Ministry of Panchayati Raj ePRI Study Project - Phase … Study Project (Phase IV) Detailed Project Report - Kerala National Informatics Centre Services Inc. Page 6 of 161 1 Executive

Ministry of Panchayati Raj

ePRI Study Project - Phase IV

Detailed Project Report

for

Panchayati Raj Institutions

in

State of Kerala By

National Informatics Centre Services Inc.

March, 2010

ePRI Study Project (Phase IV) Detailed Project Report - Kerala

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


Acknowledgement

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

The Kerala team from NICSI empanelled vendor Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd. would like to express its gratitude towards all the government officials of Kerala for their kind support and guidance during the course of study. We would like to acknowledge, in particular, the contribution of the following officials for their extensive co-operation, valuable insights and continued involvement: 1. State Level: • Mr. S.M. Vijayanand, IAS, Principal Secretary, Local Self-Government, Government of Kerala

• Dr. V. M. Gopala Menon, IAS, Director, Department of Panchayati Raj, Government of Kerala

• Mr. A. Jayathilak , IAS , Commissioner of Rural Development, Government of Kerala

• Mr. M. Sivasankar, IAS, Director of Tourism / Executive Director of Information Kerala Mission

• Mr. V.N. Jitendran, IAS, Mission Director, NREGS Kerala

• Mr. P. V. Unnikrishnan , Member, Kerala State Planning Board

• Mr. Srikantan, Director, Kudumbashree Mission

• Prof. M. K. Prasad, Executive Chairman and Director, Information Kerala Mission

• Mr. K. Premkumar , Technical Director, Information Kerala Mission

• Mr. Mohan Sukumar, Manager – ITES, Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM)

• Mr. Sanal Kumar, Research Officer, State Resource Group

• Mr. K. Sukumaran, Research Officer, State Resource Group

2. Palakkad District: • Mrs. Subaida Ishaaq, President, Palakkad District Panchayat

• Mr. P. R. Chandrababu, Secretary, Palakkad District Panchayat

• Ms. U Lakshmi Devi, President, Malampuzha Block Panchayat

• Mr. K.P. Vishwa Vijayan, Block Development Officer, Malampuzha Block Panchayat

• The Members of Malapuzha Block Panchayat Committee

• Joint BDOs, and Block Programme Officer – NREGS

• Mr. D. Sadasivan, President, Akathethara Gram Panchayat

• Mr. M Muraleedharan, Secretary, Akathethara Gram Panchayat

• The Members of Akathethara Gram Panchayat Committee

• The Heads of Departments of the Akathethara Gram Panchayat

• The Head Clerk and other staff of Malampuzha Block Panchayat.

• The Junior Superintendent and other staff of Akathethara Gram Panchayat

• The Citizens of Akathethara Gram Panchayat


We would like to extend our special thanks to Shri. A.N.P. Sinha, Secretary, MoPR for his continued support and thought leadership in defining the vision and objectives for this study. Also, we are thankful to Shri. D.K. Jain, Joint Secretary, MoPR, for providing continuous guidance and support in formulating the contours of the project and intervening at crucial times to iron out issues faced by us during our interactions with various government officials. Our sincere thanks are due to Dr. B.K. Gairola, Director General, NIC for providing us an opportunity to participate in this unique initiative with potentially far reaching impact, for sharing his vision and insights on empowerment of Panchayati Raj Institutions through computerization and also for providing his valuable guidance and directions to the team for effectively executing the project. Our special thanks to Mr. D.C. Misra, Senior Technical Director, NIC in setting overall guidelines and roadmap for project execution, in thrashing out critical issues faced by the field teams, in ensuring support from NIC state and District officials and in proactively addressing the issues to ensure timely execution at each step of the project. Also, we are thankful to Ms. Rama Hariharan, Technical Director, NIC for relentlessly working with us on the project and providing timely guidance and support in conducting the study. Her valuable feedback through a critical review of our work has been extremely helpful in adequately capturing the Information and Services needs of various stakeholders of the project. The availability of right infrastructure is one of the critical elements in smooth execution of a project and we would like to extend our thanks to Ms. Junu Kailay, MD, NICSI who ensured a smooth take off for the project. Last but not the least; we take this opportunity to thank all the members of the central team, consisting of Shri. Adesh Gupta, Senior Systems Analyst, NIC, Ms. Anjali Dhingra, Technical Director, NIC, Ms. Meghna Shrimali, Principal Consultant, Mr. Anand Dubey, Senior Consultant, Mr. Ashish Nasa, Senior Consultant, Ms. Barkha Shah, Senior Consultant and Ms. Seela Swain, Senior Consultant who have helped us in improvising this report through their continued involvement and the extensive peer-review process. The involvement and support of all these senior officials has enabled us to understand the expectations of the project clearly. This will go a long way in defining the overall success of the project.

ePRI Project - Kerala Team

R. K Santhana Raman, SIO Kerala

Mrs. L Sreelatha, DIO, NIC, Palakkad Ms. Kasthuri M, Scientist, NIC, Trivandrum

Mr. Suresh Kumar P, Scientist, NIC, Palakkad Mr. Anand Hariharan, Principal Consultant

Mr. John Clifford, Senior Consultant Mr. Gurronak Sabharwal, Junior Consultant

Mr. S. R. Ravi Nair, Joint Director (Retd.), Directorate of Panchayats


Table of Contents

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

2 Project Background ............................................................................................................................ 9

3 Approach and Methodology ............................................................................................................. 18

4 Assumptions / Pre requisites ........................................................................................................... 21

5 Requirements for e-pri application development ............................................................................ 24

6 Requirements for ICT and connectivity ........................................................................................... 62

7 Capacity Building Requirements ...................................................................................................... 78

8 Change Management Requirements ................................................................................................ 98

9 Implementation Strategy ................................................................................................................. 104

10 Project Management Structure ................................................................................................... 118

11 Financial Estimates ..................................................................................................................... 139

12 Recommendations....................................................................................................................... 144

13 Way Forward ................................................................................................................................ 146

14 Annexure ...................................................................................................................................... 147


National Informatics Centre Services Inc. Page 6 of 161

1 Executive Summary The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), as part of its mandated responsibility to strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country, is keen to introduce e-Governance in all the PRIs of the country. The e-PRI Mission Mode project is a project of immense stature initiated by MoPR in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC). The needs of PRIs and citizens vary from state to state, due to variations in level of governance in PRIs and ICT readiness of states and PRIs. The e-PRI MMP was therefore, preceded by a comprehensive study to assess the current information and services needs of citizens, PRIs and other stakeholders (ISNA), identify the scope for re-engineering various functions and services carried out by PRIs, (BPR) culminating in the cost estimate for implementing the recommendations in a state wise Detailed Project Report (DPR). In Kerala, the study was conducted in the Palakkad Zilla Panchayat (ZP), Malampuzha Block Panchayat (BP) and Akathethara Gram Panchayat (GP). Intent of DPR - The DPR serves as the roadmap for operationalization of the e-PRI MMP in Kerala. It provides details of the estimated cost for implementing the MMP in Kerala, which includes ICT infrastructure requirements, state-specific software applications, data digitization requirements, project management cost etc. The implementation plan for a period of 3 years is also provided. The DPR also proposes the Project Management and Monitoring structure for supervising the implementation. Proposed Implementation Plan – Implementation of the ePRI project in the state of Kerala is proposed to be undertaken in a Service Procurement Model (SPM) whereby a Service Procurement Agency (SPA) would be selected through a competitive and transparent bidding process. The SPA would provide the required ICT Infrastructure as well as provide trained computer literate manpower. The SPA would be provided adequate monthly service charges, as defined through the bidding process, to carry out the desired tasks. The implementation would be spread over a period of 3 years and would comprise of the following phases: • RFP Phase – In this phase the RFP template provided by the MoPR will be customised to reflect the State-specific requirements. The outcome of this phase would be the selection of the Implementation Agency (IA). • Deployment Phase – This phase would comprise installation and commissioning of the hardware at all the PRIs as well as augmentation of ICT infrastructure at the State Data Centre or the NIC Data Centre for hosting the State-specific software applications, which will be developed at State level. Certain core common software applications have also been identified, which would be developed centrally by NIC and customised for each State. Trainings will be provided on the usage of these software applications and one trained computer literate Panchayat Level Operator (PLO) will be provisioned at each PRI for backlog data entry and provision of services, both G2C and G2G, on an ongoing basis. • Operations and Maintenance Phase – The manpower provisioned for data entry would continue providing operational support for a period of three years, during which the Panchayat officials / members are expected to enhance their skill sets and become sufficiently able to use computers including the various software applications. To implement this project across the State in time-bound and effective manner the following 3-tier project management structure is proposed: 1. Central Level Body – Headed by Secretary, MoPR 2. State Level Body – Headed by Principal Secretary, PR Department, Kerala 3. District Level Body – Headed by CEO, ZP of the respective districts



The State level body would be supported by a Project Management Unit (PMU) for monitoring the implementation and operations of the project. To ensure robust monitoring a Block Support Group (BSG), comprising of one resource at each block, is also envisaged. These resources would monitor the project activities at all PRIs in their assigned blocks and provide inputs to the PMU for monitoring. Kerala state cost estimates - The total ePRI project cost for the State of Kerala is estimated at Rs. 54.89 cr., which includes costs for ICT (Rs. 38.12 cr.), Training (Rs. 3.07 cr.), IEC (Rs. 0.22 cr.), Project Management Unit (Rs. 6.09 cr.) at the state level and Block Support Group (Rs. 7.39 cr.) at block level. The ICT cost estimates includes: a) Costs for provision of ICT infrastructure to the PRIs at the State/ZP/BP/GP level as well as to the

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

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

c) Cost for trained PLO (Manpower) to be deployed at all GP, BP and ZP. (Rs. 14.56 cr.) Considering the above costs, the average monthly service charges for a ZP would be INR 15,552, for a BP would be INR 7,666 and for a GP it would be INR 8,458 approximately. However, the actual payouts would be considerably reduced owing to the local market dynamics realized through the competitive bidding process. The suggested implementation strategy and estimated costs provided in this report have been calculated on certain underlying assumptions, both, common across the states and specific to the state of Kerala Some major common assumptions include: • Using NICSI empanelment rates for costing • The implementation will start within one year of the release of this report • The civil infrastructure requirements of the PRIs, if any, will be funded by other sources such as

NREGS, BRGF, RGSY, Finance commission grants etc. • Provision for training to be made with respect to the ePRI application only Kerala - specific pre-requisites and assumptions include: 1. Akshaya Kendras and State Portal should be accepted as alternate service delivery channels in

addition to the existing Front Office system, with adequate procedures for coordination 2. Service levels need to be defined for Akshaya Kendras for transferring hard copy documents

collected to PRIs for better coordination in service delivery 3. Provision for integration of Akshaya Kendras and State Portal with the proposed PR Information

System as service delivery channels should be made 4. Acceptance of electronic workflows for processing of service requests instead of the existing paper

based workflow within PRIs with relevant procedure amendments needs to be made. 5. Replacement of respective hard copy registers with digital databases for recording transactions

related to service delivery. 6. All existing data relevant to Birth registration should be migrated to the proposed system for effective

usage of the proposed system. 7. It is proposed that all payments pertinent to services to be made during application phase at the

delivery channels itself, based on checklists presented to the applicant.



8. An e-payment infrastructure needs to be made available for services delivered through the State Portal, and optionally at Akshaya Kendras.

9. Scanned versions of supporting documents should be accepted by PRIs for the purpose of verification.

10. Provision needs to be there to dispatch birth certificates by Post/Courier to the applicant if preferred by the same.

11. Availability and Integration of hospital information systems for birth registration with the proposed system

12. Authorization and mechanism to distribute Revenue stamps through Akshaya Kendras, or an electronic equivalent of the same should be made available

13. Adequate provisions should be made for collecting additional charges like Akshaya Kendra service charges, post/courier charges, etc. from the applicant.

14. M-Governance infrastructure to be made available by the State Government for enabling status tracking through mobile devices.

15. As the State Department is well equipped with various ICT facilities. So implementation of new ICT infrastructure is not recommended except for providing some basic requirements for implementing e-pri applications.

16. The SWAN connectivity is present till BP, so major consideration has been given to provide last mile connectivity at GP office.

17. It was observed by the team that all the three level lack LAN connectivity, so in this DPR providing LAN connectivity at all three level is been considered.

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



2 Project Background Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in India are an indigenous concept of local self governance which promotes decentralized governance by participation of the ordinary public in their own governance. This process of democratic decentralization was set in motion with the Constitution (Seventy Third Amendment) Act passed by the Indian Parliament in 1992, which enabled decentralized governance through PRIs in rural areas. PRIs function at the village, intermediate (block) and district level. There are approximately 2,34,030 Gram Panchayats at the village level, 6,053 Janpad Panchayats at the block level and 535 Zilla Panchayats at the district level. There are more than 31 lakh elected representatives at all three tiers. PRIs offer India’s rural villagers an opportunity to participate in village planning processes, to engage with the various developmental schemes being implemented by the Government and to interact with their elected representatives directly to ensure that their interests are being effectively served and their money properly spent. While local governance through PRIs is an excellent concept but has so far remained in theory, reality has been less positive, as many PRIs have been criticized for poor representation, failure to implement the participatory decisions of their constituencies and mismanagement of funds. In this context, citizen participation in Panchayat institutions is more meaningful when people have the information to make informed choices and to participate in decision-making processes based on facts, not rumors and half-truths. The PRIs are also saddled with the problems of inadequate capacity vis-à-vis physical and financial resources, technical capabilities and extremely limited computerization. This has limited the usefulness of PRIs as the preferred delivery channel for the schemes of State and Centre as well as for citizen services. Computerization and IT enablement of government functioning has received a high impetus with the implementation of the National eGovernance Programme of Government of India and various states have realized the importance of eGovernance. This has led to a concerted thrust towards computerizing the functioning of the state line departments in most of the states. The result of this is cognizable and has brought in its wake significant efficiencies in the departmental functioning. While some computerization efforts for PRIs have been made by NIC over the years; unfortunately, the eGovernance revolution sweeping the country has not touched the PRIs yet in significant measure. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India has realized this and decided to take up the computerization of PRIs on a mission mode basis. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is mandated to ensure effective local self governance in rural areas and is therefore committed to strengthening the PRIs. To achieve this MoPR in association with NICSI has conceptualized a nation-wide study to take stock of the needs and expectations of various stakeholders from PRIs and also the needs and expectations of PRIs from various stakeholders. This study is



expected to result in drafting the requirements of computerization for PRIs across the country and is being undertaken across 27 states within duration of 23 weeks. This initiative poses unique challenges, as the coverage of the programme is in itself unprecedented not only in India but perhaps globally too. The geographic and demographic coverage of the programme, therefore, makes it a challenging initiative to rollout. In addition, the level of devolution of powers to PRIs across the country varies depending upon the provisions of the State Panchayati Raj Act and the spirit with which the devolution has been undertaken in a particular State/UT. This implies that the services that could be delivered to the citizens by Village Panchayats in one State/UT could differ from another. Consequently, design of the process re-engineering, computerization and capacity building programme would face significant challenges. This also leads to related challenges around stakeholder’s involvement in the programme. This project entails carrying out the following three activities:

1. Identification of Information and Services Needs of Stakeholders 2. Process Re-engineering and 3. Preparation of Detailed Project Report for the MMP

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

1. Central Line Ministries level 2. State level 3. Zilla Panchayat level 4. Block Panchayat level 5. Village Panchayat level



2.1 Introduction Kerala represents a highly evolved stage of local self-government due to a variety of factors. These include:

• Strong and continued political will to de-centralize administration to the grassroots level

• Active people’s participation in Panchayat activities

• High degree of involvement of women

• Well-developed institutional mechanisms and support for capacity building, training and research & development in various aspects of local self-government

The following services have been identified for process re-engineering. These services have been grouped into four categories for ease of understanding and to provide a consistent rationale for their selection for re-engineering.

2.1.1 Service group 1: Birth, Death and Marriage registration

These services have been selected for re-engineering as they are very important for the Panchayat's operations from various dimensions such as education, family welfare, and social security benefits administration and most importantly for programmes such as ICDS, NRHM, etc. In the particular Panchayat we are studying, a near level of saturation has been reached in terms of providing houses to the homeless population. It is when a marriage happens and a new couple requests for home, that the Panchayat needs to take action. This is also an important mandatory function as family welfare related activities are also linked to marriage registration.

• Service 1: Registration of birth and modifications to birth register

• Service 2: Registration of death:

• Service 3: Registration of marriage

2.1.2 Service group 2: Taxation related services

The following taxation related services have been selected for re-engineering as these are complex tax processing operations involving a high amount of paper work and also require certain degree of computational assistance. These two taxes are the largest sources of income for the village Panchayat.

• Service 4: Payment of property tax

• Service 5: Payment of profession tax

• Service 6: Exemption from payment of property tax

2.1.3 Service group 3: Construction and land use related services

Due to the high population density, land use needs to be carefully monitored in the Panchayat and public/arable lands need to be protected from encroachment and illegal activities. Hence these have been identified. The Panchayat has identified extensification of arable land as one of its key priorities (Refer minutes of Village Development Seminar). Also, due to the high population density, the Panchayat needs to closely monitor industrial/trade activities in its jurisdiction to prevent any offensive and dangerous activities. Hence the following services related to construction and land use have been selected for re-engineering.



• Service 7: Issue of residential building permit

• Service 8: Issue of commercial building permit

• Service 9: Issue or renewal of trade licenses

• Service 10: Transfer of ownership

2.1.4 Service group 4: Administration of benefits

These are the largest operations carried out by the Panchayat and involve a very high degree of citizen involvement. It is also a pressing need expressed by various citizens (Especially maintenance of houses) during our Gram Panchayat level interaction. Disbursement of pensions is a very important social security function of the Village Panchayat and needs to be made easier for aged persons of the community and they should not have to come physically to the Village Panchayat office, if possible. Catering to information requests under RTI Act and grievance redressal are mandatory functions of Panchayat. As of now, due to large amount of paper based records, there is a challenge in responding in a timely fashion. Also as per our citizen interactions, the general awareness amongst the village population about Citizen Charter and RTI Act is minimal. Hence the following portfolio of services has been selected for re-engineering.

• Service 11: Provision of housing

• Service 12: Maintenance of houses

• Service 13: Disbursement of pensions

• Service 14: Disbursement of various monetary assistances to weaker sections such as widowed mothers, ailing old persons and unemployment allowance

• Service 15: Grievance redressal

2.1.5 New services

The following new services have been identified at the Gram Panchayat level based upon the citizen feedback received and subsequent feedback received from District and State Workshops.

• Service 16: Electronic credit of wages, pensions and benefits and immediate intimation of their processing and credit: Most of the NREGA beneficiaries and pensioners have complained about delays in credit of wages and most of this is attributed to paper based muster rolls and the extensive paper work related to it.

• Service 17: Know status of application: During our citizen interactions, we received feedback that many times it is difficult to know what happened to their application and they need to visit the Panchayat multiple times. Hence this is proposed as a new service of the Panchayat.

• Service 18: Issue of BPL certificate at Gram Panchayat: This is issued at Block Panchayat at present. The requirement to visit Block Panchayat is only to obtain a signature and this can be as well issued at the Village Panchayat since records are maintained at the Village Panchayat. Hence this has been proposed as a new service at the Gram Panchayat.

• Service 19: Electronic processing of Treasury Bills: Electronic data exchange with Treasury especially with respect to processing of Treasury bills. This has been identified as Panchayat staff have suggested that they are unable to deliver citizen services as per service levels as they spend a significant amount of time in processing treasury bills. This has therefore been



identified as a key component not only from a G2E point of view but also in G2C service delivery.

• Service 20: Request for Information under Right to Information Act: A structured process for processing these requests is envisaged as a new service for citizens. The team’s assessment in the village had revealed both a low level of awareness about the RTI Act as well as challenges in addressing these queries as a result of low levels of computerization.

The following is the detailed list of As-Is processes which support these services and which were identified for re-engineering. ► Issue of Birth Certificate ► Name Inclusion in Birth Register ► Modification of Birth Register ► Issuance of Identification Certificate For Birth Registration ► Issuance of Non Availability Certificate For Birth ► Issue of Death Certificate ► Modification of Death Registers ► Issuance of Non-Availability Certificate for Death ► Issuance of Marriage Certificate ► Collection of Property Tax – Assessment Year ► Collection of Property Tax - Annual ► Collection of Profession Tax ► Exemption from Paying Property Tax ► Issue of One Day Residential Building Permit ► Issue of Commercial Building Permit ► Issue/Renewal of Trade Licenses ► Transfer of Ownership ► Provision of Housing ► Disbursement of Pension ► Grant For Widow’s Daughter’s Marriage ► Disbursement of Unemployment Allowance ► Request for information under Right to Information Act ► Grievance Redressal ► Collections at Gram Panchayat ► Front office operations ► State Portal management ► Akshaya Kendra management ► Status tracking ► Application delivery



2.2 Vision and Objective The Vision of the State PR Department may be expressed as follows:

• All governing systems are for the people and it is the people who are the supreme authority

• Good governance brought about through participation and transparency is the foundation stone of local governance

• Every decision should ensure that the status of the Panchayat gets enhanced as a self-governing system

• De-centralized planning with strong People’s participation across all sections of the society and supported by localized, objective and up-to-date knowledgebase

• Citizen service delivery that is equitable, responsive and delivered through easily accessible channels

• Transparency in planning and execution of development programmes

• Deliver value for public funds invested and

• Foster innovation in planning, implementation and service delivery with support from appropriate technology

As per the Kerala Panchayati Raj Act, every Panchayat is a body corporate by the name of the Panchayats, have perpetual succession and a common seal and, subject to any restriction or qualification imposed, be vested with the capacity of suing or being sued in its corporate name; of acquiring, holding and transferring property, movable or immovable, of entering into contracts and of doing all things necessary, proper or expedient for the purpose for which it is constituted. In all, Kerala has 1,223 local governments in the following categories: Gram Panchayats – 999; Block Panchayats – 152; District Panchayats – 14; Municipalities – 53 and Corporations – 5. Summary of findings from ISNA report:

S. No. Observation

1 Kerala has a high degree of devolution of funds, functions and functionaries.

2 In Kerala, the government does not support different types of plan preparation for different sources of funds/schemes. Instead it follows an integrated approach whereby there is only one development plan for the local government prepared through a common planning process. Once the priorities and works are identified, those components which can be taken up as per the guidelines of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) or State Sponsored Schemes (SSS) concerned are taken up using those funds.

3 PRIs in Kerala are expected to formulate annual as well as five year plans.

4 Budgeting is one of the significant processes performed by the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Kerala and is governed by Kerala Panchayati Raj (Budget) Rules, 2008.

5 PRIs in Kerala are in the process of adopting an accrual based double entry accounting system



S. No. Observation

6 The Kerala State Panchayati Raj Act 1994 defines the role and functions of Panchayat Committees at the Gram, Block and District Panchayat levels. These Panchayat Committees play a significant role in decentralized planning in Kerala.

7 The Kudumbashree programme is tightly integrated with PRIs in Kerala and plays an important role in supporting various Panchayat activities. They play a significant role in implementation of welfare oriented schemes and are also a key support to the PRIs in the NREGS programme.

8 From a citizen’s perspective key information needs relating to service delivery are:

§ Information on what a citizen needs to do or provide to obtain a particular service

§ Information on when a service request would get processed

§ Information on whether the service request has been processed or not.

9 Information and Services Needs of State PR Department and other line departments can be broadly classified as:

1. Geo-spatial information

2. Information about citizens

3. Project monitoring information

4. Due to the importance given to RTI Act by the State Government, information necessary to respond to RTI queries as well as queries from Legislative Assembly are also significant information needs.

10 Kerala has made significant investments in the area of computerization and rolling out software applications for Panchayati Raj Institutions. To enable roll out e-Governance in PRIs, the Department of Panchayat Raj, Government of Kerala has set up the Information Kerala Mission (IKM) as the nodal agency.

11 PRI’s in the state of Kerala are expected to purchase computers and other required ICT infrastructure out of their own funds in consultation with IKM. The Local Self Government Department of the Kerala State Government in an official circular dated 25.06.2007 finalized the specifications of equipment and other items for the implementation of e-governance in Local Governments.

12 There is limited integration of NeGP initiatives such as State Data Centre, State Wide Area Network and Citizen Service Centers with PRI.



S. No. Observation

13 At present, Gram Panchayats can avail of KSWAN connectivity from their specific Block Panchayat by paying the specific charges required for setting up and deliverance of the connection.

14 The Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) is the nodal agency of Government of Kerala for training and capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in Kerala. It is an autonomous body under the LSG department.

15 In Kerala, all Gram Panchayats are required to prepare and publish a Citizen Charter which provides information regarding the services delivered by the Panchayat and also the service levels assigned to each of those services.

16 It has been mandated by the Kerala Government that the GPs implement a single window system for service delivery through Front Offices (Information Desks). The Kerala Institute for Local Administration (KILA) has developed and published guidelines regarding the creation and management of Front Desks.

17 The services identified for process re-engineering have been grouped into four service categories:

§ Service group 1: Birth, Death and Marriage registration

§ Service group 2: Taxation related services

§ Service group 3: Construction and land use related services

§ Service group 4: Administration of benefits

Recommendations from BPR Report:

The following improvements could be brought about beyond the scope of ePRI.

a. The functions of land and property records/registration related functions could be transferred to Gram Panchayats as they issue permits related to land use. The GPs also provide social support in terms of housing.

b. Environmental planning and management is not being done adequately in Kerala by GPs. Environmental conservation as a function needs to be strengthened at Gram Panchayat level further through adequate capacity building, awareness and incentives for performance.

c. Digital signatures could be integrated into Government functioning.

d. A system based on Unique ID may need to be created to identify family units as many social welfare schemes are based on family as an entity (for example: BPL family).



e. A standard needs to be established for GIS data which as of now is provided in many proprietary formats. Only then such data can be used effectively for functioning of Gram Panchayats.

f. In Kerala, the ward demarcation is conducted periodically which results in changes in addresses. It is vital to have a standard format for addresses in India. Only then can citizen communication be improved.

g. It is suggested that court fee stamps be de-materialized. Changes to the process for sale of court fee stamps through the following means:

i. Through mobile phones through sending a SMS

ii. For bulk purchase of court fee stamp by AKSHAYA Kendra staff



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

Figure 1: Project Approach

Initiation and Planning phase (Phase I) Focused on setting the tone for execution of the project. The key outcomes of this phase were identification of stakeholders, finalization of the consultation mechanism with the stakeholders, and common templates for data gathering and deliverables. Information and Services Needs assessment phase (Phase II) involved interaction with the identified stakeholders. This phase resulted in forming an understanding of the information needs of stakeholders. The citizen centric services that are currently being delivered through PRIs and the services that are expected to be delivered through PRIs were also identified and studied. The Process Re-engineering phase (Phase III), entailed in-depth analysis of the identified services and the administrative framework associated with PRIs. This analysis led to the identification of key gaps in the current processes and the creation of a BPR framework. This framework was designed to be customizable for every state/UT to address state-specific requirements, while also taking into cognizance the similarities existing across the country. Eventually a To-Be scenario encompassing PRI internal automation, citizen service delivery and internal functions of Planning, Monitoring, Implementation and Accounting was defined. The current phase, namely DPR preparation (Phase IV), is the eventual outcome of the study which defines the plan for implementation of ePRI MMP in each State/UT. The DPR primarily defines the ICT requirements across the three tiers of PRIs, the manpower and training requirements and the roll-out



strategy along with the overall program governance and management structure. The budgetary requirements for this project have also been estimated.

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

• Improvements in internal functions of PRIs viz. Planning, Monitoring, Implementation and Accounting

• IT applications for supporting the above internal functions and services

• Service delivery mechanism to be followed for the re-engineered processes

• ICT infrastructure required to support the above recommendations

• Manpower and skills required for implementing the above recommendations

• Requisite legal changes needed to implement the Envisaged Scenario These recommendations were translated into requirements and budgetary estimates as illustrated in the following figure.

Figure 2: Approach and Methodology for DPR

Phase III – BPR

Civil Infrastructure Requirements

Envisaged (To-Be) ScenarioService Delivery

Internal Functions

BPR Framework

Phase IV – DPR

Logical ArchitectureePRI

Application

Access Channels

External Interfaces

Users

Application Architecture

Application Modules

Support Functions

Common Components

High Level FRS

Technology Solution

Deployment Architecture

Database Architecture

Security Architecture

Program Management

Governance Structure

Change Management

Implementation Strategy

Capacity Building

Project Cost


Phase III – BPR


Envisaged (To-Be) ScenarioService Delivery

Internal Functions

BPR Framework

Phase IV – DPR

Logical ArchitectureePRI

Application

Access Channels

External Interfaces

Users

Application Architecture

Application Modules

Support Functions

Common Components

High Level FRS

Technology Solution

Deployment ArchitectureDeployment Architecture





Program Management

Governance Structure

Change Management

Implementation Strategy

Capacity Building

Project Cost


The step-wise approach used for determining the requirements is detailed below: Step 1: Translate automation recommendations into function solution and technical solution. The technical solution consists of applications to be developed, databases to be deployed and related content management aspects. The associated budgetary estimates were also computed.



Step 2: Translate computerization recommendations into ICT requirements – This includes defining the requirements and budget for ICT hardware, networking infrastructure and infrastructure for deployment in data centre. Step 3: Translate capacity gaps into manpower requirements and training requirements for PRI functionaries and elected representatives and the associated budget. Step 4: Design plan for awareness and communication about ePRI MMP to PRI officials, elected representatives and rural citizens Step 5: Define strategy for implementation of ePRI MMP in the States/UTs over 3 years. This includes a phased implementation plan with specific timelines and deliverables for each phase. This enabled defining the total state-wise outlay for implementation of ePRI MMP. The following sections of the report explore the various aspects mentioned above in greater detail.



4 Assumptions / Pre requisites

a) Manpower The DPRs will only budget for sourcing contract manpower. This would include data entry operators, technical support personnel and other such contractual staff. For the contract manpower, 1 person per GP has been budgeted for.

b) Training

Notwithstanding the above, the training budget would include trainings for both categories, i.e. 1. Training for official staff - To be trained on process / functional areas, PR governance, Scheme

related training, ICT usage and behavioral skills. 2. Training for contract manpower / ICT staff - To be trained on ICT usage, and scheme related

software etc. 3. Elected Representatives - To be trained on process / functional areas, PR governance, Scheme

related training, ICT usage and behavioral skills.

c) Application preparation and management 1. Application preparation (From URS phase to maintenance phase) - will be done centrally for only

the most common applications. The associated budget will be added to the National DPR. 2. Application management (hosting) - Will be done centrally for common applications. For

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

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

e) Budgeting

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

f) Cost Components:

• Application Development � All state-specific applications should include multi-lingual support. As per the guidelines under

ePRI EFC Note, all applications developed under ePRI (whether central or state-specific) should be unicode enabled and should be developed in open source software.

� If some applications have already been developed by the State, then ePRI state DPRs will also budget for integration with these existing application.



• Hosting, Network and ICT � It will be assumed that an operational data centre will already be existing in the State. This DPR

will not budget for building a data centre. � For budgeting for server requirements, NICSI central empanelment rates will be used. Only if

NICSI central empanelment rates are not available for a particular aspect, then the market rate can be used.

� As we are assuming that there will already be a data centre in the State (SDC or NIC), this DPR does not budget for firewall, intrusion protection system etc., as they would already be installed in the data centre. Only the following aspects will be costed for:

• Servers

• Storage space (SAN)

• Backup

• Hosting charges (assume NIC charges)

� Hosting of Databases - For common databases, the database design, development, and hosting will be done centrally by NIC. However, on completion, NIC will only act as the caretaker of the database and state will have complete ownership of the database. Accordingly, all charges related to common state-specific databases will not be added to state DPRs.

� This DPR includes cost for security audit of applications

• Mail Server – This DPR assumes NICemail. The cost for additional mail servers, if any, will be added centrally and not in the state-specific DPRs.

• This DPR budgets for computerizing all 3 levels of PRIs. However, this is also dependent on the specific inputs provided by the State PR Department.

g) Project Management In the state level committees to be formed for ePRI implementation, there should be representation of line departments. The State committee can be headed by the Principal Secretary, PR and will comprise of a) representatives from PR dept., b) representatives from key line depts, c) NIC officials.

h) Following are the key state specific assumptions for the proposed solution.

• Akshaya Kendras and State Portal should be accepted as alternate service delivery channels in addition to the existing Front Office system, with adequate procedures for coordination

• Service levels need to be defined for Akshaya Kendras for transferring hard copy documents collected to PRIs for better coordination in service delivery

• Provision for integration of Akshaya Kendras and State Portal with the proposed PR Information System as service delivery channels should be made

• Acceptance of electronic workflows for processing of service requests instead of the existing paper based workflow within PRIs with relevant procedure amendments needs to be made.



• Replacement of respective hard copy registers with digital databases for recording transactions related to service delivery.

• All existing data relevant to Birth registration should be migrated to the proposed system for effective usage of the proposed system.

• It is proposed that all payments pertinent to services to be made during application phase at the delivery channels itself, based on checklists presented to the applicant.

• An e-payment infrastructure needs to be made available for services delivered through the State Portal, and optionally at Akshaya Kendras.

• Scanned versions of supporting documents should be accepted by PRIs for the purpose of verification.

• Provision needs to be there to dispatch birth certificates by Post/Courier to the applicant if preferred by the same.

• Availability and Integration of hospital information systems for birth registration with the proposed system

• Authorization and mechanism to distribute Revenue stamps through Akshaya Kendras, or an electronic equivalent of the same should be made available

• Adequate provisions should be made for collecting additional charges like Akshaya Kendra service charges, post/courier charges, etc. from the applicant.

• M-Governance infrastructure to be made available by the State Government for enabling status tracking through mobile devices.

• As the State Department is well equipped with various ICT facilities. So implementation of new ICT infrastructure is not recommended except for providing some basic requirements for implementing e-pri applications.

• The SWAN connectivity is present till block panchayat, so major consideration has been given to provide last mile connectivity at GP office.

• It was observed by the team that all the three level lack LAN connectivity, so in this DPR providing LAN connectivity at all three level is been considered.

• Data digitization cost is not been considered in this DPR, as it is recommended it should be funded by Kerala PRI department.



5 Requirements for e-pri application development This section details the envisaged scenario (for both G2G & G2C services) and the Application Logical Architecture derived from the functional solution proposed in BPR phase. Further it explains the modules that will form the part do application architecture. It also detail out sub-components of logical architecture, which includes access channels, security framework etc. The section will have impact on total project cost in terms of ICT Infrastructure, application development and data digitization. The overall cost for implementing the proposed e-PRI application in Kerala is estimated at Rs. 0.87 Cr

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





5.2 G2G applications The proposed BPR solution would result in highly integrated ‘Government to Government’ services of Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting across all levels of PRI institution – District level, Block level and Village level institution. It aims at providing a common solution with defined workflows and functionalities resulting in high work integration for achieving overall work outcome. This would also help in high data integrity, access of information, tracking of work progress, monitoring and reporting functions, etc. During the assessment phase, it was observed that all the three levels of PRIs are participating together for successful completion of Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting functions. The functions of PRIs are either flowing from a ‘Bottom up’ or a ‘Top down’ for successful completion. The datasets relating to the above mentioned functions are moving along the workflow on which other tiers of PRIs are acting upon. The current solution, in a way, attempts to integrate the overall function from all perspective using IT technology thus enabling the ‘end to end’ automated system with respect to Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting functions of the PRIs. A high level representation of workflow for Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Accounting across all levels of PRI institution resulting from current BPR solution showing the interaction as well as flow of the work across all the tiers of PRIs is given below –





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

Planning Step 1

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

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

• Gram Sabha would discuss, prioritize the intervention upon which the village Panchayat would finalize the Village Annual Plan

Step 2

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

Step 3

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

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

Step 4

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

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

Step 5

• The Zila Panchayat and ZPC discuss and approve the overall plan for the district inclusive of block level as well as village level plan.

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



Step 6

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

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

Step 7

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

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

Step 8

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

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

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

Implementation Step 1

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

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

Step 2

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

• For Zila Panchayat / Block Panchayat ► Working Committee develop the implementation plan and involve the Public work departments

for undertaking the plan intervention ► Public work department undertakes survey, complete technical feasibility, develop bills of

material and other required documents ► Working Committee approves the bill of material and other requirement for Public Work

department to commence work ► Public Work Department execute work as per the specification and monitor quality and other

execution parameter and continuously report progress to Working Committee ► Working Committee through appointed committee members regularly monitor progress ► Public Work Departments completes work and report work completion to working committee

which in turn finally evaluates and close the plan intervention.



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

• For Gram Panchayat ► Gram Panchayat calls a Gram Sabha and informs the villages on the approved plan. ► Gram Panchayat develop the implementation plan and involve the Block Development Office

for technical help and support ► Block Development Office supports all the Gram Panchayat through Public Works Department

who undertakes survey, complete technical feasibility, develop bills of material and other required documents

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

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

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

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

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

Monitoring

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

Step 1

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

Step 2

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

Step 3

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

Step 4

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

Step 5

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



Step 6

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

Step 7

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

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

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

Accounting Step 1

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

Step 2

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

Step 3

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

Step 4

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

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

Step 5

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

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

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

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



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

Step 6

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

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

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

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

Step 7

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



5.3 G2C applications The proposed BPR solution would provide a high citizen centric interface for availing government services at their doorstep. In the solution, the entire service lifecycle has been logically divided in 3 distinct phases – service request submission, service processing and service delivery. Various options could be utilized by the citizen as per their convenience to make service request thereby eliminating the need of physically visiting government departments. Further, a ‘window’ to have access to information on their service request has been embedded in the system where the citizens are continuously updated on the status of their service request. The service delivery against the service request has also been streamlines to provide options to the citizen to receive the output.





Following are the key steps to be followed in the overall process – Step 1

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

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

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

Step 2

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

• Applicant makes payment for the service at Akshaya Kendras (if any payment is required)

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

Step 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 4

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

Step 5



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

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

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

Step 6

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

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

Step 7

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

Step 8

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

Step 9

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

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

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



5.3.1 Logical Architecture Kerala has already made significant investments in terms of providing basic computing facilities at all Panchayat offices. A detailed assessment of the same has been provided in the ISNA report. The diagram below depicts the likely future state that will emerge once last mile connectivity to Gram Panchayats is established and ICT infrastructure at GPs is strengthened.



5.3.2 User Groups The various user groups involved with the ePRI application are mentioned in the logical architecture

Table 5.1 - Various Users with purpose of using ePRI system

Users Purpose Citizens Citizen is one of most important end user of ePRI application. Citizen will

avail of all schemes and services provided by ePRI Initiative. The services like certificates, enrollment, scholarships, and other benefits will be availed by him using this portal. Moreover schemes like NREGA, IAY etc are availed by him using this portal. The access channels that will be used Front Office, Akshaya Kendras, Kiosks & Internet

Citizen Service Centers Akshaya Kendras will enable delivery of ePRI services and modules to the citizen

PR Officials PRI staff will be using all G2G services like online planning, Integrated financial system, Accounting and other services mentioned in section below. PRI staff of all three levels (DP/BP/GP) will be using these services extensively. The channels that will be used by PRI staff will be mainly KSWAN & VSAT and Internet for some measure

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

District Collector / District Treasury

To approve funding for services

Business or Corporate People

The business people will be using this portal for accessing upcoming business opportunities with government. To renew their registrations and licenses. To pay taxes and other payments The channels they will use primarily will be Front Office, Akshaya Kendras, Kiosk and Internet

3rd Party Service Providers, Contractors and Vendors

3rd party or contractors hired by government to perform certain activities on their behalf can also use ePRI application and modules to update information on schemes they are implementing, check payment status and schedules. They can use this to view tendering process status. The channels that will be used are Front Office, Akshaya kendra and Kiosks



5.3.3 Access Channels

Table 5.2 - Access Channel G2C, G2G and G2B Component Access Channel Description User Groups Location Connectivity

Options

Mobile

This channel will be mainly for the convenience of citizens and the PR officials by establishing another medium of communication

Citizen, GP Staff All Gram Panchayat Mobile Networks

Akshaya Kendras & FRIENDS

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

Citizen

Already established and functioning Akshaya Kendra’s across the state

VSAT, BSNL Line

Touch Screen Kiosk

This channel most suited for information about services, schemes, procedures and quick status update. This will be used mainly for G2C and G2B services such as civil registration, licensing, etc.

Citizen, 3rd party service providers, contractors & vendors

Currently kiosks are provided at certain hospitals to enable civil registration, looking at current usage levels, a decision of providing kiosks further at public places can be taken

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

Internet

This channel will be used for G2C & G2B services, however it can be used for communication by government depts like emails & other information while not in office

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

Everywhere

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

State Portal

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

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

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

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

Front Office

This channel is unique to the state of Kerala, wherein all information is available at the Front Office at every GP office

Citizen All GP Offices VSAT, BSNL



Access Channel Description User Groups Location Connectivity

Options as well as other services such as application submission, verification, collection. Etc.

5.3.4 Proposed e-PRI Application From a point of view of computerization of Panchayat functions the following software application modules are recommended. The diagram below illustrates the portfolio. Those in grey which are spanning across GP, BP and DP are common/shared software modules. Those under GP column are only for GP's use.





5.4 G2C Modules a. Property Tax

The Property Tax module will cover services relating to assessment, collection and exemption from paying property tax. It will enable the PRI t integrate all services related to Property Tax while enabling them to create a central database that can be shared at the State level.

b. Pensions and Grants The Pensions and Grants module will enable the PRI’s to better deliver and record the entire process of registration to disbursal of the various pensions and grants given through them. They will help identify the beneficiaries according to priority and make the application registration process faster. The key functionality would be avoiding duplication or repetition of beneficiaries so as to have a transparent selection process.

c. Citizen Reporting This module is for the Panchayat to release key information to the citizen regarding their functioning and decisions.

d. Social Audit The Social Audit Module is a sort of mechanism for monitoring of implementation. It is a citizen’s audit wherein the people evaluate the various functions performed by the PRI.

e. Building Permit The Building Permit module will cover the residential and commercial buildings within the Panchayat jurisdiction. It will cover registration of the buildings as well as collection of permit fee. The Module will create a comprehensive database of the buildings present within the specific PRI’s area.

f. Birth, Death and Marriage Registration The Civil Registrations Module will have 3 sub modules for services pertaining to Birth, Death and Marriage Registration. They will span across all aspects of the registration aspect as well as any modifications to be made after the registration. It is one of the most important modules as it will help create a common citizens database at the onset, which can be accessed by the various other modules and departments for reference and verification.

g. Panchayat Portal – Content Management This Panchayat Portal module will enable the PRI officials to upload official content on to the Portal for public viewing and make the functioning of the PRI further transparent. Each PRI will have its own Panchayat Portal.

h. Panchayat Community The Panchayat Community is a social networking module for the citizens to interact with each other and post their content online.



i. Grama Sabha The Grama Sabha module will upload all information regarding the Grama Sabha’s conducted by the Panchayat.

j. Citizen Contact Management The Citizen Contact Management Module will upload all contact information for every citizen once they log on and create an unique log in id for themselves.

k. Right to Information The RTI Software Module will enable the various tiers of PRI’s to deliver any information requested by the citizen under the RTI Act.

l. Grievance Redressal The Public Grievance Redressal Module will assist the Panchayat office in addressing the concerns of the citizens and also record the decisions taken by the core group during Redressal process.

5.5 G2G Modules a. Plan Formulation

The Plan Formulation will work on the lines of Sevana software currently deployed in the state. It will enable the PRI’s to formulate their plans and submit them for approval easily.

b. Project Planning The Project Planning Module will assist the PRI to create plans for each of the projects they have undertaken in their annual developmental plan.

c. Works Planning and Estimation The Works Planning and Estimation module will assist the PRI in building a cost structure for each of its planned Projects and the entire annual developmental plan.

d. Project Monitoring The Project Monitoring module will serve as a task force mechanism to report the comprehensive status of projects undertaken on a timely basis.

e. Works Monitoring The Works Monitoring module will provide a constant update on the completion status of the project as reported by the Overseer (Engineering) or any other qualified employee.

f. Funds Transfer – banking, status The Funds Transfer Module will keep the PRI’s informed regarding the status of funds required and to be transferred for their functioning purposes. It will also report on the current funding structure of the PRI as also the current funds present. It will only serve as an indicator of the funds and not an actual transfer module.

g. Expenditure Tracking



The Expenditure Tracking Module will serve as a mechanism to track the expenses undertaken by the Panchayat in its daily functioning and project implementation.

h. Collections The Collections Module will assist the PRI to have a defined standard system for collection of taxes, permit fees and other such inflow of funds. It will also initiate a tracking mechanism for the flow of collections in the service delivery process.

i. Acts, Rules and Government Orders This module will inform the citizens as well as the PRI’s regarding the various Acts, Rules and Orders passed by the government and its related departments.

j. Panchayat Decision Register The Panchayat Decision Register is a record of all the decisions taken by the core group at the PRI spanning across all areas such as functioning, issues, development, etc.

k. Panchayat Assets Register The Panchayat Assets Register records all the assets within the jurisdiction of the PRI such as roads, sewage treatment plants, schools, hospitals or any other assets created by the PRI along with detailed information for the same.

l. Street Lighting

The Street Lighting Module will provide information regarding the current infrastructural set up of the same.

m. Water Supply The Water Supply Module will provide information regarding the current infrastructural set up of the same.

n. Waste Management The Waste Management Module will provide information regarding the current infrastructural set up of the same.

o. Power Line Mapping The Power Line Mapping module will be a GIS based software mapping the power line setup of the entire area under the PRI.

p. Watershed Mapping

The Watershed Mapping module will be a GIS based software mapping the water resources and the flow of water within the entire area under the PRI.

q. Road Mapping

The Road Mapping module will be a GIS based software that will map the entire roadways infrastructure within the area of the PRI.



r. e-Procurement The e-Procurement Module shall be an integrated module which will link the PRI to access the benefits and services provided under the e-Procurement MMP initiated by the Government of India.

5.6 G2E Modules

a. Employee Database / Service Records The Employee Database will maintain a permanent record of the employees serving or having served at any tier of the Panchayat Office along with their personal and professional details for reference at any point.

b. Payroll and Benefits Administration The Payroll and Benefits Administration module will record employee wise salary and incentive plans. The module will record the payroll details across all tiers of PRI’s at every office and across employee levels.

c. Leave Administration The Leave Administration will enable the PRI’s to keep a track of the leaves applied and approved for the various employees. It will help keep a track on leave applications along with assessing their manpower requirements on a timely basis.

d. e-Learning The e-Learning Module will provide a combination of learning services and technology to provide high value integrated learning; anytime, anyplace. There are 4 stages of e-Learning viz. Technology, Tools (S/W), Standards and Contents.

e. e-Office e-Office is an application currently under development by the NIC. This application will help in management of standard government workflows within the Panchayati Raj Institutions.

5.7 G2B Modules

a. Professional Tax Module

The Professional Tax Module will work in three folds, i.e. registration of the institution, Updation of the Demand and Collection of Profession Tax. It will assist the PRI in timely and accurate collection of Profession Tax.

b. Trade Licenses The Trade Licenses Module will assist the PRI in registering and legalizing the Trade institutions that are set up within their jurisdiction.



c. Building Permit The Building Permit module will cover the residential and commercial buildings within the Panchayat jurisdiction. It will cover registration of the buildings as well as collection of permit fee. The Module will create a comprehensive database of the buildings present within the specific PRI’s area.

5.8 Support Modules

a. Authentication Panchayat workflows are sensitive in nature and from an audit standpoint it is important that only authorized users are granted access to the system. The authentication module will help in ensuring that access is granted to only the appropriate user to each of the modules.

b. Audit Trail The Audit Trail support module will help the various tiers of PRI’s to report their plans and the actions taken up as a follow up.

c. Reporting The Reporting support module is a standard MIS reporting module

d. e-Payment / Banking Interface The Panchayats collect a large amount of money in the form of cash or Demand Drafts for rendering various services. Going forward some of these could be made possible electronically through an e-Payment or Banking interface. A model for receiving micro-payments may also be developed on similar lines.

e. e-Court Fee Stamp For a large number of services the citizen is required to submit applications with a court fee stamp attached. Such services can be made electronic only if the option of having an electronically issued court fee stamp is made possible. This module is envisaged to provide this functionality.

5.9 Interfaces

a. Akshaya / FRIENDS The Akshaya Kendra’s and FRIENDS interface will integrate the CSC’s with the Panchayat Office. It supports flow of information such as service requests, citizen information, supporting documents, etc.

b. NREGS The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) interface will initiate flow of information to the PRI regarding unemployment status, details of skilled and unskilled labor in the area and further profiling of the unemployed citizens within their jurisdiction.



c. Treasury The Treasury interface will assist the PRI to directly inform the District Treasury regarding need of funds and also the list of beneficiaries for the various pensions and grants delivered through the PRI’s. The Treasury can also inform the PRI regarding release of funds and further information.

d. Village Office The Village Office interface will help the PRI to initiate flow of information further to the citizens by allowing access via the Village Office’s. Information regarding local needs, citizen information and village infrastructure complaints.

e. Gramalakshmi Press The Panchayat gets a lot of stationery printed through its Gramalakshmi press. Even in a future state scenario, it is unlikely that paper based documents will be fully eliminated. A small software interface could be enabled through which order for new printed stationery can be placed to the Gramalakshmi press.

f. Integrated Child Development Scheme The ICDS interface module will help the Panchayat to better deliver services under this scheme.

g. District Collectorate (e-District) An interface is to be enabled to the e-District system especially those documents which are an input to the District Collectorate from a Planning point of view.

h. State Planning Board The State Planning Board interface will assist the PRI’s to further their development plans and also make them more efficient and comprehensive with assistance from the Planning Board officials.

i. Employment Exchange The Employment Exchange interface will provide the PRI with information regarding employment opportunities in neighboring areas as well as help them publish specific labor requirements at the exchange.

5.10 Scheme Specific Modules

a. Indira Awas Yojana

The IAY Scheme Module will enable the PRI to deliver service under this scheme efficiently. It will cover the entire process from registration to final recording of milestone as mentioned in the scheme details and contract.



5.11 Databases



Database recommended with proposed usage

Database Creator Owner User Purpose Database of citizens

GP Secretary Gram Panchayat

All Panchayat staff

This database will be linked with the Unique ID Database of India. It will hold basic citizen data to be considered as part of planning activities of the Gram. This will be a simple collection of all Unique IDs belonging to the Panchayat. Data shall be derives as-is from the Unique ID database. In addition, this database shall have the correct address of the citizen and contact information such as:

• Mobile phone number

• Land phone number

• E-mail ID

• Below Poverty Line Status Employment status, Marital status and date of birth shall be updated based on birth/death/marriage registrations in this database or registration at employment exchange, as the case maybe.

Beneficiaries database


Panchayat secretary Junior Superintendent

Based on the database of citizens, this will be updated when a citizen obtains benefits under a particular scheme.

Panchayat asset register


Panchayat secretary Junior Superintendent

This will be a GIS integrated database. It will get updated every time a new asset is created by the Panchayat. It can contain details of proposed assets. The data elements can include:

• GIS coordinates



Database Creator Owner User Purpose

• Roads

• Watershed treatment works

• Water storage tanks

• Waterways

• Power lines

• Transformers

• Water supply pipelines

• Water pumps

• Public toilets

• Waste treatment plants

• Waste collection bins

• Schools

• Health centers In addition, a movable asset register also is required to be created.

Database of taxpayers


Panchayat secretary Junior Superintendent Clerical Staff

This is a very important requirement for the key sources of Panchayat revenues such as Property tax and profession tax. It would include details such as:

• Taxpayer registration details

• Past returns of the taxpayer

• Compliance history of the taxpayer Animal welfare

Head of Department, Animal Husbandry

Gram Panchayat

Panchayat secretary

This database will keep track of vital statistics pertaining to the animal husbandry related functions of the Gram Panchayat.

Geographical information


Panchayat secretary

The GIS will be used for a wide variety of GP functions. This database will maintain key geographical parameters of the Gram Panchayat and keep it constantly updated.



Database Creator Owner User Purpose Village development plan


Panchayat secretary

This database will store details of the village development plans made by the Gram Panchayat.

Village office Village Officer

Village Office Panchayat secretary

This will be a database owned by the Village Office and shared with the Gram Panchayat to help in verification of various citizen related details.

Project monitoring


Panchayat secretary All Panchayat staff in charge of project execution.

This database will be kept constantly updated by the Gram Panchayat with progress (Physical and Financial) details of all projects under execution.

Panchayat governance


Panchayat secretary Panchayat President Citizens Other Panchayat Staff and PRI officials including PR Department

This database will maintain details of key Panchayat meetings, the minutes and decisions and attendance by various Panchayat members. It will be the base database which will be used for ‘Citizen Reporting’ purposes and for reporting compliance on various fronts to the PR Department.

Social welfare indicators


Panchayat secretary

This will be updated by the staff in charge of various welfare schemes such as ICDS, SNP etc. and they will keep it up to date with details of various social welfare indicators reflecting the impact created by these schemes.



5.12 External Interfaces



Table 5.4 - Interaction of External Interfaces with ePRI Application

External Application Information / Data exchange

Purpose

e-Government Procurement Mission Mode Project

Notice inviting tenders Registration of vendors Proposals submitted by vendors Evaluation results

The Gram Panchayats are fast emerging as the hub for procurement of works and numerous good supply and works contracts are being entered in by them for execution of various projects or schemes. It is very important that Gram Panchayats utilize e-Procurement as a channel for these to deliver cost benefits and transparency to citizens.

Digital signature initiative of Kerala State IT Mission

Identity attached with each officer who is signing digitally

The Kerala State IT Mission is intending to roll out digital signature infrastructure in all Government offices of Government of Kerala. This can bring about significant changes in the working of the Gram Panchayat, especially from a G2C service delivery point of view.

e-Forms (NeGP) Information as required to be submitted for obtaining various Panchayat services

Panchayats receive thousands of sheets of paper based applications in a year and apart from having a serious environment impact, it also leads to inefficiencies in Panchayat functioning and records management challenges. E-Forms can significantly simplify Panchayat functioning and promote faster service delivery.

Unique ID Project Demographic and biometric information as required by the UID Standards

The Panchayat can obtain significant benefits from the Unique ID initiative.

State Portal Information about Panchayat services

Each Panchayat can provide a gateway for itself through the State Portal and can also provide high quality citizen services and also provide an access channel to Citizen Service Centres.

Bhuvan (ISRO) GIS data to be received and used by the Gram Panchayat

The spatial imaging database being provided by Indian Space Research Organization can be utilized effectively for planning activities of Gram Panchayats and applications could be built on this data platform.

e-District Information to be shared with District Collectorate, esp. regarding plan formulation and implementation progress

There is a significant link between the Gram Panchayats, Revenue Department and Registration Department in Kerala. Hence an integration with e-District MMP becomes essential.



5.13 Information Security Information security will be implemented in Kerala through use of standard methods which will be:

a. Authentication of users using User IDs and Passwords b. Use of Digital Signatures by authorized signatories of PRIs c. Use of HTTPS protocol where information security is of concern – such as banking or treasury transactions d. Training for users on Information Security e. Implementation of standard Disaster Recovery procedures (which are in place as part of State Data Centre setups) f. Maintenance of strict audit logs in the database g. Encryption of key databases on a need basis

Treasury computerization of Government of Kerala

Information regarding Treasury bills and information regarding credit/transfer of funds to Panchayats

This is a high priority integration that is required for Gram Panchayats. As of now, a lot of time of the Panchayat staff is spent in processing of treasury bills which could be avoided through integration with the Government Treasury which has already been computerized in Kerala.

m-Governance initiative of KSITM

Status of various applications submitted by citizens

KSITM has already launched a programme for mobile Governance (m-Governance) and many of the mobile based citizen services could be delivered through linkage with this initiative. This will avoid duplication of infrastructure investment on part of Panchayats.



5.14 Application Architecture and Functionality



5.14.1 G2C Application Layer Table 5.5 - Functionality of all modules under ePRI system Module Functionality User Group Property Tax Module To integrate various services pertaining to Property Tax

To create an exhaustive database of citizens required to pay property tax To categorize citizens on the basis of property tax To integrate with the Building Permit module To properly record collection of Property Tax and create alerts for defaults or improper payments Generates the payment receipts

Citizen, Gram Panchayat – Front Office, Panchayat Secretary, Section Clerk

Pensions and Grants To integrate the various pension and grants disbursal services delivered through the PRI’s To create a database of the applicants seeking benefits To create a database of the beneficiaries that have already been selected To integrate the various external parties involved in delivering the services To alert the PRI’s as soon as the funds are allocated as per the beneficiaries identified Update the various registers pertaining to service delivery maintained by the Panchayat

Citizen, Gram Panchayat – Front Office, A5 LDC, Enquiry Officer, Panchayat Secretary, Panchayat President, Disbursing Officer, District Collector, District Treasury

Citizen Reporting Bring about complete transparency in the functioning of the Panchayat office Keep the citizen abreast of the functioning of the Panchayat on a daily or weekly basis The Panchayat uploads information regarding their finances, decisions, policies, procedures, etc.

Citizen, Gram Panchayat

Social Audit Enable the citizens to report their findings, views and opinions regarding the functioning of the PRI Further strengthen the interaction between the citizens and the PRI’s Improve transparency in the implementation and functioning of the PRI


Building Permit Registration of commercial and residential buildings Calculation of the fees to be paid towards issuance of building permit Preparation of the Building Permit Integration with the Property Tax module for collection

Citizen, Gram Panchayat – Front Office, Overseer (Engineering), Panchayat Secretary



Module Functionality User Group To create a comprehensive database of the buildings present within the jurisdiction with details such as area, owner, year of construction, facilities, etc.

Birth, Death & Marriage Registration

To enable creation of a Common Citizens Database Register birth, death and marriage by creating a unique id and validating the supporting documents Prepare the Birth, Death and Marriage Certificate mentioning the details as specified in the application request To alert and obtain sanction from external agencies like the Deputy Director of Panchayats or the Revenue Division officer as required during the registration process Update the service specific registers maintained by the Panchayat

Citizen, Gram Panchayat – Front Office, A3 UDC, Panchayat Secretary, Deputy Director of Panchayats, Revenue Division Officer

Panchayat Portal – Content Management

The Portal will enable the PRI’s to float tenders, provide soft copies of key government documents, forms for providing various services and provide links to other official websites The portal will also house information regarding the Panchayat office such as the employees, assets created, expenditure incurred, services delivered, schemes undertaken, developmental plans. Etc The portal will also include local contact information of the PRI and a section to collect feedback from the citizens across issues.

Citizens, Gram Panchayat

Panchayat Community To create a community portal for every Panchayat Get the citizens to post their views and opinions on the portal and increase internet penetration


Grama Sabha Upload all details regarding the Gram Sabha such as minutes of the Sabha, presentations made and all documents handed out The Module will also report all decisions and issues discussed during the Sabha It will serve to inform citizens who failed to attend the Gram Sabha due to various reasons


Citizen Content Management

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

Citizens, Gram Panchayat



Module Functionality User Group Integrate with the Common Citizens Database Assist the Panchayat to contact citizens in order to deliver services more efficiently

Right to Information Alert the APIO and PIO of request for information under RTI Generate the processing cost information Record the reply generated by the specific Panchayat office section for future reference Create a tabled index of the RTI information requests along with key words for archiving

District, Block & Gram Panchayat – Front Office, Assistant Public Information Officer, Public Information Officer, Relevant Office Section

Grievance Redressal Create a database of the grievances received for Redressal at the Panchayat Office Create notice to be issued to the concerned parties Record the decision taken by the core group and generate a communication for the same to be sent to the concerned parties Maintain a database of the various decisions taken for the specific grievances for future reference in decision making

Front Office, Panchayat Secretary, Panchayat President, Panchayat Committee, Relevant Office Section

5.14.2 G2G Application Layer Module Functionality User Group

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

Gram Panchayat Block Panchayat District Panchayat

Monitoring Enter project details as per annual and 5 year plans Enter goals and targets set for Village Development Enter project monitoring information on a routine basis – both physical and financial progress Capture minutes of Panchayat monitoring meetings and key decisions Capture findings of Social Audit and assign them for resolution

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



Module Functionality User Group Social audit committee

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

Gram Panchayat Treasury

Scheme management

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

Gram Panchayat Various Heads of Departments attached to Gram Panchayat

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

All Departments

5.14.3 Service Components Application Layer Module Functionality User Group

Information Provision This Component will handle dissemination of Information only. Lack of information was found to be a key impediment in availing of services without issues and on time.

GP/ Citizen

Forms Availability This Component will provide and ensure the availability of Application Forms. Application Forms must be easily and readily available to any citizen. This component must align with the Forms Submission component, i.e. the forms must be available wherever they have to be submitted.

GP / Citizen

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

GP

Payment Receipt This Component will handle all the payments GP Application Verification This Component will allow the district administration to make decisions regarding the claim

or request of the applicant based on submitted documents and / or databases. PRI

Application Rejection This Component will ensure that when an application is rejected, an appropriate reason is provided to the applicant and that the document be duly signed by the rejecting authority.

PRI



Module Functionality User Group Application Approval This Component will handle the signing of the deliverables like certificates, ration cards

etc. PRI

Application Delivery This Component will handle the delivery of the signed and valid deliverable to the citizen GP Status Tracking This Component will retrieve and update the status of an application. The component will

need to retrieve the information about a file and update it online or on the IVRS tracking system or in the application where a functionary can view it.

GP / Citizen

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

CSC staff Citizens

5.14.4 Support function Application Layer Module Functionality User Group

Internal Office Automation

File management, Asset Management HRMS Audit Management Workflow management Analysis and Reporting

PRI Staff

Service Delivery Gateway

Manage officers/desks to which applications need to be redirected Route citizen applications to officers

Department staff in charge of approval of various citizen applications

e-Forms Customize information fields to be captured and layout of fields Support Digital Signature integration

Citizens Panchayat software administrators

5.14.5 Core Technology Layer Module Functionality User Group E-mail Send / Receive E-mails All Panchayat Staff



Module Functionality User Group Archive past e-mails Maintain address lists

Document management system

Maintain document repository Create tags for faster retrieval of documents Create user groups to which document access can be provided Create tasks and attach documents to the same

All Panchayat Staff

Panchayat Portals and Content Management

Will be part of the State Portal and shall adhere to all guidelines of State Portal Framework and STQC Provide a single window to Panchayat services to all citizens. Will host features like:

• Legislation, Act & Rules

• Citizen Charters for each Gram Panchayat

• Applications for Panchayat Services

• Citizen Reports

• Social Audit Findings

• Minutes of Panchayat meetings

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

All Panchayat Staff Citizens Other Government Departments

Public Key Infrastructure

Manage Digital Signatures Attach Digital Signatures to official documents

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

SMS Send SMS to citizens Check status of application through SMS

Citizens

Language support Should support at a minimum India’s national languages User interface should be customizable to meet local language of respective states

Citizens All Panchayat Staff



6 Requirements for ICT and connectivity This section assesses the ICT and connectivity requirements for the implementation of the ePRI application and proposes a deployment architecture with due consideration to factors of scalability, performance, availability, interoperability, security and manageability. In addition, high level network architecture has been proposed for hosting the ePRI application. Further the information security has been dealt with in the section and a four layer (User, Network, Infrastructure and Application layers) security architecture has been detailed. Keeping in mind all these and the ICT requirements at the client sites at the state/district/block/village, an indicative bill of materials has been presented. The overall estimated cost of ICT is estimated at Rs. 23.56 cr. The three tiers of PRI system are spread across the state of Kerala and the ePRI services being proposed need to be made available for the employees/users and citizens across the state. The deployment envisages coverage of 14 District Panchayats, 152 Block Panchayat and 999 Gram Panchayats to bridge the digital divide and further socio-economic opportunities for its citizens.

6.1.1 Proposed Technology Implementation Model

The following implementation model is proposed for the ePRI system

1. Application:

The Core application with common modules and functionalities applicable for all state PR departments

shall be developed by NIC at the central level. Application preparation (From URS phase to

maintenance phase) - will be done centrally for all applications (common as well as state-specific). The

associated budget will be added to the National DPR.

2. Application Deployment and Maintenance

Application hosting, deployment, and maintenance will be done centrally for common applications. For

applications that are specific to a particular state or common across only 3-4 states, the hosting will be

done at the state level. The associated budget will be added to the State DPRs. It is assumed that this

could either be hosted at the State Data Centre (SDC) or NIC data centre in that particular state. Having

made this assumption, budgeting would include cost for hosting Kerala specific application and related

hardware infrastructure requirements, i.e. application servers, a database servers, racks, if needed etc.

3. Manpower

• Manpower for application development, hosting and maintenance shall be the responsibility of NIC

for both central and state deployment

Following are the key design considerations for the system:

• Scalability: The envisaged ePRI system aims at covering 14 DPs, 152 BPs and 999 GPs. A

phased approach shall be followed for the implementation over a period of three years as explained in



Program Management - Chapter 9 of DPR. Following table gives the break-up of the three tiers of the

PR system in Kerala.

� The system should be capable of supporting total users as mentioned in the table and

minimum of 2,500 concurrent users at any particular time.

� The system must be capable of supporting all 1165 locations

u Table: 3 Tier Panchayati Raj System of Kerala

Panchayati Raj Institutions

Nos.

District Panchayat 14

Block Panchayat 152

Gram Panchayat 999

Total 1,165

• Application Architecture :

� System shall follow N-Tier architecture separating application user interface, logic, data,

and their associated processing and repair. Partitioned code is more flexible in response

to changes in internal logic, platforms, and structures; this isolates/minimizes the impact of

change. It is easier to support, is more scalable and supports interoperability.

� System shall provide interfaces to integrate harmoniously with external entities. These

would be:

• Banks

• Treasury

• Other Government/ Line Departments and

• Akshaya Kendra

• Performance:

Under the proposed system all processes will be executed online through a portal based application

which will facilitate application submission, uploading the scanned copies of supporting documents, and

retrieving the archived documents. Sufficient capacities need to be provided at all the levels of the

solution (network, server capacity, application design, storage and others).



• Availability:

Under the new scheme of business processes the PR/RD proposes to provide services to citizens

within 3-4 working days of submission of applications especially at the Gram Panchayat level. Thus

availability becomes very critical to ensure meeting such service levels on a sustained basis.

• Security

Issuance of various certificates through envisaged ePRI system has to ensure that only authorised and

authentic users are given an access in the system. Security infrastructure and policies need to ensure

the same.

• Manageability

The ePRI system is required to cater to stakeholders across the state accessing it from multiple points

and through multiple channels. Hence the manageability of this system is essential to ensure effective

monitoring and timely resolution of any issues surrounding performance, availability and security of

systems.

6.1.2 Deployment Architecture

The following figure presents the deployment view of the ePRI System in a centralized model. In this

model, the core IT infrastructure (including servers, storage and other components) is located at a

central data centre maintained and managed by NIC. Only state specific applications shall be hosted at

SDC in Kerala.

The following diagram does not depict the deployment at the Central Data Centre that shall be

maintained by NIC. Central Data Centre would be hosting various common application modules, web

portal, citizen centric services applications and multiple databases. It depicts the State Data Centre

reference architecture, where the applications specific to Kerala shall be deployed. The necessary

additional infrastructure requirement at the State Data Centre shall be included in the Bill of Materials.



6.1.3 Network Architecture

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Kerala SWAN

State PR DepartmentDistrict Panchayat

VSAT HubVSATLeased line Radio

Frequency

Last Mile Connectivity to different offices on case to case basis

Block Panchayat Gram Panchayat Akshaya Kendra

NIC DC / ePRI Central DC

DRC Centre

FIREWALL

Core Router

Backup Router

Kerala SDC

FIREWALLINTERNETInternet Internet Router

Intranet Router (KSWAN)

ISP 2

ISP 1

Block Panchayat

Leased Line

ISDN Line

Core Router

Backup Router

FIREWALL

The last mile connectivity till the Gram Panchayat Level will be a challenge currently because of the non

availability of SWAN at the GP level. Till then the last mile connectivity options through DSL

Broadbands / VSATs /Radio Frequency Links/ MPLS VPN/ ISDN etc. need to be explored.



6.1.4 Database Architecture The following diagram gives a high level view of the logical database architecture for the proposed ePRI applications.

6.1.5 G2G Data and Application Information exchange G2G domain shall primarily encompass following components Ø Planning Ø Budgeting Ø Scheme Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting Ø Accounting and Fund Flow Ø Capacity and skills building





Planning and Budgeting shall be the core of G2G interaction domain. The Planning and Budgeting database shall take inputs from needs identified from Citizen Database, Grievances and RTI database and data provided from different line departments, central and state government initiatives, etc. It shall be the support for the planning and budgeting application Plan plus. Various approved schemes get parked in Scheme implementation database which talk closely with the Financial Budgeting, accounting and fund flow databases. Post ePRI scenario, these databases can be envisaged as the implementation of the Plan plus and PRIAsoft software application and integrated with other ePRI modules. Scheme implementation and Financial accounting databases shall also talk with the Assets Database. These databases in conjunction will provide inputs for G2G content management database, for G2C Services Content Management and other PRI applications content management. The G2G and G2C Content Management Data shall hold information regarding PRI meetings, Standard Operating Procedures, related literature, government orders, citizen charters etc. Employee master database will hold details about the PRI officials, along with details about their qualifications, and skill sets, trainings attended, skills required for performing their roles. This will help in identifying gaps in available manpower and skill set and helps in identifying training needs and development of training content as per the requirements of various schemes and initiatives.

6.1.6 G2C Information Exchange and Database

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



databases such as Land records, RTI, beneficiaries , utilities, taxation, GIS, schemes and development plans, village profile etc.

6.2 Security Architecture

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

6.2.1 Key Security Considerations at the User level:

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

• Digital Certificate to be used for submission of applications and signing the Documents. User

authentication to be performed using login and password (Two factor authentication)

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

• Enable virus prevention with an automated update service on all critical systems for centrally

managing the virus prevention

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

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

6.2.2 Key Security Considerations at the Network/ Transport level:

• Enable network security standards like Network Link Encryption (IPSEC), encrypted HTTP

session using SSL (HTTPS)

• Applications and servers exposed to web are required to be maintained separately in

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

• Use of switched Ethernet instead of shared Ethernet that isolate traffic intended for one

computer from the view of other computers



• Use of switched Ethernet instead of shared Ethernet that isolate traffic intended for one

computer from the view of other computers

• Use of border firewall that separates the network from connection to the internet that can quickly

block external access should a threat arise such as a worm attack

• Measuring network traffic statistics for computers that are using the maximum bandwidth in

order to detect security incidents

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

• Diagnostic tools will be connected to networks in secured locations. Only, network operation

staff will be allowed to access those locations.

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

• Server –to-server communication encryption

6.2.3 Key Security Considerations at the Infrastructure level (3):

• Access to computer and communication rooms will be controlled and restricted to authorised

personnel who need access to perform their duties.

• Use of authentication mechanisms (e.g. Digital Signature Certificates, Biometric Authentication)

will be considered for computer and communication rooms housing critical information system

facilities.

• Responsibilities and procedures for the management of the computing environment should be

established. This includes development of appropriate operating procedures and incident

management procedures.

• No unlicensed software, shareware (beyond its period of free use), public domain software or

pirated software will be used on the ePRI infrastructure

6.2.4 Key Security Considerations at the Application & Database level:

• Secure storage of user credentials to be enabled

• Firewalls to filter unauthorized sessions/traffic

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

• The application should have a centralized security management foundation that would enable

delivery of application and data to internal and external users in a secure manner.

• Users would be required to login using a username and password to access the application.

Access to only those application resources would be provided that the user has authority to. Thus,



authorization and authentication aspects must be ensured. Identity management solutions can be

used for the same.

• System shall provide different and unique login IDs for all the users of the system and track all

activities of all the logins and maintain audit trails of any changes made

• All access violation attempts (user and resource authentication) will be logged and reported for

investigation by the Systems Security Administrator.

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

6.2.5 Information security

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

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

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

• Access to restricted part of the application will be provided only after approval from the

concerned authority.

• A risk assessment will be carried out to identify any requirements for specific controls in case of

any third party access to ePRI’s information systems. All security requirements identified from risk

assessment will be reflected as security conditions in third party contract.

• Service level agreement, clearly defining minimum availability of information systems to be

entered into with third parties / outsourcing service providers.

6.2.6 Business Continuity Planning

• A Business Continuity Plan will be prepared and appropriately tested for all systems and for

backup and recovery procedures

6.2.7 Key requirements for web based service security

• Effective password management controls: The web based solution must have the ability to

perform password management functions including: controlled password expirations, forced

password change with optional grace logins, minimum password lengths (eight characters),

alphanumeric password standards, minimum number of numeric characters, non-dictionary words,

password history logging, and user lockout from failed login attempts.

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

1. attempts to guess passwords,

2. attempts to use privileges that have not been authorized,

3. modifications to production application software,

4. modifications to operating systems,

5. changes to user privileges, and

6. changes to logging subsystems.

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

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

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

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

The critical data and the related documents stored in the portal database shall be stored in

encrypted format.



6.2.8 Legend

6.2.9 Bill of Material Based on discussion with state NIC unit, the following additional hardware/software is recommended for successful implementation of ePRI-MMP.

State Level ICT Requirements Hardware Number PC / Thin Client

Panchayati Raj Department 20 Network Printer

Panchayati Raj Department 1

State ePRI Project Management Unit 1 Laser printer

Panchayati Raj Department 1 Finger Print Scanner

Panchayati Raj Department 2 Digital Signature

Panchayati Raj Department 5 Document Scanner

Panchayati Raj Department 1 State ePRI Project Management Unit 1



Networking cost Number of Sites

Office LAN (CAT6) at office with 20 user 1 LAN Switch 1

District Level ICT Requirements

Hardware Number Per Site PC / Thin Client District Parishad 1 Block PRI 1 Gram PRI 1 ePRI Center of Excellence 0 Network Printer District Parishad 1 Block PRI 1 Gram PRI 1 UPS Zilla Parishad 1 Block PRI 1 Gram PRI 1 Laser printer Gram PRI 1 Finger Print Scanner District Parishad 1 Block PRI 1 Gram PRI 1 Digital Signature Zilla Parishad 2 Block PRI 2 Gram PRI 2 Document Scanner Village PRI 1

Networking Number of Total Sites in the State

Office LAN (CAT6) at office with 10 user 1165 LAN Switch 166 Hub 999



Software Applications for development and customization

S. No.

Module Name

D - Development, C - Customization

Category 1 Pensions and Grants Customization 2 Citizen Reporting Development 3 Social Audit Development 4 Building Permit Customization 5 Birth, Death & Marriage Registration Customization 6 Panchayat Portal – Content Management Customization 7 Panchayat Community Customization 8 Grama Sabha Customization 9 Citizen Content Management Customization

10 Right to Information Customization 11 Grievance Redressal Customization 12 Planning Customization 13 Monitoring Customization 14 Treasury Development 15 Scheme management Development 16 GIS Development 17 Collections Development 18 Employee Database Customization 19 Human Resource Management System Customization 20 Professional Tax Customization 21 Trade Licenses Customization 22 Building Permit Customization



7 Capacity Building Requirements Focus of this section is around building capacities and capabilities of PRIs in Kerala. This section identifies the manpower requirements and strategies to fulfill them. It also identifies the training requirements and the proposed training plan for building skill sets in the PRIs. Total Cost of expected to be incurred towards capacity building and trainings is Rs. 17.63 cr. Improvisation of the overall functioning of PRIs would entail not merely implementation of re-engineered processes and use of electronic medium for delivery of various G2C, G2B and G2G services, managing domain specific issues related to change management where people, processes and technology need to merge cohesively and work in a seamless environment. The following section focuses primarily on building capacities and capabilities of PRIs and PR department by providing necessary manpower with adequate skill sets and organizing trainings programs to enable them in carrying out their functions in the new ICT enable environment in a smoother way.

7.1 Stakeholder Analysis and Benefit Realization

Stakeholders Present Gaps in Manpower

Present Gaps in skills Other issues Key recommendations Manpower Skills Others

District level

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

Assistance for scheme

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

Lack of support/ guidance while implementing a new subject.

Lack of interest in attending the trainings

No mechanism to

Dedicated manpower for IT related issues should be appointed

There should be senior official to monitor and

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

Availability of online guidance such as

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





and non scheme related works is not available to Secretary, which creates dependency over line departments

execution of work.

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

evaluate work performance post trainings is yet established

supervise both scheme and non-scheme related projects in the district

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

Block level


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

Limited computer knowledge also limits

Lack of interest in attending the trainings

No mechanism to evaluate work performance post trainings is yet established


Same as above Same as above





the effective and timely execution of work

Gram level


Same as above Lack of interest in attending trainings

Limited post-training support


Each of the proposed 12395 cluster Panchayats should have a Junior Assistant

Same as above Same as above



Based on the gaps analysed above, following steps are suggested to be taken. These are further discussed in detail in the subsequent sections.

a. Manpower related – Above analysis highlights that in addition to recruiting staff to fill the vacant positions and few new posts such as dedicated IT manpower at all levels. Gaps related to manpower can thus be summarised as:

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

b. Skills related – Trainings are suggested to be

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



7.2 Capacity Building and Training Strategy

7.2.1 Manpower 1. Conducting Recruitment –

a. Fresh recruitments - For additional posts such as IT related manpower, project manager etc., which would require specialisation in specific field, domain experts can be hired through fresh recruitment, as it would curtail the training cost and would efficiently execute planned tasks.

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

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

7.2.2 Additional posts suggested

Based on the study conducted for assessment of overall governance at three tiers of PR, following additional posts are suggested:

Additional posts District level:

IT Officer Monitor and supervise IT effective implementation of IT applications proposed at district, block and gram level

IT Assistant • Assist PR officials for using applications proposed under ePRI

• Support staff for IT officer for implementation of initiatives

Block Level

IT Assistant Assist PR officials for using applications proposed under ePRI

Gram level

IT Assistant Assist PR officials for using applications proposed under ePRI



Even though the above recommendations have been made in order to improve overall governance and productivity at various levels, the scope of ePRI MMP will be restricted to IT related manpower required at each PR level. Suggestions in this regard are tabulated below:

• Establishment of an “IT cell”: It is suggested that an “IT cell” should be established in each district, responsible for monitoring and supervising implementation of new applications and guiding PR officials to adhere to new standards and processes suggested.

• Proposed IT manpower at each level: District level Block level Gram level Grand

Total Per PRI unit Total Per PRI unit Total Per PRI unit Total IT Officer 1 14 - - - - 14

IT Assistant 1 14 1 152 1 999 1165

Total 2 28 1 152 1 999 1179

• Recruitment mode: To achieve efficiency for implementation of applications proposed under ePRI, it is suggested that trained manpower on contractual basis should be hired for all designations and at all levels.

• Reporting structure: � IT Officer – IT Officer should be made administratively responsible to the Dy CEO. The IT

Officer would be In-charge for IT Cell in each district and would monitor the functioning of IT Assistants at district, block and gram level

� IT Assistants – IT Assistants at block and gram level will be administratively responsible to Superintendent and Panchayat Secretary respectively, and would report to IT Officer at district level for all functional purposes.



• Suggested roles and responsibilities: District IT Officer � IT Officer would be functionally responsible for IT assistants at district, block and gram level and

also administratively responsible for IT assistant at district level � Monitor and supervise the activities of IT assistants at all levels � Accountable for timely and effective implementation of applications proposed under ePRI � Escalate IT related issues, as reported from lower levels to Dy CEO, for his timely action � Assist Dy CEO in suggesting IT trainings for lower level PR officials at district level. � Responsible for conducting regular trainings and refresher courses � Guide IT assistants and PR officials during implementation of PR applications IT Assistant (District, Block and Gram level) � Assist PR officials in completing backlog entries for documents available in physical form � Assist PR officials in using applications proposed under ePRI and resolve technology related

difficulties raised from time to time. � Ensure timely implementation of applications proposed under ePRI. � In-charge of trainings and refresher courses to be conducted for IT subjects at local level. � IT assistants at block level would assist MPDO in selecting IT related trainings for BP and GP

staff



7.3 Training Strategy

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

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



ZPC CEO Dy. CEO AO Edn Officer Suptd Sr. / Jr.

Asst. MPP MPDO EO (PR&RD)

Engg Officer Suptd Sr. / Jr.

Asst. Sarpanch PS Jr. Asst

Budget preparation r a a a a a a r a a r a a r a aFinancial management a a a a a r r a a a r r r a a r

Data Analysis r r a a r a a r r a r a r r a a

Drafting government documents such as notices and circulars r r a a a a a r r a r a a r a a

New technologies in constrution world r r r r r r r r r r a r r r r r

Refresher course for decentralized planning r a a r r a a r a a r a a r a a

Inter department coordination r a r r a r r r a a a r r r a r

Office administration r a a a a a a r a a r a a r a a

Knowledge about the committees and role of PR officials a a r r r r r a a r r r r a a r

Refresher course on new accounting system r a r a a a a r a a r a a r a a

Relevant sections of APPR act, RTI act and Citizen charter r r a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

Brainstorming techniques r r a a a a r r r a r a r r a a

Softwares proposed for PR r a a a a a a r a a r a a r a aUsing internet, emails r a a a a a a r a a a a a r a aUpdating web portals r a a a a a r r a a r a r r a aOther basic softwares such as MS Office r a a a a a a r a a a a a r a a

Conducting effective meetings a a r r r r r a a r r r r a a r

Time management a a r r r r r a a a a a a r a r

Communication skills a a a r r r r a a r r r r a a r

Managerial skills r a a a a r r r a a r r r r a r

Performance Counseling skills and suggesting relevant trainings to sub ordinates

r a a a a r r a r a r r r r a r

Leadership quality a a a a a a r a a a a r r a a r

Creativity and problem solving technique r a a a a a r r a a r a r r a a

Conducting effective gram sabhas r r r r r r r r a a r r r a a r

Ecouraging community participation r r r r r r r r a a r r r a a r

Public speaking a a r r r r r a a a r r r a a r

Technology related

Soft skills

District level Mandal level Gram level

Core functional skils



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Furthermore, the trainees are categorized in three groups: Elected representatives; the officials in charge of respective PR tiers, and functional executives as the scope of the training would change according to the role. The following table represents the PR representatives in each group: District level Block level Gram level Group A: Decision makers

DP Secretary BP Secretary GP Secretary

Group B: Managers Jr. Superintendent, Overseer, Heads of Departments

Group C: Executives Clerk Clerk UDC, Front Office Assistant

The top ten trainings are selected for each group based on the analysis done for the parameters identified above. Tables below identify the prioritized trainings for each group: Group A (Elected representatives) : DP, BP, GP Secretary

Meets ePRI objective? Existing training gap

Impact on work execution

Internal automation

Inter department

linkage

Citizen service



Cor

e fu

nctio

nal s

kills

Budget preparation L L L H H

Financial management L L L H H

Refresher course for decentralized planning M L L H L Inter department coordination L M L H M

Office administration L L L H M

Knowledge about the committees and role of PR officials L L L H H Relevant sections of Kerala PR act, RTI act and Citizen charter L L L H H

Tech

nolo

gy re

late

d

Software proposed for PR L L L H M

Using internet, emails M L L H H

Updating web portals M L L H M

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

Soft

skill

s

Conducting effective meetings L H L H M

Time management L M L H M

Communication skills L H L H H

Managerial skills L L L H L

Performance Counseling skills and suggesting relevant trainings to sub ordinates L L L H L

Leadership quality L M L H L

Creativity and problem solving technique L L L H L Conducting effective gram sabhas L H H H H Encouraging community L M H H H



participation

Public speaking L H L H H

Group B - CEO, Jr. Superintendent, Overseer Meets ePRI objective

Existing training

gap

Enhance work

execution

Internal automation

Inter department

linkage

Citizen service

Cor

e fu

nctio

nal s

kills


Financial management

L M L H H

Data Analysis L L L H M

Refresher course for decentralized planning

L M L M H

Inter department coordination

L H L H H

Office administration

L L L M M

Knowledge about the committees and role of PR officials

L M L H L

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

L L L L L

Tech

nolo

gy re

late

d

Software proposed for PR

H M H M H

Using internet, emails

M H H M H

Updating web portals

M L H M H

Other basic software such as MS Office

H M H M H

Soft

skill

s

Conducting effective meetings

L H M H L

Time management L L L H M

Communication L H M H M



skills

Managerial skills L L L H H

Performance Counseling skills and suggesting relevant trainings to sub ordinates

L L L H H

Leadership quality L L H H M

Creativity and problem solving technique

L L L H H

Conducting effective gram sabhas

L L H H H

Encouraging community participation

L L H H H

Public speaking L M H H M

Group C : UDC, Front Office Assistant Meets ePRI objective?

Existing training gap

Enhance work

execution Internal

automation

Inter department

linkage

Citizen service

Cor

e fu

nctio

nal s

kills


Financial management L L L H H

Data Analysis L L L H H

Refresher course for decentralized planning L L L M H

Office administration L L L M H

Relevant sections of Kerala PR act, RTI act and Citizen charter L L L M L

Tech

nolo

gy

rela

ted

Software proposed for PR H L H M H

Using internet, emails M H L H H



Updating web portals M H M H H

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

Soft

skill

s

Time management L L L H M

Communication skills L L L H M

Creativity and problem solving techniques L L L H H

7.4 Training Facilities Training facilities in term of infrastructure and faculty are assessed here to suggest the training location and mode of training for identified trainings. Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) being the nodal training institute in the state, the training facilities of KILA at the state, district and block level will be utilised to impart ePRI basic and advanced module training.

7.4.1 Assessing the location for training

Parameters such as accommodation capacity of the institute, availability of faculty, support infrastructure such as computers etc constitute the key criteria for assessing the existing training infrastructure in view of its suitability for ePRI capacity building. a) Faculty For trainings on the core subjects faculty is selected from the PR domain, such as current and retired government officials, NGOs working for PRIs, Elected representatives and teachers/lecturers working on PRI/RD related subjects. For IT related subjects, nearly eight IT experts are employed on permanent basis to conduct trainings on the related subjects.

IT subjects Non IT subjects Total State level 8 42 50 Regional level (5 centres) 2*5 10*5 500 * District level 0 50 50 At District level, Master Resource Persons (MRPs), selected from retired government officials, NGOs, etc are trained at KILA so that they can train people at district level in District Level Resource Centres (DLRC), which basically are the district level schools and other similar institutes. The faculty available at KILA essentially provides training for the core functional skills and IT related subjects. However, trainings for the soft skill related subjects, also form a core component for the functioning and a huge skill gap is observed for PR functionaries, primarily at the block and gram level. Thus it is suggested that these behavioural trainings should be outsourced. In addition, there will be a need to employ additional trainers for IT trainings to augment the existing faculty and expedite training. The IT trainers can conduct onsite trainings for the target audience once the hardware has been set up at local PRIs.



b) IT infrastructure Panchayat institutes at State and Regional level are well equipped with the IT infrastructure such as Computers, LCD projectors, printers, etc. Also, Video Conferencing facility from KILA can be established at regional level and District headquarters (through NICNET). For IT trainings, it is suggested that the faculty should travel to the DP and BP level to conduct onsite trainings instead of all target personnel travelling to the state or regional centres.

7.4.2 Mode of training

Currently two modes of training are adopted in the state – Instructor led Class room trainings and satellite mode of trainings under supervision of TOTs. Work is in progress to introduce following modes of training through KILA: Ø Computer based trainings (CBTs) – CDs are being developed to impart trainings to the

functionaries at district, block and gram level by TOTs. Ø Web based trainings, Linear video and Mobile phone based – Short clips are proposed to be

developed and shared with functionaries primarily for awareness generation on crucial subjects. Thus in phase one, trainings can be conducted through the class room mode, however going forward CBT mode and other innovative modes such as web based trainings etc can be considered in phase two and three.

7.4.3 Training Plan

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

Group A (Elected representatives) : DP, BP ad GP Secretary

Location

Model Mode DP BP GP

Core functional skills

Budget preparation State level District level Block Level

State training agency

Computer based – Instructor led

Financial management State level District level Block Level



Knowledge about the committees and role of PR officials

State level District level Block Level


Class room based – Group discussions

Relevant sections of Kerala PR act, RTI act


State training

Class room based –



and Citizen charter agency Group discussions

Technology related

Using internet, emails State level District level Block Level



Soft Skills



External agency


Communication skills State level District level Block Level

External agency


Conducting effective gram sabhas


External agency


Encouraging community participation


External agency


Public speaking State level District level Block Level

External agency


Group B : Jr. Superintendent, Overseer, HOD’s

Location

Model Mode Jr. Sup. Overseer HOD’s


Inter department coordination

Block Level Block Level Regional level



Technology related

Updating web portals Block Level Block Level Regional level



Using internet, emails Block Level Block Level Regional level





Soft Skills



External agency




External agency


Office administration Block Level Block Level Regional level

External agency


Group C : UDC. Front Office Asst., Departmental Clerks

Location Model Mode

UDC. Front Office

Asst. Dept. Clerks


Financial management

Regional level Regional level Regional level



Data Analysis Regional level Regional level Regional level







Office administration Regional level Regional level Regional level



Technology related

Software proposed for PR






Using internet, emails




Updating web portals Regional level Regional level Regional level



Other basic software such as MS Office




Soft skills

Creativity and problem solving technique


External agency


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

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

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

Post training:

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

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

Others:

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



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

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

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

7.5.1 Bills of Materials Owing to the mammoth structure of the PRIs, it may not be possible, imparting training to every PRI member. Therefore by the virtue of past experiences, cascading mode of training has been recommended. Based on the above recommendations number of participants to be trained at each level of PRI is given below. The total number of participants that are required to be trained can be distributed across three years. Below table depicts the number of training participants and training days at each level provisioned for in the DPR.

Manpower to be trained per PRI Officials No. of

Training Days Members No. of Training

Days ZP 6 12 2 6 BP 3 12 1 6 GP 1 12 1 6

Zila and Block Panchayat: 75% of total participants would be department officials and 25% of the total participants would be elected members Gram Panchayat: Out of the total participants 50% shall be officials and rest 50% shall be elected members. Based on the above provisioning for training, the below table depicts the total number of participants to be trained according to the number of ZP, BP and GPs in Kerala

Total Participants to be trained Number of PRI

Officials To Be Trained Number of PRI elected

members To Be Trained Level Total Total

ZP 84 28 BP 456 152 GP 999 999



Manpower provisioned at each PRI level

Particulars District level Block level * Gram level Grand

Total Per PRI unit Total Per PRI unit Total Per PRI unit Total IT Assistant / IT officer or Panchayat Level Operator

2 28 1 152 1 999 1179



8 Change Management Requirements This section outlines the recommended approach to change management required in light of ePRI Implementation. This covers stakeholder analysis, communication strategy, and the relevant tools, means and modes of communication. The lump sum cost for Information, Education and Communication for citizens and PRIs in Kerala is Rs. 0.22 cr.

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

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

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

• Developing effective awareness and communication plan

8.1 Mapping the entire critical stakeholder community In this section, the stakeholder community is mapped and they are rated on various parameters to determine appropriate communication model for them. Identification of the needs, perspective and preferences of each group is mapped in the below table

Stakeholder Impact Rating

Influence Rating

Involvement Rating

Communication Channel Owner

Citizen High Medium Medium

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

Panchayat President

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

State PR Dept High High High

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

Principal Secretary (PR Dept)

Central PR Dept

High High High Principal Secretary (MoPR)

State Line Depts

High Medium Low Head of Departments

Central Line High Medium Low Head of Departments



Stakeholder Impact Rating

Influence Rating

Involvement Rating

Communication Channel Owner

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

Low Low Medium

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

State and Central PR Depts

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

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

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

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

8.2 Awareness and communication Plan Aspects of a communication plan are

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

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

Specific agencies may be required to be hired to perform communication tasks better – for example, dramatics group to perform skits, an advertising agency for poster design, printing and placements etc. The table below gives macro level awareness and communication plan for various stages of implementation

Audience Mode of Delivery

Location/ Venue

Launch communication

Owner After 3 months After 6 months

After 1 year

State PR Dept

Workshop Secretariat or circuit house

Introduction to Initiative Salient Features Benefits Major Changes at work place

Secretary PR

Status update, Major changes, Action required, Major achievements

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

Central PR Dept State Line Dept Workshop

/ Seminar Central Line Dept



Audience Mode of Delivery

Location/ Venue

Launch communication

Owner After 3 months After 6 months

After 1 year

DP

Training Session

DP Meeting Hall

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

DDO

Status Update, Major Changes, Major Achievements, Action Required

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

BP

GP

Citizen Gram-sabha

GP Premises

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

Panchayat President

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

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

Detailed communication plan for each audience:

8.2.1 Citizen

Mode of Communication

Key Message Purpose of Message Sensitivities Mitigation Strategy

Gramsabha ► Introduction to Initiative

► Benefits for Citizen (Costs, Time Taken etc)

► Basic Procedures ► Services & Schemes

offered

► Make them aware ► Prepare them to

embrace the change ► Make them appreciate

the value of initiative

► Political party representatives not happy with the present Government

► People not attending such sessions

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

► Plan to hold session at multiple locations at different times

Newspapers ► Announcement of Initiative and new schemes and services

► To make people aware of new initiatives

► People are not reading newspapers or not literate

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

Banners, Pamphlets, Hoardings

► Announcement of new initiatives

► Salient features of initiative

► To make people aware

► To interest them in taking benefit of initiative

► 100% visibility of banner or hoarding can not ensured (geographical constraint)

► Making sure that other channels are used complementing this channel to ensure optimum coverage

Street plays, animated or televised

► Explain Services ► Explain Benefits ► Explain vision of

► Interest people in attending session

► Explain benefits and

► People not getting the message or play

► Preview the play or program with a select group first and then





films shown in various places

ePRI process in an entertaining manner

not adapted to local sensitivities

modify to suit local tastes

Radio & TV Programs

► Announce the initiative

► Explain services and procedures

► Explain benefits

► To make them aware ► To educate them

about services, procedures and benefits

► Not accessible by everyone

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

Mobiles ► Inform people about various locations where services can be obtained

► Key service

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

► To reinforce the information in public mind

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

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



8.2.2 PRIs



Workshop / Training

► Introduction to Initiative

► Salient Features ► Benefits ► Major Changes at

work place ► Time Lines

► To introduce them to broad features

► Prepare them to accept the change

► Appreciate the benefits it will accrue

► Employees are sceptical of benefits

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

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

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

Web Based Programs

► Operating and Navigating the new system

► Procedures Involved ► Rules and

Guidelines

► To improve operating skills of employees

► To make system more acceptable to people

► People not attending such programs

► Effectiveness of such programs can not be easily judged

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

► Take feedback and continuously modify program to improve effectiveness

User Manuals

► To provide detailed guidelines and instruction for any time reference

► To improve skills further and making system more efficient

► People are not reading the manuals

► Manuals are bulky and finding the information is difficult

► Ensure manuals are written in simple lucid manner

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

Emails ► To update people of any recent changes

► Updating them with new tips and features introduced

► Continuously updating the skills of people



8.2.3 Government Departments/ Offices

Medium of communication


Workshop ► Introduction to Initiative

► Salient Features ► Benefits ► Major Changes at

work place

► To introduce them to broad features

► Prepare them to accept the change

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

► Employees are sceptical of benefits

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

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

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

Web Based Programs

► Operating and Navigating the new system

► Procedures Involved ► Rules and

Guidelines

► To improve operating skills of employees

► To make system more acceptable to people

► People not attending such programs

► Effectiveness of such programs can not be easily judged

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

► Take feedback and continuously modify program to improve effectiveness

User Manuals

► To provide detailed guidelines and instruction for any time reference

► To improve skills further and making system more efficient

► People are not reading the manuals

► Manuals are bulky and finding the information is difficult

► Ensure manuals are written in simple lucid manner

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

Emails ► To update people of any recent changes

► Updating them with new tips and features introduced

► Continuously updating the skills of people



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

Kerala has 14 districts and they are the revenue divisions of the State. The districts are further divided into blocks and villages. Kerala has a population of 32 million (2001 census), is spread over an area of 38863 sq. km. and has a population density of 819 persons per sq. km. The average annual growth rate of population in Kerala is 0.87%.

Based on administrative arrangements, the state of Kerala has 14 districts Panchayats, 152 block Panchayat and 999 gram Panchayats. The Department of Panchayats is the field department of the Local Self-Government Department of Kerala and it was established in 1962. The Department of Panchayats acts as a facilitator in the distribution of Development expenditure fund; maintenance and general purpose funds to the Gram Panchayats in the state; monitors progress and achievements made in expenditure of funds by Gram Panchayats, controls the establishment matters and disciplinary proceedings of the staff of Gram Panchayats and department offices; has the responsibility in ensuring the registration of births, deaths and marriages occurring in the state; and performs the duties assigned by various Government Orders and notifications under Kerala Panchayati Raj Act, 1994.

The Directorate of Panchayats is staffed by the Director of Panchayats who is assisted by an Additional Director, 2 Joint Directors, 14 Deputy Directors and 14 Assistant Directors. The Special Grade Secretaries and Panchayat Secretaries report into the Directorate of Panchayats as shown in the diagram below. There are 452 Special Grade Secretaries and 547 Secretaries staffing the various Panchayats in Kerala.

Kerala has devolved funds, functions and functionaries to a very high degree to LSGIs. This has led to strengthening of Panchayati Raj institutions and a strong planning process with high degree of people’s participation. To define the functional areas of the different tiers of Panchayats as precisely as possible, Government of Kerala in 1996 appointed a Committee on ‘Decentralization of Powers’ under the chairmanship of Dr. S B Sen. The Sen Committee was also responsible for developing the activity mapping for all the 29 matters listed in the Eleventh schedule of the constitution. The funds to be devolved to Panchayats in Kerala have been continuously refined by successive State Finance Commissions. The devolution of funds has been improved upon through the principles of fiscal decentralization and constitutes a leading practice as far as the state of Kerala is concerned. The funds available to a Panchayat can be classified into seven broad categories and the state has laid out clear guidelines on provision and utilization of each category of funds and also the powers of drawing and disbursal for each category of fund. These categories and guidelines for their allocation and drawal are laid out in the Finance Department order dated 12 April 2006 [G.O. (P) No. 177/2006/Fin.].

When Government of Kerala transferred functions to Panchayats, it also transferred the associated functionaries to the Panchayats. In order to address the change management issues that arose during such transfer, it was decided that the cadre of staff transferred would not be disturbed. This thus



ensured that promotion chances of the transferred functionaries within their respective Departments were not affected. The Local Governments have full managerial and part disciplinary control over the staff. They can assign any work to the staff transferred to them related to their area. They can review their performance and give the required directions. They are empowered to impose minor penalties on all staff transferred to them and, in the case of non- Gazetted officers, resort to suspension, whenever warranted.

The state has through IKM have developed a suite of software applications to support the function of Panchayati Raj Institutions. Following are briefs on the functionalities of this suite of software applications.

� Sulekha: Plan Monitoring System

� Sevana: Sevana Civil Registrations

� Sevana: Sevana Social Security Schemes

� Sanchitha: Electronic Legal Adviser

� Soochika: The Work Flow Application

� Sanchaya: The Revenue Collection System

� Sahatha and Saankhya: The Accounting Packages

� Sthapana: Application for Establishment

� Sakarma: Decision Support System

� Subhadra: Financial Management system

� Samveditha: LSGD Website (www.localgovkerala.net)

� Samoohya: Samoohya Citizen Database

� Sachithra: Map Suite

� Saphalya: Human Resource Package

The above portfolio of software are developed using Active Server Pages (ASP) and SQL Server 2000. The software applications feature centralized database architecture with web-based front-end systems. The application architectures for Sevana and for Sulekha are depicted below. It is to be noted that at the time of preparation of this report, in Palakkad district, the plan documents prepared in Sulekha are still ported on a CD-ROM to the server at the Palakkad district planning office for consolidation as last-mile connectivity with the Gram Panchayats are still being established. ICT Training programs for the Panchayat Officials and employees are conducted by IKM and KILA. The locations for these trainings have been: Panchayat Office, KILA and IRDA on various occasions. The last training module was conducted in the year 2008.

But it is observed that there is limited integration of NeGP initiatives such as State Data Centre, State Wide Area Network and Citizen Service Centres with PRI. On the citizen service center front, Kerala has rolled out a large number of service delivery centers in the form of AKSHAYA and FRIENDS. With a network of nearly 2,080 centers in Kerala, the state has one AKSHAYA centre for every 2,000 families. The software systems supporting these centers are developed by Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM).

http://www.localgovkerala.net)



These centers offer various bill pay services (such as for Kerala Water Authority, Kerala State Electricity Board, and BSNL) and collectively process over 1,00,000 transactions per month.

However, these service delivery centers do not offer any services related to Panchayats. The AKSHAYA centers are expected to maintain the ‘Ente Gramam’ (My village) portal for each of the Village Panchayats. However, this is not being utilized effectively. The Akathethara Gram Panchayat does not have a web portal marking its presence on the internet. In terms of State Data Centre, the state of Kerala is conducting the bid process for selection of an implementation agency and implementation is not complete yet. As a result, the Panchayat department is yet to make any efforts towards utilization of SDC for hosting software applications related to PRIs.

As far as manpower is concerned Kerala has already transferred the necessary staff / functionaries along with the transfer of functions to the three tiers of Panchayats from the various line departments. As of now, the Panchayats are well staffed in respect of ability to deliver the functions transferred to the various tiers.

From a capacity building standpoint, Kerala is well developed. Following are the key capacity development programmes being conducted at present.

Training programme

Institutional training Training to finance standing committee chairpersons and members of GPs

Training to Development Standing Committee chairpersons and members of GPs Training to Welfare Standing Committee chairpersons and members of GPs

Leadership development programme for women elected representatives of Panchayats Training to newly elected members of GPs

Training to secretaries, Junior Superintendent and Head Clerks of GPs

Training to ministerial staff of Panchayat Training on gender status study

Training on Jagratha Samithi functioning Training on natural resource management and watershed plan formulations

Training on Panchayat Mahila Shakti Abhiyaan Experimental training on National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

Training on ST survey

Watershed based training Training on the Women Development Plan

Training to engineers of LSGD Training to Health Inspectors of ULBs

Training to ministerial staff of ULBs

Training on Double Entry Accounting system for ULBs Training on Implementation of Eleventh Plan

Training on Plan Implementation Monitoring for ULBs Training on Total Energy Security Mission Programme

Training to Local Fund Audit team



Training programme

Training to Performance Audit team Workshop on Social Audit

Training to Gram Sabha facilitators

Training to SC/ST promoters District level trainings Training on Annual Plan formulation Training on Accounts Settlement of Local Bodies

Training to Technical Advisory Group PMSA Sammelan for women elected representatives

Regional training on Jagratha Samithi chairpersons and conveners

Jagratha Samithi – Experiential learning series Training on ST Survey

Participatory learning series on Food Security Experience sharing workshop series on NREGS

Training on Plan implementation monitoring for GP and BP

Training on Panchayat administration to ministerial staff Training on leadership development for women elected representatives

Training to GP facilitators Literacy mission training programme

Training to helpdesk team Training to SC/ST promoters

Dairy development training for Food Security

Training to Secretary and Presidents of Milk Co-operative Societies

Even after the organization of Panchayats in Kerala being fairly well developed and have been functioning effectively for many years. The state is also experimenting with a more functional organization structure with the formation of dedicated Front Offices and thus eliminating direct contact between Panchayat officials and Citizens from a service delivery point of view. It is also expected that this will help in creating a stronger service level driven organization. From an organization structure point of view, the following key functions need to be developed further within the Panchayats.

� Information Technology Support

� Front office staff and staffing structure

� Role of Village Extension Officers

� Development of Disaster Recovery function



9.1 Key Considerations for Implementation

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

• Civil Infrastructure – Kerala has adequate civil infrastructure to support e-pri MMP project. The only key requirement is developing a front office at existing GP office and providing required power supply and power back for effective functioning.

• IT Infrastructure – Providing computers and supporting infrastructure like printer, scanners, copiers, etc at the front office and departmental offices.

• IT Trained Manpower – Conducting trainings for PR officials for software operations and dedicated IT support organisation for Panchayat for solving IT related issues.

• Internet connectivity – Broadband/ Wireless/LAN Connectivity to be provided at GP office

• e-governance initiatives – Developing interface with the existing NeGP initiative like AKSHAYA , Friends

1. Guidance, ownership and support from leadership: For any new system integration a proper guidance and support from leadership is immensely important for the successful implementation of ePRI project. Capacity building of the PRI members, both elected representatives and government officials, at the district, block and gram level is one of the major components in the project. Thus, it becomes imperative for both the elected members as well as the government employees to provide their assistance in computerisation of the PRI offices and delivery of the citizen services through electronic mode. Effective coordination among the elected representatives and the government employees is essential for smooth functioning of the system.

2. Successful and timely implementation of state data centre: State data centre (SDC) has been identified as one of the important element of the core infrastructure for supporting e-Governance initiatives of NeGP. Under NeGP, it is proposed to create state data centres for the states to consolidate services, applications and infrastructure to provide efficient electronic delivery of G2G, G2C and G2B services. State data centre is envisaged to act as a mediator and convergence point between open unsecured public domain and sensitive government environment. It would enable various state departments to host their services / applications on a common infrastructure leading to ease of integration and efficient management, ensuring that computing resources and the support connectivity infrastructure (either through KSWAN or etc) would adequately and optimally be used. As of now, Panchayat Department in Kerala does not have any centralized software applications and hence the need for a Data Centre has not been felt. Also, there are no online facilities for citizen interaction. Going forward, this would be essential.

3. Ease of implementation: There is a requirement for developing a citizen centric front office at GP office premises. The front office should be equipped with basic ICT infrastructure with connectivity and trained employee for handing service application processes and data entry. Training of PR officials in usage of computers and software operation is equally important for faster service delivery to citizens. The state of Kerala has already taken many NeGP initiatives but they are not integrated with PRI’s. Integration of these initiatives will also ease the implementation.



4. Level of expenditure while implementation: In Kerala, the district and block Panchayat offices are already provided with hardware and basic software applications. However, connectivity is one of the issues which need immediate attention of the central and the state government. Due to lack of internet connectivity and skilled manpower, in most of the district and block Panchayat offices, the IT assets are not utilized optimally. Thus, at the district and the block level, implementation of the project could be done only by providing connectivity (either through KSWAN or ISPs) and by providing technical manpower.

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

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



9.2 Project Phasing (Time Schedule) Implementation of e-PRI for Kerala has been envisaged through coordinated efforts between Centre and States for the roll out of e-PRI. This approach advocates laying down the common guidelines and project artifacts (e.g. RFP), along with a robust monitoring and implementation structure at the Center and anchoring the project implementation at the State. The project will be executed in a Service Procurement Model (SPM), where a Service Agency(ies) (SA) will be selected through a competitive bidding process by the States. The implementation plan is divided into the Preparatory Phase, RFP phase, Deployment phase, Operations & Maintenance and Ongoing Project Management. The deployment is based on assumption that on an average 50 PRI sites go up in a day to complete the deployment phase in 1 month duration. The State may decide to engage multiple SA, region-wise or district-wise depending on local suitability and the size of implementation as per the number of PRIs in the state to follow the implementation plan proposed. The phases and activities to be undertaken during implementation have been presented in the project plan below.

Sn Tasks

Month

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12

13

14 to

48

A Preparatory Phase

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

2. Visioning workshop for CPMC by MoPR

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

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

5. Formation of CPMU to assist the CPMC

6. Selection from empanelled agencies for formation of SPMU

7. Formation of SPMU to assist the SPMC

8. Directing the 14 Districts to form DPMC (headed by CEO, ZP) comprising of SLD and NIC representatives

9. District-level visioning workshops in 14 districts B RFP Phase



Sn Tasks

Month

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12

13

14 to

48

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. District-level kick-off meetings in 14 districts with vendor

8. Finalization of implementation plan with vendor C Deployment phase

I. ICT Hardware

Site survey for the user level hardware and Network installation

Preliminary inspection of hardware and network components

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

Network & hardware Installation & commissioning a ZP

Network & hardware Installation & commissioning at BP

Network & hardware Installation & commissioning at GP

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

Onsite inspection

II. Data Entry



Sn Tasks

Month

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12

13

14 to

48

Mapping of Data, data entry and validation

III. ePRI application development

Preparation of SRS, Design documents and test plans

Software development / customization / integration

Installation and Configuration of software

User Acceptance Testing for state-specific applications

IV. Manpower and Training

Deployment of manpower at locations

Preparation of state-specific training plan and approval

Imparting training as per training plan

Training Completion report, feedback and sign offs D Operations and Maintenance

Provide ongoing support E Ongoing project management

Sustenance Effort

Project Evaluation



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

No. Area Scope of work

Setting up of Program Management Committees & PMU ( Central &State) Refer section 10 for detail roles & responsibilities of Program management Unit

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

Milestone

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

Preparation, Approval & Release of RFP for Implementation Partner

Model RFP (Request for Proposal) for the selection of implementation agency shall be prepared at the central level and would be provided to the State Program Management Committees for customization and release or whichever agency would be authorized for such task. RFP shall include all major tasks to be performed by the implementation agency like training, data digitization, supply and installation of Hardware and network equipment, customization and development of application, manage IT services and providing IT trained manpower.

Milestone

Request for Proposal

Evaluation and Selection of Implementation Partner

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

Milestone

Selection of Implementation Agency

Awarding contract and Contract Signing




Onsite assessment by Implementation Agency

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

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

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

Solution Design and Solution Architecture

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

Applications at Central / National level 2. Design of Workflow with well defined business rule for the application 3. Design of LAN and Internet connectivity as per requirement with proper

documentation. 4. Design of Application Architecture 5. Design of Network & Security Architecture 6. Data Digitisation and migration methodology. 7. Design of Overall IT Infrastructure 8. Design of Logical and Deployment Architecture 9. Design of Integrations methodology 10. Design of Quality Assurance Plan & Methodology 11. Design reports as required by SPMU

Deliverables: • Final Bill of Material (BOM) for Solution Implementation • System Design, solution design and Architecture Document




• All Policy, Plan & Methodology Documents • Sign off

Application Development

The selected Implementation Agency shall develop e-PRI system based on the specifications finalized through the System Requirement Specifications and Solution design. Deliverables: • Delivery of e-PRI Software by the Implementation vendor, Licenses,

Operational/Technical manuals, library files, setup programs etc. • Sign off

Deployment of Hardware and Network Equipment

Implementation Agency shall be required to undertake all the necessary installation of DC. Installation shall mean, to install and configure / integrate every component and subsystem component, required for functioning of the e-PRI system Procurement of infrastructure/facilities as proposed by the implementation vendor in the Bill of Material (BOM) as per the requirements of new system. IA will be required to provide the proposed IT trained Manpower at each PRI as proposed in the solution. Deliverables: • IT infrastructure required for new proposed solution/system. • Infrastructure Delivery Certificates. • IT trained manpower at PRIs • Sign off

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

Comprehensive Training and Change Management

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




improvements thereupon. Implementation Agency shall be required to train the officials as per the indicative training plan by SPMU to enable them to effectively operate the system. Also the Implementation vendor would deploy a single resource for data entry related tasks at all the three levels of PRI. Deliverables: • Training Plan & training strategy • Undertake Change Management and training interventions as per training plan approved

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

1:1 basis. • Sign off

Over all Testing and UAT The Implementation Agency shall design Test plan and Cases for the solution testing which will need to be approved by the SPMU. The Implementation vendor shall perform the testing of the solution based on the approved test plan, document the results and shall fix the bugs found during the testing to the satisfaction of the SPMU. The implementation vendor shall arrange the equipment for testing. The test environment should match the roll-out environment as closely as possible. SPMU will sign-off on the testing environment. Following shall be the Scope of testing 1. All levels of testing will be conducted at the installation site. 2. Testing must demonstrate that the new systems satisfy the operational and technical

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

further changes to the infrastructure & application 4. The Implementation Agency must outline the methodology that will be used for

testing. 5. The Implementation Agency must define the various levels or types of testing that will

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

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

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




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

Solution Implementation (Go Live) and Operations & Maintenance

Implementation Agency (IA) shall be responsible for implementation of the e-PRI system and overall system integration. IA shall also provide operations & maintenance support for a period of three years adhering to the Service Level Agreement (SLA) finalized between State Level Body and the IA. Deliverables: • Completion of Solution Implementation • All the relevant documents related to Implementation. • Demonstration of few sample transaction of various departments on Live environment • Sign off



10 Project Management Structure This section details out the Program Governance and Management structure to be put in place in order to ensure that proper accountability and responsibility for rollout of planned initiatives are defined, and that decision making authority is appropriately assigned across various levels. Considering the mammoth size of the initiative, adequate Block Support group at each block level is proposed to ensure smooth monitoring of the project till the grass root level. The total estimated cost for PMU is Rs. 6.09 cr and Block Support group is Rs 7.39 cr.

10.1 Governance Structure

The design and implementation of ePRI MMP is a complex exercise under the federal structure which involves formulation of detailed scope and project plan with necessary commonalties at the National level while allowing adequate scope for interplay of local variations, rules, procedures and implementation at the State level.

Some of the key issues that need to be addressed are:

� Clear Roles and Responsibilities � Implementation Structure � Reach till the grass root level � Participation till Grass root level

PRIs function at the village, intermediate (block) and district level. There are approximately 2,34,030 Gram Panchayats at the village level, 6053 Janpad Panchayats at the block level and 535 Zilla Panchayats at the district level. There are more than 31 lakhs elected representatives at all three tiers.

Given the enormity and complexity of the project, the implementation of the same requires a robust and still flexible project governance and management structure. The objective of project management is ensuring the implementation of the project as per the defined requirements, timelines, deliverables and budget. The project monitoring teams will be responsible for managing the overall project execution by the selected Service agency(ies) and ensuring that key objectives of the project are met and issues are highlighted in a timely manner.

It is proposed to have well defined governance structure at Centre i.e. the Program review board with representatives from MoPR and each State. Further, it is proposed that Project Management Unit (PMU) to be designed and set up at two critical levels of project implementation namely at the centre – MoPR – and at the state – State PR.

It is imperative to have participation from all the key stakeholders viz MoPR, NIC, DIT and key Central Line Ministries at the Central level. Entire project implementation will be led by the center and states have to be key participants in this Endeavour. Unlike other MMPs, ePRI MMP program governance structure



will have participation till the grass root level i.e. the Gram Panchayats, which can be made possible by involving the Districts and blocks in the implementation process. Hence a three tier structure is proposed for program governance of ePRI MMP implementation:

� Central Level Body – Headed by Program Review Board (PRB) � State Level Body – Headed by State Programme Management Committee � District Level Body – District Programme Management Committee

Sections below detail out the structure, roles and responsibilities of each of the above mentioned level of program management structure proposed.

10.1.1 Project Management & Governance Structure at Centre

The project governance structure provides a framework for the operations to support the MoPR and State PR for various activities and options relevant to successful implementation of the ePRI MMP, right from project conceptualization stage to complete roll out phase.

The Governance Structure for project at Centre would be a three layered structure as illustrated in the figure below. The first layer would consist of a Program Review Board. The second layer would consist of key committees to act as advisory committees to the PRB on various aspects such as Technical, Functional, eGov Standards and Change management and the third one consisting of Central Programme Management Unit (CPMU). The first two layers would comprise of the Central Project Management Committee and would have the overall responsibility of steering the project nation-wide.



Central Level Body for ePRI MMP implementation Program Management

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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



CPMU structure

The CPMU’s primary responsibilities will include:

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

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

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

centre and state, to meet the MIS requirements of MoPR



► Monitoring of Project Implementation in terms of managing the Project timelines, Quality of deliverables by close coordination with both Central implementation agency (NIC) and State Service Agencies.

► Ensuring Strategic control of the project with Centre ► Working on the regular inputs provided by the State PMUs ► Designing Model RFP for the States to customize according to the state specific requirements ► Appraisal of DPRs, RFPs received from the states based on the detailed guidelines, SLA s

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



10.1.2 Programme Management and Governance Structure at State

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

Constitution of the Governance entities at State Level

State Programme Management Committee:

� Chief Secretary � Principal Secretary (In charge of the PR Department) � Representative of Finance Department � HODs of identified SLDs Department

Programme Governance Structure at State Level



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

Role of State Programme Management Committee at the State level:

� Overall guidance � Decisions on Policy matters � Approval of all deliverables by various agencies/groups � Financial Powers as per delegation

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

out � Ongoing support and guidance to SPMU

Structure of State PMU for Implementation of ePRI MMP

� Project Manager- 1 (PC) � Technology Consultant- 1 (SC) � Capacity Building Consultant- 1 (SC) � Bid Process Expert - 1 (PC – Part time) � Zonal Coordinators (1 SC and 1 JC, each, for a zone of 5 districts) i.e. 3 SC and 3 JC for

Kerala



SPMU structure

Role of State PMU

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

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

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

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

§ Pre-bid conference § Techno commercial evaluation



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

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

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

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

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

changes � Monitor the imparting of training till GP level by SIA. � Vetting of all progress reports and deliverables of the SIA � Providing the required inputs to the Central PMU on regular basis � Serve as secretariat for SPMC for the Project � Ensure certification from Certifying agency on application developed before full State level roll-

out � Impact assessment after project go live with respect to evaluation parameters gathered during the

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

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

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

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

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

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

� Enabling effective transfer of knowledge and lessons learnt to the people involved in the project



� Address concerns / enquiries / complaints referred to the SPMU by stakeholders for their respective districts under the Zone

� Implementing procedures developed by SPMU to regularly monitor the performance of the project, and preparing regular monitoring reports based upon information submitted by the Block Support Group and the various service agencies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



Programme Governance Structure at District Level

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

DPMC structure



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

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

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

DPMC will have following role and responsibilities.

(i) Implementing the direction received from SPMC (ii) Guiding the work of the BDO and Block Support Group (iii) Reviewing implementation progress periodically (iv) Considering recommendations put forward by BDOs

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

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

The responsibilities of the Block support group will be:

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

Block and below level. � Liasoning and Coordinating with Service Agency contact person at Block level and below. � Regular Monitoring and reporting on the actual status of implementation, hardware deployment,

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

validate the status reported by the Service agency.



10.2 Monitoring and Evaluation

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

Details of State Level Review Meeting

SR. DETAILS MONITORING ASPECTS

PARTICIPANTS

1 Monthly Progress Review Meeting

• Deviation from Project Plan

• Key issues in implementation of Project plan

• District specific challenges

• Strategic decision required by SMPC

SPMC, SPMU and respective DPMC representatives

2 Quarterly Progress Review Meeting

• Strategic decision from SPMC

• Review of Monthly progress meeting of SPMU

• Financial and physical progress of the project

• Support and guidance required from CPMU

SPMC and SPMU

3 Half Yearly Progress Review Meeting

• Key challenges for implementation of the project

• Revision of project plan if required

• Changes in SPMU structure/ staff

SPMC and SPMU



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

State Level Field Monitoring Component

SR. DETAILS COVERAGE ASPECTS TO BE COVERED

ACTIVITIES

A State Committee

Surprise Inspections

A PRI

• Resources provided to PRIs

• Functioning of PRIs

• PRI elected member satisfaction

• Citizen satisfaction

• Compliance report from ePRI portal

• Grievance from ePRI portal

• PRI home page at PRI portal

• Interviews and interactions

• Inspection of documents

B SPMU

1 Monthly Field Monitoring Plan

5 district

10 BP

10 VP

• Installation/ functioning of ICT hardware

• Installation/ functioning of networking/ connectivity

• Installation/ functioning of ePRI application

• Functioning of DPMC and Block Support Group

• Implementation of Training Plan

• Key issues hindering implementation

• Best Practices

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



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

SR. NAME OF THE REPORT INFORMATION CONTENT

1 Monthly Physical Progress Report

i. Schemes and service implemented from PRIs

ii. Installation/ functioning of ICT hardware iii. Installation/ functioning of networking/

connectivity iv. Installation/ functioning of ePRI

application v. Functioning of DPMC and Block

Support Group vi. Implementation of Training Plan vii. Financial and resource requirement for

the respective state

2 Monthly Financial Progress Report

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

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

iii. Fund utilization status of schemes and ePRI project

3 Half Yearly Progress Report – Financial & Physical

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

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

4 Quarterly Hardware Installation report

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

connectivity iii. Issues in ePRI application

5 Quarterly Training Status report

i. Number of people trained in a quarter ii. Type of the training and batch size iii. Utilization of fund and future

requirement



SR. NAME OF THE REPORT INFORMATION CONTENT iv. Estimated number of people to be

trained v. Specific training requirements from

SPMU

6 Quarterly Networking report

i. Connectivity mapping with required and existing

ii. Approximate uptime of the network iii. Issues in functioning of networking/

connectivity

7 Monthly application development report

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

application iv. Additional requirement in ePRI

application

8 Monthly Service agency performance report

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

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

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



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

• Severity – This rates the severity or seriousness of risk • Occurrence – This rates the risk on the basis of the probability of its occurrence • Detection – This rates the risk on the basis of the probability or ease of its detection

Value Severity of impact Chance of Occurrence Chance of Detection

1 No Impact Never Obviously detected 2 Almost No impact Almost never Easy to discover 3 Some Impact Rarely Detected through inquiry 4 Low Impact Sometimes Can be detected with little effort 5 Visible Impact Irregular Not so easy to detect 6 High Impact Random Detected with Difficulty 7 Significant Impact Frequent Detected wtih great Difficulty 8 Impact nearing failure Almost always Almost Never detected 9 Failure Always Never detected



Risk Priority Number is product of severity, occurrence and detection For the state of Kerala the risks and mitigation plan are shown in the table below ePRI MMP Risks and Mitigation for Kerala

Objective: To list the risks associated with implementation of ePRI. Risks which hinder the implementation of ePRI and the risks after ePRI Pre Implementation S.No Risk Mitigation Plan Severity Occurrence Detection RPN 1 Funds are not released on time and

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

7 8 2 112

2 State government does not initiate the modalities for implementation of ePRI

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

8 3 2 48

3 Centre and State have divergent views on components of ePRI

Consensus building and rapid sharing among key agencies implementing ePRI through NIC

8 4 5 160

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

Appropriate mediation through NIC and communication by the central ministry to state departments

8 2 3 48

5 State government demands total central assistance in implementation of ePRI

Consensus building and communication between the state and centre

8 2 4 64

6 State government desires inclusion / exclusion of all the state owned or sponsored IT agencies apart from the ones recommended by ePRI study

Design appropriate criteria and terms of reference for incorporating best possible model for state ePRI

7 4 5 140



7 Absence of political will in providing desired powers (funds, functions, functionaries) for effective implementation

Communication through PMO, central cabinet to state CMs and cabinet. Participation of state PR department. Co-opting elected representatives into the initiative and offering a perspective of the citizen-centricity / goodwill generated by e-PRI would act as prime motivators for fostering political will. Getting National Consensus on the MMP from all political parties could also help.

7 2 3 42

8 Resistance to change by the stakeholders (State PR, MoPR, DP, BP, GP or any other)

Change management and participative approach adopted by implementation agency and NIC. Communication and stakeholder mapping

8 9 6

432

9 Inadequate preparation, ground work by the state before implementation of ePRI (PMO establishment, project planning, activity mapping, service authorisation etc.)

Gazette notifications for activity mapping, conditional funding based on appropriate ground work and validation of the same by the central coordinating agency for ePRI implementation

8 4 3 96

10 Inappropriate or Inadequate legal authorisation for citizen service delivery, G2G functions and information flow

Appropriate inter departmental communication for authorisation of delivery of services through PRIs. Legal changes in the state acts and departmental functions

8 5 5 175

11 Appropriate quality assurance and monitoring for control over implementation partners

Guidelines for implementation to include quality assurance at each stage of implementation before handover for regular functioning

8 7 7 342

During Implementation 12 Inappropriate guideline for testing

software - piloting and replication Implementation plan to take sample based simplistic implementations on priority and address one issue at a time. The lessons learnt to be captured and replicated for implementation

8 5 6 240

13 Absence of quality assurance in Procurement policy and guideline for quality assurance, 7 5 6 210



procurement of equipment and assurance through audit

and periodic internal audit

14 Retention of ePRI trained staff as mentors and guides for replication of success

Performance management (rewards, recognition) of staff in the ePRI implementation

9 6 7 378

15 Appropriate knowledge management and best practice sharing

Implementing agency or partners to ensure capturing of lessons learnt in central repository and appropriate authorisation for communication of the same across locations

6 4 3 72

16 Data security and safety during baselining or data transfer/migration from legacy to ePRI systems

Appropriate data migration plan or data gathering templates and tools for data quality and integrity

7 6 7 294

17 Inadequate civil infrastructure in GP Use of central government assistance through other schemes for providing civil infrastructure

6 3 2 36

Post Implementation 18 Absence of appropriate

maintenance for hardware and software

Maintenance to be incorporated within the procurement guidelines

7 5 6 210

19 Issue resolution and control on daily basis through nodal agencies

Central monitoring agency of daily issue log maintenance and decision making

8 6 5 240

20 Retention of service staff in remote locations

Appropriate performance management and monitoring by state PR department and implementation partners

8 8 7 448

21 Safety and security of life and property in adversely affected areas

Appropriate provision of security by the state Police and communication regarding the same by state PR

8 7 6 336

22 Maintenance of data against misappropriation of information

Data security and delegation of authority for data entry, review and approval in IT systems

7 4 5 140



11 Financial Estimates This section provides the financial requirement for the roll out of e-PRI MMP in Kerala. It details out the total project cost as well as head-wise & year-wise cost break up of e-PRI solution proposed to be implemented in Kerala. The total cost of implementing e-PRI Project is Rs. 54.89 cr.

11.1 Project Costing The e-PRI project implementation in the state of Kerala is estimated to cost about Rs 54.89 crores, including the cost of provisioning the ICT infrastructure, Training, Manpower, Project management units, Block support group and Information Education & communication. The major assumptions on for financial estimation are listed in Annexure B: Over all Head Wise Break up Implementing e-PRI project in Kerala would incur a total cost of Rs. 54.89 cr. This includes costs related to ICT (Rs. 23.56 cr), deputing IT trained manpower at each level of PRI (Rs. 14.56 cr), training of officials and PRI members (Rs. 3.07 cr), providing block support group (Rs. 7.39 cr), establishment of State Program Management unit (Rs. 6.09 cr) and finally towards Information Education and Communication - IEC ( Rs. 0.22 cr). The table and graph below presents a brief snapshot of head-wise break up of total cost that shall be incurred in implementing e-PRI project in Kerala.

No Head Cost (cr.)

1 ICT 23.56

2 Manpower 14.56

3 Training 3.07

4 BSG 7.39

5 Program Management Unit 6.09

6 IEC 0.22

Total 54.89



Year Wise Break up The total cost of the project has been distributed in four years basis the implementation plan provided in section 9. The table below presents the overview of the year wise breakup of the total cost that shall be incurred during implementation of e-PRI project.

It can be inferred from the table above that nearly 19% of the cost is estimated to be incurred in the first year. 32% and 34% shall be incurred during year 2 and year 3 respectively. Finally the rest 15% of the total cost would be incurred during year 4. Yearly – Head wise breakup Broadly the cost estimates have been categorized under State ICT cost, Payout to Service Agency (PRIs ICT & Manpower), Training related cost, cost related to BSG, Program Management Unit and IEC. The following table depicts the yearly cost estimates against each of the cost heads.

Table: Year Wise and Head Wise Cost Estimates (in crores)

No Items Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Total 1 State ICT Cost 1.22 0.57 0.62 0.33 2.74 2 Payout (PRIs ICT + Manpower) 5.56 11.55 12.01 6.26 35.38 3 Training 0.51 1.02 1.02 0.51 3.07 4 BSG 1.09 2.36 2.55 1.38 7.39 5 Program Management Unit 1.84 2.03 2.23 0.00 6.09 6 IEC 0.22 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.22 Total ePRI Project Cost 10.44 17.53 18.44 8.48 54.89

No Year # Cost (cr.) 1 Year 1 10.44 2 Year 2 17.53 3 Year 3 18.44 4 Year 4 8.48



Year 1

Year 1 would be stone setting year for the project. Project will be kicked off with constitution of various committees and State Program Management Unit. It can be inferred from the graph that 53% of the total cost incurred during Year 1 shall be towards deployment of ICT & IT trained manpower at each tier of PRIs in terms of payout to the PRIs. The first 5 months as per the suggested implementation, the RFP will be floated to select the implementation agency and the deployment of the IT Hardware and IT manpower will begin from the 6th month of Year 1. The deployment of hardware and manpower at all PRIs will be over a period of 1 month, and hence the payout will be will depend upon the number of sites deployed in that manner. The lump sum IEC cost is provisioned in Year 1 only and may be utilized by state across across 3 years to generate awareness amongst the citizens and PRIs

Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4

As per the implementation plan, the deployment of IT Hardware and IT trained manpower will happen in 1 month after the first 6 months of State level activities. Year 2 and 3 will see full fledged operation and maintenance support of ePRI system at all PRIs, thus the payout to service agency for hardware and manpower will be larger as compared to year 1. As the provision for IT manpower is made for 3 years or 36 months for each PRI site, hence in year 4 the IT manpower support will end incrementally at PRIs after first 6 months of full support. The cost incurred during these years would be heavily constituted of IT skilled manpower deployed at each tier of PRIs, who will be responsible for rendering the services as per the SLA defined. As seen in the graphs for year 2, 3 and 4, the ICT and IT manpower payout is the larger cost head. PMU will also continue to provide its services for the duration of 36 months (3 years) during the ePRI project implementation.



Training cost is budgeted for 36 months staring 6th month of year 1 till year 4.

Monthly Payouts to Service Agency The roll out of ePRI in Kerala is proposed to be based on a a Service Procurement Model (SPM), where a Service Agency(ies) (SA) will be selected through a competitive bidding process by the States. The States may decide to engage multiple SA, region-wise or district-wise depending on local suitability Once the contract with the SA is finalized a detailed implementation plan will be prepared by the SA in consultation with the SPMC. The roll-out, in Kerala, is expected to take 1-2 months time during which the SA will deploy computers at all GPs / BPs/ ZPs in the State and also provide trained manpower for providing services to the GPs/ BPs/ ZPs. Once the services start at any GP / BP/ZP the SA will be provided a monthly payout for a period of 3 years as per the following table:

Table: Monthly Payout to PRIs SR NO Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 1 ZP 14209.22 15058.21 15975.13 16965.39 2 BP 7209.22 7498.21 7810.33 8147.41 3 GP 7975.89 8280.88 8610.27 8966.02

The above monthly payouts have been calculated by assimilation of monthly cost incurred to SA on following components: • CAPEX: This includes the cost of ICT infrastructure commissioned at each tier of PRIs • OPEX: This includes the cost of maintenance of ICT infrastructure • IT Trained Manpower: This includes the cost of IT trained manpower deployed by SA for providing

services to ZP/BP/GP



The table below detailed out the monthly cost estimation considered for the calculation of payouts. Items PRIs In Year 1

(Monthly Payout)

In Year 2 (Monthly Payout)



CAPEX

ZP 3596.81 3596.81 3596.81 3596.81

BP 3596.81 3596.81 3596.81 3596.81

GP 4163.48 4163.48 4163.48 4163.48

OPEX

ZP 612.41 661.40 714.32 771.46

BP 612.41 661.40 714.32 771.46

GP 812.41 877.40 947.60 1023.40

Manpower

ZP 10000 10800 11664 12597.12

BP 3000 3240 3499.2 3779.136

GP 3000 3240 3499.2 3779.136

Total Annual Payout

ZP 1193574.55 2529779.89 2683821.14 1425092.85

BP 6574809.40 13676741.67 14246034.37 7430435.25

GP 47807469.68 99271193.07 103219947.08 53742300.71

Total Payouts (in Crores) 5.56 11.55 12.01 6.26



12 Recommendations Kerala has already initiated in implementing ICT infrastructure to better the system to deliver citizen services and improve government efficiency & convenience. The following is a brief summary of the recommendations that came out of ePRI study project

• Big-bang approach: As Kerala is a small state and number of district, we are covering the entire state in one go. The trainings will be provided simultaneously as an when software modules are developed for ePRI

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

• Uniform Integrated Portal for Providing All Services: An integrated portal to be provided at the gram level, to provide all services under one roof. Multiple portals create confusion. A single portal with multiple tabs for multiple services of all line department/ PRIs will enable user-friendliness of the portal thus quicker and on-time service delivery, Moreover citizen need not visit multiple location to avail a service. This will bring down the cost of

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

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

• Information Dissemination by multiple channels to create awareness: An effort should be made by the state to increase awareness amongst citizens. The state may initiate a periodic awareness campaign in all villages in the state. The campaign may include, conducting more frequent meeting, exploring new channels of communication, street-plays, SMS etc

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

• Development of front office at GP premises – This is one of the most basic requirements at GP office for implementing ePRI. As a mandate PRI’s have initiated the process of developing front office at GP but still it this process is at nascent stage. If this implementation of developing front office does not take place on time then it can cause some delay in implementing ePRI

• Face to face training delivery – The initial trainings will take place face to face, for employees at GP office will be travelling to block for acquiring training for modules to be developed for ePRI. Along with this periodic training assessment to be carried out to ascertain the up-to-date



training needs at each level. Based on the periodic assessment a yearly training calendar is prepared incorporating level-wise/ department wise training needs. This shall help improve the productivity of individuals, thus the quality of the output at each level.

• Power Backup: An Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) of 600VA with 1 hour backup has been provisioned through ePRI project. However considering the power situation in rural India, various power backup options like inverter, Genset and Solar power option can be considered depending upon the power situation in the state. The various power options and their cost implication on the overall project cost is provided in Annexure F



13 Way Forward This ePRI Study project, which is a precursor to the ePRI MMP, was initiated with a comprehensive study to assess the current information and services needs of citizens, PRI and other stakeholders. This study lead to the identification of the information and services needs of various stakeholders, scope for re-engineering various functions and services carried out by PRIs, formulation of detailed roadmap for the transformation of Panchayati Raj system from existing state to e-PRI in Kerala The key activities in the DPR phase included: estimating ICT requirements, defining strategy for roll-out, defining capacity building strategy, defining project management structure, defining monitoring and evaluation structure, defining communication plan, defining change management strategy. This phase focused on defining these components along with the associated outlays. The implementation plan, detailing out the activities to be undertaken for project implementation is charted out and the financial model for executing the ePRI MMP in Kerala is also defined. This phase has resulted in head-wise cost break up of the ePRI MMP in the State, which will be further aggregated with similar cost break up from a similar study being parallely conducted in other states to arrive at a nation-wide cost for executing the ePRI MMP across the country. As a next step, the aggregated National Detailed Project Report along with the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) note will be submitted by Ministry of Panchayati Raj to the Cabinet for approval.



14 Annexure

14.1 Annexure A: Glossary

Word Explanation Word Explanation ASP Active Server Pages LAN Local Area Network BDO Block Development Officer LCD Liquid Crystal Display BP Block Panchayat LDC Lower Division Clerk BPL Below Poverty Line LSG Local Self Government BPR Business Process Reengineering MIS Management Information Systems BSNL Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited MoPR Ministry of Panchayati Raj Capex Capital Expenditure MRPs Master Resource Persons CB Capacity Building NAS Network Attached Storage CBT Computer based trainings NeGP National E-Governance Plan CIA Central Implementation Agencies NGO Non-governmental Organisation

CM Change Management NICSI National Informatics Centre Services Inc

CMT Change Management Technology NIC National Informatics Centre

CPMC Central Program Management Committee

NPD National Panchayat Directory

CPMU Central Program Management Unit NPP National Panchayt Portal

CSC Common Service Centre NREGA National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

CSS Centrally Sponsored Schemes NREGS National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

DIO District Information Officer NRHM National Rural Health Mission DIT Department of Information

Technology Opex Operational expenditure

DLRC District Level Resource Centres PC Principal Consultant DMZ Demilitarized Zone PIU Project Implementation Unit DP District Panchayat PMU Project Management Unit

DPMC District Program Management Committee

PO Program Officer

DPMU District Program Management Unit PPP Public Private Partnership DPR Detailed Project Report PR Panchayati Raj Department DPU District Planning Unit PRB Program Review Board

FRIENDS Fast, Reliable, Instant, Effective Network for Disbursement of Services

PRI Panchayati Raj Institution

GP Gram Panchayat RFP Request for Proposal G2B Government to Business RPN Risk Priority Number G2C Government to Citizen RTI Right to Information G2E Government to Employee SAN Storage Area Network GIS Geographical Information System SC Senior Consultant



Word Explanation Word Explanation GoI Government of India SDC State Data Center GoK Government of Kerala SID State Implementation Agencies GO Government Order SIO State Informatics Officer IA Implementation Agencies SLA Service Level Agreement IAY Indira Awas Yojana SMS Short Messaging Service

ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme

SPMC State Program Management Committee

ICT Information and Communication Technology

SPMU State Program Management Unit

IKM Information Kerala Mission SRS System Requirement Study

ISNA Information & Services Needs Assessment Report

SSDG State Service Delivery Gateway

ISRO Indian Space Research Organization SSS State Sponsored Schemes

ISPs Internet Service Providers STQC Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification

IT Information Technology UDC Upper Division Clerk

KILA Kerala Institute of Local Administration

UID Unique Identification

KSITM Kerala State Information Technology Mission

VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal (Wireless Internet Connectivity using Satellites)

KSWAN Kerala State Wide Area Network ZP Zilla Panchayat



14.2 Annexure B: Assumptions for financial solution S No.

Assumption / Standards used in respective areas Value (If applicable)

A ICT Infrastructure

A.1 Cumulative Security Audit cost for all state modules (INR) 200000

A.2 The PCs at GP level have been estimated at the NICSI empanelled rates and intrernet connectivity charges have been estimated @ 200 per month per GP.

A.3 Internet connectivity charges have been budgeted for only GPs as the ZPs and BPs are assumed to be connected through a Government Network like SWAN, NICNET

A.4 Open Source solutions are being proposed for all system software. Hence, there will be no CAPEX; only annual support cost will be budgeted for.

A.5 Maintenance cost of hardware is included in the Warranty support of 3 years.

B Training

B.1 Training Costs are budget only for IT related training

B.2 Average training costs are taken for all participant

B.3 No of Training days for PRI officials are assumed is to be 12 days in 3 years 12

B.4 No of Training days for elected members are assumed is to be 6 days in 3 years 6

C Contractual Manpower

C.1 One Contractual resource at each PRI level is provisioned through e-PRI 1 at each PRI level

C.2 Man Month Rate of Contractual Resource with Basic IT skill set at

I GP Level : INR Per Month 3000

II BP Level : INR Per Month 3000

III ZP Level : INR Per Month 5000

C.3 The Manpower is being provisioned for a period of 3 years

D PMU

D.1 Civil Infrastructure (Rent, Electricity, support infrastructure etc) for PMU is not provisioned through ePRI and the state PR department is expected to provision for the same. That Implies No CAPEX cost for PMU is provisioned through ePRI.

D.2 Computing devices (Laptops etc) for External Consultants in PMU will be provisioned by Empanelled agency themselves and not through ePRI



S No.

Assumption / Standards used in respective areas Value (If applicable)

D.3 OPE is have been provisioned @ 15% of the PMU Cost

D.4 Other Administrative Expenses are considered as 1% PMU Cost

D.5 1 Document Scanner, 1 Network Printer is provisioned at each State PMU

D.6 10% increase in the PMU External Consultant rates every year is considered

D.7 The PMU cost is being budgeted for a period of 3 years irrespective of the project implementation plan as it is the handholding supporting being provided to the State.

E Application Software

E.1 As a standard each module can be developed by 2 S/w developers in 3 months timeframe which implies development effort of 6 man months per module. This would include the entire development and integration activity pertaining to the module including development of Admin modules for database management.

E.2 Customization Effort for central modules at state level is 1 resource for 3 months which would also include effort for integration of state specific modules with Central modules



14.3 Annexure C: Detailed Costs





Payout



PMU



Training

Base cost for training



IEC

Application Development



14.4 Annexure D: Configuration of Server and PCs

Server



Computer

Laser Printer



14.5 Annexure E: ICT Base Costs



14. 6 Annexure F - Power back up options

The power situation in rural India is characterized by low and inconsistent power supply. In a scenario where it is envisaged that all Panchayats would be computerized, it becomes imperative to give due diligence to the options of power backup. Therefore different options for power backup, available in the market were studied. Given below are some suitable options which the state could consider, depending on the situation of power supply in the state. However under e-PRI to avoid data loss due to inconsistent power supply, 600VA UPS with 1 hour back up has been suggested. The overall project cost is estimated to be Rs. 54.89 cr. considering the UPS only. Along with the UPS provisioned through ePRI project, the various other options the state could consider are as given below:

Power back up option for Areas with moderate power supply Inverter -

• Average cost of 1200 VA inverter needed to operate 1 fan, 1 tube light and 1 PC: Rs. 5,000. • 2 batteries for an 8 hr continuous backup @ Rs. 10,000 per battery with a 2-year warranty.

Total cost: Rs. 20,000. (Would typically run for 3 years) • No OpEx costs besides occasionally putting water in the batteries

State with rural areas having regular moderate power supply can consider Inverter with batteries as the batteries can be charged during the availability of power supply in the rural areas and can be put to use during the day’s time while GP needs to function and operate. Considering the above option at all the GPs in the state, the overall cost for the ePRI project in state is estimated to be around Rs. 57.38 cr. Option for areas with no, low or inconsistent power supply GenSet -

• It is assumed that a 1200VA generator would suffice the need for power in a GP to operate 1 fan, 1 tube light and 1 PC . The average cost of the same is Rs 30000/- , with a recurring cost Rs 12-15/hr for fuel.

States with no or irregular power supply can consider the Genset option to provide power back to the GP during the day’s operation during power outage or no power supply at all. However the Genset option would require a recurring cost of fuel to operate and would also create noise and air pollution. However, considering the above option at all the GPs in the state, the overall cost for the ePRI project in state is estimated to be around Rs. 63.28 cr.



Solar Power Battery Back up Systems / Solar Photo Voltaic Cells -

In a scenario where the State electricity board’s power supply is inconsistent, is poor or there is no power supply in such rural areas, the most feasible option seems to be the Solar-powered battery backups or the Solar Photo Voltaic Cells which can provide an extremely reliable system for keeping the computers and other electrical equipments in the panchayat ghar up and running.

Unlike other backup systems that burn propane gas, natural gas or fuel, these batteries are powered entirely with clean energy from the sun.

Solar power system backup batteries are particularly well-suited to small businesses / setups with critical loads that must stay powered up, even during an outage or absence of power at all. Hence the solar power options are quite expensive and the upfront investment is significantly higher, however the operating expenses are negligible

The GPs might not have a very critical workload to be available online 24x7 and providing services, however considering there is no power in rural area, the solar power option seems to be feasible and the Gram Panchayats can continue to operate the computers and provide services in the envisaged scenario to citizens during the 6-8 hours of day’s work. The solar panel can support the charging of batteries during the day’s time using clean solar energy and can allow uninterrupted power supply and hence uninterrupted operations at GP for upto 12 hours.

Case study: In the state of Rajasthan, the state government has already gone ahead for installing off the grid lighting concept based on solar photovoltaic technology in all 9168 GPs. Currently it is quite expensive proposition for state to transmit electricity to all GPs through conventional grid. Further the conventional grid if available might not be regularly able to supply the required power. Therefore Solar Photo Voltaic Cells or Solar Panel technology has been considered for transmitting power to GPs in Rajasthan. The project has been rolled out in a service procurement model, whereby the service providing agency shall be paid, based on the number of hours, service has been provided. The total cost for the solar power panel pack per GP is Rs 3.10 lacs, with 5 years maintenance. Under the project 1120 Wp SPV power pack shall support five computers and one LAN for a duration of 6 hours and one printer for one hour.

Considering the solar power back up option at all the GPs in the state, the overall cost for the ePRI project in state is estimated to be around Rs. 85.85 cr. Summary table for total project cost with various power options as described above Power backup option Total Project Cost Estimate (in crores) UPS (provisioned through ePRI project) 54.89 cr. Inverter 57.38 cr. Genset 63.28 cr. Solar Power back up 85.85 cr.