Several sectors have been e-enabled as a part of Delhi’s e-governance initiatives, which has resulted in improved governance. These initiatives have allowed a larger number of people to be served in a more efficient manner and ensured that government-to-citizen services are delivered more effectively.
The application of process automation to commercial/value added tax has resulted in an improvement in the government’s ability to overcome challenges like revenue leakage, the unavailability of reports, the need to make frequent departmental visits, and the tedious filing of returns. Automation has made the system transparent and resulted in interstate data-sharing and increased officer accountability. Now, registrations, filing of returns, filling up forms and tax payments can be done online.
To give one example, supply chain information management for liquor sales has been established. This allows real-time tracking of sale patterns and tax collection, the maintenance of an online inventory, the online issuance of licences and permits, and the prevention of revenue leakage.
The government has also taken up e-stamping and begun issuing stamp paper online. This has reduced the occurrence of fraudulent practices and ensured the speedy generation of tamperproof stamps. Daily revenue records are now available and can be instantly reconciled.
In addition, the government has developed a Health Management Information System (HMIS) to address hindrances like paper-based medical records and the lack of clinical records for OPD patients. The HMIS allows a disease-wise analysis as well as single registration for various diagnostic tests.
The supply chain of medicines and drugs for dispensaries has been e-enabled, interlinking stores and centralising the management of purchases and inventory. Online orders can now be placed with suppliers.
The Vahan & Sarathi system is an initiative that has automated the processes for obtaining driving licences as well as registering vehicles. This has resulted in the creation of a centralised database, online driving licence appointments, smart registration, and data-sharing with the police department.
A school information system has been established for better resource planning, facilitating admissions, updating vacancy status, and monitoring results and teachers’ attendance.
The government is working on a convergence model for social schemes with the aim of empowering the vulnerable sectors. For many years, it had been affected by decentralised management, insufficient monitoring and the lack of consolidation of different schemes, which made it difficult to identify beneficiaries. E-enablement has resulted in improved access to benefits, centralised management and decentralised distribution, and the provisioning of welfare services in an integrated manner.
The E-PDS (public distribution system) and the Annshree Yojana have been launched to establish a leakproof and efficient supply chain that allows consolidation and ensures that the benefits reach genuine beneficiaries.
The establishment of supervisory control and data acquisition systems has helped in streamlining and optimising the distribution of power, analysing power requirements, ensuring efficient billing, planning load shedding, and improving grievance management systems. Similarly, for urban bodies, online submission of property tax, electronic birth and death registrations, online booking of public services and better resource management have been enabled. The government has introduced electronic bills and online bill payment, and online submissions, and also enabled their electronic tracking.
Delhi’s traffic police department has introduced e-challans, which allow real-time effective policing by capturing traffic violation history. E-courts is another initiative that has streamlined administrative processes by allowing electronic case filing and electronic submission of court fees. Electronic copies of court decisions can be obtained as well.
The e-Pramanpatra system involves district administration automation, workflow re-engineering, real-time data-sharing, online service delivery, and service level monitoring (SLA). Similarly, e-SLA is a centralised monitoring system that enables the time-bound delivery of services, performance monitoring, online provision of compensation and automatic penalty calculations. Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure, commonly known as the 3D GIS project, is used for water and drainage management and flood prevention, as well as for solid waste management, which encompasses usage analyses, facility provisions and route optimisations.
TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) has been launched to enhance coordin-ation among government departments. E-Procurement as a single online platform for government tenders is also widely used as it allows real-time status updates and the declaration of successful bidders.
Apart from the aforementioned initiatives, the Delhi government has several other projects in the pipeline to ease processes and bring about transparent e-services delivery. Some of them are mentioned in the table.
As for the initiatives where optical fibre cables play a central role, the Delhi government is planning to come up with statewide Wi-Fi. The request for proposal in this regard was filed in July 2015. The National Knowledge Network will also be enhanced to bring more institutions under its aegis. In addition, the government plans to deploy CCTVs in school classrooms and ensure their centralised monitoring. Going forward, the expansion of the state wide area network is being considered as well, along with an online “plan, dig and monitor” system for road-cutting permissions with a view to easing right-of-way challenges.
Based on a presentation by Sandeep K. Ahlawat, Head, State e-Governance Mission Team, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi