Tapping the potential of advanced technologies, e-Governance provides services through the use of computerization and replaces traditional way of working with paperless work. Mobile governance (m-Governance) is a subset of e-Governance to deliver services for different government channels, namely G2C, G2B, and G2G. m-Governance uses mobile technologies for providing faster and more accessible public services to citizens and organisations. Although providing services through mobile technology has higher impact, it brings with a host of challenges and complexities like security, availability of multiple mobile platforms and rapidly evolving technologies. Today, there is no dearth of high-tech products like mobile phones, laptops or tablets, which differ in the form of computation capabilities. However, the need of the hour is to provide services based on end-user characteristics and the availability of infrastructure. A Mobile App written for a high-end device or high network bandwidth may not be suitable where the end-user does not have access to such devices and network. In NIC, Apps are developed in iOS, Android and Hybrid platforms. The number of Apps is continuously growing on Play Store under NIC account.
This issue of Appscape covers some of the popular Mobile Apps launched recently. Belonging to different sectors such as Finance, Home Affairs & Enforcement, Rural Development, Governance & Administration and Agriculture, these Apps aim at easing the efforts of end users and streamlining their work processes.
KrishiGyan UP aims to make farmers aware of the best agricultural practices. Kerala TSB is meant for Treasury Savings Bank Account Holders who can easily view account related information. Instilling safety and security among citizens and tourists, Arunachal Police Finder enables them to connect with the police department in case of crisis. Kerala Pension is developed for Kerala State Pensioners whose pension is disbursed through the Treasury Department of Kerala. Assets & Works helps the Department of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation capture images of completed and ongoing works and analyse progress. Awaas+ is meant for inspectors to conduct survey of people eligible for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna scheme. DARPAN provides national configurable multilingual dashboard platform.
Krishi Gyan UP
Agriculture is an important occupation of people in Uttar Pradesh. Krishi Gyan UP, an Android-based App is conceptualised to help farmers understand and practise best farming methodologies in the climatic conditions of Uttar Pradesh. Developed by NIC UP, this App delivers a variety of information, alerts, notifications, and is a knowledge base of various farming processes suitable to the state’s terrains and environmental conditions. Krishi Gyan UP delivers bilingual content i.e., in English and Hindi (Unicode) and the latter helps, especially the farmers to get familiarised with various agricultural aspects such as land, crops and cultivation.
The App aims to:
Motivate farmers to use latest agriculture implements and equipment, which can ease their physical and manual efforts. Help farmers understand various diseases and find the diseases affecting their crops, remedial treatments etc. The pictures and information of the disease affected crops help farmers to take precautionary measures. It also helps cultivators to take necessary steps to avoid crop damages. Provide information about the suitable farming practices to be adopted during various climatic seasons. It promotes diversified cultivation in the land with more than one crop grown during a year. Familiarise farmers with knowledge of essential manures and suitable fertilizers. It also provides information materials to identify original fertilizers and avoid adulterated ones.
Another key feature of the App is text-to-speech facility that helps the non-literate users and persons with visual disabilities to listen to the content by clicking on the ‘sound’ icon.
Queries: Sanjay Kumar Srivastava (sanjay.srivastva@nic.in)
Kerala TSB
Banking services have eased the lives of people by facilitating a number of financial solutions to them. Be it account related schemes or foreign exchange, individuals or corporates can avail various offers from these institutions. Kerala TSB has been introduced as a citizen-centric measure to enable convenience to Treasury Savings Bank (TSB) Account Holders in the state, whose accounts are maintained by the Treasury Department of Kerala. The Android App, which is an initiative of the Department of Treasuries, Government of Kerala and NIC Kerala, serves as a repository of all the account-related information.
The App aims to:
Help account holders view passbook details, account details (savings bank and fixed deposits), available balance and account statement, thereby eliminating the need to approach the treasury offices. Show interest for fixed deposits, credited to TSB. Show addresses of treasury offices in the state.
The App has been introduced under the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), one of the prestigious projects of the Government of Kerala, undertaken by Finance Department and Treasury Department. TSB is a unique Savings Bank system of the Government of Kerala and has various types of account such as Savings Bank Account, Pensioner’s Savings Account, Treasury Fixed Deposit, Treasury Security Account and Treasury Public Account. Government officials, pensioners, institutions and public can open and operate TSB Accounts. Account holders need to register their mobile number with the treasury to use the App.
Queries: T Mohana Dhas (sio-ker@nic.in)
Arunachal Police Finder
Safety of tourists is always important for the state police. Stepping ahead with its motto, "Satya, Seva, Suraksha", the Arunachal Pradesh Police have launched the Arunachal Police Finder Mobile App to boost security measures in the state. Developed by NIC Arunachal Pradesh State Centre, the Android App serves as an online digital directory service with 24x7 data availability to contact the police department. It is useful to citizens, tourists, businesses, government agencies etc., as they can view the communication details of officers of the Arunachal Pradesh Police.
The App helps:
Search officers' information using their personal details like name, phone number etc., and official details like rank/ designation, department etc. Connect with the nearest police station via direct voice call and SMS.
Web interface is another feature in the App and is operated by the police department. It enables them to easily manage contact details of all the police personnel. They can also manage various settings at the backend such as adding details of new police officials, updating the information of existing police officials, and finding their contact details. An admin user can also manage accounts of other users and generate reports in PDF and excel files. The App has been developed using Java Technology.
Queries: Saibal Sarkar (sio-arn@nic.in)
Kerala Pension
Pensions serve as financial security to the elderly who can meet sudden expenses and live a financially secure life. As more people, including the elderly, are now increasingly turning towards using smartphones, the Department of Treasuries, Government of Kerala and NIC, Kerala have taken a citizen-centric initiative to introduce Kerala Pension App. This Android App enables convenience to more than 5.5 lakh pensioners in Kerala whose pensions are disbursed through the state’s Treasury Department.
The App aims to:
Show pension details such as basic pension, dearness relief, medical allowance, current pay revision and retirement date. Show personal details such as PPO number, contact address of pensioner available with treasury, family pension authorised details and last mustering date. Show disbursement details such as disbursement mode, viz. bank or TSB or money order, and account number. Show monthly credit details such as pensions, arrears, commutation and gratuity for past one year. Show contact addresses of all treasury offices in the state.
The App has been developed under the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), one of the prestigious Projects of the Government of Kerala, undertaken by Finance Department and Treasury Department. Users can view bank statements and calculate income tax to be deducted. In the beginning, pensioners need to register their mobile numbers with the Treasuries Department to use the App. The mobile number will then become the User ID. Factors like simple design, clear instructions, smooth navigation etc., have been considered to make it a user-friendly App for the elderly.
Queries: T Mohana Dhas (sio-ker@nic.in)
Assets & Works
The role of the Department of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in any state is to provide clean drinking water through various schemes like Hand pumps, Piped Water Supply Scheme, Mini Piped Water Supply Scheme, Comprehensive Piped Water supply Scheme, Direct pumping etc. In order to improve the functioning and efficiency of the Department of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation, Government of Andhra Pradesh, an Android App, Assets & Works has been developed by NIC AP State Centre. This App is being implemented in all the 48,692 habitations of the state for the capturing of images of assets (completed works) and the ongoing works.
The App facilitates:
Download data feature to enable offline operation of the App. Allows the user to download the master data from the MIS application and use the same during non-availability of the Internet. Assets feature to enable the capturing of images of assets or components with geo co-ordinates, along with timestamp. Works feature to enable the functionary to capture ongoing work images with geo co-ordinates, along with timestamp. Upload Data feature to enable the uploading of locally saved data to the server as and when there is Internet connectivity. After uploading the data, a number of assets or components and works uploaded get displayed.
Technology used at the client side is Android SDK, SQLite and at the server side is Java, Restful Web services. Introducing the App is a positive step towards tracking the progress of various projects undertaken by the department, taking relevant measures and defining future goals.
Queries: Achuta Venu Nattay (achuta@nic.in)
Awaas+
Providing a streamlined system to carry out survey under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna - Grameen (PMAY-G), this Android App has been launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). Awaas+ has been designed for inspectors to conduct survey of people who were not covered in the permanent wait list of PMAY-G, which has been based on the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 and due process at Gram Panchayat. It is an initiative to extend the housing benefit of the government to the needy people who have not availed the PMAY-G benefits. It follows a simple paradigm, which drills the state to the panchayat level for a hassle-free administration of the survey.
The App facilitates:
Survey comprising a set of questions, which are taken as criteria to analyse the stakeholder for the PMAY-G scheme's benefits. Photography feature to capture geo-tagged photo of the existing house and proposed site mandatorily. Feature to mark tick against the predominant material used for roof and wall. The material option is meant only for those identified as kutcha material, as per SECC data. Feature to capture 13 automatic exclusion parameters, 5 automatic inclusions or compulsory inclusions criteria and 5 deprivation parameters.
As of 30th November 2018, record set of a total of 2.58 crore beneficiaries have been uploaded using Awaas+ and more than 10 crore geo-tagged photos have been captured. Due to light weightiness, offline mode and user-friendly interface of the App, such large data has been surveyed and uploaded in a span of six months approximately.
Queries: Prashant Kumar Mittal (pk.mittal@nic.in)
DARPAN
This App is a national configurable multilingual dashboard platform, meant for Hon’ble Chief Ministers, Hon’ble Governors, Chief Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners and DMs or DCs and related equivalent officers. Developed by NIC, DARPAN is nationwide replicated as Dashboard Services.
The App has the following features:
Presentation of real-time data on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the selected government schemes or projects to all the levels (State, Division, District) of officers for planning, evaluation and monitoring. Information can be viewed in the form of time-line series, analytics and graphics or in the form of statistical reports. The automatic grading system of departments and departmental projects on the Dashboard Analytics to assess the physical and financial progress of projects. Department KPIs further zero in leading or lagging district. It helps departmental HOD or officials monitor the system effectively. Display of information in an objective and quantifiable manner to get a comprehensive view for Centre, State or District specific projects in a single window. Provides customisation capabilities to states to match their requirements. Enhances analysis through data collection by consolidating multiple data sources into one centralised, easy-to-access platform.
The Mobile App also provides a facility to generate PIN after the successful authentication of NIC LDAP user id and password.
Queries: Ajai Gopal Bhartariya (ajai.gopal@nic.in)