
reducing anxiety, depression, neuroses and stress, and producing positive emotional effect.
• Fostering Self-esteem and Empowerment - The empowerment of girls and women involves the
increased ability to make strategic life choices in contexts where this ability was previously
limited. A necessary precursor to empowerment, self-esteem is defined as a person‘s overall self-
appraisal and feeling of self-worth. Sports can help increase self-esteem by giving girls and
women opportunities to learn new skills, engage in positive relationships, acquire achievements,
engage in volunteer service and receive public recognition. By providing women and girls with a
voice in programme design and decision-making, training, and opportunities for leadership and
advocacy, sport programmes can also empower and help equip them to take greater control over
their own lives.
• Facilitating Social Inclusion and Integration - Sport programmes can help to reduce the social
isolation and exclusion that many girls and women experience; particularly those that cannot
attend school and live in poverty. Sport programmes can provide girls and women with safe
places to gather, help them to build social networks, offer social support, and connect them to
health, education and employment information, services, and opportunities that can help to
reduce their marginalisation in society.
Challenging Gender Norms and Providing Opportunities for Leadership and Achievement -
Sports programmes can enhance the empowerment process by challenging gender norms,
reducing restrictions and offering girls and women greater mobility, access to public spaces, and
more opportunities for their physical, intellectual and social development. By involving families,
community leaders, boys and men in gender education and changes to gender norms can benefit
men and women alike. Sports can also provide girls and women with powerful role models,
leadership skills and experience that they can transfer to other domains such as their family life,
civic involvement, and advocacy. All of these beneficial effects are self-reinforcing, and may
also create sporting opportunities for girls and women more sustainable over time.
Benefits
The initiative ―HUM CHHUYENGE AASMAN‖ has considerably impacted upon the national
and international sporting environment. The women athletes from the sports academies have
shown tremendous results in terms of developing their skills, personal grooming, increased
decision-making and increased confidence. The strategy of providing free and formal education
has prompted creation of awareness on various socio-cultural issues. The women athletes trained
in sports academies are now participating in national and international level events and winning
medals in these competitions. The sports like Boxing, Judo, Fencing, Archery, Shooting, Water
sports and Hockey are the sports in which women are taking keen interest.
Promotion of Gender Mainstreaming and Empowering Women
a) Improved physical and mental health of girls and women
b) Increased opportunities for social interaction and friendship
c) Increased self-esteem, self-confidence, sense of control over their bodies and faith & trust in
themselves
d) Enhanced access to health information
e) Access to leadership opportunities and experience
f) Positive changes in gender norms giving girls and women greater safety and control over their
lives
g) Empowerment of women and girls with disabilities through sports-based opportunities to
acquire health information, skills, social networks, and leadership experience
Reduction in Injuries
The use of ICT tools for training athletes has shown visible and remarkable reduction in injuries
caused during training or competitions. The chart shows the reduction in sports injuries in
players after the intervention of innovative ICT tools in the year 2011 while during this period
the number of athletes in sports academies was almost doubled.
It recognises the benefits of Sports for girls and women, by formally designing Sports policies to
target the advancement of gender equality, empowerment, and improved quality of life for girls
and women. Also self defense programmes for girls above 10 years of age and women are being
organised under ―VEERANGANA‖ scheme.
It also helps optimisation of Sports to advance gender equality by applying a gender lens to all
Sports schemes and events to prevent gender inequalities or discrimination. It re-examines
Sports‘ initiatives with a focus on opportunities to empower women and girls. Besides, involving
women and girls in policy making, their appointment as members are being done in State Sports
Authority and Khel Mandal. This enforces female memberships in executive bodies of Sports
Associations to ensure that women have an adequate voice.
It ensures an equitable allocation of resources for girls‘ and women‘s Sports in Sports
programmes. Special focus is being given on creation of some separate academies for women
while equal participation of girls and boys in those academies is ensured, which are common to
both genders. A large chunk of sports budget is being allocated for encouraging female athletes
to play, train and compete in various tournaments.
The focus is also being given to provide female coaches, trainers and physiotherapists in every
academy to ensure Sports programmes introduction and enhancement of gender equality and
empowerment. Preparation of a separate calendar for women sports and organising women
sports tournaments as per the Khel Calendar is on.
Specific programmes are being established to recognise the achievement of girls and women in
Sports. To encourage and promote achiever athletes, the help of hoardings, posters, press
releases and articles is being taken. Many of the medallists - female athletes have become State
Icons.
Work with women in sport organisations helps in developing best practices to help address
common safety issues for girls and women in sport. This also encourages participation of female
Sports Officers and coordinators in developing best practices. Internal complaint committee has
been set up to deal with any complaint of female athletes. A lady officer heads this committee.
This committee also takes care of any incident of harassment or sexual abuse with any female
athlete. It works with a zero tolerance policy regarding any complaints in such matters.
Way Forward
A panel of eminent sports persons has evaluated the initiative ―HUM CHHUYENGE
AASMAN‖ and their recommendations are being implemented in letter and spirit. Special care is
taken to include female athletes in the evaluation panel to ensure gender mainstreaming.
The Psycho-spiritual preparation of sports people requires huge planning, dedication and
devotion and is an integral part of developing them to meet International standards. In view of
Olympics experience and to enable Madhya Pradesh to add to the glory of India in future
Olympic games, there was a strong need felt to develop new Sports Academies and upgrade and
restructure existing ones to fit International requirements. Providing basic sports
infrastructure, latest training equipment, sports kits, balanced nutritional diets, training by
coaches of National and International repute and medical assistance were the priorities decided
upon. Madhya Pradesh is the only State to evolve a dynamic Sports Policy that seeks to include
an increasing number of women into the Sports arena.
The State now contributes substantially to improving the Country's medal tally, especially by
women in international competitions.
Since the implementation of the initiative, considerable progress has been observed with regard
to increased participation of women athletes and winning medals for the State and the country at
the national and international levels, respectively. The Directorate has been able to develop the
winning spirit among women athletes and ensured increased confidence among them. Women
athletes from the State with the support of reputed coaches have performed remarkably well in
the recent past. However, there is a need to focus to further increase participation of women
athletes in sports. The Directorate has developed a long term planning for women athletes. It has
planned to build the team of women sports persons that will participate and win medals for the
country in 2020 Olympics. Developing women athletes in the longer run has been taken up by
the Directorate as a Mission. To achieve this target a well-planned strategy has been designed
and will be implemented in this session.
Some of the areas of this Mission are as follows:
Gap analysis to create a safe place for women athletes for their training and participation
in various national and international competitions.
Identification of more women athletes (9 to 20 years of age).
Matching talents with appropriate sports.
World class training.
Inculcating winning spirit.
Establishment of District/Regional training centres.
Participation in District/State tournaments.
Participation in national tournaments.
Participation in International tournaments--- Asiad, Commonwealth and youth Olympics.
*****
TECHNICAL TEAM FOR
MISSION OLYMPIC 202***8888888(((***88880888888
Saving the Wombs
______________________________________________________________________________
For people living below poverty line, an illness presents a dilemma. They either risk their lives
by avoiding treatment or go for it by taking huge debts. It was perhaps against this background
that the State sponsored health insurance schemes were envisaged and brought into effect in
India. State sponsored health insurance schemes are considered ‗effective instrument‘ to address
inequalities in access to health insurance by providing basic health cover to uninsured poor so as
to receive services from the best hospitals at par with well-to-do.
However, the State sponsored health insurance schemes were often paralysed due to structural
flaws and some functional lacuna. It was instead used by ill-motivated doctors to siphon off
public money and exploit poor and ignorant people.
An initiative was undertaken to address and redress malpractices in the implementation of one of
such State sponsored health insurance schemes, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), in
Samastipur district of Bihar. The scheme was intended to provide health insurance coverage for
Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalisation
coverage up to Rs. 30,000 for most of the diseases that require hospitalisation. What is intended
to be a life saviour for the poor households could become life threatening if it is not regulated to
ensure that it is used only for the stated objective.
Unethical and corrupt practices by unregulated private health care providers in the district
exploited the poor rural women in the name of ‗benefitting‘ and robbed them of their wombs.
This not only adversely affected their reproductive lives but also made them patients for ailments
they did not have. A wide ranging probe was undertaken to inquire into the malpractices in the
implementation of RSBY.
The probe unearthed a range of unethical and corrupt practices by health service providers
empanelled under the scheme. Definitive action was taken by the District administration against
______________________________________________________________________________
It is an Initiative of State government of Bihar.
the wrongdoers which acted as deterrent for any further irregularities. This initiative of the
District administration was widely covered by all leading national and international media which
helped the cause of the initiative. As a result of which, similar irregularities were reported not
only from other districts of the Bihar but also from other parts of the country. It led to
incorporation of various checks and balances in the scheme aimed at making it patient centric
instead of insurer centric.
Background
Frequent complaints, related to fake surgeries and removal of uterus, were received on various
public grievances days of the District Magistrate and otherwise on a regular basis. Media reports
were also surfaced with respect to the malpractices in the implementation of the scheme in the
District.
A careful examination of the grievances and media reports necessitated a wide ranging probe as
the matter involved a large number of beneficiaries and also because the complaints were against
medical practitioners and health service providers.
Initial reports revealed that 17 private hospitals had been empanelled in the District with non
existence of effective monitoring mechanisms at the district-level.
Out of a total of 14,851 cases logged in for insurance claims by these empanelled clinics, 5,503
were of hysterectomy (2011-12). The existence of 37 per cent hysterectomy cases revealed the
fact that they were not out of an informed choice of the women but deceit and coercion. The
cases of hysterectomy at these empanelled hospitals were far higher (61% in some cases) than
the district average of 37 per cent.
This pointed to a nexus between the local rural quacks acting as suppliers of patients to these
hospitals for lucrative gains.
Objective
The purpose of the probe was to investigate and bring to light the irregularities in the execution
of the scheme. It aimed to check if the allegations of forced surgeries were true and if the
women on whom hysterectomy was conducted required the surgery at all or if a more
conservative line of treatment would have suited the purpose. This was a first of its kind
investigation carried on by any district level agency.
The initiative was sought to conduct an infrastructure audit of the empanelled hospitals, which
was also done for the first time. The exercise began in August 2012. The initiative took around
six months to reach its conclusion as the inquiry and the follow up legal proceedings were a long
drawn process.
Strategy
The strategies that were adopted and the measures undertaken to conduct the probe are
enumerated below:
Considering the territorial expanse of the District, creation of multi-tier team comprising
of administrative and medical experts was formulated. Migratory nature of the BPL
families in search of jobs further made the task difficult.
The district-level team was headed by the District Magistrate with District Key Manager
(Nodal officer RSBY), Chief Medical Officer and group of specialist doctors as
members. The sub-divisional-level teams were headed by the three Sub-Divisional
Magistrates. Twenty Block-level teams, headed by BDO (Block Development Officer)
with CDPO (Child Development Project Officer) and Medical Officer In-Charge (MOIC)
of the PHC (Public Health Centre) as members, were also formed.
List of beneficiaries were made available to the teams along with all the relevant
documents pertaining to the line of treatment of the patients.
It was decided to reach out to all beneficiaries of RSBY, especially those who underwent
hysterectomy and major surgeries in order to provide them a forum to listen to their
grievances and get them medically examined to find out the truth. The need, therefore,
was felt to organise that big a medical camp with equipments and doctors. A five-day
medical camp at the District headquarters with x-ray and ultrasonography facilities.
The medical camp was widely advertised through newspapers and local media.
Panchayat-level employees were made stakeholders in the process along with the
Panchayat representatives as a confidence building measure and ensuring maximum
participation.
Free transportation was provided to all beneficiaries in order to facilitate their movement
to the medical camp.
Despite the Administration‘s best efforts, 2,606 out of 5,500 beneficiaries could only be
examined. The remaining were either traceless or had gone out to work elsewhere. Non-existent
addresses in traceless cases pointed to fraudulent cards or ghost beneficiaries.
Infrastructure audit of the empanelled hospitals had the following revelations:
Most of the clinics empanelled did not have requisite physical infrastructure in terms of
operation theatre, wards, necessary equipments and medicine centres.
Apart from inadequate physical infrastructure most of them did not have doctors and
paramedics required for empanelment.
Medical prescriptions of the clinics showed the operations which required assistance of
anesthetist and surgeon were actually performed by people who did not have requisite
qualification resulting in lot of post operative complications for patients.
The medical probe report revealed that out of 1,184 doubtful surgeries, majority were of
hysterectomy. Out of which 717 cases were of unwanted surgeries, 124 cases of underage
surgery, 320 cases of fleecing, and 23 cases of fake surgery. The percentage of doubtful
cases was as high as 46 per cent of the total examined cases.
Out of doubtful cases the percentage of unwanted surgeries was around 70 per cent.
Moreover, the distribution of cases of hysterectomy in various age groups of women
indicated how women were forced to undergo hysterectomy.
Conclusions, as to whether the surgery was an unwanted or not, were based on the
clinical examination of the beneficiary, their statements with respect to the ailments for
which they first went to the particular empanelled clinic and the line of treatment the
clinic resorted to.
Cases of underage surgeries were the cases where the women were still in the
reproductive age and their family was not complete. These beneficiaries underwent
trauma when they got to know that their uteruses have been removed and they will never
be able to become mothers in future.
Fake surgeries were such cases where the surgery was claimed to have been done but was
not actually carried out .There were cases where stones from kidneys were removed but
stones were found in the kidneys during ultrasonography performed in the medical camp.
Further, monetary exploitation of beneficiaries was rampant as most of the beneficiaries
reported that they were not given the requisite facilities like transportation, medication as
per the terms and conditions of RSBY. Instead they were made to pay extra money for
their medicines and stay in wards which many a times was extended beyond the duration
of the free stay in order to extort money from the beneficiaries.
Investigations revealed that the empanelled hospitals unscrupulously gave the treatment
to the needy beneficiaries.
These indiscriminate Hysterectomies, in particular, had become an Insurance to ensure
loss of Womb
This percentage was found to be very high compared to the incidence of Hysterectomy in
western countries which have an element of choice whereas in case of India and more so in the
case of largely a rural district like Samastipur, it had element of coercion. Most of the
beneficiaries, mostly rural women, were cheated to undergo Hysterectomy due to their illiteracy
and their vulnerability . It was also found out that for Hysterectomy, empanelled clinics mostly
blocked the package of total Hysterectomy for insurance claims which meant removal of not
only uterus but also ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Specialist doctors in the probe team opined that coerced Hysterectomy had severe adverse
implications on the woman affecting her mental and physical health and well-being. Beside
direct surgical risks, these women also suffer long term physical and psychological defects
including servere depression, increased risks of osteoporosis and heart disease.
It was also brought to light that for the Hysterectomy women had to bear additional cost in order
to deal with the post-operation complications and to maintain their health. ―A study also has
corroborated the above fact and found out that the cost of maintaining the health of a woman
who had undergone Hysterectomy with medicines and supplements is Rs. 18,250 a year (Life
HRG study of 2013)‖
The six-month long investigation was followed by long legal battle. All the empanelled hospitals
were slapped with show cause notices annexing the detailed inquiry reports of the patients. The
charges of alleged uterus loot were thus, corroborated with evidence based on a detailed
beneficiary wise medical inquiry. The hospitals were also asked to show cause on charges of
non- provision of requisite facilities to the card holders.
The hospitals were also given ample opportunity to present their cases. During the course of the
hearing, one came to understand the real pain and sufferings of the unassuming rural women.
Most of these women were illiterate and gullible and had been forced to Hysterectomy. They had
been left high and dry to take care of post-operative complications. All the hearings were done in
- camera to assign credibility to the exercise.
The clinics were found to be guilty of :
Inflicting injury to human body by making them undergo unwarranted operations.
Fleecing gullible people and not providing them facilities (medication and transportation)
built in the smart card as an aftermath of the inquiry, the erring hospitals ( 12 out of 17)
were de-empanelled. FIRs were lodged against all 17 clinics as almost all of them were
found to have involved in the malpractices. Recommendations were also sent to the
Medical Council of India to de-recognise the degrees of doctors who were found to have
indulged in malpractices.
Role of Various Stakeholders
Key stakeholders who were involved in the above initiative and their roles have been enumerated
below:
Uneducated Beneficiaries –RSBY had intended to empower the BPL people by providing
them with health coverage, but the beneficiaries were fleeced and bodily damage was
inflicted upon them. They were the victims of the malpractices conducted by clinics and
were cheated and exploited by the same.
Hospitals – Incentive were given to the hospitals on the basis of per beneficiary treated.
The money directly flowed from the insured to the concerned hospital.
Strong Medical Lobby - The Medical Lobby strongly opposed allegations of
unscrupulous surgeries. They did not want to cooperate in the probe.
Insurers - The insurers were involved only in financial benefit calculations and did not
have any stake in the quality of health services or the type of medical interventions. They
were merely involved in providing the premium for each household enrolled for RSBY.
Intermediaries – Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and Microfinance Institutions
(MFIs) have a great stake in assisting BPL households. Middlemen in the scheme posed
huge opposition to the probe once the surgeries were over.
Highlights
Transparency and Stakeholder Participation: The entire exercise was conducted in a highly
transparent manner. A large number of beneficiaries (2606) were examined and their statements
recorded. The nursing homes were given opportunity to show cause. The quasi- judicial
proceedings were also conducted in a transparent manner wherein the representatives of the
nursing homes and the beneficiaries were heard in an ‗in camera‘ proceeding before the team of
specialist doctors. The probe team constituted at different-level also took keen interest and did
the job assigned to them with utmost sincerity.
Innovativeness of the Initiative and Its Replicability: The initiative of the District Magistrate and
his team was first of its kind in the State of Bihar and that too without any organisational support
in the initial stage. The efforts of the team were viewed with lots of skepticism in the beginning.
The result of the probe and its wide media coverage, however, led the State government to take
notice of it. The State government asked all the District Magistrates to carry out similar
investigations. Irregularities were reported form other districts as well. They provided the much
needed momentum and replicability of the initiative. The Initiative was the first of its kind to
corroborate charges of malpractices and fraud in RSBY based on a scientific inquiry.
Increased Efficiency of Outputs/ Process and Effectiveness of Outcomes: As a result of the
enquiry, the Department issued detailed guidelines for empanelment of private health providers.
Prior to the probe, clinics once empanelled were entitled to perform any of the packages on the
list of RSBY, irrespective of their capacity. After the probe, the clinics were to be empanelled in
various categories based on an infrastructure (Physical and Human) audit before empanelment.
Thus, the clinics could be empanelled for specific diseases instead of empanelment for all
packages.
All the District Magistrates in the State were asked to empanel Government District Hospitals
and Referral Hospitals under RSBY scheme to balance market forces that also helped in the up
gradation of infrastructure of hospitals as 75 per cent of the money earned by hospitals under
RSBY scheme could also be used in upgrading infrastructure and 25 per cent to be shared by the
doctors and Paramedics. Many district hospitals including that of Samastipur created special
wards for RSBY patients.
An internal audit mechanism was made mandatory for insurance agency. Surgical interventions
were to be conducted only by a well-trained MBBS doctors.
Awareness was spread among beneficiaries about RSBY which prevented them from falling in
trap of such hospitals. This was evident from the results of the number of women and their age
profile that underwent hysterectomy. The probe led to a more efficient implementation of RSBY.
The number of Hysterectomy cases drastically went down.
Given the high percentage of cases of hysterectomy involving females in the age group 19 to 45,
an advisory was issued by the Department of Labour Resources, making prior approval of the
insurance agency mandatory for hysterectomy of any woman whose age is below 40 years.
Display of Leadership / Team Work by Nominees: There was exhibition of high level of
leadership on the part of the nominee. The District Administration also demonstrated decisive
leadership in addressing the unscrupulous practice being adopted by the clinics. The Initiative
required lot of courage as the probe was against a powerful lobby of doctors and owners of
nursing homes who were opposed to the probe from the beginning. As discussed above, the
Initiative did not find any external support. The team members were also sceptical in the
beginning after having been explained the extent and the nature of probe. It took great deal of
leadership skill to convince members of the team about the significance and far reaching
outcome. It was equally challenging to conduct probe of such a big nature with the resources
available in the District. The resource gap was met by involving a few likeminded people and
organisations. The District Magistrate also withstood pressure exerted by a very strong lobby of
medicos and owners of nursing homes.
Sustainability of the Initiative: The Initiative is a sustainable one, and can be easily replicated as
the procedures have been clearly laid out. The probe called for an examination of the conceptual
framework of the scheme in the light of such field experiences. It was further evident from the
decreasing number of hysterectomies, stricter guidelines for empanelment of clinics and prior
approval of Chief Medical Officer in case of Hysterectomy of women below forty years of age.
Benefits
A comparative analysis of the key result areas, key performance indicators and other socio-
economic impact parameters, before and after the implementation of the initiative has been
presented below:
Sl.
No.
Parameters
Considered
Before Initiative After Initiative
1. Beneficiaries
Feedback
There were a number of
complaints by women on alleged
malpractices.
Janta Darbar was flooded by
complaints related to fake
surgeries and uterus removal.
Women thronged the
Collectorate to demand justice.
Complaints drastically
reduced.
Beneficiaries were made
aware of unscrupulous
practice to prevent them
from falling into the same
trap.
2. Number of
Hysterectomy
High rate of Hysterectomy in
reported surgical cases (5,503
out of 14,851 wiz. 37% between
2010-11 and 2012-13)
Number of Hysterectomy
cases drastically reduced.
3. Age profile of
Hysterectomy
cases
39% belonged to 36 to 45 years
category
26% belonged to 19-35 years
20% belonged to 46-45 years
13% were greater than 56 years
Giver the high percentage of
cases of Hysterectomy
involving females in the age
group of 19-45 years, an
advisory was issued by the
2% were less than 18 years Department of Labour
Resources, making prior
approval of the insurance
agency mandatory for
Hysterectomy of any person
whose age is below 40 years.
4. Awareness on
Procedures
There was lack of awareness on
procedures
Awareness was spread
among beneficiaries about
RSBY which prevented the
number of beneficiaries
falling into the trap of
unscrupulous clinics.
5. Guidelines Relaxed guidelines for
empanelment of Private clinics.
Excessive empanelment of -
Private hospitals with inadequate
infrastructure.
Absolute absence of Public
Hospitals in the panel.
Stricter guidelines for the
empanelment of private
hospitals were issued.
Drastic increase in the
number of empanelled
public hospitals.
*****
Jashn-e-Jamhuriat : Reasi-Celebrating Democracy
__________________________________________________________________________
Background
The State of Jammu & Kashmir traditionally witnesses a low electoral turnout owing to various
reasons including Poll boycott calls, low electoral literacy, and electoral apathy in remote areas,
lack of awareness, low enrolment and a host of other factors. Given the conservative culture and
traditional values, the women enrolment and participation has remained dismal compared to
national average in the General Elections. Weather conditions and lack of infrastructure at
polling stations have also been contributing factors towards low participation in democratic
exercise. Participation of youth and concentrated population of nomads in some districts also
resulted in low participation. Enrolment process was hampered due to harsh climate, tough
terrain and other difficult conditions.
With such a background, an ambitious project ‗Jashn-e-Jamhuriat : Reasi-Celebrating
Democracy‘ was started in District Reasi which is located on the south of Shopian and Kulgam
districts across the mountainous Pir Panchal Ranges. The District Election Officer (DEO)
devised a comprehensive set of interventions to deal with poll boycott, low women participation,
nomadic non-participation, low enrolment, high gender gap, low roll gender ratio, electoral
apathy of farmers, indifference of youth and other major challenges. It was a mammoth task
,given poor 34 per cent women participation in previous elections, with 44 per cent overall
participation, 23 per cent nomadic population participation, roll gender ratio at 887 i.e. lower
than census gender ratio, lack of facilities, lengthy process of voter enrolment, low Electoral
Population Ratio staggering at 50 per cent since over a decade, and meager 68 per cent EPIC
(Election Photo ID-Card) holders. Arrangements for polling staff and security forces were two
other main concerns faced by the State in all elections which were taken care of in an exemplary
manner as a model.
It is an Initiative of the State government of Jammu & Kashmir.
More than 35 campaigns and 105 activities were devised, planned and launched by the DEO for
electoral awareness, enrolment and participation with specific and targeted approach for each
group, community, culture, ethnicity, region and identified excluded areas. More than 75 per
cent of polling stations were Hypersensitive and Sensitive. Braving all challenges, the District
administration created history by converting an electoral apathetic District into record
participated District with ever highest 81 per cent electoral participation, in the State, in Lok
Sabha elections, 2014.
The project was motivated by two approaches - one, low electoral participation remaining as a
cause of concern for mass apathy towards democratic institutions and long term alienation
among people especially youth of the State and two, proactive role of Election Commission of
India and State Election Department laying thrust on electoral inclusion, proactive awareness
initiatives and transparent participation. The project was guided by specific problems faced by
the district.
Objective
The initiative was started in June 2013 and enrolment drive started w.e.f. 01.08.2013. The project
was started with the following purposes and priorities for strong democracy and reinforcing the
faith of people in Good Governance, Democracy and establishing an optimistic approach;
leadership at all levels;
1. Electoral inclusion of Nomads, Women, Farmers, Youth and Specially Abled voters
2. Increase in Roll Gender Ratio, Elector-Population Ratio and EPIC Ratio.
3. Establishment of a voter enrolment network at village, hamlet and household level.
4. Targeted approach for cent per cent electoral literacy and maximum electoral
participation.
5. Addressing the concerns of inaccessible areas, hilly terrain, hypersensitive areas,
insurgency prone pockets, man-wild animal conflict.
6. Establishment of infrastructure and facilities for electoral participation.
7. Building a stronger network of partner organisation for sustained investment in
strengthening democracy for an overall encouraging and positive atmosphere for
development.
Strategy
The Project/Initiative covered all 62,000 families across the District in 301 Polling Booth Areas
and a population 3.35 lakh was reached through various campaigns; it included 1.90 lakh
electors. Strategy was to reach out to every single eligible citizen for enrolment as a voter and to
reach out to every single voter for electoral awareness and participation. The following
strategies were adopted for electoral enrolment, establishment of permanent network of
strengthening democracy and for greater electoral inclusion and participation:-
i) Establishment of Teams and Infrastructure at Village/Booth Level:
Strengthening of Booth Level Officers (BLOs): Awards, Polling Booth Area Teams
(PBATs): Polling Booth Area teams were constituted comprised for Official and Non-
Official members for providing end to end facilities for voter enrolment of all eligible
citizens. Awards comprised of Gold, Silver and Bronze along with cash prize of
Rs.10,000, Rs 5000 and Rs 3000 along with citation for BLOs in each Assembly
constituency along with 10 consolation prizes for extraordinary performance in voter
enrolment, electoral awareness, inclusion and participation. Funds were generated
through PSUs and departments.
Campaigns: Specific 35 campaigns were launched for Nomads, Women, Specially abled,
Farmers, Deprived sections, Poll Boycott areas, underdeveloped pockets, insurgency hit
areas and specifically identified areas of low electoral participation.
Activities: More than 105 activities were launched for reaching out to masses and
especially traditionally excluded groups and areas.
Officials/Non-Officials: Teams of 7200 officials constituted for 301 polling booth areas
for providing home service of voter enrolment, facilitated enrolment, electoral awareness,
ethical and informed voting, electoral participation; and development of infrastructure.
147 Panchayat SVEEP (Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation)
Teams/259 VSTs (Video Surveillance Teams): Teams of 147 Panchayat SVEEP and 259
VSTs were constituted for every village and panchayat in the district for electoral
awareness and participation. It strengthened transparency and wider outreach.
942 Women Volunteers: For reaching out to women, 942 women volunteers were
engaged for keeping in view the conservative culture and traditional values. It generated
huge response in terms of women enrolment and participation.
320 Women Voter Facilitation Counters: Around 320 Women Voter Facilitation
Counters were established across the district.
38 Voter Facilitation Centres: 38 Voter Facilitation Centres were established for Name
search facility, voter enrolment, public grievances, addition/deletion/modification.
1.45 lakh Pledge Letters: 1.45 lakh Pledge Letters were Distributed, signed and returned.
301 Camera equipped observers: 301 Camera equipped observers were stationed For
ensuring transparency and documentation.
ii) Building Partnership for Sustainable Initiative
PSUs, Departments, Boards, Organisations, NGOs engaged
Universities, Departments, Corporations, Business Establishments, Transport Unions
associated effectively.
August 2013: Meeting with Heads/Reps; prioritisation
Sponsorships, Financial Assistance, Print & Publicity, Mobilisation
Rs.1.50 cr : Notional investment/sponsorships
NHPC,NMDC, KRCL, SPC, SSKSB, J&K ISW Fed, Red Cross,
54 Departments ( 84 Partner Organisations including PSUs)
iii) Special Programme for Schools: Prospective Democracy Strength
S.No. Schools Number Nominated
Students
Leaders
1. Higher Secondary 22 22
(Campus
Ambassadors)
2. High Schools 124 868
3. Middle 328 1640
4. Upper Primary and
Primary
460 460
5. Private
Schools/JNV/KV/Tribal
Hostel/KGBV/Learning
Centres
84 372
Total 1018 3362
iv) Gram Sabhas: Reinventing Grassroots Democracy
Reading out Voter Lists in Special Gram Sabhas
Addition, Deletion, Modifications: In presence of Panchayat
Enrolment Camps : at Panchayat Headquarters
Permanent Display of Voter Lists
Enrolment Forms
58,000 participated in Maha Gram Sabha at 149 locations on December 10, 2013:
Record
Simultaneous gramsabhas on 3 occasions
478 Gram-Sabhas conducted
v) Voter Enrolment: Mission Mode Approach
26,000 voters added (14000 Female, 12000 Male)
16% increase of voters in 2 months ( missing voters located)
Mobile Registration Vans
Weekly camps
Display of voters lists
Voter Facilitation Counters/Centres: At Doorsteps
Missing Voters added
100% certification by BLOs/PBATs
vi) Green Vote Plantation Drive: Environment & Democracy
Slogan ― One Sapling for One Voter‖
56 Panchayats covered
150 government buildings covered
72,376 Saplings planted
Convergence of 3 schemes
7 Departments associated
Democracy Orchards
vii) “JIRGA” : Mission for Enrolment of Nomadic Voters and Their Participation
Electoral Inclusion of Nomads: Polling Stations with predominant tribal nomadic
population identified and specific interventions launched.
139 Jirgas organised: Nomads delayed migration by 40 days.
Tribal Culture & Research Foundation engaged for Jirgas
J&K AAC&L: State Academy associated for specific interventions
Jirga: Reading voter lists, enrolment, pamphlets in Gojri, pledge by elders.
7 Departments associated
viii) Jai Kissan Jai Hindustan campaign for Electoral Enrolment/Participation of
Farmers
47 Polling Stations identified having predominant farmers‘ population and
traditionally low electoral turnout
8 Departments associated; Polling Station adoption by officers
Electoral Literacy, Pledge Ceremonies, Signatures, Enrolment camps, Mobile Photo
Booths, plantation.
ix) Women Enrolment and Participation: Special Campaign
942 Women Volunteers trained, engaged and services utilised
302 Women Voter Facilitation Counters established
Women Rallies across the district and observing various days
AWWs assigned targets
Signature Campaign
Mother India Campaign for hilly regions
DEO‘s Women Electoral Conference for women in remote areas
Women Helpline for enrolment and grievance redressal
Home Service: Enrolment
―No Women Queues‖ at all Polling Stations: Seating Arrangements
Voter Slip with DEO Message
x) Wrestling for Nation and Sports Campaign for Electoral Participation
District, Tehsil, Block, Federation level competitions
Wrestling Events: 24
Kabaddi Events: 76
Fencing Events: 14
Participation: 1000-5000 in each event
Democracy Rafting Championships organised in River Chenab for youth
xi) Democracy Blood Donation Camps: Linking Youth
12 Blood Donation Camps
1238 Volunteers reported for blood donation for nation
Awareness Camps at Blood Donation venues
xii) Electoral Photo Exhibition: Lighting the Fire of Democracy
With aim of Electoral Literacy
14 Major Exhibitions at Tehsil, Block, Sub-Division, District level
32 Rural Exhibitions
Components: Photographs of SVEEP events, posters, Banners, ECI material,
Banners, Cartoons, Caricatures on ethical voting, Voter Registration, District Icons,
Live Polling Booth, Cultural Shows, Movie Show
Sponssorship: Rs.2.65 lakh
More than 15,000 participated
60 days of exhibition
xiii) Street Plays and Shows: Linking Culture with Democracy
Election Awareness
Ethical Voting
Informed Voting
Electoral Participation
Voter Enrolment
SVEEP Campaigns
170 events organised
xiv) Election Express – I & II: Vote on Wheels
Vote on Wheels: 4500 voters enrolled
Two dedicated Vans arranged through partner organisation
Components: EVM Model on top, Messages of Icons, Caricatures & Cartoons,
Cultural Troupe, EVM along with Master Trainer, Pledge Letters, Posters,
Pamphlets,Lounspeaker mounted
xv) “Rehbar” scheme for Specially Abled, Aged and Infirmed Voters‟ Inclusion:
PBAT/BLOs: Survey of differently abled, aged – Electoral Inclusion
Nomination of assistant with each voter
DEO Office: Lists issued indicating name and contact number of assistant designated
for each special voter
1506 voters facilitated (1506 assistants)
Rs 3 lakh spent by District Red Cross Society
100% electoral participation: Specially abled, aged, sick
114 Centurions and octogenarians facilitated
xvi) Stamps: Reaching Homes – DEO‟s Message for Electoral Participation on
Documents
Ration Cards
Kissan Credit Cards
Bank Pass Book
LPG Books
Driving Licence
Applications
Bus Ticket
Yatra Tickets
Admission Forms
Roll Number Slips
xvii) Language: Awareness Mission
3.45 lakh posters, Banners, Pamphlets,
Hoardings,
Radio Programmes, TV Shows in Regional Languages – Kashmiri, Pahari, Gojri and
Dogri
Documents Stamped
Ration Cards 58,427
KCC 17,991
Bank PB 21,675
LPG Books 9018
Applications 7118
Job Cards 53490
MOU with Tribal Cultural & Research Foundation, Academy of Art & Culture,
Deptts.
xviii) Youth Parliament: Linking Youth:
3 Sessions: Participation of 1200 students
17 Institutions: Colleges and Schools involved
Mock Youth Parliament on Electoral Awareness
Ethical Voting, District Electoral Profile, SVEEP measures, Polling Station info,
BMF, Rehbar scheme, Model Code of Conduct, Election Expenditure Monitoring,
Live Coverage : Cable TV
Media partnership : for dissemination of information
xix) Campaign through Letters, SMS, Post-Cards:
Post Cards: 1.80 lakh Post Cards with DEO‘s message for electoral participation
dispatched 15 days before poll date.
Letters written to 2800 voters: Sarpanchs, Panchs, Lumberdars, Chowkidars, Unions,
Heads of offices and institutions, Women, Youth, NGOs, PSUs, Departments
SMS: four Service providers, 41000 subscribers sent messages for electoral
participation (P-1, P-3, P-10, P-14)
Sponsored by Partner Organisations
xx) Polling Booth Campaigns:
Research & Survey
Plan Formulation
Appointment of Nodal Officers
Rolling out of Campaigns
Meeting with electors
Electoral Literacy
Enrolment Camps
EVM Familiarisation Camps
Pledge Letters
Personal visits
Telephone Calls
Message on photo voter slips
Polling Day facilitation
100% Basic Minimum Facilities established
xxi) Targeted Campaign for Identified Polling Booths
for Inclusion:
10% Polling Stations (PS) with lowest overall
turn out (30PS)
94 Polling Stations with Predominant ST population
39 Polling Stations with predominant SC population
15 Polling Stations in extremely difficult and insurgency hit areas
xxii) Establishment of 53 Model Polling Stations (MPS):
MPS Partnership Programme
Expenditure
Deptts, PSUs, Corps, Orgs
Face-lifting, BMF
Publicity
Facilities : 16 Types
Signage
1. Entry, Exit
2. Detail of Polling Station
3. Facilities and Counters
4. Services available
5. Routes leading to MPS
Entertainment
1. Flat Screen TV sets
2. Live entertainment: Youth Shows,
Cultural Programme, Music Show,
Singing
3. Events by and Interaction with
District icons/youth icons.
Pleasant experience
1. Red Carpet Welcome
2. Presentations of Flowers
3. Plantation of saplings by voluntary
voters
4. ― Thank You‖ Card from DEO
Voter Assistance Services
Token Counter: No Queues
Literary Corner
Newspapers : all languages
Women
PS
2009
turnout
2014
turnout
Gulabgarh 08.03% 76.01%
Reasi 15.33% 77.28%
Gool-
Arnas
11.18% 70.74%
Seating arrangements 300-500
chairs in different eclosures
Voter Assistance Booth/Help
Desk
Female Voter Assistance Booth:
Escorting female voters,
offering token, seating
First Aid Centre: 1 Doctor and 2
Paramedics
Roll Locator Desk
Assistance Booth for Seating
and facilitation to polling booth
guided/assisted by Nodal
Officials as per Token Number
Drinking Water Stalls:
Kingfisher Water Bottles with
message of DEO under SVEEP
Special Voters‘ Assistance
Booth Tricycles, Volunteers,
Staff to assist
Mobility : Vehicles for elderly,
specially-abled, sick and
infirmed voters ( for identified
voters/on call)
Magazine
SVEEP Booklets:
Documentation of events upto 31
March 2014
Books on Election Commission,
Elections, Democracy
Electoral Literacy
Photo Exhibition: 70-100
photographs of best events in
district; ECI Campaign material,
ethical and informed voting
material developed by DEO
Office,
Electoral Profile of district;
trends in previous elections,
report on gaps developed by
SVEEP R&D Team, detail of
interventions at all polling
stations etc.
Assistance:
BLO: Help Desk
ReZ Official: Token distribution
to Men
AWWs: Token distribution to
Women
Doctor and 2 Paramedics
Two officials on water stall:
Alternate duty
Five official in reception
committee: Alternate duty
Three officials to manage seating
arrangements
Two officials : Entertainment,
Literary Desk
Team of two senior officers to
oversee all the arrangements
xxiii) Enrolment, Electoral Awareness & e-Governance:
Permanent e-Governance Infra for Elections: Tablet PCs, Cameras for all PS.
Coverage of events, Information dissemination, Exhibitions, Documentation of
campaigns, Vigilance, Monitoring Voter Enrolment, Camps, Strengthening PBATs/BLOs
District e-Governance Society, RDD, MGNREGA, DIF
xxiv) Media Partnership for Awareness Dissemination:
MoUs with Newspapers, Radio, TV Channels
Regular Coverage, Sponsorship
32 Newspapers, Radio/TV Channels
Investment: Rs.74,09 lakh (DAVP rates)
More than 5000 insertions
The Tribune, Kashmir Times, Udaan, Rising Kashmir, Kashmir Uzma, Daily Excelsior,
DD, RKJ, HT
Daily events coverage
Information disseminations: State & beyond
Success Stories : ToI, Mail Today, Indian Express, HT, Business Standard, Outlook, The
Week
xxv) Migrant Voters‟ Facilitation: Participation after 16 years:
Participation after 16 years : 1998 Massacre
1700 Migrant Voters: Role of BLOs/PBATs/officers-Special Vehicles arranged
Resource Mobilisation through Partner Organisation: No Government funds
Visited respective villages for casting votes
xxvi) Website and other Online Campaigns:
www.jashnejamhriat.com or www.deoreasi.com
Details of Voters Lists, Polling Stations, BLOs, Electoral participation Schemes, Daily
Events update
Home service of enrolment
Grievance redressal
DEO Messages
Youth Icons, District Icons : Messages
Posters: Ethical Voting
Facebook Page
xxvii) Door-to-Door Campaign:
Three Stage Campaign
BLOs, PBATs: Every household in district reached by teams
Voter Enrolment: Summary Revision & Continuous Updation
One week before poll (Voter Slips): with DEO message
Documented by SVEEP Cell
xxviii) Signature Campaign:
Polling Booth Area: 100% Target
Household Visits and pledge
DEO‘s meeting with PBAT heads
BLOs, AWWs, GRS, ReT, ReZ, PH, Volunteers, ASHAs
1,38,000 signatures
Precision: Unable to turn up on polling day
13000 voters identified: Away for livlihood/Jobs
Pledge letters signed
Distribution of material on ethical voting
More than 4000 photographs documented
xxix) DEO‟s Electoral Conference:
12 Major Events in District: Panchayat Cluster level
Participation: 4000-9500
Panchayats, Departments, Institutions involved
5-40 KM trek to venues
xxx) Providing Basic Minimum Facilities through Partnerships:
Survey by SOs
Planning and Resource Mobilisation
Dovetailing of Govt Schemes: SSA, MGNREGA, DIF, DP, NBA, RGVVY, CSR,
PHE/PWD, Municipal Funds, Red Cross, Village Panchayat Funds
Partner Organisations approached
Three Phase Project
BMF Before Achieved (301)
Drinking Water 176 301
Separate Toilet 129 301
Ramps 51 279
Electricity 112 301
Landline 16 98
Cellular 184 301
xxxi) Best Welfare Measure for Polling Staff/Polling Parties/CRPF:
1800 Poll Officials equipped with model facilities for trekking to their polling stations:
sleeping bags, energy foods, medicines, communication facilities, security cover, route
map, halting facilities, route guides, emergency assistance.
Polling Booth for officials deployed for voter assistance and providing best facilities at
polling booth.
2000 Security Officials / CRPF men assisted for duty, model transport arrangements,
packaged food, guides, assistants.
301 Close User Group (CUG) communication centres established.
Vulnerability mapping: Special training of poll staff for critical areas
7000 officials trained for poll duty: 92 sessions for all-round training
Role of Various Stakeholders
The Project was conceived, designed, planned and implemented by the District Collector and
evaluated from time to time by the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K and Election Commission of
India. More than 85 partner organisations were roped in. With the help of a strong team of 7200
officials, all 147 Panchayats were actively engaged and generated a momentum among all
sections especially nomads, women, specially abled, farmers and working class for being
stakeholders in democracy and participate in world‘s largest democratic exercise.
He generated an investment of approximately 3.50 cr from various partner organisations and
departments; including the notional investment of print and electronic media coverage. Because
of his extraordinary leadership the project created records of sorts in all respects.
Highlights
Transparency and Stakeholder Participation: The entire project had a dedicated
Vigilance and Monitoring Cell working independent of the Core Team and reporting all
the events. It is pertinent to mention 58,000 people participated in Maha-Gram Sabha on
10.12.2013. Each and every citizen was involved as a stake holder through 1476 events
organised, 35 campaigns and 105 different activities.
Innovativeness of the Initiative and Its Replicability: The project can well be rated as
most innovative as it specifically targeted each and every stakeholder though a well
researched, planned and targeted approach to elicit a greater response. It can well be
replicated in any district across the country saving crores of rupees and involving all the
stake holders in a positive way.
Increased Efficiency of Outputs/Processes and Effectiveness of Outcomes: All the stages
have been made efficient and quick – home service of voter enrolment and allied services
like correction and modification, invitation for participating on polling day, no queues-
seating arrangements at polling booths. The voter enrolment and participation process has
been made easiest.
Display of leadership/Team Work by the Nominee(s): The nominee has displayed an
extraordinary leadership which is reflected in the quantum of teamwork involving
thousands of members-both official and non-officials, the kind of public response to the
initiative and has also been appreciated by the Election Commission of India as an
extraordinary initiative. The entire programme was driven by the leadership of the
nominee which made a great success possible.
Sustainability of the Initiative: The initiative has put in place a permanent setup of teams
at Village and Panchayat level, a chain of voter enrolment entre/voter facilitation
counters, IT-equipped network at booth level and permanent cells at District, Block,
Tehsil level. It shall serve as permanent booster for democracy in J&K State.
Benefits
Improvement in Delivery Time of Services: Service delivery was made on demand. It was
related to home delivery of enrolment, electoral awareness, and for participation details.
It was also made online through email request or even through Toll Free Helpline.
Better Beneficiaries‟ Feedback: Regular feedback was taken at weekly camps for
enrolment, during special drives and campaigns, even on the day of polling about the
arrangements put in place. Based on the feedback received from Nomadic tribal
Bakkerwal community members regarding problems faced in enrolment, the process was
further simplified enabling enrolment of more than 6000 tribal voters, mostly women,
PRIs (Panchayati Raj Institutions) and BLOs as well as PBATs also serve as a platform
for exchanging feedback.
Simplified Procedures: Voter Enrolment, Electoral Literacy, Single Window System,
Monitoring and Conduct of Elections
(A comparative analysis of the key result areas, key performance indicators and other
socio-economic impact parameters, before and after the implementation of the initiative,
in the form of a table, is a MUST)
Achievement Before After
Electoral Participation 44% (2009) 81%
Women Participation 34% 79%
Gender Gap 20% 1%
Nomadic Population
participation
23% (2009) 81%
EPIC 68%
(08/2013)
96%
EP Ratio 50.12%
(08/2013)
57.72%
Roll Gender Ratio 887
(08/2013)
907
Participation of Migrants 00 91%
Participation of specially
abled voters, 80+
NA 100%
Model Polling Stations 00 53
Women Facilitation Polling
Stations
00 301
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