e-Pass, a G2C and G2G service is clever initiative of Secretariat Administrative Department which has been successfully implemented, with the support of SeMT. The application enables efficient and convenient way of issuing various passes to visitors of Assam Secretariat. Citizens can apply for online passes 5 days prior to their visit and the passes can be collected from the security gate itself.

Every working day, hundreds of visitors are required to enter the Assam Secretariat Complex in Guwahati for visiting various sections of the Administration or to meet their representatives. Since the Secretariat Complex is a high security area, visitors are required to obtain passes for their entry. Issuance of passes manually has been a cumbersome process, which resulted in visitors waiting in long queues. In addition, it has been a difficult task to keep proper track of such large number of visitors every day, which raised security concerns. The Assam Secretariat e-Pass Application, a G2C and G2G service is a smart initiative of Secretariat Admin-istrative Department (SAD) has been successfully implemented with the support of SeMT. The application enables efficient and convenient way of issuing various passes to visitors to the Assam Secretariat. The Applica-tion has been developed by NIC in a short span (two weeks) and consists of a number of salient features as listed below:

  1. Visitors Entry Pass - with barcode of pass number and date of visit is issued to a visitor after obtaining her/his details. A visitor who ap-plies for entry pass online through web or using the android mobile application will receive an SMS at his/her mobile phone, which con-tains a random number and the date of visit. The Entry Pass can be collected on presenting the re-ceived SMS to the security officials of the designated location at the Secretariat gates.
  1. Special Entry Pass - is for officials of various departments visiting the Secretariat. Once applied, an SMS comprising of pass number and the date of visit is sent to the offi-cial. The visiting Official can col-lect the Special Entry Pass at the Security Gate by displaying the SMS received.
  1. Temporary Pass to Contractual Workers and Employees from Departments outside the Sec-retariat - are applied for/from the departments within the Secretariat. The Deputy Secretary (SAD) is au-thorized to approve or reject the request for temporary pass after verifying the details. If approved, the application allows the snapshot of the person to be taken through Webcam and the pass is printed and issued.
  1. Car Pass - Applied for/from de-partments within the Secretariat, this Pass require uploading of rel-evant documents to the system. Each pass undergoes a process of approval by the Deputy Secretary (SAD) and Security-in-charge of the Secretariat. At the time of print-ing the approved pass, an SMS is sent to receive the pass at SAD. In case the pass is rejected, an SMS is sent with the reason of rejection.

SECURITY  For verifying and to validate the entry of a visitor, the security per-sonnel at the gate scan the bar code on the entry pass. The pass number, date, mobile number, name and department to be visited are thus displayed on her/his mon-itor screen.  The Security Personnel can check the authenticity of car pass by en-tering RC number of the vehicle in the car pass mobile app.

MONITORING The SAD Administration can moni-tor:

  1. The daily flow of visitors
  1. Pie chart depicting flow of visitors; department-wise and district-wise
  2. Department-wise issue of car pass-es, temporary passes and special entry passes
  3. Frequent visitors

THE SET UP The entry passes to the visitors are issued from 10 counters of the Public Facilitation Centre (PFC) at the Sec-retariat. Each centre is equipped with a client PC and a thermal printer. A counter at the Security Gate No 1 is also equipped with a client PC and a thermal printer to issue online Entry Passes and Special Entry Passes. Two counters at the Security Gate No 2 are equipped with a client PC and a bar-code scanner each for reading the bar-code to ensure the validity of passes.

THE IMPACT Prior to implementation of the Appli-cation, no proper mechanism to keep track of visitors was available. With its implementation, various reports are also provided to the Administration such as daily count of visitors, most visited departments and the district from where the highest number of cit-izens has visited the Secretariat. The validity of the passes is ensured by the system thus curbing counterfeit pass-es. Quick capturing of the barcode data using the barcode scanner also reduces the long queues at the Securi-ty gate. A citizen can apply for online pass 5 days prior to his/her visit and the pass can be collected from the se-curity gate itself.

BARCODE IN MOBILE APP Development of barcode integration to the mobile app is underway. The se-curity personnel can scan the barcode on the visitor’s mobile screen instead of issuing printed passes. On the visi-tor’s subsequent entry to the Secretar-iat, he/she needs to only inform their mobile numbers at the PFC counters. The details recorded on their first en-try are fetched and the pass can be issued instantly with minimum chang-es, if necessary. This reduces time and effort to prepare entry pass. Ensuring the genuineness of car pass-es through mobile app enables the security to detect car passes obtained fraudulently. SAD plans to outsource this application shortly for implemen-tation and maintenance of hardware in the Secretariat. Outsourcing this application will not only generate em-ployment but will also contribute to economic sustainability of the project.