The two-day Regional Conference on ‘Improving Public Service Delivery – Role of Governments’ is being organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra and the Maharashtra State Commission for Right to Public Services. The conference was inaugurated in Nagpur, Maharashtra yesterday.
During the Conference, the Technical Sessions were organised on the following topics:
- How the Enactment of the Right to Services Law has helped in Improving Delivery of Public Services
- Electronic Delivery of Public Services
- Creating Awareness in Society regarding Right to Public Services
- Centralized Public Grievances – Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)
- Innovative Practices regarding delivery of Public Services
- Ek Bharat-Shresht Bharat with focus on Improving Public Services Delivery in the Districts of Maharashtra and Odisha.
The inaugural session was followed by the Technical sessions during the two days.
On day 1 of the conference, the First Technical session was on the topic: ‘How enactments of Law has helped in improving delivery of Public Services’. The Session was chaired by Shri Sanjay Kothari, Secretary to the President. The participants of the session were Chief Commissioner, RTS, Maharashtra, Shri S. S. Kshatriya, Commissioner, RTS, Punjab, Shri Mandeep Singh Sandhu and Chief Commissioner, RTS, Haryana, Shri Hardeep Kumar. Shri Mandeep Singh Sandhu spoke about new features of the Punjab Transparency and Accountability in Delivery of Public Services Act, 2018. He said that 568 services have been notified under the Act, adding that all public services would be put under the Act. Shri Hardeep Kumar spoke about Haryana Right to Services Act, 2014, saying that 370 services under 27 deptts have been notified under the Act. He spoke about the provision of rewards for outstanding work.
The Second Technical Session was on ‘Electronic Delivery of Public Services’ and was chaired by Commissioner, RTS, Punjab, Shri Mandeep Singh Sandhu.
The Principal Secretary, IT, Govt of Maharashtra Shri S. V. R. Srinivas, the Commissioner (IT), Govt of Tamil Nadu, Shri Santosh K. Mishra, MD, M.P. Agency for Promotion of IT, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Nand Kumarum and Addl. Mission Director, Sakala Mission, Karnataka, Shri Varaprasad Reddy were the panellists. Shri S. V. R. Srinivas said that Real time governance is possible only with e-delivery of public services. He spoke about 4 wheels of e-delivery of services: RTS portal, Grievances portal, Citizen engagement and CM Helpline and also elaborated on MahaNet and UrbanNet. He informed that 38,000 centres have been set up for assisting citizens. Shri Nand Kumarum spoke about electronic services delivery in MP and elaborated upon Public Portal, CM Helpline and Samadhan online. Shri Santosh K. Mishra gave presentation on e-delivery of public services. He said 12,000 service centres have been set up and there are about 1 crore beneficiaries till date. He emphasised on quality monitoring by collectors. A dedicated Youtube channel launched to overcome the language barrier, he added. He further said that Digi volunteers have been appointed to bridge digital divide between urban and rural areas. Shri Varaprasad Reddy said that 840 services are online, with 8,000 service centres being set up. He briefed about Sakala Service delivery process.
The Third Technical session was on ‘Creating awareness in the society regarding Right to Public Services’, chaired by Member Secretary (ARC), Kerala, Smt Sheela Thomas. The Addl. Secretary (Pers. AR & Trg.) Govt of Assam, Shri Debajyoti Dutta, Secretary WBPRTPS Commission, West Bengal, Shri Supriyo Ghosal, Secretary, RTPS, Commission, Uttarakhand, Shri Pankaj Nathani and Secretary (Public Grievances) Govt of Goa, Shri Sanjay Gihar were the panelists. During the session, Shri Debajyoti Dutta spoke about Public Services Delivery in Assam, adding that State-wide campaign has been launched to make communication needs assessment. He said that Assam will have RTS Commission by next year. Shri Supriyo Ghosal spoke about West Bengal Right to Public Services Act, 2013. He added that 216 services of 24 deptts have been covered under the Act. Shri Pankaj Nathani spoke about generating Public Awareness through websites, press release, booklets, radio, pamphlets, posters, toll free numbers and bulk SMS services. Shri Sanjay Gihar spoke about role of Government in improving public services delivery.
On the Second day of the conference, three technical sessions were held. The Fifth Session of the Conference was held on Centralised Public Grievances – Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). The session was chaired by the Secretary, GAD (O&M), Govt of Maharashtra, Smt Anshu Sinha. The participants included DS, DARPG, Smt Prisca Mathew, ED, Ministry of Railways, Shri Vivek Srivastava and Scientist ‘F’ NIC, Haryana, Shri Ganesh Dutt. Speaking about the CPGRAMS, Smt Prisca Mathew said that CPGRAMS interlinks 86 Central Ministries/Departments of all States/UTs and more than 51,000 sub-ordinate users have been created on CPGRAMS. She added that reforms have led to reduction in redress time. She said that CPGRAMS reforms have been undertaken in a phased manner, starting with D/o Posts. During this session, Shri Vivek Srivastava spoke about Grievance management in Indian Railways and elaborated on Rail Madad portal, saying that Indian railways is the 4th largest network catering to various stakeholders. Shri Ganesh Dutt spoke about CM Window- Grievance redressal Portal of Chief Minister in Haryana. He said that more than 92 % grievances are disposed off. He spoke about monitoring by CM Good Governance Associates. He also mentioned about Nigrani Samitis in Haryana. On the occasion, Shri Dutt also gave a presentation on leveraging technology for public services delivery through e-Kranti (NeGP 2.0) Portal.
The Fifth Session of the conference was on Innovative practices regarding delivery of Public Services.
The DC, Udaipur, Ms Anandhi spoke about the awareness generation about menstrual health of women and mentioned about the efforts that have been taken by the district administration to address this issue. The Addl Collector, Kheda, Shri Ramesh Mirza spoke about Gujarat Right of Citizens to Public Services Act, 2013. He mentioned that 368 services of 18 departments have been notified. He said that Jan Seva Kendra have been set up across all districts and talukas of Gujarat. He added that 283 services are being provided under Jan Seva Kendras. He also briefed about SWAGAT online and Sewa Setu initiatives. During the session, the Scientist ‘E’ NIC, Haryana, Shri Alok Srivastava spoke about Antyodaya Saral Project in Haryana, offering 514 services of 38 departments. He stressed upon timeliness, multiple touchpoints, accessibility and complete digitisation. He added that there is one integrated helpline now. He added that 115 Antyodaya kendras at 22 district headquarters have been opened.
The last technical session of the Conference was on ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshta Bharat’ with focus on improving Public Services Delivery in Maharashtra and Odisha. The Collector, Ahmadnagar, Shri Rahul Dwivedi and Collector, Gadchiroli, Shri Shekhar Singh participated in the session. During the session, Shri Rahul Dwivedi said that Information Kiosks have been set up in the districts. The machine called ATDM (All Time Document Machine) have been installed from where the citizens can take print outs of related to revenue records, death and birth, among others. These documents have been uploaded on ATDM. It has led to accountability and transparency in administration. The machine fulfils two objectives of Right to Public Services (RPS) and Right to Information (RTI). While giving his presentation, Shri Shekhar Singh emphasized upon the need for multi-pronged approach while implementing public service delivery. He spoke about various challenges being faced by Gadchiroli district in public service delivery, including connectivity, lack of awareness, social and linguistic issues, among others. He mentioned various initiatives that the district administration is taking to tackle these issues.
The technical sessions were followed by deliberations where the delegates discussed various issues related to implementation of right to public services with the panelists and shared their experiences.