OJAS is a comprehensive web solution for the departments of Govt. of Gujarat which minimizes the manual work at the office and provides user friendly environment to the applicants to apply online 24x7 for the various vacancies. Public Service Commission holds special importance in the process of recruitment in government and therefore, speed and transparency in the system are at the topmost priority. OJAS and iASS by NIC Gujarat paved the way for GPSC to move for faceless administration effectively. By the inclusion of the e-Gov systems in decision making, legal disputes at GPSC reduced drastically and footfall to the commission office is almost nil. OJAS and iASS are digital steps towards facilitating candidates right from the initial stage of applying online up to their appointment to the various cadres on a single platform. NIC Gujarat provided an exceptionally good software solution to GPSC for its back-office operations. With the dedicated support from NIC, GPSC has digitized almost all selection processes and is now using an integrated environment for DigiLocker, Payment gateways, SMS gateway, Email, Mobile application, etc. – DINESH DASA, Chairman, Gujarat Public Service Commission OJAS portal comprises Online Application A web-based platform with mobile responsive design to apply online for the various advertisements including their personal, education, experience, training, photo/ signature, preferences and other details. Integration with multiple payment gateways for application fees, cash deposit of fees at major post offices across the state, incorporation of SMS and email communication at different stages of recruitment. Other salient features make their first-hand experience with govt. more promising and thus enrich their trust in e-governance. Back-office Planning & Vetting A back-office software for the officials of departments named OJASADMIN provides all the functionalities related to recruitment processes. Primary scrutiny of applications, caste/ category/ gender-wise application reports, duplicate applications management, rejection, etc. are part of the application management module. Initialization of exam, Roll number generation, exam school/ college entry, exam center allocation, Interview/ Mains exam planning, various exam-related reports like attendance sheet, packing memo etc. are part of the exam management module. Bulk SMS/ Email, uploading alerts on notice board, data download, publish advertisements/ call letter, roles and rights management etc. are part of the administration module. Document Submission & Scrutiny A web-based solution named iASS (Integrated Application Scrutiny System) for the applicants of GPSC to submit their scrutiny documents online once they are shortlisted by GPSC for the document verification process. iASS is integrated with DigiLocker, hence providing the facility to submit documents digitally. The system also minimizes the manual and time-consuming work of GPSC officials by providing computer-based application scrutiny of documents at each level of hierarchy starting from Dy. SO to Secretary. The system has drastically reduced candidate’s visits to GPSC as all communications are through SMS and emails. Information Dissemination Android Apps available on Google Play Store and NIC e-Gov Appstore to provide broad access to the information and to facilitate the applicants with application forms, hall tickets and other historical recruitment-related information. Features of the Product • One Time Registration (Applicant Profile) • Online Application with Photo/ Sign and all Validations (Age, Education, Experience etc.) • SMS (PUSH/ PULL), EMAIL, Payment Gateways & DIGILOCKER Integration • Back-office system having management modules for advertisements, applications, exams, interviews and document scrutiny • Android Mobile Apps Technical Specifications • ASP.Net Framework 4.5 including HTML/ CSS, JSJQuery, Bootstrap • Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (DB), Windows OS (IIS) • CouchDB for document storage and retrieval • WCF REST Services and Smart Client Application • Crystal Reports 10.0 and SQL Reporting Service 2012 • Ionic Framework 2.0 for Android Mobile Apps Innovations Applied • Application Fees (Offline) Collection via Computerized Post Offices across the state • Auto SMS alerts/ notifications at each stage of the recruitment • Application form PDF as an attachment of Confirmation EMAIL • Inbuilt Validation Mechanism for Age, Caste, Divyang, Ex-serviceman etc. • Receiving Exam Centre Attendance, Question Paper language preference, Fee Refund requests etc. using PULL SMS facility • Digi-Locker Integration for Document submission to GPSC • Barcoded Attendance Sheets for automated Digital Scanning • Based on the feedback of the department and data analysis of OJAS, the Government of Gujarat made a revolutionary amendment in the recruitment rules of class 3 cadre posts by eliminating personal interviews. Also, unnecessary stages/ preferences were removed from the recruitment rules of class 1-2 cadre • Integration of VANI chatbot to deliver a personalized experience to the applicants to help them with their queries and to offer relevant information or services in a friendly manner Benefits/ Impact • Elimination of existing tedious manual recruitment processes and also leads to govt. business process reengineering. Simplified and standardized recruitment process across all departments and committees • 100% paperless system providing end to end solution • Elimination of physical application forms, call letters, selling of blank forms etc. • Modules like validations at the initial stage of application, one-time registration, duplicate application rejection etc. for the elimination of dummy/ invalid/ duplicate applications resulting in savings of govt. revenue like the cost of exam per candidate, stationary etc. • Drastically Minimizing legal issues, court cases, and grievances of applicants • Mobile application allowed departments to reach a wider array of potential candidates • By inviting scrutiny documents digitally via the iASS portal and Email/ SMS notifications for re-submission of missing/ invalid documents at the time of final scrutiny proved to be hugely beneficial both to applicants and GPSC Way Forward For providing 360-degree vision of indent-filled vacancies to the govt. and for policy decision-making, all efforts are being made to achieve below identified scope of work. • Online submission of vacancies to GPSC and other recruiting agencies from the department • Integration with State eHRMS portal • Integration with available API’s for Verifications of certificates/ institutional degrees etc. • Integration of Module for Departmental Promotion Process as per recruitment rules