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RAGAS - NREGS e gov project
Commissionerate, Rural development
India

The Problem

The Government of India passed National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in September 2005. The act gives legal guarantee of a minimum100 days wage employment in a financial year to adult members of a rural household who are in need of employment and are willing to do unskilled manual work. The act envisages that each household has to get registered within 15 days of application for registration. Wage seekers have to be given work within 15 days of their demand for work. Considering the size of the outlay and the vast geographical spread, a vigorous and foolproof systems and procedures was needed. The objective of the act is to enhance the livelihood security of the people. Achievement of visible economic identity for people at the bottom of the pyramid and enhancement in the per-capita consumption of financial services in rural areas can be achieved
When similar schemes were implemented earlier, in the absence of any extensive use of ICT, it was very difficult to address the matters of concern. There was discrimination based on class and caste. Further, bogus registrations included registration of non-living persons, minors, medically unfit persons and they were even fictitious.
There was delay in preparing estimates and giving technical sanctions. Thorough scrutiny of estimates was needed. Mandal level functionaries had limited technical sanction powers and file had to be sent to higher officials thus adding to further delay. So the works started late though there was huge demand for work. The estimates were sometimes inflated to suit certain interests.
The musters were never maintained and even when maintained included ghost workmen and bogus attendance. Identifying a work with a muster was very difficult. The requisition of funds were based on false measurement of work and inflated progress of works.
The wage seekers never knew the wage amount they would be getting after doing the work. They had to be satisfied with whatever they got. So there was underpayment of daily wages, and fraudulent wage payment with involvement of middlemen. The underpayment included less that what they are entitled to and less than what is mentioned in the records. There were no equal wages among men and women. The payment to wage seekers was delayed and often irregular. There was no scope of any verification since records were rarely available. So even if the wage seekers complained redressal of the grievance was not easy.
The implementation processes were not uniform. Process monitoring was very difficult. The reporting of inflated progress never revealed the ground reality. The officials spent most of their time weaving the data for the reports and did not have much time for field inspections and quality checking. The reviewing authorities often got lost in the labyrinth of unconnected available data. Thus the poorest of the poor and the backward classes were earlier denied of opportunities and entitlements accruing from various Government interventions like welfare programmes and schemes

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
So web based ICT solution RAGAS (Rasthra Grameena Abhivridhi Samacharam with local language interface, that has ability to deal with large volumes of data and ensures that maximum benefits flow to the beneficiaries was designed. RAGAS has helped in reaching out to all the wage seekers who applied for work in 65,000 villages covering 275,000 sq km. The tool handles job card registration, work estimates and wage payments to enable equal, correct and timely payments directly into the accounts of the wage seekers, thereby enhancing the livelihood security of all poor people living in rural area of state of Andhra Pradesh in India. . Using the solution, apart from accuracy, the time taken to generate work estimates has been reduced from 15-20 days to minutes. The estimates are based on Rural Standard Schedule of Rates (SSR), which are inbuilt in the software and cannot be changed by the users. Works are opened and given whenever the target groups demand work. The outturn through measurement sheets and attendance through musters are captured to calculate wages. The pay slips, generated along with pay order, are distributed to individual wage seekers informing about their payment details thus preventing them from being misled by any middlemen. Equal wages are ensured among men and women through system calculations and direct deposit in their bank accounts. So the solution also builds in transparent wage payment structures through agencies like banks and post offices, bringing in accountability and minimizing opportunities for misuse of funds. The wages are directly credited into bank / postal accounts of wage seekers. The wage seekers can go to the banks/post offices and withdraw money or save it in their account as the case may be. The payment cycle has been significantly reduced to less than 15 days. Irrespective of location, beneficiaries can browse information about their villages, progress of the work, and details of wage payments thus equipping them with the power of knowledge. Each household is guaranteed 100 days of wage employment. No one can deny or dupe them since the information is in public domain. The entire information is available on Internet, both in English and in the local language. Officials can monitor the program more effectively as the NREGA Portal provides features to generate reports and also analyze the data. By making data available to the society, the NREGA Portal facilitates social auditing of the NREGA implementation, under the Right to Information Act. As on third week of December, 2008, 15,92,492 works worth 1,44,54,28.61 (Rs in Lakhs) have got administrative and technical sanction to meet the demand for wage employment. 7,70,491 Households have got 100 days of wage employment.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
A special team was organized in the Commissionerate, Rural Development to design the solution and TCS also did some independent studies in Maharashtra, where the scheme was being implemented for the past 30 years. After series of meetings with all stakeholders including the political and civil societies the solution was firmed up. It helped in bringing quality to the project. The technology from TCS, the domain knowledge from Government, encouragement and acceptance from wage seekers have helped in integrating diversity of interests and reaching all stakeholders. The contribution to design and implementation of the project has come from civil servants, organizations and private sector not to forget the wage seeker whose feedback has helped tremendously in fine tuning the initiative.
The name, designation, organization, Roles & Responsibilities of each functionary is given below
KEY OFFICIALS
1 Mr K Raju, IAS -Principal Secretary, - Secretariat, Dept of RD - Inspiration, Support and guidance at all stages
2 Ms A.Santhi Kumari, IAS - Commissioner -Commissionerate, RD -Budget support. Resolving escalated issues. Overall monitoring
3. Mr A Murali, - Director, NREGA-AP - Commissionerate - Conveying policy decisions and processes and domain knowledge on work estimates and execution OFFICERS IN CHARGE OF THE E GOV PROJECT
1 Dr M Padma, - Director SOMC & Jt Commissioner (M&E, IT).- Commissionerate – Overall Responsibility. Dovetailing ICT solutions into the processes of scheme. Technical support for implementing payments through smart cards.
2 Mr Col SS Rao - Program Director, NREGS - TCS - Responsible for the entire TCS project team.
SUBJECT SPECIALISTS:
1 Dr Thirupathaiah, IFS,- Spl Commissioner (Development)- CDS-APARD- HRM & Capacity building
2 Ms K Nirmala - Jt Commissioner - Plantations, Horticulture & Bio diesel works’ estimates
3. Ms Anitha Ramchandran - Director, SHGs, - SHG Wing, - operational guidelines & Post office accounts.
4. Ms V.Karuna - Director, SPIU, CGG - Social audit and related MIS reports
5. Mr Madhav Rao,- Jt Commissioner,- All forms and registers
6 Mr Kishan Das, - Jt Commissioner - PMU (APRLP),- Watersheds concepts and planning
7 Mr Sudhakar- SPM (Works)- EGS wing, - General Works estimates and execution module
During the implementation all the District functionaries like Project Director, DWMA, Addl Project Directors, (EGS), Mandal Development Officers and Addl Programme Officers at the Mandal (group of 20 to 30 Gram Panchayats) level, Technical assistants at sub Mandal level and Field assistants at Gram Panchayat level give constant feedback for improving the systems.
The NGOs were involved in awareness building, social mobilization and social auditing.

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The main objective is to have low cost , fail-safe technologies for more efficient, strategic and inexpensive way of
o Putting the wage seeker at the centre of operations.
o Expediting payments and measurement cycle
o Providing system driven accountability mechanism
o Ensuring open access to information to all stake holders and citizens of the country.
o Enabling reliable, timely and comparable information from the “ground-up”
o Tracking every rupee spent on the scheme. In other words – open the black box of the missing 85 paisa as regretted by Late Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi
o Minimizing leakages to ensure that the benefits reach the citizens
Achieving the above objectives will lead to,
o Enhancement of standard of living.
o Creation of rural infrastructure
To achieve the objectives, the key processes needing re engineering for positive implementations of the scheme are identified and the special team got a software application developed and adapted the following strategy for implementation. Local language support is being built into the project .Details of implementing personnel and officials are logged into the system increasing the accountability.
Enrolment of Wage seeker through speedy registration - Basic information about the wage seeker including his savings account number is captured and Job cards with unique IDs are printed. The photo for the job card is captured from the database of the Civil Supplies Department’s biometric (IRIS) ration cards.
Meeting the demand-the time taken to generate work estimates has been reduced from 15 to 20 days to barely minutes. Since the estimates are based on accurate formulae, back end calculations and inbuilt Rural SSR, the technical sanctions are given quickly. The sanctioning limits to AE/ DEE are enhanced to give quick sanctions. The works are opened and letters to executing agency and material supplier are generated through software to avoid delays. The customized measurement sheet is generated. The muster rolls having unique IDs are associated with this work.
Management of Wages and Material payments ensuring accuracy and timeliness –Based on the reported progress of work and the number of person-days spent, payment to the workers is computed equally among the group irrespective of gender and a wage list is generated. Generated pay orders are sent to the sub post office along with the cheques.
Management of funds for transparency- All the payments including material, admin and other expenses are captured. The availability of funds is also indicated after every payment to enable timely requisition of funds
Review and decision support- MIS Reports, social audit reports and analysis reports that are system generated by picking data from the work flows are available.
Web enabling - Data from the Mandals is uploaded to state server through BSNL net one using specially developed tools for verification, validation and data pre-processing. The Web site with url ‘http://nrega.ap.gov.in’ has drill down information upto the household and even the works and muster level.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
System analysis: Feb 2005 by TCS consultants at Maharastra.
Field study and Requirement capture at Andhra Pradesh along with GoAP team: Oct - Dec 2005
Prototype Development : Oct – Nov 2005
Design and Development : Nov 2005 – Feb 2006
Field trails and pilot : Feb – Mar 2006
Deployment of SW in 657 Mandals HQs : 01 Apr 2006
Design and Development of Web application for APREGS portal : Jan – Apr 2006
Enhancements and additional work estimations: Jun 2006 to Mar 2007.
Inclusion of other rural Development Land development programs – design and development : Jul 2006 – Mar 2007
Deployment of integrated software RAshtra Grameena Abhivridhi samacharam (RAGAs) : 01 May 2007
Deployment of the SW in six more districts of AP : 01 May 2007
Deployment of the SW in three more districts of AP : 01 May 2008

The key development parameter is to check whether the software is able to address the concerns. In this context the software being web enabled is able to create mechanisms to increase the public’s ability to observe, monitor and analyze government decision-making and processes. It also enhances the monitoring and filtering of public opinion and the views of concerned sections of the community, and includes an obligation to share information and demonstrate openness through consultative mechanisms with the public. The government service delivery procedures are overhauled through process re engineering and computerization. . It extends service delivery to vulnerable groups and to a wider population particularly through mechanisms that promote social inclusion relating to gender equality, and other vulnerable populations.
The situation available in web as on third week of December 2008,
Job Card data. : 1,09,32,328 job cards are issued.
Works Execution: 4,88,318 no. of works worth 34,06,86.28 (Rs in lakhs) are completed 4,27,326 no. of works worth 52,97,46.51 (Rs in lakhs) are in progress
Payment of wages. 37,20,95.04 (Rs in lakhs) is paid as wages to 1,23,19,883 wage seekers of 71,41,827 households creating 45,20,70,834 person days
De-mystification of works - 15,92,492 works worth 1,44,54,28.61 (Rs in Lakhs) have got administrative and technical sanction.
Demand Satisfaction 1,23,19,883 wage seekers demanded for work and are given work
Equal wages: 66,32,271 women got employment as against 56,87,612 men
Transparency in payments --- All the musters are available for viewing. For transparency, in pay slips number of wage seekers in the group is mentioned to avoid bogus entries.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The main obstacles encountered are-
1. Change Management: Earlier method of implementation through manual processes being more comfortable to at least certain stakeholders, they started implementing the NREGS-AP programme without routing through the software processes. They had to be immediately isolated and brought back to main stream.
2. .Differences of understanding perspectives, ideas, roles & responsibilities: In the beginning there was some confusion and duplication of effort. Then clear cut definition of roles, terms of reference, Service level agreements are set up. Awareness campaigns are run from time to time to inform the wage seekers about the processes involved in the scheme.
3. Modify actions based on experiences: For meeting the change requirement demands of different stakeholders a framework is established. Series of workshops are held from time to time to involve the stakeholders and get their perspectives. Their views are consolidated and the computerised processes are reviewed. If any change is needed, the requirement is communicated to TCS for modification. The modified patch is run in all the Mandals and stakeholders are informed through letters and awareness campaigns.
4. Depending on the feedback the change requirement is communicated to TCS, who modifies the software. The changes are also informed to all the stakeholders.
5. The estimates for watersheds related works mostly depended on the individual or local practice. So the software for estimates had to be done again and again to have a commonly acceptable methodology
6. The constant training of the mandal staff, especially the computer operators who constantly leave the job.
7. Manual system of reporting: Manual system of reporting led to lack of urgency in uploading information to the central server. So now review is only through web reports
8. The geographical spread of the project involving initially 13 Districts and 657 mandals. Running the version changes and software patches in al the Mandals was earlier difficult due to lack of internet at Mandals. Now the software patch is sent through internet to all the 1098 Mandals.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The project is more a welfare measure than a business model TCS developed the software as CSR. Only the operational and maintenance costs are involved. The funds are received from GOI & GoAP for NREGS – AP scheme.
Both Program Implementation system and Program Monitoring systems have been developed as Corporate Social Responsibility and therefore does not cost to the state. While designing the system, care has been taken to ensure minimum cost for 3rd party software. The SW components required at the Mandal/Blocks are
 NREGA Software (Program Implementation system) :
 Dot Net Framework
 Database Server (Microsoft Database Engine)
 Local Language Software Tool (Baraha).
They are all supplied free of cost.
Hard Ware requirements are
• Standard desktop configuration: Intel Pentium IV or equivalent with 512 MB RAM and 40GB Hard disk
• Laser printer
• UPS
• LAN with 4-port hub,
• Wireless mobile card or NET ONE (BSNL) connectivity..
For Program Monitoring system at State level the Soft Ware components required are NREGA Web Application and Data consolidation tools that are supplied free of cost.. Only RDBMS (Oracle) had to be purchased. The Department procured ProLiant DL380G4, 2CPU boxes, 4GB RAM / 600 GB HD
At the ground level, 2000 qualified operators have been fully trained in using the software and about 6000 employees responsible for programme implementation have also been trained/ oriented in operationalising business processes and using outputs for efficient delivery of services as well as championing change management. A team of task managers provide domain knowledge for developing this software and Special Officers oversee implementation
The intangible benefits accruing to the targeted group outweigh the costs and plugging the leakages benefit in more funds being available for implementing the scheme.
Average user time savings in using the Govt. services as compared to the previous system is Job cards- 3 min per card, Estimates-5 min per estimate. Pay order- 15 min per work. Average user cost savings in using the Govt. services as compared to the previous system is estimated to be atleast 30% of the overall outlay in terms of prevented leakage of funds, ie about Rs 30 crores per district per year. The system demonstrated that 37,20,95.04 spent as on 18.12.08 has really reached the deserving wage seekers, without any leakage.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The initiative started in 656 Mandals in 13 Districts and is now spread to 1098 mandals of 22 districts. Any existing P-IV PC with windows platform and a printer can carry the work. Sustenance of the system from operations point of view is explained below.
Internal Sustainability
A large workforce of operators and administrators have been created that can sustain the operations of the system completely. Computer operators have been employed @ of two operators at each Mandal Computer Center (MCC) in which the stand-alone SW is installed.
External Sustainability
The software has been developed using the most commonly used and popular technologies. Proper documentation of requirement specifications, design and code has been made available for easy maintenance of the SW.
In fact seeing the impact of this project, the software is extended to other Rural Development programme in Andhra Pradesh like watersheds and Comprehensive Land Development (CLDP) programmes. Since the software deals with land related works, estimates and payments it can be used by any organization small or big dealing with such activities.
Further the following factors helped in sustaining the initiative -
Political conditions and leadership: The genuine commitment from political leaders, the private sector and civic organizations is garnered. Frequent stakeholders meetings and workshops have led to knowledge sharing and removal of any apprehensions that may scuttle the project.
Regulatory framework: A proper regulatory framework is put in place to enable secure information exchanges within and between government, and citizens. All business processes have been engineered in such a way that delivery of every service is through the software and based on actual transaction.
Organisational conditions: The evolutionary change of the institutional arrangements is handled before implementing the scheme itself. To guide this transformation process, appropriate management and co-ordination mechanisms are put in place. An officer, trained by IIM- A, India, in handling e governance projects, is made in charge of the ICT solution to manage and coordinate at all levels.
Cultural and human resources conditions: Positive attitude is built through periodic motivation and orientation from the ministry and higher-ups. The personnel at the cutting edge level are selected with diligence and trained through class room, field and immersion modules to enhance their competence and sensitize them to customer-orientation and overall commitment.
Financial conditions: Funds required for operating and maintaining the system are made available by the administrative component of the NREGA funds.
Communication environment: For acceptance and understanding of all stakeholders to ensure that its benefits flow to the society as a whole, communication campaigns are run at the villages and knowledge sharing workshops arranged.
Technological Infrastructure: The required infrastructure such as PCs, LAN, printers, UPS, internet connectivity, antivirus and so on are positioned in all MCCs. Their upkeep is covered under maintenance contract with the service providers and hardware vendors.
Data and information systems: Management systems, records and work processes are in place to provide the necessary data to support the ICT solution

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
All the stakeholders are agreed upon the necessity of this robust system to ensure that benefits reach the targeted group. Streamlining of processes and integration of services on one platform has led to better understanding and acceptance by stakeholders. All the stake-holders viz. citizens, media, NGOs, officials, politicians are viewing the live data through the portal. The information in the website is used by other welfare departments like Scheduled Castes welfare, Backward Class welfare, Scheduled Tribes welfare Departments, and horticulture and irrigation departments to monitor and plan for convergence. Preparing work estimates in 65,000 villages covering 275,000 sq km is a tedious task. NREGS-AP software has work estimates for nearly 100 types of work This solution become the most efficient tool to prepare estimates for large number of work spread over a vast geographical area, thus enabling the government to open work wherever and whenever the wage seekers demanded All the MIS reports required by the district, state and central administration are readily available, reducing the effort of preparation of such reports and increasing the accuracy of data. Best decision support system is established. Every rupee expended to be accounted in the software thus reducing the time and effort for auditing. Bank reconciliation is also taken care. The twin aim of the scheme is environment protection through asset creation in addition to providing employment. In the prioritization of works water conservation, soil and moisture conservation works are given highest priority. Initially very small works were taken and therefore large works like restoring minor irrigation tanks that help in sustainable and balanced development of the region are grounded. The wage seekers also are confident of payment calculation and accept the mode of payment since they are given the pay slips that contain the particulars of their wage. At the ground level, equity and access to work without any political/ social/ personal/ cultural barriers has drawn the attention of the wage seeker. The gender equality, bringing scheduled tribes of remote areas into its fold by giving wages on par with others (since generated pay orders do not discriminate between regions or communities or gender) have contributed to reduction in poverty. The software helped to monitor the participation of women and single woman. The women outnumbered men in accessing this programme. As on today 54% of the labourers are from fair gender. Economic benefits from simplified procedures, direct payment into bank accounts, increased accountability and transparency and reduced risk of corruption have raised the perception of good government among citizens. The assured income for 100 days for each rural household is helping the rural economy to grow. The households are also looking for diversified livelihood opportunities. Enhanced response to citizen’s demand for work, capacity to address issues of poverty by converging and dovetailing funds from other schemes and the spin-offs of better livelihood quotient have helped in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Commissionerate, Rural development
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   M Padma
Title:   Joint Commissioner  
Telephone/ Fax:   919989024425
Institution's / Project's Website:   91-040-23243518
E-mail:   padmanir@yahoo.com  
Address:   H. No. 5-10-192, 2nd & 5th Floors, Hermitage Complex, HUDA Bhavan, Hill Fort Road, Saifabad,
Postal Code:   500004
City:   Hyderabad
State/Province:  
Country:   India

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