[This case study has been compiled by the editorial team on the basis of documents provided by Subhash Patil, System Manager at KDMC.]

 

Abstract  

 

In the Government sector many ICT projects are planned, few of these plans get implemented, very few of these implemented projects succeed in attaining the desired objectives and even fewer of these successes are sustained. Implementation of an e-governance project called Citizen Facilitation Center (CFC) by the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) of Maharashtra is one such success story that has been successfully implemented, executed and continuously enhanced. The CFC has transformed the way government services are delivered to citizens and is considered to be one of the most successful e-Governance initiatives at the Urban Local Body (ULB) level in India . Its success prompted the Maharashtra state government to use KDMC’s e-Governance model for replication at 245 urban local bodies in the state. A grant of Rs. 20 million was given to KDMC by the state government towards the IPR of the application software for this replication. Whether it is payment of taxes, application for new water connection, registration of a civic complaint, application for birth or death certificate or for any other service, the CFC has become a single point for hassle-free interaction between citizens and KDMC. It also encourages transparency by allowing citizens to monitor their service applications and complaints at every stage.

 

Application Context

 

KDMC was established on 1st October 1983 and spans an area of 69 sq km. The KDMC serves a citizenry of about 1.1 million people and offers about 90 public utility services including property tax payment, new water connections, issue of various licenses, building permission certificates, birth and death certificates. The corporation is governed by the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act of 1949. It is managed by a standing committee of sixteen members, seven ward committees and the Municipal Commissioner who is the executive head of the corporation. The KDMC also consists of councilors who are elected directly through the ward elections.

 

Prior to the implementation of e-governance at KDMC, its functioning was that of a typical government office in India . Red tapism, forcing citizens to run from pillar to post for services was common. For the working class people, availing any service from KDMC meant inconvenience, loss of their working days and indifference on the part of the KDMC staff. To change its poor image and bring about transparency, accountability and effectiveness in its functioning, was the real challenge for KDMC.

 

A New Approach

 

With the aim of creating an efficient system driven corporation offering highest levels of transparency, accountability and citizen servicing standards, the KDMC initiated its journey on e-governance in the year 1999. The project has been carried out under the guidance of experts from institutions like IIT, VJTI, NCST and TIFR. The entire e-governance solution was provided by Mumbai-based ABM Knowledgeware Ltd. Implementation of the application involved the herculean effort of revisiting and IT-enabling every facet of the corporation’s working.

 

The test implementation of the project started in January 2002. A trial run of CFCs at Kalyan and Dombivli was started on May 27, 2002 and June 13, 2002 respectively. At present, there are a total of six CFCs, one in each ward office of the KDMC. All CFC’s have been connected to the central servers at Kalyan by fiber optic cables, Radio Frequency (RF) links or leased lines and offer over 90 corporation services across the counters. The software developed for the functioning of CFCs has been designed with a focus on the following parameters: i) simplicity for ease of operation by corporation employees ii) ability to provide optimal possible information to citizens at the time of service delivery iii) efficiency for reduction in service delivery time iv) effectiveness through integration of all departmental software modules, thereby offering single-window delivery for all corporation services. CFCs are run by corporation employees, who have undergone personality development sessions for improvement in their interactions with citizens. The centers have been designed aesthetically to create a pleasant environment for the corporation’s functioning.

 

Citizen Facilitation Centers of KDMC

 

 

 

The backbone of KDMC's e-governance service comprises of two servers - a database server and an application / web server - supported by an authentication server. In addition, a disaster recovery database server has been established at the Dombivali division office. Software development activities are carried out at a full-fledged development centre at the Kalyan headquarter. All the departments at KDMC are integrated by a Wide Area Network (WAN) of around 240 computers. Four ward offices are connected by 100 MBPS fiber optic cables, while one ward office has been connected using RF links. The entire network is connected to the external world of Internet through a 256 KBPS leased line. The backend integration of all the departments with CFCs ensures that citizens’ applications and complaints are immediately available to the concerned officer.

 

The KDMC web portal was launched on August 30, 2002 after extensive testing and thorough software refinement. The services provided by the portal include complaint lodging and tracking; monitoring of application status; downloading of forms for all services; and application and issue of birth and death certificates. Users are provided a step-by-step guide through the application process. In addition, a home-delivery option for customers provides for their convenience and saves valuable time. Key features of the system are:

 

Multiple access points for citizen services: Details on various access points available to citizens for availing KDMC services are listed in the table below.

 

 

Complaint acceptance and Redressal system:

 

Earlier, citizens had to run from pillar-to-post to lodge grievances related to civic amenities and had to wait indefinitely for them to be resolved as there were no time-bound solutions available. Now, a citizen can walk into (or make a telephone call or visit the website) any of the six CFCs and register his grievance in the system. Dual Monitor Systems at the help desk ensure that the complaint is registered correctly. The complaint is automatically directed to the officer responsible for attending to it. If the complaint is not resolved within the prescribed duration, it is escalated to an official at a higher level. Citizens can track their complaints at the CFC, through the telephone help-line or through the website.

 

Mechanism to ensure adherence to the Citizen Charter:

 

KDMC has compiled a citizen charter for all services offered by it. The Citizen Charter is published on the front walls of CFCs as well on the KDMC web portal. When an application form is accepted at a CFC, the application software ensures that all documents required to complete that particular service have been attached by the citizen. Subsequently, the system refers to the citizen charter and generates a token slip mentioning the deadline for service delivery. The application is immediately directed to the concerned officer, who can prioritize his work with the help of the application software. A color coding system helps officers to identify the time left to scrutinize an application. Higher level officers also receive up-to-date information on work pending with their subordinates. These innovative measures ensure that services are delivered within the stipulated duration.

 

Implementation of the Project

 

The entire project was planned in a holistic manner and executed over two phases - the first phase consisted of computerization of all citizen-centric interactions and backend integration required to support the citizen centric model, while the second phase consisted of e-enabling of all other backend departmental activities. At the time of conceptualization of the project, the key objectives of the project and the actions / tools required to achieve them were defined.

 

Objective	Actions / tools to achieve the objective
Standardization in accepting citizen data for various services	Standard formats for application forms
Provision of all citizen services through a single-window system	Design of Citizen Facilitation Centers in each of the ward offices, connected with central servers with dedicated bandwidth
Productivity enhancements in departments and service delivery in a time-bound manner	Design of application software for departmental functioning
Optimum objectivity in decision making	Pre-defined scrutiny, pre-defined scrutiny path
Transparency and accountability	Design of application software to share data with citizens through help desks / website
Optimum utilization of data across various departments	Integration between different software modules
Creation of Decision Support System (DSS)	Integration between different software modules Effective design of the solution with DSS in mind

 

Four IT firms - NIC, Tata Infotech, HCL Infosystems and ABM Knowledgeware - empanelled by the State Government were asked to prepare a pre-feasibility report for KDMC’s computerization. The report was evaluated by the High Power Committee (HPC) comprising of the Commissioner and all departmental heads, and the Expert Committee comprising of academicians. Based on this report and presentations, ABM Knowledgeware was identified as the Total Solution Provider of the e-governance project.

 

Subsequent to approval from the general body, implementation of the project was carried out along the following steps:

1. Preparation of System Requirement Study by ABM Knowledgeware

2. Finalization of scope of work in consultation with the HPC and the Expert Committee

3. Submission of effort estimation for software development, testing and support by ABM

4. Finalization of the application software costing

5. Preparation of design document by ABM Knowledgeware

6. Acceptance of the design document by concerned departments and HPC

7. Software development

8. Testing of various modules

9. Launch of the project

 

Implementation Challenges

 

Involvement of stakeholders:

 

An e-Governance project requires involvement of all the stakeholders, namely the concerned departmental staff, non-officials, citizens and vendors. KDMC thus appointed a High Power Committee (HPC) comprising of the Commissioner and all departmental heads to monitor project activities and to ensure that deadlines were met. It was also decided to make the entire project transparent to non-officials and general public. Awareness was created among non-officials on the expected benefits of the project. Upon completion of software development, test implementation was carried out for a period of six months and feedback taken from elected representatives and citizens. This feedback helped KDMC in ironing out the lacunas and improving the effectiveness of the system.

 

Capacity building:

 

Change management is critical to the success of any e-Governance project. Following exercises were carried out by KDMC to build its capacity to execute the project and to bring about change management:

1. Creation of a separate IT department to hold ownership of the project, and two new posts of System Manager and System Analyst. The System Manager was appointed as the head of the corporation’s IT department.

2. A training to create IT awareness was conducted for about 300 officers.  

3. Personality development training was given to all CFC front-desk staff.  

4. Presentations on modules of the system were given to all concerned departmental staff. A test database environment was created to enable them to practice usage of the application software.

 

Business Process Re-engineering:

In order to achieve the defined objectives, it was necessary to re-engineering the existing processes. This was implemented by standardizing the citizen service model, which has been explained in the flow chart given below:

 

Flow chart representing re-engineered processes at KDMC

 

 

Cost and Benefits

 

The total investment on projects undertaken by the IT department at KDMC has been around Rs. 60 million while increase in tax revenue that can be attributed to ICT deployment is over Rs. 120 million. The state government has paid KDMC Rs. 20 million as royalty for using its solution at other ULBs in Maharashtra . In addition, the project has earned Rs. 2.8 million against IPR for replication of the project in other municipal corporations.

 

Today all the stakeholders of the corporation (administration, citizens and vendors) clearly experience the positive effects of e-governance at KDMC. In the four and a half years since its launch, the corporation has already met its objectives of transparency, citizen-centric and time-bound service delivery and efficient deployment of its manpower. CFCs have been designed in such a way as to maximise sharing of information with citizens. Dual-screen help-desks at CFCs and the portal enable citizens to see updated data and current status of their applications, complaints, bills and receipts.

 

Dual monitors at help-desks

 

 

Citizen-centric service delivery has been achieved through aesthetically pleasing CFCs, user-friendly and standardized application forms, friendly and helpful counter staff, and assurance of accountable service through a pre-defined Citizen Charter. Digitization of records has helped to reduce the time and effort spent by clerical staff on preparation of bills and reports. Employees can now be utilized for more constructive work and updated revenue / expenditure reports are easily available to the management. The table given below lists some examples of the project’s impact on the corporation.

 

 

Viability and Sustainability

 

The project has been running successfully for over four and a half years and is self-sustainable. CFCs are located at strategic locations in Kalyan and Dombivali. KDMC has entered into an agreement with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) to use these CFCs as bill payment centers. This has created a win-win situation for all concerned: MSEB, KDMC and citizens. Making payments at CFCs is convenient for the common people; MSEB has reduced its operational costs along with improvement in its image while KDMC earns revenue for transactions made at the CFCs, thus making CFC a self-sustainable model. KDMC has also initiated discussions with the telecom and passport departments to offer services to their customers for bill payments and acceptance of applications respectively. Some of the reasons why CFCs have sustained the high quality service level are:

• Deployment of state-of-art IT infrastructure such as Sun Servers, Oracle RDBMS, manageable LAN/WAN.

• Security audit, formation of a security policy, deployment of firewall, centralized anti-virus solution.

• Fund allocation for new projects as well as for annual maintenance of old IT infrastructure.

• Selection of enthusiastic, motivated staff to work at CFCs. Regular enhancement of technical and inter-personal skills of staff through training.

• Invitation for suggestions and feedback from the public and necessary action taken on these suggestions.

• Continuous improvements in CFC software to increase efficiency in the functioning of the counters based on feedback of the front-desk staff.

•  Careful database and network administration, maintenance of a disaster recovery database server at a secondary location to sustain any major disaster at primary server site.

Recognition and Awards

• Recognition award from the Department of Administrative Reforms, Government of India in the category of Exemplary e-Governance Initiatives

• Skoch Challenger Award^[2] 2004

• Winner of Intelligent Enterprise Award^[3] for 2005

• Champion CIO Awards^[4]

• Finalist for CAPAM International Innovation Award 2004

• Finalist for the CRISIL^[5]Award 2005

• Case studies on the system have appeared in various magazines like Business Today, Information Technology, Computer Express, Network Computing and PC Quest.

• KDMC’s success has prompted the state government of Maharashtra to replicate its e-Governance model at 245 urban local bodies in the state.

• Selected by the Department of Urban Development, Government of India as its Mission Mode Project^[6]

 

Key Lessons

 

Introduction of computerization has reduced subjectivity in decision-making, thus eliminating interference of elected representatives in administrative work to a large extent, and bringing about a reduction in corruption. The earlier unfriendly attitude of corporation staff dissuaded citizens from transacting with the KDMC. This resulted in a high level of non-payment of dues like water tax and property tax, and encouraged use of middlemen to conduct illegal transactions. However, the Citizen Facilitation Centers changed the face of the corporation. Today citizens are more than happy to come to KDMC and interact with the corporation staff in a citizen-friendly environment. This has led to the elimination of middlemen from the system, fewer illegal constructions and water connections, fewer defaulters, and more revenue for the corporation. A proper user and system documentation brought clarity to processes and usage of the system. A well-defined IT security policy has helped to make the IT assets of KDMC secure. These are the key elements for standardization and sustainability of the system.

 

Way Ahead

 

Enhancements envisaged in the near future include setting up of kiosks at convenient locations like railway stations and markets to offer citizens easy access to services available through the website; and allotment of a unique citizen identity to every citizen. This would help in monitoring the service delivery system and give personalized service to citizens. Citizens shall be issued smart card based identity cards, which can be used by them for availing various KDMC services. Services provided by the Collector’s office, passport office, transport department, and payment of electricity and telephone bills could also be integrated and offered through the CFCs. It is also proposed to send alerts (pertaining to complaints, new applications and deadlines) to officers through mobile SMSs^[7]. Other IT projects being planned include:

1. Human Resource Management System: Implementation of a Human Resource Management System shall enable KDMC to efficiently use its manpower and to bring down its establishment-related costs. Various areas being computerized include payroll management; employee promotions, transfer, postings; leave management; and appraisal and performance management. KDMC has selected SAP for the implementation of this system and expects to complete it by December 2007.

2. Geographical Information System: KDMC has conceptualized a Geographic Information System (GIS) in mid-2005. The GIS would serve as a decision support system for urban managers and can be used to bring in much needed effectiveness in city planning and its management. The system would be used for: project planning, execution and monitoring; monitoring of tax collection, complaint management and various services like building permissions, completion certificates, water connections, trade and market licences; designing of drainage and storm water networks; keeping a check on un-authorized constructions which would be easily identifiable through GIS; and disaster management. KDMC has selected the ESRI platform for GIS and expects to complete the implementation by August 2007.

[1] Kalyan-Dombivali is a municipal corporation in Thane district of the state of Maharashtra , India . A municipal corporation was formed in 1982 to administer the twin townships of Kalyan and Dombivali. The municipal corporation has a population 1,193,266 (2001 census). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Corporation_of_Kalyan-Dombivli

[2] Skoch is a commercial strategy and management consultancy company working in eleven countries. In India , Skoch actively works towards ICT led improvement of citizen service delivery systems in domains including governance, banking, financial services, health, education and infrastructure. The Annual Skoch Challenger award recognizes best practices in these areas. Source: http://skoch.in/new/index.html

[3] Intelligent Enterprise Award is a readers’ choice award which conducts an annual poll among its readers to find out which vendors are most deserving of praise in a variety of technology categories. Source: http://www.intelligententerprise.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=171000665

[4] The CIO award was constituted by CyberMedia India Online Limited and Dataquest in the year 1994 to recognize excellence among CIOs. The award emphasizes on some of the key qualities that CIOs must possess, judging them on the categories of: pioneer, innovator, advocate, extended manager and process.

[5] CRISIL instituted an Awards programme for urban local bodies in 2003. Through the CRISIL Awards for Excellence in Municipal Initiatives, CRISIL honours urban bodies that demonstrate excellence in the use of innovative approaches, alternative service delivery initiatives and partnerships to improve capital and/or operating efficiency in the delivery of municipal programmes and services.

[6] Government of India’s National e-Governance Plan has identified certain Mission Mode Projects, which would be implemented at the Centre, State and integrated service levels with the aim of creating a citizen-centric and business-centric environment for governance as well as the right governance and institutional mechanisms. Some of the key Central Government projects include MCA21, Income Tax, Passport, Visa and Immigration, National Citizen Database, Central Excise and Pensions.

[7] Short Message Service (SMS), often called text messaging, is a means of sending short messages to and from mobile phones. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_service