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OPEN GOVERNANCE THROUGH CSC CENTRES BY CREATION OF ENTITLEMENT RIGHTS (EASYGAS & KISAN)
District Administration

A. Problem Analysis

 1. What was the problem before the implementation of the initiative?
The prime mover behind devising these initiatives was the flaws in the existing system that includes the following: Problems before implementation of EASYGAS Application • There was no accounting mechanism to keep stock of the LPG inflow into a district and its distribution. The consumer is not provided acknowledgement of booking, and there is Diversion of domestic LPG into commercial use. • The existing reporting system was incapable of generating any kind of report or notification for district administration to monitor the actual status of LPG Booking and delivery in the district. • In districts where IVRS facility has not been launched by the oil company, consumers are forced to spend disproportionately large amount of time and effort to get their domestic bookings done and booking service is not available 24 X 7. • Even with IVRS and transparency portal in place a consumer has no guarantee of service within a definitive time period nor can any third party access information on agency or date wise pendency of this essential commodity. Problems before implementation of “KISAN” Application • The software was first developed to assess the problem of fertilizer supply to the farmers on the field. Currently, fertilizer type and quantity recommendations for different crops are made on the basis of agronomical practices and not on the soil test base. • Given the near defunct Cooperative network in the district, and acute shortage of Human resource in agriculture allied departments, there is an inaccurate assessment of field demand for the different agriculture inputs and no “Trickle down” of vital information from Administration to Beneficiary. Thus there is ample scope for diversion of fertilizer/seeds and falsification of records as well as hoarding and over pricing by private dealers. In addition, with respect to other agro-inputs:- • There is no monitoring system at district level to review processing of agriculture loan or the demand/disbursal of agricultural implement subsidy. • There is no online monitoring system for Wheat/Paddy procurement at farmers level

B. Strategic Approach

 2. What was the solution?
The nominee, Dr. Roshan Jacob,IAS proposed the solution, in 2008, while posted as District Magistrate in Basti District, Uttar Pradesh, the nominee faced with a situation of hoarding, black marketing and rampant diversion of LPG cylinders in that district, leading to numerous complaints and frequent law and order situations. On the nominee's initiative, a simple software was developed by NIC Basti, in consultation with the district administration, in order to provide accurate statement of LPG stock position with various distribution agencies, a reliable database of commercial and non-commercial consumers, and a CSC/Lokvani based booking facility which ensured that all consumers of LPG cylinders would get home delivery of the cylinder within seven days of booking. In 2012-13, when posted as District Magistrate- Gonda District, this software was further improved and deployed as 'EASYGAS'. In Feb 2014, EASYGAS was rolled out in District Kanpur as well. EASYGAS is a transparent system for accurate statement of LPG stock position with the various distribution agencies, a reliable database of commercial and non-commercial consumers and a CSC based booking facility so that consumers of LPG cylinders can book literally at their doorstep and get home delivery of the cylinder within seven days of their booking. Features of the EASYGAS Application: An LPG consumer can book his cylinder at the CSC/Lokvani kiosk, subject to display of identity proof and gas connection proof. The centre issues a receipt for his/her booking, which entitles the customer to get a home delivery of the cylinder on a particular due date through his existing gas agency. This due date is fixed at seven days after his date of booking. This wait-period of seven days was fixed after due consultation with the gas agencies and LPG companies. All bookings received through the CSCs are updated on the database, which is accessible to the gas agencies as well. Upon arrival of LPG cylinder stocks at the agency, the software allots cylinders to the pending customer list (pendency generated on chronological basis) on a first come first served basis. The system generates a date of delivery (which is as close as possible to the due date indicated on the receipt) against each customer allotment, which is further updated once actual delivery of the cylinder has been effected, if stocks are not available, then the system forces the gas agency to record reasons for failure of delivery. Monitoring at the district administration level is made possible by generation of pendency reports which reflect both the status of cylinders delivered, as well as lack of delivery with reasons. The software is capable of generating customer-wise pendency reports, date-wise delivery and default reports, agency wise delivery/default reports and kiosk-wise delivery report, thus allowing monitoring at every stakeholder level. Thus, the district administration/district supply officer is able to monitor the defaulters in supply of LPG (i.e., no supply within the due date of seven days) at agency level, kiosk level as well as at individual consumer level. Similarly, in 2012 an ICT tool KISAN (Krishak Information System And Network) was developed by NIC-Gonda District for distribution and delivery of fertilizers. KISAN is designed to provide fertilizers, seeds, agricultural implement subsidy, e-procurement services, agricultural credit (KCC) and soil testing facility to the farming community, to supplement and strengthen the existing delivery channels provided for by the department. Both EASYGAS and KISAN have provided a useful model of improving governance and service delivery by creating entitlement rights for consumers by using the CSC as an additional interface between the beneficiary/customer and the existing mechanism of delivery. KISAN is a G2C application to provide facilities to the farmers such as Registration of farmers and their land holdings by self-declaration, Calculate fertilizer type and quantity based on the above information, Information to the farmer about the allotment and arrival of the fertilizer (based on 1 and 2 above), Use the database to provide financial inclusion services (KCC, agro loans) and other agro-inputs (soil testing, wheat/paddy procurement, seeds etc) Features of the KISAN Application: Registration –With KISAN, for getting any service the farmer approaches the CSC/Lokvani kiosk and registers him in the KISAN database to get a unique KISAN code. At the time of registration the KISAN database records his personal information (name, mobile number etc), land record details, cropping pattern (net area being cropped, type of crop, preference of type of fertilizer for each crop) and choice of point-of-purchase (cooperative society or private retailer). In addition to these, the database also records financial information about the individual farmer (Kisan Credit Card details, Savings bank account details). All such information is recorded on the database on a self-declaration basis. The personal details, land record details and the cropping pattern details can be verified by the Land revenue department. Fertilizer Booking and monitoring: The KISAN application automatically calculates the necessary amount of each type of fertilizer against each individual, and then aggregates it for the necessary amount of each type of fertilizer against each point of purchase in the district. Thereafter, using the KISAN software, the agriculture department allots the fertilizer, subject to availability of stocks, to each point of purchase (cooperative society or private retailer) within seven days of receipt of booking. Once allotment is done, the software informs the farmer (by means of Voice SMS or SMS text) of the allotment of stock to his respective society/retailer and the amount of each type of fertilizer allotted to him. The CSC operator additionally informs the farmer over phone about the completion of allotment and the arrival of fertilizer physically at the point-of-purchase on a particular date. The system can generate reports on demand and allotment of fertilizer at farmer, kiosk, point-of-purchase and district levels, thus enabling fool-proof monitoring by the district administration. KISAN is able to address the basic flaw in the existing system by generating user-demand driven database of fertilizer requirement, which is first generated on a self-declaration basis, but is subsequently validated by the verifications of the revenue and agriculture departments. This in turn leads to an accurate estimate of the demand for the various types of fertilizer by means of a computational algorithm. The software also creates a single interface for the farmer, through which he is able to get precise information about the quantity of fertilizer allotted, date of allotment and expected date of arrival at the point-of-purchase. This power of information will enable him to choose his point-of-purchase and avoid the problems of a sellers' market (over-pricing, hoarding, and black-marketeering).
 3. How did the initiative solve the problem and improve people’s lives?
EASYGAS is a good example of what may be called a pocket innovation- a simple software tool rolled out in a limited geographical area to address a particular problem which exists in a larger context. However, the idea is replicable precisely because of the simplicity of the innovation. It has been tried out successfully in two districts. KISAN on the other hand is both a pocket initiative which because of its scalability and replicability, is being now upgraded to a larger state level scale. Both EASYGAS and KISAN have, in addition, two distinct innovative elements— • The bottom-up user-driven creation of database for farmers • Providing computational value addition in the calculating the right type and quantity of fertilizer for the farmers. The design of the software/implementation is fairly simple. On the one hand, the project has been able to spread the need for IT solutions for departments while on the other hand has been able to provide access to various government services to the citizens through the CSC’s on commercially viable lines.

C. Execution and Implementation

 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
The strategy adopted was to get the customer pay a nominal amount and get an entitlement to getting the gas booking/agriculture inputs booking service. For example, in the case of the EASYGAS initiative, the entitlement right was created for the consumer when the consumer paid up the registration fee at the CSC. Paying the full price of the gas cylinder did not give him the entitlement for delivery of the gas cylinder; it merely ensured that he had paid the price of the product. Further paying bribes/grease money to middlemen also did not create any entitlement for him; it merely tried to ensure a speedy delivery of the cylinder, or more importantly delivery of the cylinder to an undeserving customer. The role of the empowered (empowered because it was linked up to the oil marketing agencies by means of commitments to supply, which was ensured by the district administration) CSC was to charge a fee and provide a receipt for the booking, and the running receipt became an entitlement for the customer. 1. Provision of computational value-addition and to the service provided: In EASYGAS, the software is able to allocate cylinders to the waiting list in a automatic, and there free and fair manner. Currently, such an allotment is done manually by the gas agencies and is heavily prone to discretion. Automation by an ICT tool is thus able to remove this discretion. In KISAN, the software is able to allocate precise amount of fertilizer to a particular farmer depending on his size of land holding, financial status, nature of crop and other relevant decision making parameters. In the case of fertilizer, it is noteworthy that at present there is no reliable method of calculating fertilizer demand at field level. All demand for fertilizer is calculated at an aggregate level at the state level, after which allocations of fertilizer are made to each district. The KISAN ICT tool reverses this top down approach by generating data at the unit farmer level, and then aggregating the various parameters all the way to the top. This bottom-up approach enables more precise calculation of fertilizer requirement, eliminates wastage and generates information that can be used for many other purposes like verification of Kisan Credit Card data or disbursement of calamity relief. 2. Harnessing the entrepreneurial energy of the CSC/Lokvani owners: Uttar Pradesh has been experimenting with its own form of Common Service Centres called the Lokvani centres. Unlike the CSCs which are run by agencies (SCA) contracted by state government departments, Lokvani centers are CSCs which are run by agencies/operators contracted by the District Lokvani Society, of which the DM is the chairperson. After the initial success of the EASYGAS initiative in District Basti, several entrepreneurs sensed a business opportunity in opening Lokvani centres, resulting in the number of centres going up from 34 in 2009-10 to 64 in 2011-12. Similarly in District Gonda, when applications were invited for opening 39 Lokvani centres, more than 400 applications were received; and the number of centres has risen from 182 to 264. Similarly in Kanpur number of CSCs has risen from 41 to 164. In case of KISAN, CSC operators became very enthusiastic in participation after the initial demonstration of the capability of the system to provide information about the allotment of the right kind and quantity of fertilizer as well the actual date of physical delivery of the fertilizer. As the capability of KISAN expands to provide soil testing, agricultural implements, seeds and other inputs, the CSC operator, who is usually one of the more educated and young tech-savvy member of the community providing essential services like various forms of certificates and revenue record documents, also becomes a one-stop solution for the more elderly farmer population of the community, giving him a greater standing in his community. Adding agriculture inputs and gas cylinders to the service bouquet of the CSC/lokvani has added to the profitability of the enterprise. 3. Limiting the role of the government and replacing the stick of the government with other carrots /drivers of the initiative, to make it more sustainable: These other carrots/drivers/motivators include- a. The entrepreneurship needs of the CSC/lokvani operators, b. The need for commercial banks to verify Kisan Credit Card data, c. The need for gas agencies/oil marketing companies to reduce domestic cylinder pilferage etc. 4. Opting for a small, district-level pocket initiative, rather a larger state-level or departmental level change to provide immediate and effective solution to problems: District administration officials remain the first and often the only point of engagement for the common man for their daily livelihood issues. Such software initiatives provide cost-effective solutions to the felt needs of the people. 5. Direct participation of the stakeholder (farmer/consumer) in the creation of the database on the basis of which entitlements would be allotted 6. Consumer acceptance due to “human and humane” CSC operator involvement. To the average rural citizen, the CSC operator is the face of government, accessible, friendly, who is both human and humane. Transactions with this local next door agent give him that familiarity and assurance that is missing in an SMS or IVRS based system even though they bring convenience of use. 7. Simple Internet connectivity- .Internet connectivity has been provided to all the departments through SWAN/NICNET/Broadband at District/Tehsil/Block level. Since many rural areas are situated in remote areas, access to Internet through cables or telephones cannot be provided. For this, wireless technology has been used. Wi-Fi and Wi Max are wireless technologies has been employed.
 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
District Administration: Prime mover in the initiative; the initiative requires minimum participation by district authorities, but provides detailed reporting to be used by authorities for monitoring. NIC: Agency for designing, developing, deployment and hosting of software. Active participant in review meetings. Agricultural Department: Nodal Government department of allotment of all inputs provided under KISAN Food & Civil supplies Department: Nodal Government departmentfor coordination between the gas agencies, oil marketing companies and consumers. Co-operative Department / Societies: Customer Interface for the KISAN platform, where the farmer gets all the agro-inputs he has registered for. Gas Agencies: Customer Interface for the EASYGAS platform; Distributorfor LPG cylinders. CSC/Lokvani: Customer Interface for KISAN & EASYGAS platform where consumer/farmer can apply/request for available services. Banks: Bank coordinator will be responsible for download/verify/sanction/reject the applications received & update the status at portal. The various stakeholders in this project, for example the CSC operators who come from the below average socio economic strata, have to be rigorously trained not just on the use of computer, but also on the processes which govern the projects. The project is an initiative taken by the district administration and has a flexible management structure. The project is being directly monitored and headed at the level of nominee with active support from NIC. The civil supply department and Gas agencies are co-partners in this management team. The NIC provided the training and consultancy support to the project. Gas Agencies are supposed to enter/upload the bookings into the software and keep updating the delivery details. District Administration monitors the bookings made for consumes, must be delivered in 7 days. So, we received the input from LPG distributers that the old processes of updating bookings / deliveries were not feasible in Kanpur owing to higher no. of transactions. Consequently, after consulting the NIC, the processes were suitably changed to meet present system requirements. User satisfaction study was done by local organization and suggestions/finding of the study has been incorporated in this system.
 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
The applications has been developed and maintained by NIC. The additional burden on the government through this project is therefore almost minimal and the investment of the project is shared across the wider cross section of the people. That is the reason why the replication of this initiative should not be a problem anywhere else. The project has only taken two months from conception to commissioning because of involvement of multiple stakeholders. This has huge potential for replication in elsewhere and should be considered as the USP of this project. The applications are browser based front end, with Application developed in ASP.NET Framework 3.5 with C# (4.0) using SQL Server 2008R2 as Backend RDBMS, based on a Centralized Architecture. Data and business logic were kept separately on different servers to avoid malicious attacks. Any user, familiar with the working on a web site using any browser would be easily able to operate the application. Web Application is developed, where consumers can book their LPG cylinder from the nearest Lokvani centre by paying Rs. 10/- and get a receipt with details like delivery date, booking no etc. printed on it. Gas agencies supposed to feed the bookings received from different source like IVRS, SMS, and counter etc .The software will maintain FIFO list, according to which the Gas Agency has to deliver the LPG. Display of Teamwork by the Nominee • By identifying the pressing needs of the people, i.e., (the need for timely delivery of gas cylinders and agriculture inputs in this instance), the nominee displayed responsiveness and leadership. • By mobilizing the NIC team, the concerned district officials and the other stakeholders (gas agencies and oil marketing agencies for EASYGAS and fertilizer companies and cooperative societies for KISAN), the nominee displayed motivational skills and teamworking capabilities essential for good leadership. • By means of thorough monitoring, hand-holding activities and mediation/facilitation acts during the roll-out phase, the nominee was able to provide the critical stewardship that is so essential to the roll-out phase of such projects. • As a leader, the nominee was able to provide effective communication about the initiatives (through presentations to higher officials and other appropriate forum), and thus mobilize goodwill and support, as well as project positively these two initiatives; thereby creating a enabling atmosphere for the sustained running of these initiatives. • Working as a leader as well as a team worker, the nominee was able to dismantle entrenched counter-interests (like middlemen engaged in the supply of gas cylinders, local quasi-criminal elements engaged in supply of fertilizer ), without creating a disruptive situation that would derail the process. • Effective leadership by the nominee was critical in ensuring sustainability of the introduced innovation by providing conviction to the team (particularly the highly susceptible lower district officials) that successful implementation of these initiatives, as measured by the response of the people, would ensure that counter-interests would be questioned down. This was particularly relevant in Districts Gonda and Kanpur, which has had a long history of having strong entrenched counter-interests.
 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
By means of this initiative there was a notable increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery of gas cylinders (EASYGAS) and agriculture inputs fertilizers (KISAN), disposal of applications for agriculture equipment subsidy, application for agriculture loan etc. In the case of EASYGAS current statistics show a defaulter rate of less than 1 %(i.e., less than 1 percent of all people who booked their gas cylinders through lokvani got their cylinders within 7 days). In the case of KISAN, the defaulter rate was less than 5%. Other indicators of increased efficiency: • Booking available 24X7, thereby making it more convenient for the consumers • KISAN has been scaled up to provide other services like soil testing/soil health card, applications for agro-implements subsidy, Agriculture loan(KCC), bookingof seeds etc. • Generation of various reports by the software, which can enable more effective monitoring by the administration/stake holders. The project is being directly monitored and headed at the level of nominee with active support from NIC. A co-ordination committee has been formed for implementation and to solve day to day problems. The civil supply department,Agriculture Departments , Co-operative Departments, Banks, CSC and Gas agencies are co-partners in this management team. The review meeting is being organized by co-ordination committee weekly. The impact of the initiatives has been evaluated by Deen Dayal Research Institute, Lal Bahadur Shastri KrishiVigyan Kendra, Gonda.
 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
The project is being directly monitored and headed at the level of nominee with active support from NIC. A co-ordination committee has been formed for implementation and to solve day to day problems. The civil supply department,Agriculture Departments , Co-operative Departments, Banks, CSC and Gas agencies are co-partners in this management team. The review meeting is being organized by co-ordination committee weekly. The impact of the initiatives has been evaluated by Deen Dayal Research Institute, Lal Bahadur Shastri KrishiVigyan Kendra, Gonda.
 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
Implementation issue: 1. The consumer does not get a RIGHT to get the service even though (s)he has paid the full cost/price for it ! 2. Paper based records do not provide genuine assessments and cant generate user-friendly monitoring reports 3. CSC/Lokvani operators are an under utilised pool of vitally located human resource 4. Success of a welfare initiative is mostly based on Government using ‘stick’ measures to ensure effective delivery of services 5. Software solutions are often conceived of as large-scale solutions, which need financial support for software development and manpower 6. Database created by departments by sending out assessors or hiring private firms are often inaccurate 7. Consumer/beneficiary lethargy 8. Complicated technology/compatibility issues Strategy adopted 1. Displacing the delivery of a service with provision of the service by means of creation of entitlement rights 2. Provision of computational value-addition to the service provided 3. Harnessing the entrepreneurial energy of the CSC/Lokvani owners 4. Limiting the role of the government and replacing the stick of the government with other carrots /drivers of the initiative, to make it more sustainable: 5. Opting for a small, district-level pocket initiative , rather a larger state-level or departmental level change to provide immediate and effective solution to problems 6. Direct participation of the stakeholder (farmer/consumer) in the creation of the database on the basis of which entitlements would be allotted 7. Consumer acceptance due to “human and humane” CSC operator involvement 8. Simple internet connectivity and web-based solutions

D. Impact and Sustainability

 10. What were the key benefits resulting from this initiative?
Transparency: In EASYGAS, the software is able to allocate cylinders to the waiting list in an automatic, free and fair manner. Currently, such an allotment is done manually by the gas agencies and is heavily prone to discretion. Automation by an ICT tool is thus able to remove this discretion.In the case of KISAN, the software is able to allocate precise amount of fertilizer to a particular farmer depending on his size of land holding, financial status, nature of crop and other relevant decision making parameters. In the case of fertilizer, it is noteworthy that at present, all demand for fertilizer is calculated at an aggregate level at the state level, after which allocations of fertilizer are made to each district. The KISAN ICT tool reverses this top down approach by generating data at the unit farmer level, and then aggregating the various parameters all the way to the top. This bottom-up approach enables more precise and transparent calculation of fertilizer requirementeliminates wastage and generates information that can be used for many other purposes. Once allotment is done, the software informs the farmer (by means of Voice SMS or textSMS) of the allotment of stock to his respective society/retailer and the amount of each type of fertilizer allotted to him. The CSC operator additionally informs the farmer over phone about the completion of allotment and the arrival of fertilizer physically at the point-of-purchase on a particular date. The system can generate reports on demand and allotment of fertilizer at farmer, kiosk, point-of-purchase and district levels, thus enabling fool-proof monitoring by the district administration. Thus at each step of the process, transparency is ensured.Generation of various reports by the software has enabled more effective monitoring by the administration, which in turn will led to more transparency. below is the point-wise comparative analysis of the impact/benefits resulting from EASYGAS and KISAN: Problems before implementation of EASYGAS: 1. Gas cylinders are still booked in many places by manually standing in a queue and negotiating with touts. IVRS is used by a negligible share of rural/tier B,C urban population 2. Payment of money no guarantee to delivery of cylinder 3. A perceived demand supply gap in gas cylinders in districts, due to pilferage of domestic cylinders and diversion to commercial establishments. District administration has no mechanism for understanding/reviewing the pendency. 4. Law and order problems, especially before festive occasions when demand peaks, caused by black marketeering and crowds 5. At the district level, the LPG cylinder stock position, supply levels and distribution are a black box as far as the district authorities area concerned. Any intervention by the district authorities to enable access to this essential commodity is not possible. 6. IVRS and other ICT tools rolled out by individual gas agencies are dependent on local conditions. 7. CSC/Lokvani centre not commercially viable since services provided were issuance of various certifications and records, which were not chargeable. Impact after implementation of EASYGAS: 1. Booking made possible 24x7 at CSC/Lokvanicentres. 2. Booking fee of Rs10/- ensures creation of an entitlement right that a booking through a CSC will ensure delivery of cylinder within 7 days 3. Targeting of genuine domestic customers made possible and reduced the pilferage, thus automatically increasing the availability of gas cylinders for domestic consumers. 4. EASYGAS aids the oil marketing companies in better auditing and monitoring of stock made available to their dealers in various districts. 5. Software permits generation of oil company-wise, Agency-wise, date-wise reports. This facilitates monitoring and necessary action by district authorities. 6. Transparent procedure and adequate supply ensures minimal crowds and reduces possibility of black marketeering and diversion to commercial use. 7. Software enables the district administration to get accurate information about the stock positions, supply and deficits of this essential commodity. Software behaves as an accounting tool for the district administration, allowing for necessary intervention whenever required. 8. EASYGAS software is not dependent on local conditions, since it is a backend tool supporting an accessible human interface (at the CSC). 9. As a regular and committed source of revenue, gas bookings added an extra degree of financial buoyancy that helped CSCs take off in a major way. Problems before implementation of KISAN: 1. Assessment of demand /requirement for the different agricultural inputs especially seed and fertilizer are based on inaccurate and broad zonal and climatic estimations. Distribution of these inputs relies on a top-down approach. 2. Separate verticals for supply of fertilizer, seeds, soil testing etc 3. Excess and arbitrary drawl of fertilizer available in the cooperative sector by landed and moneyed farmers often leading to artificial scarcity for small and marginal farmers. 4. No systemic mechanism to provide information to the farmer regarding the arrival 5. (paper)applications for agricultural implement subsidy had to be submitted to the office of the district Agriculture officer. No receipt issued. Processing of applications opaque and outcome could be discretionary and variable. 6. No systemic mechanism for testing soil fertility; only one laboratory, with limited sample intake, is operational for the entire state. Soil test results are delayed indefinitely. 7. Sanction of Kisan Credit Card/ agricultural credit is not transport with incremental pendency at block/tehsil/service branch levels. Often, after repeatedly knocking at the bank’s door, the farmer was told his application was rejected without assigning any reasons for the same. 8. In procurement season, farmers often have to wait before government purchase centres with laden trolleys of paddy/wheat, uncertain of time and quantity of purchase. 9. Due to inefficiency of the cooperative sector, farmers were forced to turn to private retailers, with inherent risks of hoarding and over pricing. Impact after implementation of KISAN: 1. KISAN enables a bottom up generation of user database. Farmer specific data on land holdings and crop patterns is collected and aggregation at district and state levels provides a more scientific and accurate estimation of field demand. A collateral benefit arising from this mapping of farmers is the generation of an agricultural directory of the district. 2. All inputs integrated at one service-provider platform. 3. Software computation of demand ensures scientific and fair assessment of every farmer’s demand for each type of fertilizer based on crop season soil fertility and net sown area. 4. Under KISAN, at first the agriculture department allots the fertilizer against each individual coop. society’s demand and indicates the delivery date; then the software generates an IVRS message delivered to the farmer’s mobile phone informing him of the allotment and the date of physical arrival of fertilizer at the point of purchase. The CSC operator additionally informs the farmer over phone to further assist him. 5. KISAN generates a service-specific receipt for all services (implements, seeds, KCC etc). Physical allotment of the services is done FIFO. Farmer can check the status of his booking anytime online. 6. Every nyaypanchayatsis serviced by at least one CSC. User friendly soil testing kits available with each CSC/lokvanioperator ensures the farmer soil testing and generation of his soil health card right before his eyes in the span of one hour. 7. KISAN mandates that KCC applications are processed by the district coordinator of the concerned bank and the service branch manager in a time bound responsible manner and in strict adherence to RBI norms. Rejection has to be accompanied by reasons and accountability to the farmer is ensured through regular review by the Lead Bank manager and the district administration. 8. E-procurement module of KISAN offers the farmer assured purchase facility for the booked quantity at the preferred purchase centre on a date of his choice. 9. KISAN provides the power of choice to the farmer to book fertilizer either from a cooperative store or from a private retailer of his choice; sale price at private retailers kept under tight monitoring by the district authorities. Impact on CSCs: The project has had a tremendous impact in providing electronic delivery services through CSC in this district. On the one hand, it has been able to buttress the CSCs while on the other hand it has been able to provide the civic services to the citizens in a user friendly and hassle free manner. Ever since the project has started it has generated tremendous goodwill both for the administration and for the CSCs. They are able to earn anything between Rs 6000 to Rs 15000 per centre per month and are providing tremendous ease to the citizens to access government services. With over 264 CSCs operating in the Gonda district and over 150 CSCs are operating in Kanpur District. The project has been able to carry out more than 8.62 lakh transactions relating to various B2C and G2C services. These centres have been able to book more than 7 lakh LPG while over 1,20,000 farmers have been registered with KISAN and availed various services without any hitch. The project has helped in the creation of a knowledge and information economy thereby bringing in more opportunities and prosperity to the impoverished areas of this district. The project has helped villages become knowledge hubs so that they can gain symbiotically from each other and derive benefits from the global networks.
 11. Did the initiative improve integrity and/or accountability in public service? (If applicable)
Both EASYGAS and KISAN have the necessary capability to be rolled out at higher levels and can be utilized in any district (on a district scale) or state (on a state -wide scale) with just minor modification in location specific technology and vernacular language. System can easily share a single distributed system among increasing number of organizations. System or component can be easily modified, added, or removed to accommodate changing load. The application is web based and has been developed and maintained by NIC and implemented through CSC. There is no additional burden on the government through this project. Service providers or the CSCs are able to use their existing hardware and connectivity; hence they also do not incur any significant cost. For EASYGAS, on the basis of available statistics, it is seen that in District Basti (where it was first rolled out) in 2009-10, a total of 54782 bookings were received; thereafter in 2010-11, 23846 bookings, and in 2011-12, 40566 bookings have been received. Thereafter in District Gonda, EASYGAS was rolled out by the first nominee in March 2012. Subsequently she was transferred out. Despite the presence of another DM and adverse interests for a period of 6 months from April 15 to October 15, 2012, EASYGAS services continued to be offered by CSC/Lokvani operators. Thereafter the nominee was by a quirk of fate posted again to District Gonda and till date 3,78,173 bookings have been handled .The application has been implemented in Kanpur District since may 2014 and till date 4,76,983 bookings have been handled in the district .This demonstrates an ample measure of sustainability. For KISAN, while it is still early days to make any definitive conclusion about the sustainability given the short duration of deployment, the response for registration are extremely encouraging and indicative of sustainability. In total, 1,21,443 farmers have registered for various services provided under KISAN. This demonstrates a reasonable degree of sustainability across the season, with demand essentially being driven by the seasonality of demand for fertilizer and other agricultural inputs.
 12. Were special measures put in place to ensure that the initiative benefits women and girls and improves the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable? (If applicable)
1. State wide roll-out of EASYGAS is currently under consideration by the State Government. In future it is being planned to incorporate with Oil companies to share data so that monitoring can be possible by both. Presently there is no website or medium present which can show the transparency of LPG delivery to the Citizens. 2. At present EasyGas is implemented in two districts Gonda and Kanpur Nagar. The results from these two district is tremendous satisfactory. The continued monitoring of this software should be maintained so citizens can get their LPG with in time and with home delivery. 3. New technology should be incorporated in this software to keep this system fast. IVRS facility is also going to incorporate for consumers. Recognitions 1. EASYGAS won the eINDIA award 2013 which also helped boost its popularity and public acceptance. 2. Concept note on the above project was awarded under the Best Paper category in the National e-governance Seminar held at Jaipur, Feb 2013. 3. Won the prestigious Manthan award under category of ‘District Collector Digital Champion’ for the year 2013. 4. EASYGAS won the eUttara award 2014 held at Lucknow. 5. Newspaper cuttings of national Newspapers & other material are available at http://gonda.nic.in/lokvani/index.html

Contact Information

Institution Name:   District Administration
Institution Type:   Government Department  
Contact Person:   Roshan Jacob
Title:   DM  
Telephone/ Fax:   0512-2304436
Institution's / Project's Website:  
E-mail:   roshanjacob2000@yahoo.com  
Address:   Collectorate Kanpur
Postal Code:   208002
City:   Kanpur
State/Province:   Uttar Pradesh
Country:  

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