The initiatives taken by National Informatics Centre & District Administrations in Gujarat, to leverage on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for effective governance have not only resulted in innovation in governance but have also set a role model of e-governance in the country. “One Day Governance” is all about IT enabled service delivery to the citizens, bringing in the required transparency and eliminating chances of delay, harassment, nepotism & corruption. The objective of the One Day Governance project is to provide all types of certificates (income, caste, domicile etc), renewals (arms license, hotel license, ration card etc.) to the citizen in ONE DAY. Services that used to take a number of days earlier are now processed in one day. The Application software has been developed by National Informatics Centre, Gujarat and it supports the local language – Gujarati. The success, popularity and impact of the project have prompted all districts of Gujarat to implement the project, and almost all 225 taluka centers of the State are in various phases of implementation of the project. Towards One Day Governance… The delay in G2G and G2C transactions traditionally is due to the physical nature in which it is exchanged. Big thick dusty files are what one can see at any government office. That seeking redressal of grievances, seeking of information and other such work being synonymous with multiple visits to the office, having to oblige people and yet being unsure of getting results from the exercise is what the common mindset is. For achieving the final aim of attaining the level of One Day Governance, wherein the citizen would get solution to his requirements within 24 hours of reporting it to the competent authority, it was decided that the tools offered by Information and Communication Technology should be leveraged upon. This would not only speed up the process but would also be the right answer to the problem. The fact that the citizen has a right to information, that the government has an obligation to provide the same was also understood and incorporated. How One day Governance Center Works In a democracy, people are the most important stakeholders. Peoples’ satisfaction or involvement becomes very crucial when it comes to public administration. The evolution of citizen charter in the state of Gujarat is a step forward in achieving the public satisfaction through citizen centric administration. One Day Governance System has a unique design – it is a fusion of Information Technology and willingness of district administration to provide the best services to the citizen and the society. The District Administration, represented by the District Magistrate & the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and NIC sat together to design the framework of the project. Nagarik Seva Kendra Today, people demand more openness, more efficient support, greater user-friendliness and more flexibility in the services being provided to them. An urgent need was felt to create an environment that is capable of recognizing and responding to the presence of individuals in a seamless & unobtrusive way. The concept of one stop shop was framed, which provides the infrastructure for offering different services of public interest under one roof. The once dusty, gloomy and highly bureaucratic offices have now been transformed into Centres of Excellence. These Citizen Convenience Centres, known as “Nagarik Seva Kendra”, provide impeccable services at an astonishing speed. Services offered at ‘Nagarik Seva Kendra‘ Income Certificate Caste Certificate (SC/ST Certificate) Domicile Certificate(Permanent) Domicile Certificate(Temporary) Senior Citizen’s Certificate Baxipanch Certificate Widow Certificate Attestation of Certificates Renewal of Small Savings Agency (MPKBY) Renewal of Small Savings Agency (NSC) Renewal of Arms license Renewal of Hotel license Renewal of Petition Writer license Renewal of Stamp Vendor license All transactions related to ration card (such as issuance of new/duplicate ration card, name cancellation from ration card etc.) The NSK typically resembles the railway reservation halls, wherein one has many citizen- interface counters, all equipped with computers and web cameras. Citizens have to fill-in the application form and submit it to the data entry operator, who then keys in application details and takes the applicant’s photograph. After scrutiny, if the application is complete in all respects, the certificate is issued to the applicant. This process takes around 25-30 minutes and all the certificates are issued with a photograph. The web camera is one of the biggest attractions of the ‘Nagarik Seva Kendra’. People, especially the villagers and youth are really fascinated and thrilled that their certificate is not only being signed by the Mamlatdar (Tehsildar) but also has their photograph. This has also increased the credibility of the certificates and prevented issuance of bogus certificates. The situation before the initiative For any certificate or affidavit, a visit to the Mamlatdar Office used to be a harrowing experience for the citizen, especially the senior citizens. Long queues at every counter of the ancient and dilapidated work place and apathetic employees behind these counters were accepted facts of life. Delays and disorder made it a very difficult situation and the citizen’s trust on government and administration was diminishing. Strategy adopted The strategy was to help the citizens in getting their application attended and a certificate or services rendered within a single working day. The first eight services (shown in the box on page 3), which are basically related to issuance of certificate are done in 10 to 30 minutes time instead of a full working day. This strategy worked well and the pilot center at Vadodara served around one lakh applicants in 3 yrs. Results achieved The ultimate goal of all e-Governance applications is the satisfaction of people. The Administration and National Informatics Centre, Gujarat through implementation of One Day Governance have managed to achieve this goal. The results have been phenomenal. People are impressed by the services being provided by these centres and are even ready to pay for them. After three years of successful implementation various sections of the community want more and more services to be added to NSK which in itself speaks volumes of the quality of services being offered. Nagarik Seva Kendras have also become icons of change for the wave that is sweeping the district administration in Gujarat. People friendly staff, special arrangements for senior citizens and for those who are physically challenged is testimony to the sensitivity of the administration. People, who used to shy away from Government Offices, are now thronging these centers to avail the services being provided by the trained and courteous staff. Another important factor is the ease of getting their work done. Sustainability The project sustainability has been ensured by people participation. Certificates are issued at a nominal charge of Rs.20/- or Rs.10/- as decided by the respective district administration and the amount collected is used for the maintenance of these centers, technological up-gradations and setting up other citizen friendly initiatives. Highlights of ‘One Day Governance’

  • Project Training provided to staff, sensitizing them to the needs of the physically challenged and Senior Citizens. Special emphasis is given on development of interpersonal skills and capacity enhancement.
  • Transparency and accountability has been built into the system by introducing file tracking system, which helps in tracking all requests or applications and makes the staff answerable if there is any delay. This has not only enhanced the faith of the people in the government but has also reaffirmed their belief that “change in government services is possible”.
  • Unique identity is automatically generated for each file/application/request by the computer, ensuring that there is no bias/prejudice on any account.
  • The success of One Day Governance project lies solely on the people participation. Right from the designing phase to the implementation phase, people have been involved. Their needs and inputs have been analyzed and incorporated.
  • All the technological support for the project has been provided by National Informatics Centre, Gujarat and its District Centres
  • On an average about 200 people per day visit a single Nagarik Seva Kendra. The highest applications handled, in a day, so far is 875 - 900 at the Vadodara NSK.
  • The project received the ‘Exemplary Implementation of e-Governance’ Award at the 7th National e-Governance seminar at Chennai

Special Mention In Kheda district physically handicapped operators hired by the Government are operating the computers at Nagarik Seva Kendra. Dr. N. Vijayaditya, DG NIC after his visit to the centre said “During one of my recent visits to one of the block offices in Gujarat, I noticed that the office was using a computerized system entirely managed by physically challenged people. This particular technology (ICT) has really created a sense of empowerment.” ‘One Day Governance’ is a unique project as it involves greater level of bilateral communication, active involvement of common man in smoothening the administrative machinery and the speed and accuracy of ICT. The involvement of stakeholders is not only visible but it is the corner stone of the project planning and implementation. It is a project that has translated electronic governance & effective governance from e-Gov manuals and white papers into reality. The citizen are enjoying and feeling it everyday. For the administration the working environment has changed, the monotonous & cumbersome filing and retrieving is over, and above all their image is undergoing a huge transformation from a non-performer to a friendly government. The project has also received tremendous response from the citizens which has forced the administration to replicate NSK in each Taluka of the State. The demand for more and more services is increasing and the district administration plans to add many new services in the near future like - registration of documents, land records, social welfare activities like pensions for widows, senior citizens and physically challenged people etc. For more information, please contact - Shri. Rajnish Mahajan State Informatics Officer NIC, Gujarat State Centre, Block No. 13, 2nd Floor, New Sachivalaya Gandhinagar, Gujarat email: sio-guj@nic.in