With altering paradigms of Information and Communication Technology, NIC Cell at Planning Commission is on a constant endeavour to cater to the diverse requirements of various divisions of the Planning Commission of India. The e-Governance movement in country today has witnessed a complete facelift with each department within the government landscape, striving hard to augment its efficiency in delivering services. Adhering to its role of an ICT based technological solution and service provider, NIC Cell at Planning Commission is expending all the necessary assistance required for designing, development and implementation of various web-based Management Information System (MIS) needs of the Planning Commission.
INTRODUCTION The CAS-MIS on Central Assistance to the states intends to bridge the gap between Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance and the prerequisites of various states. It facilitates recommendation to the release of funds as per the scheme of financing for Additional Central Assistance (ACA) and Special Plan Assistance (SPA) projects. The scheme was launched during the meeting of Deputy/Vice-persons of all State Planning Commission/Boards on 6th February, 2013 by Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, in 2nd conference of Planning Commission and State Planning Boards on “Improving Planning Processes of States” held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. It was decided to implement the project from the current financial year 2013-14 i.e. from 1st April, 2013. The software application was created and executed by Regional NIC Cell at Planning Commission.
OBJECTIVE The project is aimed at empowerment of web-based mechanization that necessarily includes multifarious methods of advancement at State level, Planning Commission level and Ministry of Finance level in terms of expenditure for Additional Central Assistance and Special Plan Assistance from Ministry of Finance to all the states of India.
STRUCTURE OF THE APPLICATION CAS has a three tier structure consisting of State level, Planning Commission level and Ministry of Finance level - A. State Level Processes l Registration of projects, which includes generation of unique Project Code, updation of project details, addition of multiple project locations with longitude and latitude, uploading of project document l Submission of projects to Planning Commission for project approval l Submission of request for release of funds for new and old projects to Planning Commission every year l Reply to queries made by states on project details l Updation of physical and financial performance details l Uploading project photographs, if any l Generation and submission of Utilization Certificates (UCs)
B. Planning Commission Level Processes l Project Approval l Project Recommendation l Generation of Sanction Letter l Project Query l Grant/Revoke permission to the states to change the project details l Monitoring of physical and financial performance details of the projects
C. Ministry of Finance Level Processes l Monitoring of all the projects approved by Planning Commission l Monitoring sanction details made by Planning Commission l Monitoring of physical and financial performance details of the projects
IMPLEMENTATION & UTILIZATION The system has been designed, developed and implemented by NIC Unit of Planning Commission under full guidance and coordinated support at each step by Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, IAS and Jt. Secretary (State Plan & Financial Resources), Planning Commission.
The software application has been developed in .NET environment at front-end and SQL 2005 at back-end. The application after security audit by the Cyber Security Division, NIC Hqs. has been shared-hosted onto NIC server and has been successfully tested from all the states and Planning Commission.
PROJECT RECOGNITION The significance of CAS-MIS, whether it is in terms of easy and quick accessibility or it is about status check in real time mode, has been acknowledged by the Deputy Chairman and the Secretary, Planning Commission and other higher officials. It has been announced that from Annual Plan 2013-14 onwards, Planning Commission would consider only those projects under ACA/SPA for sanctioning and recommendation of release of funds to Ministry of Finance, which have come through CAS online application.
Till July, 2013, 884 SPA projects have already been submitted by Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh Governments and an amount of Rs.499.99 crores for 879 projects has been approved using the system by the Planning Commission. So far, Rs.498.32.crore for 879 projects has been sanctioned by Planning Commission through the system. Fifty ACA projects have been submitted by Bihar, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab Governments, out of which 2 Projects have been approved by the Planning Commission. The Commission has also sanctioned an amount of Rs.36.58 crores to Bihar using the system. Besides this, a project from Mizoram for the financial year 2010-11 was submitted through CAS-MIS.
Approval and sanctioning of projects for the financial years- 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 has been also done through CAS system. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram have generated sanction letters from the system for forwarding it online to the Ministry of Finance. The project has been widely applauded for its scalability and transparency.