Public Administration Paper 1 Keywords/Sentences
This is not a gyaan-giving article per se, but a personal collection of keywords which one can use while writing the answers in Public Administration Paper One. These sentences/powerful words might give the student an added advantage.
1. System of organization and action-oriented.
2. Self-government in local communities.
3. Wide citizen participation.
4. Dispersion of authority.
5. Professionalization of the public service.
6. Economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
7. Pursuit of public interest.
8. Curbing of political patronage.
9. Establishing propositions about administration behavior which transcend national boundaries.
10. Client-impact oriented.
11. Social capacity building.
12. De-bureaucratization.
13. A well-intended but overambitious optimism.
14. More pragmatic and less radical.
15. Collaborative governance.
16. Reinforce high productivity.
17. Advocating downsizing of government.
18. Democratic performance management.
19. Globalized perspectives.
20. Social equity, justice, transparency and accountability.
21. Socially embedded process of collective relationships.
22. Institutional pluralism.
23. Enhanced management competence using IT.
24. Reinventing government.
25. Comparing results with intentions.
26. Detailed and systematic application of law.
27. Rise of welfare state.
28. Socio-Economic Planning.
29. Lack of institutional capacity.
30. Responsiveness and participation.
31. Decentralized democratic administration.
32. Relaxation of government controls in the spheres of economic and social policy.
33. Commitment to market orientation.
34. Legitimacy of government.
35. Decentralization ensuring peoples participation.
36. Stifling effect of techno-administrative domination of bureaucracy.
37. Encouraging initiative and energizing group.
38. System of consciously coordinated activities.
39. Inter-personal competence.
40. Delegation of responsibility.
41. Consultative management.
42. Satisfaction reinforces perpetuation of certain needs and desires.
43. Intrinsic job satisfaction.
44. Situational leadership.
45. Transformational and charismatic leadership.
46. Specialized subsystems that perform certain specialized functions.
47. Explicit understanding of relationship among various organizational variables.
48. Situation dictates managerial action.
49. Rigidity in operation.
50. Adherence to law.
51. Disarticulation of the state.
52. Ensure opportunity for the poor to voice their concerns in social audit meetings.
53. Civic engagement, emphasizing societys role in improving governmental accountability.
54. Dynamic boost to development thinking.
55. Strengthening voice in service delivery by enabling answerability.
56. Investigative journalism.
57. Peoples empowerment.
58. Deliberative democracy.
59. Open audited public service.
60. Accountability of public governance for market-based economic performance does not necessarily imply its accountability for citizens rights.
61. Accountability for competition and productivity does not guarantee its accountability for representation and equality.
62. Accountability for higher profit does not connote its accountability for welfare and justice.
63. Extractive institutions.
64. Citizen empowerment through access to information.
65. Internationalization of many erstwhile domestic issues.
66. Vision of the desired future without an accompanying specification of trajectory.
67. Incremental change.
68. Public controls of commissioning services while having private providers deliver them.
69. Big bang reforms and gradualism.
70. Ecological conceptualization of administration.
71. Increased revenue mobilization.
72. Maximize positive supportive altruistic behavior.
73. Increasing globalization of public policy.
74. Shaping the future by building on its past.
75. Entrepreneurial government.
76. Converting policy alternatives into market choices.
77. Decentralization of authority.
78. Empowering participatory management.
79. Steady erosion of the states capacity to deal with complex social and economic issues.
80. Structures of inter-dependence.
81. Fragmented public sector model.
82. Underestimation of the culture clash.
83. External orientation.
84. Drilling down to the underlying political economy drivers.
85. Places individual citizens at the core of administrative reforms process.
86. Reinforcing public satisfaction.
87. Propelling behavior in a specific pre-determined direction.
88. Goal-directed action.
89. Intrinsic job satisfaction.
90. Legitimacy of authority.
91. co-active and not coercive.
92. Situational leadership.
93. Cumulative responsibility and authority.
94. Psychological maturity and relative independence.
95. Sphere of competence.
96. Benevolent and consultative authority.
97. Grievance redressal mechanism
98. Inefficient utilization of public funds.
99. Overaching framework of liberal democracy.
Name Akand Sitra
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
IT Basic Concepts
* Abbrevations:
* STD Standard Trunk Dialing
* ISD International Subscriber Dialing
* SMS Short Message Service
* MMS Media Message Service
* PABX Private Automatic Branch eXchange
* CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
* GSM Global System for Mobile communication
* ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (1946, First Electronic Computer)
* EDVAC Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
* CPU Central Processing Unit
* ALU Arithmetic and Logical Unit
* RAM Random Access Memory
* ROM Read Only Memory
* CLI Command Line Interpreter
* GUI Graphical User Interface
* BIOS Basic Input Output System
* IBM International Business Machines
* DTP Desk Top Publishing
* LINUX Linus Uniplexed Information Computing System (Graphic User Interface)
* UNIX Uniplexed Information Computing System (Character User Interface)
* DOS Disk Operating System
* WINDOWS window for computer
* FAX- Facsimile Machine
* MICR Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
* OCR Optical Character Recognition
* OMR Optical Mark Recognition
* ASCII American Standard Code
* BIT Binary Digit
* MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface
* MPEG Moving Pictures Expert Group
* JPEG Joint Photographic Expert Group
* AVI Audio Visual Information
* PNG Portable Network Graphics
* BASIC Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
* COBOL Common Business Oriented Language
* FORTRAN FORmula TRANslation
* ANSI American National Standards Institute
* URL Uniform Resource Locator
* ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
* VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal
* TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol
* Generations of Computers
* 1st Generation Computers Vacuum Tubes
* 2nd Generation Transistors
* 3rd Generation Integrated Circuits (Chips)
* 4th Generation LSIC, VLSIC
* 5th Generation Thinking Machines (Turing Machine)
* Types of Computers (based on electric signal)
* Analog flight simulators
* Digital commercial and control systems
* Hybrid ECG machines, Modem
* Types of Computers (based on Size)
* Microcomputer 8bit microprocessor chips, IBM PC
* Minicomputer
* Mainframe computer DEC, ICL, IBM 3000 series
* Super computer CRAY YMP, PARAM, CRAY2, NEC SX-3
* Natural Languages LISP, PROLOG
* Transistor (1959) an electronic device which can replace several hundreds of Vacuum Tubes
* Characteristics of computer speed, accuracy, versatility, diligence, storage capacity
* Bootstrap loader The initial startup program which is stored in ROM and whose function is to start the operation of the computer system(booting) once the power is turned on.
* RAM is a primary memory and volatile memory which has limited storage capacity.
* Primary memory is accessible directly by the Processing Unit
* ROM It stores some standard processing programs supplied by manufacturer to operate PC
* Storage of program and data in ROM is permanent.
* ROM can only be read by CPU but it cannot be changed.
* PROM(Programmable) In PROM, possible to store program but cant be altered or erase later
* EPROM(Erasable, Programmable) Overcomes the problems of PROM and ROM
* Inf. Stored in EPROM is erased by exposing it to UV light.
* EAPROM(Electrically Alterable) memory can be altered by using electric signals
* Cache Memory small memory chip attached between CPU and Main memory. Accessed much faster than conventional RAM.
* Secondary Memory(Auxiliary Memory) two types: Magnetic & optical
* Magnetic hard disk stack of metal disks sealed in a box(rewritable)
* Optical CD, DVD, Pen drives, zip drives
* WORM Write Once Read Many
* IN/OUT devices:
* Input Keyboard, Mouse, Trackball, light pen, touch screen, MICR, OMR, BCR, Scanner
* Output Monitor, Printer, Plotter, FAX(Facsimile Machine), Speakers
* Printer types:
* Impact Dot Matrix, Character printers
* Non Impact InkJet, DIskJet, Laser, Thermal Printers
* Software Set of programs (or instructions) that makes hardware perform set of tasks in particular order
* System software MS Dos, UNIX, Linux
* Application software software for specific application
* Translators Compilers and Interpreters
* Compiler special program that processes statements written in a particular programming language (source code) and converts to machine code.
* It is a translator program which reads entire program written in high level language and converts it into machine language code
* Interpreter Translates high level language into intermediate form which it then executes. Time consuming is program is long.
* It is a translator which converts one statement of program into machine code, execute it and then goes on to perform the same for next statement, and continues till end of program or occurrence of an error
* Computer Security :
* Virus Program written to interface with normal functioning of the computer
* Boot sector virus infects bootsector in harddisk and affects partition table
* File viruses attach with exe files. Commonly infects files with com or exe extensions
* System Viruses Infects specific system files such as command.com
* Viruses can be grouped as:
* Time bomb It will start on particular date at particular time. Computer looses its ability to function properly
* Trojan Horse Enters computer via email or free programs that are downloaded
* Worm Infiltrate legitimate data processing programs and alter or destroy data
* Often use network connections to spread from one system to other
* Linked through communication lines
Digital Computer
* CPU also known as Brain of Computer
* Computer Functions Receive inputs, Process information, Produce output, Store information
* Registers Additional storage locations. Present in CU and ALU make processing efficient.
* Address to locate characters of data or instructions computer stores them in location called address
* Legal aspects:
* Copyright intellectual property; it encourages artists, designers, authors to create original works by rewarding them with exclusive right to a limited period to exploit the work for monetary gain
* Disclaimer It is an acknowledgment by the author/ creator of web page that he doesnt claim any accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of information and contents disclosed in web
* Digital Signature It is an encryption and decryption process allowing both the positive identification of author of an electronic message and verification of integrity
Microsoft Office
* Excel:
* A workbook opens with three worksheets and it can have a maximum of 255 worksheets
* Entering Formulas:
* Must start with an = sign
* Mathematical operators(+-/*%) and Relational operators(>< ), text
* Reference of cells
* Functions related to worksheets (ex. SUM, AVERAGE ets)
* & is used to join texts(concatenate) in quotation marks
* PowerPoint:
* In both normal view and outline view you can see current slide, slide outline, notes
* 9 no of slide layouts available in New Slide dialog box
* Slideshow view is used in presentation of slides in a conference
* Insert text in a slide Using outline text, inserting text boxes
* Add notes to Slides in Normal View
* Text can be easily entered into slides using Normal view, Outline view
Internet & Networking
* Protocol It is a set of rules that govern data communication
* Communication devices:
* Wire pairs local telephone commn. Short distance digital data commn.
* Twisted pairs copper wires twisted in pairs. Helps reduce cross talk, EMI
* Comes in two forms Unshielded and Shielded Twisted Pairs, UTP and STP
* Ethernet IEEE 802.3 4 pairs of Cu cables both voice and data transmission
* Coaxial cable cable TV, office buildings and LANs
* Optical Fibre glass fibre wrapped in protected in protective layers
* Carries data by means of pulses of light
* Communication Services:
* Baud rate number of bits per second
* Narrow band, voice band, broadband
* Modem A modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analog signals for a conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analog signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device
* Properties of Networking:
* Facilitate communications
* Permit sharing of files, data, and other type of information
* Share network and computer resources
* Types of Network:
* LAN supplies networking for group of computers in close proximity
* Ethernet cables, hubs, and Network adapters
* Ex schools, colleges, firms etc.
* WAN network which covers a larger geographical area
* Uses communication circuits to connect intermediate nodes
* Ex Ethernet (Xerox), ARPANET (Adv. Research Projects Agency US)
* MAN serves role to an ISP, but for corporate users with larger LANs
* Ex Cellular or mobile phone network
* Imp Terms:
* Voice messaging similar to electronic mail which is an audio message
* Hub Anything that comes in one port is sent out to the others
* Switch similar to hub but pays attention to traffic that comes across it
* Router it is as a computer can be programmed to understand, manipulate, and route the data its being asked to handle
* Network Repeater repeater connects two segments of network cable, regenerates the signals to proper amplitudes and send them to other segments
* Operates at physical layer of OSI
* Bridge it reads outermost section of data on data packet, and tells where the message is going
* It occurs at the Data link layer of OSI
* Gateway it can translate inf b/w diff n/w data formats or network architectures
* Operate at application layer. Can also operate at network or session layer of OSI
* CN and Communication:
* Analog signal transmission pattern is in a continuous wave form
* Measured in Volts and Frequency in Hz.
* Digital signal it assumes a discrete set of values over a given range
* Sequence of voltage represented in binary form
* Communication types:
* P to P Commn peer to peer or point to point network where a single commn channel is not shared by all nodes
* Ex MAN, WAN
* Broadcasting - network has single commn channel that is shared by all the other nodes
* Ex LAN
* Network Topology:
* BUS - connects networking comp along a single cable or series of cables that are connected linearly
* RING network stations are connected along a single path whose ends are connected to form a circle
* STAR number of work stations are directly linked to central server
* Communication protocols:
* Protocol procedure of data transmission in form of software (or)
* It is a set of rules that tells computer know how to interpret inf at that address
* Data sequencing, data routing, flow control, error control
* Data transmission Modes:
* Simplex communication takes place in one direction
* Half duplex commn channel is used in both directions but one at a time
* Full duplex commn channel used in both directions at the same time
* Internet (network of networks):
* Internet is not a government body. Entire authority lies with Internet Society.
* E-mail (electronic mail) paperless method of sending messages, notes, or letters from one person to other
* Offline editing/composing/reading can be done.
* Intranet it is the use of internet technology for communication within the firm and those organizations and individuals with whom the firm does business
* Vinod.gali@gmail.com
* Vinod.gali local part, name of the mailbox or the destination computer
* Gmail mail server
* .com type of organization on net, which is hosting the mailbox
* Com commercial institutions or organization
* Edu educational institutions
* Org private organizations
* Gov government site
* Mil military site
* Net Gateways and administrative hosts
* FTP Internet utility s/w used to upload or download files
* Can login to FTP site with username anonymous and email address as password
* TELNET (Remote Computing) telecommn utility s/w, uses available telecommn facility and allows to become a user on a remote computer
* WWW (world wide web or The web) hypertext based information retrieval tool
* Surfing process of using browser to view inf on internet
* URL (Uniform Resource Locator) the address on the internet
* Ex http://www.gali.org/simha/vinod.htm
* Protocol is followed by a colon (http), FTP, NEWS( Usenet News groups protocol) , GOPHER( alternative transfer protocol), TELNET
* Server is preceded by (//www.gali.org)
* Each name of the segment is preceded by /
* Types of Internet connections:
* Gateway access (Level one access) Access to internet from a network, which is not on the internet.
* Dial up connection (Level two) provides conn to internet through a dial-up terminal conn
* Shell Connection user gets only textual matter of webpage. Doesnt support graphics
* TCP/IP it can display both text and graphics
* ISDN high speed internet through the use of digital phone lines
* Leased Connection (Level three) secure, dedicated and most expensive level of internet connection.
* DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connects home or office through same telephone line that comes through street
* VSAT an earthbound station used in satellite commn of data, voice and video signals, excluding broadcast television.
* Spamming Act of sending unsolicited emails
* HTML:
* Hyper Text Markup Language; platform independent; tags;
* Format: < HTML>
* Attributes of :
* BGCOLOR background color for the document
* MARGINS set left, top margins (LEFTMARGIN, TOPMARGIN)
* BACKGROUND point to an image file, that will be tiled across document
* Tags:
* Container tags tags having both opening and closing tags
* Ex - ,
* Empty tags tags having only opening and no ending.
* Ex -
,
*
* STD Standard Trunk Dialing
* ISD International Subscriber Dialing
* SMS Short Message Service
* MMS Media Message Service
* PABX Private Automatic Branch eXchange
* CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
* GSM Global System for Mobile communication
* ENIAC Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (1946, First Electronic Computer)
* EDVAC Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer
* CPU Central Processing Unit
* ALU Arithmetic and Logical Unit
* RAM Random Access Memory
* ROM Read Only Memory
* CLI Command Line Interpreter
* GUI Graphical User Interface
* BIOS Basic Input Output System
* IBM International Business Machines
* DTP Desk Top Publishing
* LINUX Linus Uniplexed Information Computing System (Graphic User Interface)
* UNIX Uniplexed Information Computing System (Character User Interface)
* DOS Disk Operating System
* WINDOWS window for computer
* FAX- Facsimile Machine
* MICR Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
* OCR Optical Character Recognition
* OMR Optical Mark Recognition
* ASCII American Standard Code
* BIT Binary Digit
* MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface
* MPEG Moving Pictures Expert Group
* JPEG Joint Photographic Expert Group
* AVI Audio Visual Information
* PNG Portable Network Graphics
* BASIC Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
* COBOL Common Business Oriented Language
* FORTRAN FORmula TRANslation
* ANSI American National Standards Institute
* URL Uniform Resource Locator
* ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
* VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal
* TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol
* Generations of Computers
* 1st Generation Computers Vacuum Tubes
* 2nd Generation Transistors
* 3rd Generation Integrated Circuits (Chips)
* 4th Generation LSIC, VLSIC
* 5th Generation Thinking Machines (Turing Machine)
* Types of Computers (based on electric signal)
* Analog flight simulators
* Digital commercial and control systems
* Hybrid ECG machines, Modem
* Types of Computers (based on Size)
* Microcomputer 8bit microprocessor chips, IBM PC
* Minicomputer
* Mainframe computer DEC, ICL, IBM 3000 series
* Super computer CRAY YMP, PARAM, CRAY2, NEC SX-3
* Natural Languages LISP, PROLOG
* Transistor (1959) an electronic device which can replace several hundreds of Vacuum Tubes
* Characteristics of computer speed, accuracy, versatility, diligence, storage capacity
* Bootstrap loader The initial startup program which is stored in ROM and whose function is to start the operation of the computer system(booting) once the power is turned on.
* RAM is a primary memory and volatile memory which has limited storage capacity.
* Primary memory is accessible directly by the Processing Unit
* ROM It stores some standard processing programs supplied by manufacturer to operate PC
* Storage of program and data in ROM is permanent.
* ROM can only be read by CPU but it cannot be changed.
* PROM(Programmable) In PROM, possible to store program but cant be altered or erase later
* EPROM(Erasable, Programmable) Overcomes the problems of PROM and ROM
* Inf. Stored in EPROM is erased by exposing it to UV light.
* EAPROM(Electrically Alterable) memory can be altered by using electric signals
* Cache Memory small memory chip attached between CPU and Main memory. Accessed much faster than conventional RAM.
* Secondary Memory(Auxiliary Memory) two types: Magnetic & optical
* Magnetic hard disk stack of metal disks sealed in a box(rewritable)
* Optical CD, DVD, Pen drives, zip drives
* WORM Write Once Read Many
* IN/OUT devices:
* Input Keyboard, Mouse, Trackball, light pen, touch screen, MICR, OMR, BCR, Scanner
* Output Monitor, Printer, Plotter, FAX(Facsimile Machine), Speakers
* Printer types:
* Impact Dot Matrix, Character printers
* Non Impact InkJet, DIskJet, Laser, Thermal Printers
* Software Set of programs (or instructions) that makes hardware perform set of tasks in particular order
* System software MS Dos, UNIX, Linux
* Application software software for specific application
* Translators Compilers and Interpreters
* Compiler special program that processes statements written in a particular programming language (source code) and converts to machine code.
* It is a translator program which reads entire program written in high level language and converts it into machine language code
* Interpreter Translates high level language into intermediate form which it then executes. Time consuming is program is long.
* It is a translator which converts one statement of program into machine code, execute it and then goes on to perform the same for next statement, and continues till end of program or occurrence of an error
* Computer Security :
* Virus Program written to interface with normal functioning of the computer
* Boot sector virus infects bootsector in harddisk and affects partition table
* File viruses attach with exe files. Commonly infects files with com or exe extensions
* System Viruses Infects specific system files such as command.com
* Viruses can be grouped as:
* Time bomb It will start on particular date at particular time. Computer looses its ability to function properly
* Trojan Horse Enters computer via email or free programs that are downloaded
* Worm Infiltrate legitimate data processing programs and alter or destroy data
* Often use network connections to spread from one system to other
* Linked through communication lines
Digital Computer
* CPU also known as Brain of Computer
* Computer Functions Receive inputs, Process information, Produce output, Store information
* Registers Additional storage locations. Present in CU and ALU make processing efficient.
* Address to locate characters of data or instructions computer stores them in location called address
* Legal aspects:
* Copyright intellectual property; it encourages artists, designers, authors to create original works by rewarding them with exclusive right to a limited period to exploit the work for monetary gain
* Disclaimer It is an acknowledgment by the author/ creator of web page that he doesnt claim any accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of information and contents disclosed in web
* Digital Signature It is an encryption and decryption process allowing both the positive identification of author of an electronic message and verification of integrity
Microsoft Office
* Excel:
* A workbook opens with three worksheets and it can have a maximum of 255 worksheets
* Entering Formulas:
* Must start with an = sign
* Mathematical operators(+-/*%) and Relational operators(>< ), text
* Reference of cells
* Functions related to worksheets (ex. SUM, AVERAGE ets)
* & is used to join texts(concatenate) in quotation marks
* PowerPoint:
* In both normal view and outline view you can see current slide, slide outline, notes
* 9 no of slide layouts available in New Slide dialog box
* Slideshow view is used in presentation of slides in a conference
* Insert text in a slide Using outline text, inserting text boxes
* Add notes to Slides in Normal View
* Text can be easily entered into slides using Normal view, Outline view
Internet & Networking
* Protocol It is a set of rules that govern data communication
* Communication devices:
* Wire pairs local telephone commn. Short distance digital data commn.
* Twisted pairs copper wires twisted in pairs. Helps reduce cross talk, EMI
* Comes in two forms Unshielded and Shielded Twisted Pairs, UTP and STP
* Ethernet IEEE 802.3 4 pairs of Cu cables both voice and data transmission
* Coaxial cable cable TV, office buildings and LANs
* Optical Fibre glass fibre wrapped in protected in protective layers
* Carries data by means of pulses of light
* Communication Services:
* Baud rate number of bits per second
* Narrow band, voice band, broadband
* Modem A modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analog signals for a conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analog signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device
* Properties of Networking:
* Facilitate communications
* Permit sharing of files, data, and other type of information
* Share network and computer resources
* Types of Network:
* LAN supplies networking for group of computers in close proximity
* Ethernet cables, hubs, and Network adapters
* Ex schools, colleges, firms etc.
* WAN network which covers a larger geographical area
* Uses communication circuits to connect intermediate nodes
* Ex Ethernet (Xerox), ARPANET (Adv. Research Projects Agency US)
* MAN serves role to an ISP, but for corporate users with larger LANs
* Ex Cellular or mobile phone network
* Imp Terms:
* Voice messaging similar to electronic mail which is an audio message
* Hub Anything that comes in one port is sent out to the others
* Switch similar to hub but pays attention to traffic that comes across it
* Router it is as a computer can be programmed to understand, manipulate, and route the data its being asked to handle
* Network Repeater repeater connects two segments of network cable, regenerates the signals to proper amplitudes and send them to other segments
* Operates at physical layer of OSI
* Bridge it reads outermost section of data on data packet, and tells where the message is going
* It occurs at the Data link layer of OSI
* Gateway it can translate inf b/w diff n/w data formats or network architectures
* Operate at application layer. Can also operate at network or session layer of OSI
* CN and Communication:
* Analog signal transmission pattern is in a continuous wave form
* Measured in Volts and Frequency in Hz.
* Digital signal it assumes a discrete set of values over a given range
* Sequence of voltage represented in binary form
* Communication types:
* P to P Commn peer to peer or point to point network where a single commn channel is not shared by all nodes
* Ex MAN, WAN
* Broadcasting - network has single commn channel that is shared by all the other nodes
* Ex LAN
* Network Topology:
* BUS - connects networking comp along a single cable or series of cables that are connected linearly
* RING network stations are connected along a single path whose ends are connected to form a circle
* STAR number of work stations are directly linked to central server
* Communication protocols:
* Protocol procedure of data transmission in form of software (or)
* It is a set of rules that tells computer know how to interpret inf at that address
* Data sequencing, data routing, flow control, error control
* Data transmission Modes:
* Simplex communication takes place in one direction
* Half duplex commn channel is used in both directions but one at a time
* Full duplex commn channel used in both directions at the same time
* Internet (network of networks):
* Internet is not a government body. Entire authority lies with Internet Society.
* E-mail (electronic mail) paperless method of sending messages, notes, or letters from one person to other
* Offline editing/composing/reading can be done.
* Intranet it is the use of internet technology for communication within the firm and those organizations and individuals with whom the firm does business
* Vinod.gali@gmail.com
* Vinod.gali local part, name of the mailbox or the destination computer
* Gmail mail server
* .com type of organization on net, which is hosting the mailbox
* Com commercial institutions or organization
* Edu educational institutions
* Org private organizations
* Gov government site
* Mil military site
* Net Gateways and administrative hosts
* FTP Internet utility s/w used to upload or download files
* Can login to FTP site with username anonymous and email address as password
* TELNET (Remote Computing) telecommn utility s/w, uses available telecommn facility and allows to become a user on a remote computer
* WWW (world wide web or The web) hypertext based information retrieval tool
* Surfing process of using browser to view inf on internet
* URL (Uniform Resource Locator) the address on the internet
* Ex http://www.gali.org/simha/vinod.htm
* Protocol is followed by a colon (http), FTP, NEWS( Usenet News groups protocol) , GOPHER( alternative transfer protocol), TELNET
* Server is preceded by (//www.gali.org)
* Each name of the segment is preceded by /
* Types of Internet connections:
* Gateway access (Level one access) Access to internet from a network, which is not on the internet.
* Dial up connection (Level two) provides conn to internet through a dial-up terminal conn
* Shell Connection user gets only textual matter of webpage. Doesnt support graphics
* TCP/IP it can display both text and graphics
* ISDN high speed internet through the use of digital phone lines
* Leased Connection (Level three) secure, dedicated and most expensive level of internet connection.
* DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connects home or office through same telephone line that comes through street
* VSAT an earthbound station used in satellite commn of data, voice and video signals, excluding broadcast television.
* Spamming Act of sending unsolicited emails
* HTML:
* Hyper Text Markup Language; platform independent; tags;
* Format: < HTML>
* Attributes of :
* BGCOLOR background color for the document
* MARGINS set left, top margins (LEFTMARGIN, TOPMARGIN)
* BACKGROUND point to an image file, that will be tiled across document
* Tags:
* Container tags tags having both opening and closing tags
* Ex - ,
* Empty tags tags having only opening and no ending.
* Ex -
,
*
- Pre Formatted text
* browser preserves spaces and line breaks for the text written inside the tag
*
attributes WIDTH, SIZE, ALIGN, NOSHADE, COLOR
* , , , , , ,
* - COLOR, SIZE (default font size -3), FACE
* Special characters
* - &cop
* - ®
* - ¼
* Divide, < ,>,< =, >= - ÷, <, >, &le, &ge
* & - &
* Spade, clubs, heart - &spades, &clubs, &hearts
* Ordered List Numbered List -- COMPACT, TYPE (A, a, I, I, 1), START (START=5 => starts with either E, e, v, V, 5 depending on type)
Unordered List Bulleted List -
*- ALIGN, HEIGHT, WIDTH, VSPACE, HSPACE, ALT, BORDER
* - anchor tag NAME (to identify a section with a name)
* Java:
* Characteristics Simple and small, Object Oriented (Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Data Binding, Inheritance), Portable and Interpreted, Architecture Neutral, Dynamic, Distributed, Automatic memory management, Multi threaded, Robust, Secured
* Classes they are fundamental entities of java
*
System Analysis and Design
* SDLC
* Organizational process of developing and maintaining systems
* Requirement analysis design coding testing maintenance
* Decision Table
* Chart with four sections; top section has title, date, author, system and comments
* Condition stub list of necessary steps in a decision table
* Action stub write all processes desired in a given module
* Condition entry all possible permutations yes or no responses
* Action entry whether an action should occur as a consequence of condition entry
* Decision Tree
* Defines condition as a sequence of left to right tests
* It turns decision table in to a diagram
* Data Processing Activities:
* Collection, Conversion, Manipulation, Storage, Communication
* Data Organization:
* Data item smallest unit of information stored in a computer file
* Field data items are physically arranged as fields in a computer file
* Record it is a collection of related data items or fields
* File collection of records
* Database collection of related files
* OOPS:
* Object object contains data and code to manipulate data
* It can interact without knowing details of each others data and code
* Objects are variables of type class
* Class Entire set of data and code can be made a user defined data type with the help of a class
* Data Abstraction abstraction refers to act of representing essential features without including background details
* Encapsulation combining both data and functions that operate on that data under a single unit
* Modularity act of partitioning a program into individual components is called as modularity
* Inheritance It is a capability to define a new class (derived class) in terms of an existing class (base class)
* Polymorphism It is the concept that supports the capability of data to be processed in more than one form
GV Simha
Indias economy story: There is hope yet
Indias economy story: There is hope yet
(By:Alok Kumar,NIT ROURKELA)
The three biggest problems that plague our economy today are decelerating economic growth, rising inflation, and a widening current account deficit (now at 4.8 per cent of GDP). These problems have the combined effect of lowering investor confidence (both domestic and foreign) and falling rupee value against the dollar (reaching a low of 61.09). It is also important to note that these problems turn into a vicious cycle, as lower investment confidence means FII flows leave the country, depreciate the rupee, which in turn raises import bills widening the current account deficit and further hurting confidence. On June 12, Fitch Ratings downgraded our outlook from stable to negative, something Standard and Poors predicted months back. Instead of merely stating the problems, this article seeks to break these problems down to specific causes and further explore possible policy solutions, keeping in mind the political constraints and upcoming the General Election.
India grew at 8.5 per cent in FY 2010-2011, which has now slumped to 5 per cent in the most recent fiscal year ending March 2013. Breaking these numbers up into the three sectors of the economy manufacturing, services and agriculture is key in understanding the cause of decrease in real GDP growth.Agriculture and manufacturing have seen a significant slowdown in this period of three financial years going back to March 2010. Agriculture growth has gone from 7.9 per cent to 3.6 per cent to 1.9 per cent while manufacturing growth has fallen from 9.7 per cent to 2.7 per cent to 1.0 per cent. The services sector has driven most of the current growth level by remaining relatively stable in this period. In the given period, the growth in services has been between 7.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent, which are healthy rates of growth. So our policy decisions have to be focused on manufacturing and agricultural growth through structural changes which will help revive economic growth in the country and restore investor confidence. The long term effects of a dramatic slowdown in manufacturing and industrial production is also evident in the Gross Fixed Capital Formation falling from 14% to 4.4% to 1.7% in the last 3 years. This is an often ignored indicator, but crucial for measuring sustainable growth and structural development of the economy.
So the question that arises is how can manufacturing growth be enhanced through macroeconomic policy decision making. A demand side approach by stimulating the economy through interest rate cuts (made by the RBI) seems unfeasible given the current levels of rising inflation. The problem is clearly one on the supply side and hence investment in the domestic economy has to be facilitated through government incentives (and good governance) and smart management of the fiscal policy. Investors looking to set up industry units, are primarily looking for three things in an economy. A strong infrastructure (water, energy, transport and communication systems), policy and political stability, and low levels of government intervention through minimal red tape and bureaucracy. It is these three factors that create the right environment for industry and entrepreneurship to flourish, which will most importantly address the dearth of jobs in our economy.
A strong infrastructure growth means major reductions in supple bottlenecks that have been the cause of inflationary pressures on the economy. The creation of a good infrastructure is something that does not need political approvals in Parliament and hence coalition politics plays no role in this. The present Government needs to get out of the mind set that says foreign direct investment is the only means by which this can be achieved. Infra development is something that can be achieved through banking reforms that will give investors better access to credit. Another option is reallocating some of the funds, given as freebies under the veil of social security and rather use that money on infra projects that would create more active jobs. The subsidy bills today have skyrocketed and are clearly unsustainable in the long run and hence the market rates of petroleum-related products should be allowed to increase in increments reflecting its true prices. These policies might be unpopular amongst the people and hard to implement in light of the upcoming elections but they are important to move towards fiscal responsibility, something that Mr Chidambaram pledged in his last budget.
Two very clear cases in the last few years threaten the idea of policy stability in India. The retroactive taxation of Vodafone after an arbitrary change in tax laws and the approval flip-flop of the Jet-Etihad deal have meant that foreign and Indian investors are losing confidence in the governance policy of India. Indian Government and policy makers have to look at the long term implications of such actions in terms of driving investment out of the country hurting investment confidence. A foreign investor recently remarked, Ive seen policy changes when the government at the center changes, but never seen policy changes with the same government! By stable economic environment, investors also expect stability in interest rates, inflation and currency values, something that the current government at the center has failed to control through effective policy. Simple solutions like inflation targeting (successful precedents in countries like Brazil, where inflation was at unsustainably high levels) can help bring stability in current conditions.
Today, it takes an entrepreneur around 30 days to start a business and around 49.8 per cent of the current GDP per-capita (around $600) in legal costs according to the World Bank. In this indicator called ease of doing business, we rank 132nd which is the lowest amongst all BRIC nations, which shows why investors are beginning to look away India as a suitable destination for their capital. Significant changes have to be made to ensure quicker approval systems and better credit access. However, regulation carried out by organisations like SEBI should remained unchanged as this was responsible in keeping the Indian economy relatively insulated from the recent global crisis. Again, the changes required are systemic and structural in nature and something that is unaffected by the all-important political variables.
Agricultural reform is something that has been another well discussed subject. This subject remains an important to India because we are still very much a consumption-based economy and this sector still accounts for 53 per cent of the employed labour force. The Financial Express released an excellent article on 27 February, 2013 highlighting some of the policy decisions that can help restore growth in this sector to 4 per cent. Some of the measures include revamping the Public Distribution System (PDS), improvement in food stock management to reduce wastages, and more investment in skill development and R&D for better scientific management of crops. Agricultural growth is critical for an improvement in the income of farmers and fueling export growth since we produce surplus which can be used in world markets.
Many people talk about the structural changes and policy reform we need to make in the near future. Something that wedo notneed to change, is the services sector. This has been the best performing sector in the economy and has remained relatively unaffected by the recent crisis period. BPOs and IT are the two industries that have continued to grow at a steady rate. Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC Bank, stated at a recent Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) conference that, Every job created in the IT industry leads to the creation of 3 additional jobs in ancillary industries. It means that by 2020, the 3 million direct jobs created by the IT industry will lead to 9 million indirect jobs in the economy.
This article has taken a sector wise approach with a special focus towards stimulating manufacturing and industrial output, which remains the need of the hour. There has been a lot of pessimism in the media lately about the India growth story. However, I remain optimistic given a certain degree of policy enactment and reform is implemented. We have a relatively young labour force, (similar to Chinas in the 1980s the period when its economy really took off) but this demographic dividend presents a short window of opportunity. A supply side approach with a focus in increasing output in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors can bolster economic growth, cut inflation and promote exports through excess production for world markets. A creation of jobs which will constitute demand in the labour markets has to be complemented with extensive programs in education, skill development and increased employability/productivity through tertiary education amongst the youth. This article lists a host of reforms, which is not exhaustive, but does include some important structural changes that can be implemented without the problems of coalition constraints and political considerations for the upcoming general elections.
ALOK KUMAR
(By:Alok Kumar,NIT ROURKELA)
The three biggest problems that plague our economy today are decelerating economic growth, rising inflation, and a widening current account deficit (now at 4.8 per cent of GDP). These problems have the combined effect of lowering investor confidence (both domestic and foreign) and falling rupee value against the dollar (reaching a low of 61.09). It is also important to note that these problems turn into a vicious cycle, as lower investment confidence means FII flows leave the country, depreciate the rupee, which in turn raises import bills widening the current account deficit and further hurting confidence. On June 12, Fitch Ratings downgraded our outlook from stable to negative, something Standard and Poors predicted months back. Instead of merely stating the problems, this article seeks to break these problems down to specific causes and further explore possible policy solutions, keeping in mind the political constraints and upcoming the General Election.
India grew at 8.5 per cent in FY 2010-2011, which has now slumped to 5 per cent in the most recent fiscal year ending March 2013. Breaking these numbers up into the three sectors of the economy manufacturing, services and agriculture is key in understanding the cause of decrease in real GDP growth.Agriculture and manufacturing have seen a significant slowdown in this period of three financial years going back to March 2010. Agriculture growth has gone from 7.9 per cent to 3.6 per cent to 1.9 per cent while manufacturing growth has fallen from 9.7 per cent to 2.7 per cent to 1.0 per cent. The services sector has driven most of the current growth level by remaining relatively stable in this period. In the given period, the growth in services has been between 7.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent, which are healthy rates of growth. So our policy decisions have to be focused on manufacturing and agricultural growth through structural changes which will help revive economic growth in the country and restore investor confidence. The long term effects of a dramatic slowdown in manufacturing and industrial production is also evident in the Gross Fixed Capital Formation falling from 14% to 4.4% to 1.7% in the last 3 years. This is an often ignored indicator, but crucial for measuring sustainable growth and structural development of the economy.
So the question that arises is how can manufacturing growth be enhanced through macroeconomic policy decision making. A demand side approach by stimulating the economy through interest rate cuts (made by the RBI) seems unfeasible given the current levels of rising inflation. The problem is clearly one on the supply side and hence investment in the domestic economy has to be facilitated through government incentives (and good governance) and smart management of the fiscal policy. Investors looking to set up industry units, are primarily looking for three things in an economy. A strong infrastructure (water, energy, transport and communication systems), policy and political stability, and low levels of government intervention through minimal red tape and bureaucracy. It is these three factors that create the right environment for industry and entrepreneurship to flourish, which will most importantly address the dearth of jobs in our economy.
A strong infrastructure growth means major reductions in supple bottlenecks that have been the cause of inflationary pressures on the economy. The creation of a good infrastructure is something that does not need political approvals in Parliament and hence coalition politics plays no role in this. The present Government needs to get out of the mind set that says foreign direct investment is the only means by which this can be achieved. Infra development is something that can be achieved through banking reforms that will give investors better access to credit. Another option is reallocating some of the funds, given as freebies under the veil of social security and rather use that money on infra projects that would create more active jobs. The subsidy bills today have skyrocketed and are clearly unsustainable in the long run and hence the market rates of petroleum-related products should be allowed to increase in increments reflecting its true prices. These policies might be unpopular amongst the people and hard to implement in light of the upcoming elections but they are important to move towards fiscal responsibility, something that Mr Chidambaram pledged in his last budget.
Two very clear cases in the last few years threaten the idea of policy stability in India. The retroactive taxation of Vodafone after an arbitrary change in tax laws and the approval flip-flop of the Jet-Etihad deal have meant that foreign and Indian investors are losing confidence in the governance policy of India. Indian Government and policy makers have to look at the long term implications of such actions in terms of driving investment out of the country hurting investment confidence. A foreign investor recently remarked, Ive seen policy changes when the government at the center changes, but never seen policy changes with the same government! By stable economic environment, investors also expect stability in interest rates, inflation and currency values, something that the current government at the center has failed to control through effective policy. Simple solutions like inflation targeting (successful precedents in countries like Brazil, where inflation was at unsustainably high levels) can help bring stability in current conditions.
Today, it takes an entrepreneur around 30 days to start a business and around 49.8 per cent of the current GDP per-capita (around $600) in legal costs according to the World Bank. In this indicator called ease of doing business, we rank 132nd which is the lowest amongst all BRIC nations, which shows why investors are beginning to look away India as a suitable destination for their capital. Significant changes have to be made to ensure quicker approval systems and better credit access. However, regulation carried out by organisations like SEBI should remained unchanged as this was responsible in keeping the Indian economy relatively insulated from the recent global crisis. Again, the changes required are systemic and structural in nature and something that is unaffected by the all-important political variables.
Agricultural reform is something that has been another well discussed subject. This subject remains an important to India because we are still very much a consumption-based economy and this sector still accounts for 53 per cent of the employed labour force. The Financial Express released an excellent article on 27 February, 2013 highlighting some of the policy decisions that can help restore growth in this sector to 4 per cent. Some of the measures include revamping the Public Distribution System (PDS), improvement in food stock management to reduce wastages, and more investment in skill development and R&D for better scientific management of crops. Agricultural growth is critical for an improvement in the income of farmers and fueling export growth since we produce surplus which can be used in world markets.
Many people talk about the structural changes and policy reform we need to make in the near future. Something that wedo notneed to change, is the services sector. This has been the best performing sector in the economy and has remained relatively unaffected by the recent crisis period. BPOs and IT are the two industries that have continued to grow at a steady rate. Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC Bank, stated at a recent Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) conference that, Every job created in the IT industry leads to the creation of 3 additional jobs in ancillary industries. It means that by 2020, the 3 million direct jobs created by the IT industry will lead to 9 million indirect jobs in the economy.
This article has taken a sector wise approach with a special focus towards stimulating manufacturing and industrial output, which remains the need of the hour. There has been a lot of pessimism in the media lately about the India growth story. However, I remain optimistic given a certain degree of policy enactment and reform is implemented. We have a relatively young labour force, (similar to Chinas in the 1980s the period when its economy really took off) but this demographic dividend presents a short window of opportunity. A supply side approach with a focus in increasing output in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors can bolster economic growth, cut inflation and promote exports through excess production for world markets. A creation of jobs which will constitute demand in the labour markets has to be complemented with extensive programs in education, skill development and increased employability/productivity through tertiary education amongst the youth. This article lists a host of reforms, which is not exhaustive, but does include some important structural changes that can be implemented without the problems of coalition constraints and political considerations for the upcoming general elections.
ALOK KUMAR
e-Governance: Opportunities, Challenges & Strategies
Definition of e-Governance
E-governance is the application of information & communication technologies to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational & transactional exchanges with in government, between govt. & govt. agencies of National, State, Municipal & Local levels, citizen & businesses, and to empower citizens through access & use of information.
What e-government is NOT! :
Terms such as data resale, digital democracy, e-politics etc. are also frequently mentioned within the same breath as e-government. Neither of these terms, however, observes the principle of leveraging the Internet to simplify government. Digital democracy is, in fact, e-politics rather than e-government; that is, leveraging the Internet to simplify the election process (rather than government). It is important that these terms not muddle the objectives of e-government.
e-governance evolution : History and Present Status
The GoI initiated an e-government programme during the late 1990s by adopting the Information Technology Act in 2000. The major aims of this act were to recognise electronic contracts, prevent cyber crimes, and make electronic filing possible. Later in 2006, the govt approved the national e-governance plan (NeGP) to enhance e-govt initiatives in India. It was launched with aim of improving the delivery of govt services to the common people in their localities through common services centre (CSC)s, which were set across the country. In feb 2012, about 97,159 CSCs were operational with different names and they had delivering services to the people.
Following are some of the recent e-governance projects implemented by various state govts.
Some E-governance Initiatives
State/Union TerritoryInitiatives covering departmental automation, user charge collection, delivery of policy/programme information and delivery of entitlements
Andhra Pradeshe-Seva, CARD, VOICE, MPHS, FAST, e-Cops, AP onlineOne-stop-shop on the Internet, Saukaryam, Online Transaction processing
BiharSales Tax Administration Management Information
ChattisgarhChhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society, Treasury office, e-linking project
DelhiAutomatic Vehicle Tracking System, Computerisation of website of RCS office, Electronic Clearance System, Management Information System for Education etc
GoaDharani Project
GujaratMahiti Shakti, request for Government documents online, Form book online, G R book online, census online, tender notice.
HaryanaNai Disha
Himachal PradeshLok Mitra
KarnatakaBhoomi, Khajane, Kaveri
Keralae-Srinkhala, RDNet, Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for the Disbursement of Services (FRIENDS)
Madhya PradeshGyandoot, Gram Sampark, Smart Card in Transport Department, Computerization MP State Agricultural Marketing Board (Mandi Board) etc
MaharashtraSETU, Online Complaint Management SystemMumbai
RajasthanJan Mitra, RajSWIFT, Lokmitra, RajNIDHI
Tamil NaduRasi MaiyamsKanchipuram; Application forms related to public utility, tender notices and display
North-Eastern States
Arunachal Pradesh,Community Information Center. Forms available on
Manipur, Meghalaya, the Meghalaya website under schemes related to
Mizoram & Nagalandsocial welfare, food civil supplies and consumer affairs, housing transport etc.
Key Opportunities offered by e-governance:
(1) Increased effectiveness and efficiency-
Improved government services in terms of accomplishing the government spurpose and functioning.
(2) Better service-
E-governance can provide quick and timely services to stalkholder.
(3) Transparency-
The services provide directly from the government to recipients without any external interventions.
(4) Accessible any time and anywhere-
As e-governanace services are provided through web-enabled technology, they can be accessed anytime and anywhere.
(5) User-centric ICT-enabled services-
The services are primarily intended for the use of citizens, businesses , and the government itself.
(6) Reduced cost and time -
As the services are provided through internet , they are effective in terms of time and cost.
(7) Reduced bureaucracy-
E-governance minimizes the hierarchy of authorithy for availing any government services.
(8) Enhanced communication and co-ordination between govt organistions-
As automated services can be accessed by different organizations, co-ordination and further communication become relatively simple.
Challenges and barriers -
(1) Lack of IT Literacy and awareness regarding benefits of e-governance -
There is general lack of awareness regarding benefits of e-governance as well as the process involved in implementing successful G-C, G-G and G-B projects. The administrative structure is not geared for maintaining, storing and retrieving the governance information electronically.
(2) Underutilization of existing ICT infrastructure-
To a larger extent, the computers in the department are used for the purpose of word processing only, resulting in the underutilization of the computers in terms of their use in data mining for supporting management decisions.
(3) Lack of trust-
Variance in the degree of reliance on e-government services
(4) Digital divide -
Inequality between people in the social system in having access to and use of e-government services.
(5) Lack of coordination between Govt. Department and Solution developers-
Designing of any application requires a very close interaction between the govt. department and the agency developing the solutions. At present the users in govt. departments do not contribute enough to design the solution architecture.
(6) Lack of Infrastructure for sustaining e-governance projects on national level-
Infrastructure to support e-governance initiatives does not exist within government departments. The agony is that the government departments are not equipped to be in a position to project the clear requirements nor are there any guidelines for involving private sector.
e-Gov Action Plan Strategies for today:Vision for Future
Govt. leaders in India are starting to realize that e-governance is the key to drive todays economy with an increased participation from citizens. Providing services online is no longer going to remain optional for local and central government as demand for providing services @ internet speed has been coming from the citizens.
E-governance is about more than streamlining processes and improving services. Its about transforming Governments and renovating the way citizens participate in democracy. So how does a government agency cuts through the clutter and builds a strategy to facilitate the transition to successful online or e service delivery. Yet if the e-governance started and implemented in haste, the are doomed to fail. According to one of the surveys conducted by a reputed agency , 75% of e-governance may fail because of poor planning
. Some of the requirements for implementing successful e-governance across the nation are :
* e-Governance framework across the nation with enough bandwidth to service a population of one billion.
* Connectivity framework for making the services reach rural areas of the country or development of alternative means of services such as e-governance kiosks in regional languages.
* National Citizen database which is the primary unit of data for all governance vertical and horizontal applications across the state and central governments.
* E-governance and interoperability standards for the exchange of secure information with non-repudiation, across the state and central government departments seamlessly.
* A secure delivery framework by means of virtual private network connecting across the state and central government departments.
* Datacenters in centre and states to handle the departmental workflow automation, collaboration, interaction, exchange of information with authentication.
For success of an e-governance project and superior service delivery, it is imperative that the government agency focuses on whole citizen experience. Focusing on the citizen is essential for long term success. The govt. agency needs to integrate information from all points of citizen interaction. The overall architecture for e-Governance needs to ensure that the architecture components are extensible and scalable to adapt to the changing environments. The e-Governance applications that are emerging as islands of successes have to be interoperable. Following are some of the suggestions for the successful transformation:-
(1) Create Literacy and commitment to e-governance at high level-
The most important requirement is a training program for policy makers in E-Governance (Senior Public Servants), politicians and IT task force members. The training program needs to be focused according to the requirements of the policy makers at the top. Such programs can be need based and outsourced when required. In addition it should be made mandatory for all the stake holders in implementation and maintenance of e-governance services to have the general IT skills..
(2) Conduct Usability Surveys for assessment of existing e-governance projects-
There is a varying degree of development of e-governance among the different states. A few States have leapfrogged into a digital era whereas a few are yet to start with any initiative. There is a tremendous divergence in the extent of implementation of the concept of e-Governance.
(3) Starting with implementation of pilot projects and replicating the successful ones
The pilot projects taken in various states should be accessed for their achievement levels. They should be classified as success or failure according to the desired output written down before implementation of the projects. The study should be carried out by an independent agency for the implementation agency. Bottlenecks and causes of delays should be documented, even though they are removed later. The successful projects should be replicated over the nation with members drawn from the implementing team.
(4) Follow the Best Practices in e-governance -
The study of Best Practices will bring forward the best practices being followed nationally and internationally. The national and international Best Practices study will give a great momentum to the process of E-Governance. The State Governments will not have to re-invent wheel every time and they can learn from the developments already made.
(5) Have clearly defined Interoperability policy-
The egovernance architecture needs to ensure that the components are scalable and adaptable to the future requirements. It has also to ensure that the Local architecture fits into the State level and the same into National and Global architecture. Interoperability is a major criterion while defining the architecture.
(6) Manage and Update content on govt. websites efficiently and regularly-
Content is the 'heart' of any IT project. The govt. agency has to keep in mind some of the important technical guidelines, while developing the software and computerization, to facilitate the future integration. The department also needs to address the security of transactions and messages. The govt. agencies must ensure that the data on the sites is always updated and relevant.
Details-
Raj Singh Yadav
Reference websites-URL
1)http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/internet/documents/
2) www.egovindia.org/egovernancepaper.doc
3) yojana
4) arc.gov.in/11threp/ARC_11thReport_Ch4.pdf
E-governance is the application of information & communication technologies to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational & transactional exchanges with in government, between govt. & govt. agencies of National, State, Municipal & Local levels, citizen & businesses, and to empower citizens through access & use of information.
What e-government is NOT! :
Terms such as data resale, digital democracy, e-politics etc. are also frequently mentioned within the same breath as e-government. Neither of these terms, however, observes the principle of leveraging the Internet to simplify government. Digital democracy is, in fact, e-politics rather than e-government; that is, leveraging the Internet to simplify the election process (rather than government). It is important that these terms not muddle the objectives of e-government.
e-governance evolution : History and Present Status
The GoI initiated an e-government programme during the late 1990s by adopting the Information Technology Act in 2000. The major aims of this act were to recognise electronic contracts, prevent cyber crimes, and make electronic filing possible. Later in 2006, the govt approved the national e-governance plan (NeGP) to enhance e-govt initiatives in India. It was launched with aim of improving the delivery of govt services to the common people in their localities through common services centre (CSC)s, which were set across the country. In feb 2012, about 97,159 CSCs were operational with different names and they had delivering services to the people.
Following are some of the recent e-governance projects implemented by various state govts.
Some E-governance Initiatives
State/Union TerritoryInitiatives covering departmental automation, user charge collection, delivery of policy/programme information and delivery of entitlements
Andhra Pradeshe-Seva, CARD, VOICE, MPHS, FAST, e-Cops, AP onlineOne-stop-shop on the Internet, Saukaryam, Online Transaction processing
BiharSales Tax Administration Management Information
ChattisgarhChhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society, Treasury office, e-linking project
DelhiAutomatic Vehicle Tracking System, Computerisation of website of RCS office, Electronic Clearance System, Management Information System for Education etc
GoaDharani Project
GujaratMahiti Shakti, request for Government documents online, Form book online, G R book online, census online, tender notice.
HaryanaNai Disha
Himachal PradeshLok Mitra
KarnatakaBhoomi, Khajane, Kaveri
Keralae-Srinkhala, RDNet, Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for the Disbursement of Services (FRIENDS)
Madhya PradeshGyandoot, Gram Sampark, Smart Card in Transport Department, Computerization MP State Agricultural Marketing Board (Mandi Board) etc
MaharashtraSETU, Online Complaint Management SystemMumbai
RajasthanJan Mitra, RajSWIFT, Lokmitra, RajNIDHI
Tamil NaduRasi MaiyamsKanchipuram; Application forms related to public utility, tender notices and display
North-Eastern States
Arunachal Pradesh,Community Information Center. Forms available on
Manipur, Meghalaya, the Meghalaya website under schemes related to
Mizoram & Nagalandsocial welfare, food civil supplies and consumer affairs, housing transport etc.
Key Opportunities offered by e-governance:
(1) Increased effectiveness and efficiency-
Improved government services in terms of accomplishing the government spurpose and functioning.
(2) Better service-
E-governance can provide quick and timely services to stalkholder.
(3) Transparency-
The services provide directly from the government to recipients without any external interventions.
(4) Accessible any time and anywhere-
As e-governanace services are provided through web-enabled technology, they can be accessed anytime and anywhere.
(5) User-centric ICT-enabled services-
The services are primarily intended for the use of citizens, businesses , and the government itself.
(6) Reduced cost and time -
As the services are provided through internet , they are effective in terms of time and cost.
(7) Reduced bureaucracy-
E-governance minimizes the hierarchy of authorithy for availing any government services.
(8) Enhanced communication and co-ordination between govt organistions-
As automated services can be accessed by different organizations, co-ordination and further communication become relatively simple.
Challenges and barriers -
(1) Lack of IT Literacy and awareness regarding benefits of e-governance -
There is general lack of awareness regarding benefits of e-governance as well as the process involved in implementing successful G-C, G-G and G-B projects. The administrative structure is not geared for maintaining, storing and retrieving the governance information electronically.
(2) Underutilization of existing ICT infrastructure-
To a larger extent, the computers in the department are used for the purpose of word processing only, resulting in the underutilization of the computers in terms of their use in data mining for supporting management decisions.
(3) Lack of trust-
Variance in the degree of reliance on e-government services
(4) Digital divide -
Inequality between people in the social system in having access to and use of e-government services.
(5) Lack of coordination between Govt. Department and Solution developers-
Designing of any application requires a very close interaction between the govt. department and the agency developing the solutions. At present the users in govt. departments do not contribute enough to design the solution architecture.
(6) Lack of Infrastructure for sustaining e-governance projects on national level-
Infrastructure to support e-governance initiatives does not exist within government departments. The agony is that the government departments are not equipped to be in a position to project the clear requirements nor are there any guidelines for involving private sector.
e-Gov Action Plan Strategies for today:Vision for Future
Govt. leaders in India are starting to realize that e-governance is the key to drive todays economy with an increased participation from citizens. Providing services online is no longer going to remain optional for local and central government as demand for providing services @ internet speed has been coming from the citizens.
E-governance is about more than streamlining processes and improving services. Its about transforming Governments and renovating the way citizens participate in democracy. So how does a government agency cuts through the clutter and builds a strategy to facilitate the transition to successful online or e service delivery. Yet if the e-governance started and implemented in haste, the are doomed to fail. According to one of the surveys conducted by a reputed agency , 75% of e-governance may fail because of poor planning
. Some of the requirements for implementing successful e-governance across the nation are :
* e-Governance framework across the nation with enough bandwidth to service a population of one billion.
* Connectivity framework for making the services reach rural areas of the country or development of alternative means of services such as e-governance kiosks in regional languages.
* National Citizen database which is the primary unit of data for all governance vertical and horizontal applications across the state and central governments.
* E-governance and interoperability standards for the exchange of secure information with non-repudiation, across the state and central government departments seamlessly.
* A secure delivery framework by means of virtual private network connecting across the state and central government departments.
* Datacenters in centre and states to handle the departmental workflow automation, collaboration, interaction, exchange of information with authentication.
For success of an e-governance project and superior service delivery, it is imperative that the government agency focuses on whole citizen experience. Focusing on the citizen is essential for long term success. The govt. agency needs to integrate information from all points of citizen interaction. The overall architecture for e-Governance needs to ensure that the architecture components are extensible and scalable to adapt to the changing environments. The e-Governance applications that are emerging as islands of successes have to be interoperable. Following are some of the suggestions for the successful transformation:-
(1) Create Literacy and commitment to e-governance at high level-
The most important requirement is a training program for policy makers in E-Governance (Senior Public Servants), politicians and IT task force members. The training program needs to be focused according to the requirements of the policy makers at the top. Such programs can be need based and outsourced when required. In addition it should be made mandatory for all the stake holders in implementation and maintenance of e-governance services to have the general IT skills..
(2) Conduct Usability Surveys for assessment of existing e-governance projects-
There is a varying degree of development of e-governance among the different states. A few States have leapfrogged into a digital era whereas a few are yet to start with any initiative. There is a tremendous divergence in the extent of implementation of the concept of e-Governance.
(3) Starting with implementation of pilot projects and replicating the successful ones
The pilot projects taken in various states should be accessed for their achievement levels. They should be classified as success or failure according to the desired output written down before implementation of the projects. The study should be carried out by an independent agency for the implementation agency. Bottlenecks and causes of delays should be documented, even though they are removed later. The successful projects should be replicated over the nation with members drawn from the implementing team.
(4) Follow the Best Practices in e-governance -
The study of Best Practices will bring forward the best practices being followed nationally and internationally. The national and international Best Practices study will give a great momentum to the process of E-Governance. The State Governments will not have to re-invent wheel every time and they can learn from the developments already made.
(5) Have clearly defined Interoperability policy-
The egovernance architecture needs to ensure that the components are scalable and adaptable to the future requirements. It has also to ensure that the Local architecture fits into the State level and the same into National and Global architecture. Interoperability is a major criterion while defining the architecture.
(6) Manage and Update content on govt. websites efficiently and regularly-
Content is the 'heart' of any IT project. The govt. agency has to keep in mind some of the important technical guidelines, while developing the software and computerization, to facilitate the future integration. The department also needs to address the security of transactions and messages. The govt. agencies must ensure that the data on the sites is always updated and relevant.
Details-
Raj Singh Yadav
Reference websites-URL
1)http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/internet/documents/
2) www.egovindia.org/egovernancepaper.doc
3) yojana
4) arc.gov.in/11threp/ARC_11thReport_Ch4.pdf
Cyber security policy of India
Cyber terrorism is the convergence of terrorism and cyber space. Any attack which hampers the normal functioning of the infrastructure.
Generally critical infrastructure is targeted. Situation creates panic, denial of service, loss of financial and personal data.
Some tactics used:
1. Hacking: most popular method used.
Any kind of unauthorized access to a computer (sniffing, packet analyser)
2. Trojan
3. Computer Viruses. (Acomputervirus attaches itself to aprogramorfileenabling it to spread from one computer to another, leaving infections as it travels)
4. Computer Worms (Worms spread from computer to computer, but unlike a virus, it has the capability to travel without any human action. Capacity to replicate in system)
5. Cryptology. Terrorists have started using encryption, high frequency encrypted voice/data links etc. It is tough to intercept and identify.
IMAGINE a situation when in a cyber war suddenly:
* Telephone NWs Collapse
* Satellites out of Control
* Oil Refineries
* Collapse of Financial Services
* SCADA Systems Controlling Power Grids Collapse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCADA)
* Collapse of Health and Civic Services
* AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLL Management Collapses
* Defence Forces
* Railway Traffic Control Collapses
* Chemical Plants
Problem is: There would be no responsibility. These attacks will appear to have come from all over the globe as also servers within the country. There would be nobody who could be definitely identified.
FOR more: http://www.idsa.in/system/files/book_indiacybersecurity.pdf
Some steps/agencies created by government to protect IT infra.
* National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Provide network backbone
Manages IT services, E -GOV initiatives to central and state governments.
* Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In).
Cert-In is the most important constituent: aimed at security incident prevention and response and security assurance.
14000 Indian sites and 250 around gov sites were hacked (cert in reported)
* National Information Security Assurance Programme (NISAP).
For Government and critical infrastructures
* Government and critical infrastructures should have a security policy
* Essential to implement security control and report security breach
* To cert-In
* Cert-In will have auditor panel to inquire about security; third party audit too.
* Indo-US Cyber Security Forum (IUSCSF).
* Formation of India Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (ISAC) for anti hacking.
* India Anti Bot Alliance to raise awareness about cyberspace (CII)
* India's Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will join hands in matter.
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WE FACE
* LACK OF AWARENESS
* AGE OLD CYBER LAWS
* NO TRAINED MANPOWER DESPITE OF IT HUB
* DEARTH OF CYBER SECURITY EXPERTS
* POLICY RELATED TO THE EMAIL ACCOUNTS OF SERVING PERSONNELS
NEW CYBER POLICY IN BRIEF 2013
1. To build secure and resilient cyber space
* Creating a secure cyber ecosystem, generate trust in IT transactions
* 24*7 NATIONAL CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASCTRUCTURE PROTECTION CENTER (NCIIPC)
* Indigenous technological solutions (Chinese products and reliance on foreign software)
* Testing of ICT products and certifying them. Validated products
* Creating workforce of 500,000 professionals in the field
* FISCAL Benefits for businessman who accepts standard IT PRACTICES
FOR MORE: http://deity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/National%20Cyber%20Security%20Policy%20(1).pdf
Department of Electronics and IT will be the nodal ministry, other stakeholders like Ministry of Defence, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will also play major roles in implementing this policy.
A national cyber coordination centre will be coming up soon.
KEY words:
CERT-IN
CYBER SPACE
ICT
NCIIPC
IUSCF
NIST
NISAP
ISAC
SCADA
From:
MAHARSHI RAVAL
Generally critical infrastructure is targeted. Situation creates panic, denial of service, loss of financial and personal data.
Some tactics used:
1. Hacking: most popular method used.
Any kind of unauthorized access to a computer (sniffing, packet analyser)
2. Trojan
3. Computer Viruses. (Acomputervirus attaches itself to aprogramorfileenabling it to spread from one computer to another, leaving infections as it travels)
4. Computer Worms (Worms spread from computer to computer, but unlike a virus, it has the capability to travel without any human action. Capacity to replicate in system)
5. Cryptology. Terrorists have started using encryption, high frequency encrypted voice/data links etc. It is tough to intercept and identify.
IMAGINE a situation when in a cyber war suddenly:
* Telephone NWs Collapse
* Satellites out of Control
* Oil Refineries
* Collapse of Financial Services
* SCADA Systems Controlling Power Grids Collapse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCADA)
* Collapse of Health and Civic Services
* AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLL Management Collapses
* Defence Forces
* Railway Traffic Control Collapses
* Chemical Plants
Problem is: There would be no responsibility. These attacks will appear to have come from all over the globe as also servers within the country. There would be nobody who could be definitely identified.
FOR more: http://www.idsa.in/system/files/book_indiacybersecurity.pdf
Some steps/agencies created by government to protect IT infra.
* National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Provide network backbone
Manages IT services, E -GOV initiatives to central and state governments.
* Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In).
Cert-In is the most important constituent: aimed at security incident prevention and response and security assurance.
14000 Indian sites and 250 around gov sites were hacked (cert in reported)
* National Information Security Assurance Programme (NISAP).
For Government and critical infrastructures
* Government and critical infrastructures should have a security policy
* Essential to implement security control and report security breach
* To cert-In
* Cert-In will have auditor panel to inquire about security; third party audit too.
* Indo-US Cyber Security Forum (IUSCSF).
* Formation of India Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (ISAC) for anti hacking.
* India Anti Bot Alliance to raise awareness about cyberspace (CII)
* India's Standardization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will join hands in matter.
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WE FACE
* LACK OF AWARENESS
* AGE OLD CYBER LAWS
* NO TRAINED MANPOWER DESPITE OF IT HUB
* DEARTH OF CYBER SECURITY EXPERTS
* POLICY RELATED TO THE EMAIL ACCOUNTS OF SERVING PERSONNELS
NEW CYBER POLICY IN BRIEF 2013
1. To build secure and resilient cyber space
* Creating a secure cyber ecosystem, generate trust in IT transactions
* 24*7 NATIONAL CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASCTRUCTURE PROTECTION CENTER (NCIIPC)
* Indigenous technological solutions (Chinese products and reliance on foreign software)
* Testing of ICT products and certifying them. Validated products
* Creating workforce of 500,000 professionals in the field
* FISCAL Benefits for businessman who accepts standard IT PRACTICES
FOR MORE: http://deity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/National%20Cyber%20Security%20Policy%20(1).pdf
Department of Electronics and IT will be the nodal ministry, other stakeholders like Ministry of Defence, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will also play major roles in implementing this policy.
A national cyber coordination centre will be coming up soon.
KEY words:
CERT-IN
CYBER SPACE
ICT
NCIIPC
IUSCF
NIST
NISAP
ISAC
SCADA
From:
MAHARSHI RAVAL
basics of cyber security
Basics of cyber security
Cyber crime involves criminal activities taking place over the internet. It is different from computer crimes which are restricted in nature and may occur in a physical space with or without a network. For ex Document theft, infecting of a digital device with virus or malware. Cyber crime takes place in a virtual space through digital environment which is unbridled by geographical area.
Cyber risks/Threats
Can be categorized into 3 major divisions:
* Cyber crime- Individuals working alone, or in organised groups, intent on extracting money, data or causing disruption. This can take many forms including the acquisition of credit/debit card data, intellectual property and impairing the operations of a web site or service.
* Cyber war- A nation state conducting sabotage and espionage against another nation to cause disruption or to extract data. This could involve the use ofAdvanced Persistent Threats (APTs).
* Cyber terror- An organisation, working independently of a nation state, conducting terrorist activities through the medium of cyber space.
Introduction to cyber criminals
The cost of committing cyber crime is surprisingly low. The world of cyber crime never stops innovating. Every month, Microsoft publishes the vulnerabilities of its systems- an ever-growing list of known threats, bugs and viruses. Cyber criminals can now even buy off-the-shelf hacking software, complete with support services. Cyber crime is increasingly simple to commit, making it more difficult to police.
There are a number of attack vectors that are available to cyber criminals:
* Phishing: An attempt to deceive users into acquiring their information by masquerading as a legitimate entity; such as spoof emails or websites
* Pharming: An attack to re-direct a websites traffic to different, fake website, where the individual's information is then compromised
* Drive-by: Opportunistic attacks against specific weaknesses within a system
* MITM: Man in the middle attack where a middleman impersonates each endpoint and is thus able to manipulate both victims.
* Social engineering: Exploiting the weakness of the individual, by making them click malicious links, or by physically gaining access to a computer through deception. Pharming and phishing are examples of social engineering.
* Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is the description applied to the coordinated cyber activities of sophisticated criminals and state level entities. APTs target large corporations and foreign governments, with the objective of stealing information or compromising information sys
* Trolling:
* Hacking
* Child Pornography
* Cyber Stalking Cyber Stalking can be defined as the repeated acts harassment or threatening behavior of the cyber criminal towards the victim by using internet services.
* Denial of service attacks
* Virus Dissemination
Prevention:
Emerging Trends in CS
Recommendations
* Social media and mobile communications will increasingly become ubiquitous and integral to routine interactivity. It is therefore important that monitoring of the same by intelligence agencies and presence of peoples representatives in the domain, to ensure initiation of timely counter-measures against security threats and propaganda.
* The most effective way of countering false propaganda is to have an effective strategic communications policy. This should be accompanied by transparency in functioning. The absence of both was evident during the recent past in Assam and while dealing with rumours and propaganda in cyber space.
* The Maoists will make an endeavour to change the operational status quo by improving their arsenal. This will also assist them in employing coercive tactics to sway public opinion in their favour. It is critical to ensuring minimum collateral damage during operations, as well as effective countering of Maoist propaganda, to regain the psychological space from the Maoists.
* The present state of peace in J&K is extremely fragile and increasing rate of infiltration pose a serious threat to it. Given the effectiveness of the fencing on the LoC, alternate areas across the IB and the coastal belt are likely to be exploited. Even as surveillance is put in place, the most important defence against such threats is co-opting the local people in community policing.
Cyber security will continue to emerge as a potential challenge in future. The endeavour to create a comprehensive organisational structure remains a critical requirement. However, it is equally important to run cyber education programmes through the virtual world as well as educational institutions and public awareness groups to enable greater understanding of the implications of the threat. This will enable better understanding of the threats involved and could result in participative counter-measures between the gt and people using the networks.
Cyber Warfare
* Since the discovery of the Stuxnet malware in 2010, no less than five other cyber weapons have made their appearance over the past two years. Stuxnet was directed against the Iranian nuclear programme. After a lull of a year, the Duqu worm was discovered in September 2011, followed in quick succession by the Mahdi, Gauss and Flame malware. Flame, Duqu and Gauss shared similar digital DNA with Stuxnet with primary purpose seemed to be espionage (spying), with their targets ranging from banking to governmental to energy networks. Flames capabilities ranged from recording Skype conversations and downloading information from smart phones to more mundane activities such as recording audio, screenshots, keystroke and network traffic recording. The Mahdi Trojan seemed to have spread via phishing emails even though its purpose was also apparently espionage. Infections were reported from Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
* In April 2012, there were reports of a new virus, Wiper, that was much more malicious, and wiped off the data on all computers that it infected. This virus largely affected networks in Iran. Four months later, the Shamoon virus is reported to have wiped off the data from 30,000 computers of the Saudi Arabian State oil company, Aramco, followed a week later by a similar episode on the networks of the second largest LNG company in the world, Ras Gas of Qatar.
* In what has become the norm for such cyber attacks, despite intense investigations by anti-virus companies, the origins of the malware have remained largely in the realm of speculation and inference. While ownership of the Stuxnet (and by inference, its cousins Duqu, Flame and Gauss) malware was claimed by the Obama Administration for electoral purposes, the Shamoon virus is speculated to be a reverse-engineered version of the Wipe virus unleashed by hackers loyal to the Iranian regime. Tit-for-tat attacks look set to become the norm as the countries of the region gird up their cyber loins.
* Similarly, existing defences appear to be no match for these malware attacks. The countries of West Asia are among the most pro-active when it comes to controlling cyberspace, with Iran going to the extent of decoupling from the Internet and building its own national Intranet. The energy infrastructure companies that were attacked are among the biggest in the field and would no doubt have had many layered defences against such attacks, to no avail. In their defence, the critical infrastructure itself was not affected by the attacks. It must also be mentioned that the behaviour of some of the malware has been akin to sleeper cells, programmed to awaken on command and carry out instructions sent from command and control servers. As in the case of the modularly designed Flame malware, they can be used for multiple purposes, based on requirement.
* From Indias perspective, there is much cause for concern in these developments. With a substantial part of its oil imports coming from the region, attacks on the global energy infrastructure centred in West Asia could have enormous repercussions on India. Unlike physical attacks which have been held at bay through international pressure, the anonymity of cyber attacks and the absence of norms and conventions make it difficult for the international community to restrain such acts. The sudden loss of petroleum supplies can be cushioned through a strategic petroleum reserve but efforts on to build such a reserve since 2004 are yet to bear fruition. Since gas has become a crucial energy component, the feasibility of establishing a Strategic Gas Reserve could also be considered.
* Of more immediate concern are the vulnerabilities in Indian critical infrastructure which could render them vulnerable to similar attacks. While prediction and prevention strategies are all to the good, even greater emphasis needs to be placed on effective recovery strategies. All of this calls for greater coordination between the motley government, public and private enterprises that together run the countrys critical infrastructure.
* Cyber attacks can have devastating results in terms of loss of livelihood, destruction of the economy and anarchy in society. Loss of life alone can no longer be a barometer of devastation. It is as important to have contingency plans ready to deal with all eventualities, as it is for countries to come together to nip this scourge in the bud, and to call out the rogue actors
Cyber Laws in India
Cyber Crime is not defined in Information Technology Act 2000 or in the I.T. Amendment Act 2008 or in any other legislation in India. In fact, it cannot be too. To put it in simple terms any offence or crime in which a computer is used is a cyber crime. In a cyber crime, computer or the data itself is the target or the object of offence or a tool in committing some other offence. All such acts of crime will come under the broader definition of cyber crime.
The Genesis (origin) of IT legislation in India:
Mid 90s : SAW an impetus in globalization and computerisation, with more and more nations computerizing their governance, and e-commerce seeing an enormous growth. Until then, most of international trade and transactions were done through documents being transmitted through post and by telex only. With increase in use of ICT in international trade the The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the Model Law on e-commerce in 1996 recommending all States in the UN to give electronic records and according it the same treatment like a paper communication and record.
Beginning of 2000: Against this backdrop the Sarkar enacted IT Act 2000
Aim
* to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication
* to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
* to build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, people, process, technology and cooperation
Policy The Act essentially deals with the following issues:_ Legal Recognition of Electronic Documents_ Legal Recognition of Digital Signatures_ Offenses and Contraventions_ Justice Dispensation Systems for cyber crimes.
How the Act is structuredThe Act defines/provides the following:-
* Procedures for certifying authorities (for digital certificates as per IT Act -2000 and since replaced by electronic signatures in the ITAA -2008) have been spelt out.
* The civil offence of data theft and the process of adjudication and appellate procedures.
* Some of the well-known cyber crimes and lays down the punishments therefore.
* concept of due diligence, role of intermediaries and some miscellaneous provisions
* Defines the word computer/ computer system in a holistic manner, even high-end programmable gadgets like a washing machine or switches and routers used in a network can all be brought under the definition. (:P)
Applicabilityextends to the whole of India and except as otherwise provided, it applies to also any offence or contravention there under committed outside India by any person
Weakness Awareness: There is no serious provision for creating awareness and putting such initiatives in place in the Act.Jurisdiction: This is a major issue which is not satisfactorily addressed in the ITA or ITAA. Like if the mail of someone is hacked and the accused is a resident of a city in some state coming to know of it in a different city, which police station does he go to?Evidences: Pat of evidences is the crime scene issues. We cannot mark a place nor a computer nor a network, nor seize the hard-disk immediately and keep it under lock and key keep it as an exhibit taken from the crime scene.Non coverage of many crimes: While there are many legislations in not only many Western countries but also some smaller nations in the East, India has only one legislation -- the ITA and ITAA. Hence it is quite natural that many issues on cyber crimes and many crimes per se are left uncovered. Many cyber crimes like cyber squatting with an evil attention to extort money. Spam mails, ISPs liability in copyright infringement, data privacy issues have not been given adequate coverage.
Further Actions Needed
IT (Amendment) Act 2008
The IT Act, 2000 was subject to serious debates and discussions, elaborate reviews and critical analysis, with some calling it draconian and some lenient. Major committees and expert panels were set up to remove the lacunae in the IT ACT. Also, it was compared to similar acts of different nations.
Aim
* to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication
* to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
* to build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, people, process, technology and cooperation
Policy Some of the notable features of the ITAA are as follows:_ Focussing on data privacy_ Focussing on Information Security_ Defining cyber caf_ Making digital signature technology neutral_ Defining reasonable security practices to be followed by corporate_ Redefining the role of intermediaries_ Recognising the role of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team_ Inclusion of some additional cyber crimes like child pornography and cyber terrorism_ authorizing an Inspector to investigate cyber offences (as against the DSP earlier)
Weakness
Further Actions Needed
Relevance of Prevention of Money Laundering Act:
Its main objective is to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money laundering. Money laundering involves a process of getting the money from illegal sources, layering it in any legal source, integrating it as part of any legal system like banking and actually using it. Since the banking as 18 an industry has a major and significant role to play in the act of money laundering, it is now a serious responsibility on the part of banks to ensure that banking channel is not used in the criminal activity.
Much more than a responsibility, it is now a compliance issue as well.
Obligations of banks include maintenance of records (KYC) of all transactions of the nature and value specified in the rules, furnish information of the transactions within the prescribed time, whenever warranted and verify and maintain records of the identity of all customers.
Legislations in other nations
1. USA : Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act popularly known as HIPAA. regulates all health and insurance related records, their upkeep and maintenance and the issues of privacy and confidentiality involved in such records. Other laws :- Cable Communications Policy Act, Childrens Internet Protection Act, Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act etc
2. UK: Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations etc
National Cyber Security Policy 2013
(*CS = Cyber Security)
Aim
* To create a secure cyberspace ecosystem and strengthen the regulatory framework.
* To safeguard the privacy of citizen.
* To monitor and protect information and strengthen defenses from cyber attacks.
* To protect information infrastructure in cyberspace, reduce vulnerabilities, build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, people, process, technology and cooperation
Policy
* Stakeholders:
* A National and sectoral 24X7 mechanism has been envisaged to deal with cyber threats through National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).
* Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has been designated to act as a nodal agency for coordination of crisis management efforts. CERT-In will also coordinate actions and operations of sectoral CERTs.
* CISO: The policy aims at encouraging all Organizations (public or private) to designate a person to serve as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) who will be responsible for CS initiatives. Organizations need to develop their information security policies and implement such polices as per international best practices. Provisions of fiscal schemes and incentives have been incorporated in the policy to encourage entities to install trustworthy ICT products and continuously upgrade information infrastructure with respect to CS.
* The policy calls for effective PPP and collaborative engagements through technical and operational cooperation.
* R&D:
* Another strategy which has been emphasized is the promotion of research and development in CS of trustworthy systems and their testing.
* collaboration with industry and academia
* Setting up of Centre of Excellence in areas of strategic importance etc.
* Developing of human resource through:
* Education and training programmes, establishing CS training infrastructure through PPP and to establish institutional mechanisms for capacity building for law enforcement agencies.
* Creating a workforce of 500,000 professionals trained in CS in the next 5 years through skill development and training.
* to promote and launch a comprehensive national awareness programme on CS through workshops, seminars and certifications to develop awareness of the challenges of CS amongst citizens.
* A mechanism is proposed to be evolved for obtaining strategic information regarding threats to information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, creating scenarios of response, resolution and crisis management through effective predictive, prevention, response and recovery action.
Weakness The following has not been addressed :
* security risks emanating due to use of new technologies e.g. Cloud Computing
* risks arising due to increased use of social networking sites by criminals and anti-national elements
Further Actions Needed
* Incorporation of cyber crime tracking, cyber forensic capacity building and creation of a platform for sharing and analysis of information between public and private sectors on continuous basis.
* Creating a workforce of 500,000 professionals needs further deliberations as to whether this workforce will be trained to simply monitor the cyberspace or trained to acquire offensive as well as defensive cyber security skill sets.
* Building of testing infrastructure and facilities of global standards for evaluation and not just Security Applications.
Jasleen Kaur
Cyber crime involves criminal activities taking place over the internet. It is different from computer crimes which are restricted in nature and may occur in a physical space with or without a network. For ex Document theft, infecting of a digital device with virus or malware. Cyber crime takes place in a virtual space through digital environment which is unbridled by geographical area.
Cyber risks/Threats
Can be categorized into 3 major divisions:
* Cyber crime- Individuals working alone, or in organised groups, intent on extracting money, data or causing disruption. This can take many forms including the acquisition of credit/debit card data, intellectual property and impairing the operations of a web site or service.
* Cyber war- A nation state conducting sabotage and espionage against another nation to cause disruption or to extract data. This could involve the use ofAdvanced Persistent Threats (APTs).
* Cyber terror- An organisation, working independently of a nation state, conducting terrorist activities through the medium of cyber space.
Introduction to cyber criminals
The cost of committing cyber crime is surprisingly low. The world of cyber crime never stops innovating. Every month, Microsoft publishes the vulnerabilities of its systems- an ever-growing list of known threats, bugs and viruses. Cyber criminals can now even buy off-the-shelf hacking software, complete with support services. Cyber crime is increasingly simple to commit, making it more difficult to police.
There are a number of attack vectors that are available to cyber criminals:
* Phishing: An attempt to deceive users into acquiring their information by masquerading as a legitimate entity; such as spoof emails or websites
* Pharming: An attack to re-direct a websites traffic to different, fake website, where the individual's information is then compromised
* Drive-by: Opportunistic attacks against specific weaknesses within a system
* MITM: Man in the middle attack where a middleman impersonates each endpoint and is thus able to manipulate both victims.
* Social engineering: Exploiting the weakness of the individual, by making them click malicious links, or by physically gaining access to a computer through deception. Pharming and phishing are examples of social engineering.
* Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is the description applied to the coordinated cyber activities of sophisticated criminals and state level entities. APTs target large corporations and foreign governments, with the objective of stealing information or compromising information sys
* Trolling:
* Hacking
* Child Pornography
* Cyber Stalking Cyber Stalking can be defined as the repeated acts harassment or threatening behavior of the cyber criminal towards the victim by using internet services.
* Denial of service attacks
* Virus Dissemination
Prevention:
Emerging Trends in CS
Recommendations
* Social media and mobile communications will increasingly become ubiquitous and integral to routine interactivity. It is therefore important that monitoring of the same by intelligence agencies and presence of peoples representatives in the domain, to ensure initiation of timely counter-measures against security threats and propaganda.
* The most effective way of countering false propaganda is to have an effective strategic communications policy. This should be accompanied by transparency in functioning. The absence of both was evident during the recent past in Assam and while dealing with rumours and propaganda in cyber space.
* The Maoists will make an endeavour to change the operational status quo by improving their arsenal. This will also assist them in employing coercive tactics to sway public opinion in their favour. It is critical to ensuring minimum collateral damage during operations, as well as effective countering of Maoist propaganda, to regain the psychological space from the Maoists.
* The present state of peace in J&K is extremely fragile and increasing rate of infiltration pose a serious threat to it. Given the effectiveness of the fencing on the LoC, alternate areas across the IB and the coastal belt are likely to be exploited. Even as surveillance is put in place, the most important defence against such threats is co-opting the local people in community policing.
Cyber security will continue to emerge as a potential challenge in future. The endeavour to create a comprehensive organisational structure remains a critical requirement. However, it is equally important to run cyber education programmes through the virtual world as well as educational institutions and public awareness groups to enable greater understanding of the implications of the threat. This will enable better understanding of the threats involved and could result in participative counter-measures between the gt and people using the networks.
Cyber Warfare
* Since the discovery of the Stuxnet malware in 2010, no less than five other cyber weapons have made their appearance over the past two years. Stuxnet was directed against the Iranian nuclear programme. After a lull of a year, the Duqu worm was discovered in September 2011, followed in quick succession by the Mahdi, Gauss and Flame malware. Flame, Duqu and Gauss shared similar digital DNA with Stuxnet with primary purpose seemed to be espionage (spying), with their targets ranging from banking to governmental to energy networks. Flames capabilities ranged from recording Skype conversations and downloading information from smart phones to more mundane activities such as recording audio, screenshots, keystroke and network traffic recording. The Mahdi Trojan seemed to have spread via phishing emails even though its purpose was also apparently espionage. Infections were reported from Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
* In April 2012, there were reports of a new virus, Wiper, that was much more malicious, and wiped off the data on all computers that it infected. This virus largely affected networks in Iran. Four months later, the Shamoon virus is reported to have wiped off the data from 30,000 computers of the Saudi Arabian State oil company, Aramco, followed a week later by a similar episode on the networks of the second largest LNG company in the world, Ras Gas of Qatar.
* In what has become the norm for such cyber attacks, despite intense investigations by anti-virus companies, the origins of the malware have remained largely in the realm of speculation and inference. While ownership of the Stuxnet (and by inference, its cousins Duqu, Flame and Gauss) malware was claimed by the Obama Administration for electoral purposes, the Shamoon virus is speculated to be a reverse-engineered version of the Wipe virus unleashed by hackers loyal to the Iranian regime. Tit-for-tat attacks look set to become the norm as the countries of the region gird up their cyber loins.
* Similarly, existing defences appear to be no match for these malware attacks. The countries of West Asia are among the most pro-active when it comes to controlling cyberspace, with Iran going to the extent of decoupling from the Internet and building its own national Intranet. The energy infrastructure companies that were attacked are among the biggest in the field and would no doubt have had many layered defences against such attacks, to no avail. In their defence, the critical infrastructure itself was not affected by the attacks. It must also be mentioned that the behaviour of some of the malware has been akin to sleeper cells, programmed to awaken on command and carry out instructions sent from command and control servers. As in the case of the modularly designed Flame malware, they can be used for multiple purposes, based on requirement.
* From Indias perspective, there is much cause for concern in these developments. With a substantial part of its oil imports coming from the region, attacks on the global energy infrastructure centred in West Asia could have enormous repercussions on India. Unlike physical attacks which have been held at bay through international pressure, the anonymity of cyber attacks and the absence of norms and conventions make it difficult for the international community to restrain such acts. The sudden loss of petroleum supplies can be cushioned through a strategic petroleum reserve but efforts on to build such a reserve since 2004 are yet to bear fruition. Since gas has become a crucial energy component, the feasibility of establishing a Strategic Gas Reserve could also be considered.
* Of more immediate concern are the vulnerabilities in Indian critical infrastructure which could render them vulnerable to similar attacks. While prediction and prevention strategies are all to the good, even greater emphasis needs to be placed on effective recovery strategies. All of this calls for greater coordination between the motley government, public and private enterprises that together run the countrys critical infrastructure.
* Cyber attacks can have devastating results in terms of loss of livelihood, destruction of the economy and anarchy in society. Loss of life alone can no longer be a barometer of devastation. It is as important to have contingency plans ready to deal with all eventualities, as it is for countries to come together to nip this scourge in the bud, and to call out the rogue actors
Cyber Laws in India
Cyber Crime is not defined in Information Technology Act 2000 or in the I.T. Amendment Act 2008 or in any other legislation in India. In fact, it cannot be too. To put it in simple terms any offence or crime in which a computer is used is a cyber crime. In a cyber crime, computer or the data itself is the target or the object of offence or a tool in committing some other offence. All such acts of crime will come under the broader definition of cyber crime.
The Genesis (origin) of IT legislation in India:
Mid 90s : SAW an impetus in globalization and computerisation, with more and more nations computerizing their governance, and e-commerce seeing an enormous growth. Until then, most of international trade and transactions were done through documents being transmitted through post and by telex only. With increase in use of ICT in international trade the The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the Model Law on e-commerce in 1996 recommending all States in the UN to give electronic records and according it the same treatment like a paper communication and record.
Beginning of 2000: Against this backdrop the Sarkar enacted IT Act 2000
Aim
* to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication
* to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
* to build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, people, process, technology and cooperation
Policy The Act essentially deals with the following issues:_ Legal Recognition of Electronic Documents_ Legal Recognition of Digital Signatures_ Offenses and Contraventions_ Justice Dispensation Systems for cyber crimes.
How the Act is structuredThe Act defines/provides the following:-
* Procedures for certifying authorities (for digital certificates as per IT Act -2000 and since replaced by electronic signatures in the ITAA -2008) have been spelt out.
* The civil offence of data theft and the process of adjudication and appellate procedures.
* Some of the well-known cyber crimes and lays down the punishments therefore.
* concept of due diligence, role of intermediaries and some miscellaneous provisions
* Defines the word computer/ computer system in a holistic manner, even high-end programmable gadgets like a washing machine or switches and routers used in a network can all be brought under the definition. (:P)
Applicabilityextends to the whole of India and except as otherwise provided, it applies to also any offence or contravention there under committed outside India by any person
Weakness Awareness: There is no serious provision for creating awareness and putting such initiatives in place in the Act.Jurisdiction: This is a major issue which is not satisfactorily addressed in the ITA or ITAA. Like if the mail of someone is hacked and the accused is a resident of a city in some state coming to know of it in a different city, which police station does he go to?Evidences: Pat of evidences is the crime scene issues. We cannot mark a place nor a computer nor a network, nor seize the hard-disk immediately and keep it under lock and key keep it as an exhibit taken from the crime scene.Non coverage of many crimes: While there are many legislations in not only many Western countries but also some smaller nations in the East, India has only one legislation -- the ITA and ITAA. Hence it is quite natural that many issues on cyber crimes and many crimes per se are left uncovered. Many cyber crimes like cyber squatting with an evil attention to extort money. Spam mails, ISPs liability in copyright infringement, data privacy issues have not been given adequate coverage.
Further Actions Needed
IT (Amendment) Act 2008
The IT Act, 2000 was subject to serious debates and discussions, elaborate reviews and critical analysis, with some calling it draconian and some lenient. Major committees and expert panels were set up to remove the lacunae in the IT ACT. Also, it was compared to similar acts of different nations.
Aim
* to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication
* to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
* to build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, people, process, technology and cooperation
Policy Some of the notable features of the ITAA are as follows:_ Focussing on data privacy_ Focussing on Information Security_ Defining cyber caf_ Making digital signature technology neutral_ Defining reasonable security practices to be followed by corporate_ Redefining the role of intermediaries_ Recognising the role of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team_ Inclusion of some additional cyber crimes like child pornography and cyber terrorism_ authorizing an Inspector to investigate cyber offences (as against the DSP earlier)
Weakness
Further Actions Needed
Relevance of Prevention of Money Laundering Act:
Its main objective is to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money laundering. Money laundering involves a process of getting the money from illegal sources, layering it in any legal source, integrating it as part of any legal system like banking and actually using it. Since the banking as 18 an industry has a major and significant role to play in the act of money laundering, it is now a serious responsibility on the part of banks to ensure that banking channel is not used in the criminal activity.
Much more than a responsibility, it is now a compliance issue as well.
Obligations of banks include maintenance of records (KYC) of all transactions of the nature and value specified in the rules, furnish information of the transactions within the prescribed time, whenever warranted and verify and maintain records of the identity of all customers.
Legislations in other nations
1. USA : Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act popularly known as HIPAA. regulates all health and insurance related records, their upkeep and maintenance and the issues of privacy and confidentiality involved in such records. Other laws :- Cable Communications Policy Act, Childrens Internet Protection Act, Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act etc
2. UK: Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations etc
National Cyber Security Policy 2013
(*CS = Cyber Security)
Aim
* To create a secure cyberspace ecosystem and strengthen the regulatory framework.
* To safeguard the privacy of citizen.
* To monitor and protect information and strengthen defenses from cyber attacks.
* To protect information infrastructure in cyberspace, reduce vulnerabilities, build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimize damage from cyber incidents through a combination of institutional structures, people, process, technology and cooperation
Policy
* Stakeholders:
* A National and sectoral 24X7 mechanism has been envisaged to deal with cyber threats through National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).
* Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has been designated to act as a nodal agency for coordination of crisis management efforts. CERT-In will also coordinate actions and operations of sectoral CERTs.
* CISO: The policy aims at encouraging all Organizations (public or private) to designate a person to serve as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) who will be responsible for CS initiatives. Organizations need to develop their information security policies and implement such polices as per international best practices. Provisions of fiscal schemes and incentives have been incorporated in the policy to encourage entities to install trustworthy ICT products and continuously upgrade information infrastructure with respect to CS.
* The policy calls for effective PPP and collaborative engagements through technical and operational cooperation.
* R&D:
* Another strategy which has been emphasized is the promotion of research and development in CS of trustworthy systems and their testing.
* collaboration with industry and academia
* Setting up of Centre of Excellence in areas of strategic importance etc.
* Developing of human resource through:
* Education and training programmes, establishing CS training infrastructure through PPP and to establish institutional mechanisms for capacity building for law enforcement agencies.
* Creating a workforce of 500,000 professionals trained in CS in the next 5 years through skill development and training.
* to promote and launch a comprehensive national awareness programme on CS through workshops, seminars and certifications to develop awareness of the challenges of CS amongst citizens.
* A mechanism is proposed to be evolved for obtaining strategic information regarding threats to information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, creating scenarios of response, resolution and crisis management through effective predictive, prevention, response and recovery action.
Weakness The following has not been addressed :
* security risks emanating due to use of new technologies e.g. Cloud Computing
* risks arising due to increased use of social networking sites by criminals and anti-national elements
Further Actions Needed
* Incorporation of cyber crime tracking, cyber forensic capacity building and creation of a platform for sharing and analysis of information between public and private sectors on continuous basis.
* Creating a workforce of 500,000 professionals needs further deliberations as to whether this workforce will be trained to simply monitor the cyberspace or trained to acquire offensive as well as defensive cyber security skill sets.
* Building of testing infrastructure and facilities of global standards for evaluation and not just Security Applications.
Jasleen Kaur
2nd Report Unlocking Human Capital (Entitlements and Governance)
* Preface:-
* NREGA 2005- signals a paradigm shift to legal entitlements, public accountability coupled with community rights, and responsive and participative management.
* Earlier wage employment programs had various problems:-
* Low coverage, <50% beneficiaries from most needs groups.
* Beneficiaries not from locals, actual wage < prescribed wages, gender bias, <30 days of work per year per worker, poor quality of assets, forged muster roll.
* Various schemes but poor impact on poverty, poor is caught in social captivity.
* Areas with extremism, or which are inaccessible - employment schemes are fully in the hands of contractors and middlemen.
* Empowerment of the poor through breaking the barriers of unemployment, illiteracy backwardness, ill health, debilitating (weakening) social inequality then form participation in gov = growth process and inclusive growth.
* NREGA promoting democracy through its accountability mechanism (social auditing) -which is demolishing the traditional hierarchy of power.
* Poor administration, public delivery systems affected the poor = corruption.
* Extremism Naxalism Areas with high concentration of poverty, poor governance systems, weak infrastructure, unequal power structure. Pachayat are non-existent, non functional, NREGA can promote democracy there.
* Institutional, administrative, financial management system of NREGA
* Contents:-
2. Review of public employment programs -Wage employment in the past Employee Guarantee Scheme Lessons.
3. NREGA- Implementation and Challenges Shift towards universalization funding execution centrality of local government Administration and institution arrangements.
4. Special challenges of backward areas.
5. Issues and Recoms
* Applicability to other programs
* Change towards universe entitlements
* Guaranteeing reach and outcomes
* Ensuring convergence
* Expanding the scheme
* Union funding and state execution
* Accountability mechanisms
* Fixing wages rates
* Financial Management System
* Preparing estimates for work
* Maintaining labour-material ratio
* Mechanisms for procurement
* Administration and institution arrangement
* Strengthening local government
* Selection and maintenance of works
* Block Resource Centre
* Entrepreneurship institutions for the Rural poor areas
* Monitoring Systems
* Curbing corruption and leakages
* Transparency and RTI
* Use of IT
* NREGA in 9th and 6th Schedule areas
* NREGA in areas affected by natural disasters
* Records
* Coordination mechanism
1. Introduction
* Shift in govts approach to development. Shit is towards universalization and entitlements. That means instead of just concentrating on the GDP growth to inc the living standards of citizens, now the approach is to recognize minimum levels of education, health, employment, nutrition as basic entitlement and static role in providing them to all.
* Emphasis on balanced regional development - problems in backward areas. Greater resources them.
* Fundamental change in funding and execution of government programs
* Increasingly key programs are being funded by the Union and executed by State this ensures no resources constraints and regular funds are available to Panchayat -> ensures peoples participation, initiative and supervision.
* Flagship programs SSA, NRHM, ICDS, NREGA, Bharat Nirman, Drinking water mission, total sanitation campaign these signal the shift towards universalization and entitlements.
* Challenges Maintaining regularity of fund flow and ensuring accountability.
* Common objective of flagship programs delivering entitlements universally. So need for their convergence at grass root level. Their planning systems should be integrated harmoniously for common implementation frame work for all schemes.
* Administration and institution (for financial management) arrangements for implementation and monitoring multi tier structures - Requires both vertical coordination of diff tiers and horizontal coordination across departments for execution through the local govt.
1. Review of Public Employment Programs
* Wage Employment programs in the past:
* Rural Manpower Program 1960-69 (RMP) employment to 2.5 m people in areas affected by seasonal employment.
* Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) 1971-74 350 districts. Labour intensive works. Creation of durable Community assets.
* Drought Prone Areas Program (DPAP) 1971-73 to mitigate severity of drought condition.
* Areas Development Program (ADP) - do-
* Food for Work Program (FWP) 1977-80 creating employment to raise income levels and so nutritional levels. Strengthening rural infrastructure = high production and better living standard utilize surplus foodgrains of HRD
* National Rural Employment Program (NREP) 1980-89 generate additional employment (rest same as FWP)
* Rural landless Employment Guarantee Program (RLEGP) 1983-89 provide 100 days of employment to at least oen member of a landless household.
* Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) 1989-99 almost same as FWP.
* Food for Work program II (FWP) 2000-02 food security through wage employment in drought affected rural areas.
* Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) 1993 99 100 days of employment to a person in 1752 backward blocks during lean agriculture period.
* Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) 1999-2001 creation of village infrastructure, generation of supplementary employment for unemployed poor (BPL) in rural area.
* Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) 2001 Provide wage/employment, food security, create durable assets . (This scheme was formed by merging Employment Assurance Scheme and Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana)
* Evaluation of these programs:-
1. Funds were not utilized in full, Reasons lack of planning; untimely release of funds, both from union govt to Dist. Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) , and from the DRDAs to blocks; inability of states to generate matching resources.
2. Low coverage of villages and target groups (non-poor beneficiaries)
3. Less labour intensive activities, more capital intensive activities. Normative capital labour ratio was not adhered to.
4. <30 days of wage employment in a year.
5. Bogus reporting on actual achievement
6. Poor quality of the assets created. Non durable.
7. Corruption at political and administration levels.
8. Manipulation of muster rolls and measurement books.
9. Very low participation of women.
10. Schemes explicitly forbade involvement of contractors and use of machinery.
* Employment Guarantee Schemes (EGS) - Early 1970, Maharastra. Unskilled manual work on piece rate basis - Self targeting EGS is still continuing > but little impact on reduction of poverty and unemployment, distress migration of workers continues, poor quality of assets created and their maintenance is not satisfactory, failure to adopt a local development policy to promote overall development.
* Reasons:
* Inadequate planning for assets, serious flaws in project selection. So hostile development plan is required which is integrated with the implementation of other development schemes.
* Lack of peoples participation in planning, implementation. Domination of bureaucracy resulted in technocratic and top-down approach.
* Limited role of Panchayat s in planning and implementation
* Lack of capability No training given to elected Panchayat Chiefs and others. Training of officials/representatives of Panchayats is the key to the success.
* Focus on physical work - It resembles the famine relief works of colonial period, our knowledge based rural economy was destroyed during the colonial period - Need to redefine employment programs to use knowledge and skills in the works will result in self-sufficient rural economy. Reduces rural-urban divide.
* Leakage: Fudging of muster rolls and measurement books. Contractors were involved.
1. NREGA Implementation Challenges
* Salient Features of the Act
* Paradigm Shift Employment is now a right which is enforceable Objectives are same as before, viz to provide livelihood security. Durable assets created through employments productive infrastructure for poverty alleviation on a sustained basis.
* Challenges: be arise because of 1. Shift towards universalization and entitlements, 2. Funding by the Union and Execution by State 3. Centrality of Local Govt. 4. Administrative and institutional arrangements 5. Problems in the backward areas.
* Shift towards universalization and entitlement:-
* Guaranteeing Reach - Legal guarantee of work, enforced within a specified timeframe. So creating work opportunity is a major challenge for the states. So there in need for in depth understanding of region specific demand and its seasonality to meet the demand the demand for work, otherwise unnecessary burden of compensation on states.
* Guaranteeing Outcome:- Creation of infrastructure which is sustainably generated employment for poverty alleviation and should be durable and productive. So proper planning is required for assets designing and construction. Monitoring mechanism should be created by strengthening institutional structure at local government level, for optimal use of resources.
* Ensuring Convergence:- Integration of implementation of flagship programs. Requires preparation of holistic integrated development plan at the local level and includes works to be identified, and undertaken systematically are part of long term strategy for rural development.
* Method of Expansion:- Already expanded.
* Gender balance :- in implementation.
* Union Funding and Execution by State Governments
* Fund Flows: depends on demand for work. A clear mechanism for flow needs to be evolved rather than through normal bureaucratic procedure.
* Accountability: makes it difficult for holding accountable because of duality of funding and executing agencies. So accountability mechanism should be clear.
* Moral Hazards and Distorted Incentives: Likelihood of wastage in the use of resources as executing agency is diff from funding agency.
* Centrality of Local Governances: PRIs execute the scheme. Responsible for identification, execution, supervision of projects as per recoms of Gram Sabha and Ward Sabha.
Gram Sabha chooses the projects for implementation.
-Ensures accountability. Conducts regular social audits
So capacity building is necessary.
* Administrative and Institutional Arrangements
* Technology: NREGP is a large scale program and complex. So technology should be used to facilitate its implementation. Efficiency, expediency, accountability, transparency, prevention of leakages etc.
* Corruption and leakages: Simultaneous monitoring by Gram Sabhas, SHG, Local Monitoring Committees , NGOs. Monitoring should be institutionalized by defining clear charter of roles, responsibility through activity mapping, capacity building of all monitoring agencies.
* Transparency in selection of beneficiaries, identification of works, preparation of estimates. Muster rolls should be freely available for inspection. Payments to workers should be made public on pre-announced dates. Panchayat has to discharge all obligation stipulated under the RTI.
* Community Participation a planning, implementing, supervising, monitoring of the schemes. Community decision making on the choice of works.
* Special Challenge of Backward Areas. Weak governance structure, low organizational capacity and highly stratified (divided castes) social and economic power structure. Difficult terrain. Poor accessibility. Poor infrastructure.
1. Special Problems of Backward Districts
* Extremism - Naxalism, Insurgence, Scheduled Areas, Tribal Area
* Non-functionality of PRIs. Widespread poverty. Mostly in arid and semi arid regions. No connectivity, low spread of banks and post offices.
* Socioeconomic indicators mostly below national average. Literacy, female literacy etc. %age of SC, ST population is high.
* Primarily agricultural society - Large %age of Agriculture Labors More than 33% of national average.
* Large scale prevalence of landlessness.
* PESA - Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Area Act 1996
* Powers and responsibilities of PRIs, Gram Sabhas in PESA is different from other areas. Gram Sabhas approves plans, projects, before they are taken up for implementation by the Panchayat at the village level. Gram Sabha identifies the beneficiaries, certify utilization of funds by Panchayat.
* No Uniformity in sizes of population and areas in villages and districts. And no uniformity in the norms for administrative staffing, service delivery
* Very poor mechanisms. Understaffing = overburdened, leakages, lack of motivation and professional competence. So, administrative apparatus should be strengthened.
* Gender Gaps
1. Issues and Recoms
* 5.2 Change towards universalization and Entitlements
* Guaranteeing Reach Creating awareness (through programs) among the people to register for work. Registration should be transparent and objective. Inherent prejudices in the rural society due to case class, religion and thus some cases are not registered. Social boycott, exclusion. So effective monitoring mechanisms involving civil society organisms should be created Recom
* Guaranteeing Outcomes Socio-economic impact evaluation should be conducted regularly. Impact on livelihood security, etc. Evaluation helps in policy corrections.
* Parameters poverty, nutrition, sustainability of income from assets created, the extent of unemployment, magnitude of migration, and access to different essential services, average annual income, and average market wage for agricultural laborers these should be determined with pre-define threshold level so as to meet the objectives of NREGA substantially.
* Districts should be ranked according to their performance. Parameters durability of assts, %age of people employed, involvement of Gram Sabhas, accountability, transparent, timeliness etc.
* Ensuring Convergence NREGA; objective livelihood security. It requires not just employment but also health services, education, housing, food security, social security, etc.
* Recoms- Convergence with other service delivery systems is required.
* Convergence with other infrastructure/asset creating programs. Convergence of funds of both, i.e. emerging the labour component of NREGA with the capital component of another program. This may create serious accounting problems.
* Convergence in planning. Currently, all major schemes have their own prescribed mythology of preparing a plan. 73rd Amendment Act There should be one integrated area plan for economic development and all sectoral/schemes wise plans should be developed from the plan. Synergy can be achieved.
* Convergence in machinery and infrastructure and monitoring - At present, different implementation machinery often working vertical silos. This leads to wastage of resources, leakages, duplication of administrative staff and infrastructure like buildings, computer, and equipment. So all rural development programs should be transferred to PRIs. They should be adequately funded and provided with well trained officials.
* Convergence with Bharat Nirman:- Central scheme for rural infrastructure in partnership with states and PRIs. (2005-09). Bharat Nirman has some targets set in creating rural infrastructure electricity, all weather roads, drinking waters, telephone connectivity, housing, irrigation. It needs large manual labours.
* Expanding the Schemes already expanded.
* 5.3 Union funding and state execution
* Accountability Mechanisms - Maturing federalism. States are increasingly empowered to determine their own policies and programs. Role of union is expanding in new ways.
* Education, healthcare, rural and urban development, social security largely under state jurisdiction. And yet, these services are increasingly driven by union govt. policies and funds.
* Reasons Paucity of resources at state level, need for standardization of services, equitable balanced development, imperatives of achieving challenges of growing economy; Different execution and funding agencies erodes accountability.
* Union govt funds bears entire cost of wages of unskilled manual workers; 75% of cost of materials and cost of wages of skilled & semi skilled workers; administrative expenses.
* States - 25% ; unemployment allowance incase work cant be provided.
* A distorted incentive system is created because of the funding pattern.
(Because in some cases of works like earthworks where no material component is required, states contribution is nil)
(Wherein inc in the central funds doesnt inc the matching funds of the states)
Thus states may run the schemes on a larger scale or for longer time than is actually required.
* Similarly, a Panchayat which prevents misuse of funds would in long run end up getting lesser funds than a Panchayat which is not so meticulous is ensuring proper use of funds under the schemes.
* So need for strong accountability mechanisms. (monitoring and evaluation), independent agencies, IT.
* Fixing wage rates - (minimum wages act)
* Variations in notified min wages for agricultural labors in different states.
* Min wages are generally fixed on time rate basis (per day etc) where as works are executed on piece rate basis (wage for piece of work)
* Reconciliation between the two is a challenge.
* Recoms: A detailed study about min wages should be made before fixing min wage.
* Financial Management System
* Essential elements of a system:
1. Adequate availability of funds
2. Smooth flow of funds from GOI to districts to Gram Panchayat, to workers.
3. Smooth flow of financial info from Panchayats to district, states, union.
4. Reliable accounting system.
5. Timely detection of financial violation
6. Transparency and accountability
Operational guidelines for fund flows as of now
* National Employment Guarantee Fund to State Employment Guarantee Fund (EGF) to District EGF to Panchayat EGF
* Release of funds to districts
* Cost and time both increase when funds flow through unnecessary intermediate levels. Experience shows that when centrally sponsors schemes (CSS) are routed through state govts, there are substantial delays in receipt of funds at lowest level.
* Argument for routing through states is that plans and budgets can be prepared, implemented and monitored more effectively only when state is the recipient and disbursal authority. However, this can be achieved by only giving info about the flow of funds to the states.
* Recoms Transfer funds directly to districts, which are closer to the points of utilization. Districts should be made nodal points for funds and Information.
* Pre-requisites for release of funds-
* In all Centrally Sponsors Schemes, the backlog in utilization of funds is huge.
* Recoms If a state doesnt make its contribution, it may be deducted from its central Assistance for State Plans.
* Proactive not reactive fund flows- to avoid delays in payment (for workers and employment schemes)
* Earlier (reactive fund flow), centre used to transfer funds to states (for CSS) only after states completely utilized the earlier funds. (utilization certificates) not appropriate for demand based schemes.
* Delays results in wastage of money in the form of employment allowance.
* Recoms: Delays can be avoided if certain minimum amount is always maintained in the Panchayat Employment Guarantee Funds.
* System of releasing funds based on utilization certificates should be replaces with a system of concurrent monitoring and audit through an independent agency.
* Panchayat Accounts with banks funds are transferred to them Replenished periodically.
* Emphasis on outputs and outcomes
* Recoms: PRIs have to ensure the quality and nature of assets created. Info and evidence on these aspects would have to be compiled and made available to all. Mandatory periodic social audits.
* Checks and Balances-
* Current mechanisms or ensuring proper utilization of funds are utilization certificates and audits. UC is a self certification document issued by a public authority (District program coordinator or someone else) certifying that the funds utilized by it have been expended as per the rules. It is expected that the public authority has carried out necessary verifications.
* UCs doesnt guarantee proper utilization of funds as verifications are seldom carried out.
* UCs delays in payments Audits are very irregular, generally.
* Concurrent Monitoring and Audit System: verification of accounts of all the implementing agencies (3 tier PRIs). Verification of works carried out too. By independent external agency. Every month. It will point out the discrepancies. Monitors the compliance of earlier observations.
* Recoms PRIs should be educated about new computerized accounting systems, funds flow management etc. Misappropriated money should be recovered from the responsible Panchayat or persons.
* Financial Information System:
* Recoms Gram Panchayat forwards all financial info to block Panchayat. aggregate all the info and forward to District Panchayat (nodal agency). Computerization of all blocks so easy availability of info Standardized formats - A uniform financial info system for the entire country.
* Mode of payment to workers- Through banks and post offices. But bank is very limited. Most of the Panchayat do not have a branch of a nationalized bank. Payment through banks and post-offices though are the surest way to ascertain the amount but they poses administrative and accessibility problems.
* Recoms: Choice of the mode of payment should be left to the workers; payment in cash may be the preferred option. The agency preparing the muster rolls must be different from the agency making payment to the workers. In drought prone areas, a part of the wages may be distributed in terms of food grains.
* Role of banks and post offices in funds flow-
* Large no. of zero balance accounts have to be opened. Transactional costs of the post-offices have to be borne by govt as they cant cover their cost if the account has low amount of money.
* Other issues guidance for rural poor in their banking operations So procedures need to be simplified.
* Preparing Estimates for Works:
* Time rate vs Piece rate-
* Time rate basis payment is proportional to the time (regardless of the actual work) spent by the worker at the work place. It is good for women, elderly people etc.
* Disadvantages low productivity, quality of assets
* Piece rate basis amount of work done. = measurement of work is necessary. Possibility of misuse of funds is very less.
* Being used in Rajasthan from 2006. Many other states too.
* Physical work is converted into monetary terms using the Schedule of Rates Prescribed by PWD in the state. Variation across the states. Rates are not updated. Prevalent market wages are high.
* Recoms States should evolve a more realistic rural schedule of rates for each district with certain min wage prescribed. District technical resources support group will supervise it.
* For elderly people, women, their normal productivity should be taken into account while preparing schedules.
* Centre should coordinate the nationalizing of schedule rate across the states.
* Maintaining Labor Material Ratio:-
* 60:40 in terms of cost of the work maintained at all levels of PRIs. May be misused for balancing of certain works.
* Eg 3 works undertaken by Gram Panchayat in a year. 2 have 80:20 and 3rd may have 20:80 to balance it out generate no employment.
* Recoms Ratio should be adhered in each work. If it is not possible at every level, atleast at Gram/Block levels it should be maintained.
* Mechanism for Procurement:-
* Procurement of material. 40% of total funds.
* Recoms Need for evolving transparent procurement procedures. (by the states)
* 5.4 Administrative and Institutional Arrangement
* Strengthening Local Govt (LSGs)
* Building Intuitions :-
* Gram Sabha (GS), Gram Panchayat (GP), Intermediate Panchayat (IP), District Panchayat (DP) all have role in planning and implementation of NREGA
* GS monitoring, social audit.
* GP (recruited by GS) identification, execution of works.
* PRI are not sufficiently empowered to implement large schemes. Collector often supervises the implementation of NREGA.
* Recoms: PRIs should be empowered Transfer all development schemes which are better managed locally. Transfer administration machinery to implement them. PRIs should evolve into institution which can plan, execute develop programs.
* District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) should be included in the District Panchayat.
* Capability building:-
* PRIs understaffed. Officials posted in difficult areas do not reside there and prefer to function far from their place of work = Program suffers.
* Solutions 1) Appoint from local people 2) Appointment to a particular post rather than to a service cadre 3) contractual appointments 4) relaxation of some qualification if local persons with requisite qualifications are not available make up capability building programs 5) services of proven NGOs
* Gram Panchayat level administrative staff performs administrative functions, technical staff gives technical advice, prepares estimates, supervise the execution of work, measures the work, quantify the value of the work.
* Theres acute shortage of technical staff not enough engineers.
* Recoms: - a panel of non-govt engineers may be engaged at the block level. local educated youth can be trained to prepare (under non-govt engineers) estimates for work
* Areas affected by extremism officials often work through remote control. They should be motivated to work directly through special incentives liberal life insurance cover, hardship allowance, govt accommodation for family outside that place etc.
* Training should be a continuous process.
* Subjects in training of PRI Concept of poverty; NREGA; RTI; associated laws of NREGA like min wages Act etc.
* Distance learning technology should be used in remote areas. NGOs, SHGs, should be used to impart trainings. Evaluation of training activities through independent organization.
* Selection and Maintenance of Works:-
* Block Panchayat (BP) approves block level plan. Forwards it to District Panchayat (D.P.)
* DP approves block-wise shelf of projects.
* District planning committee consolidates Panchayat and municipal plans in the district and prepare by a draft development plan for the district as a whole.
* Recoms All individual works should be in harmony with District Development Plan be watershed development in the area.
* Most works relate to drought proofing, irrigation, land treating. Boundaries of watersheds mostly transcends the boundaries of GP or BP. So BP and DP should coordinate the work in that case/
* NREGA Provision atleast 50% of the works (in terms of cost) should be implemented at GP level. Bp take up work only in case of inter-Panchayat works or where GPs have not been able to meet the demand for employment.
* Block Resource Centre (BRC):-
* Technical experts planners, water resource experts, agricultural scientists they are essential at all levels.
* RBC should be constituted at the block levels under the guidance of District Technical Resource Support Center. (DTRSC)
* Currently TRSC, at central, state, district levels only.
* Recoms: Setup BRC
* Entrepreneurship Institution for the rural poor-
* Necessary to equip the beneficiaries under NREGA with knowledge based skills so that they dont have to do manual labour for livelihood.
* RUDSET program in Karnataka (Rural Development & Self Employment Training) Trained 1 Lac+ persons Public-Pvt-Partnetship - 70% of those trained setup their own enterprises.
* Recoms- Entrepreneurship training institutes should be setup in every block to make people seek self-employment.
* Monitoring Systems
* Ministry of Rural Development developing a comprehensive Monitoring and Information System (MIS). A notional online monitoring system for key performance indicators will be evolved.
* Recoms- Evaluation based on many parameters, not just the reports of 1) Employment generation, 2) Financial progress, 3) Physical progress of works.
* Independent monitoring and auditing agencies to carry out concurrent monitoring and audit. They should visit Panchayat every month, check all the records.
* Curbing Corruption and Leakage:
* Shift from allocation based approach to entitlement based Allocation based approach has built in checks against leakages (although to a limited extent). In these schemes, resources are limited, so implementing agencies are forced by the society, to use resources properly.
NREGP no limits on funds demand driven misused.
* Earthworks less durable so difficult for verification.
* Inflation of estimated cost of the works.
* Pronged approach:-
1. Templates of estimates at block level of general works should be prepare showing the inputs of labor and material required. This can act as an aid for preparation of estimates.
2. Documentation of all works and payments should be made perfect.
3. Very strong community control an audit mechanism should be put in place.
4. Independent monitors should carry verification of all records and assets
* An effective grievances redressal mechanism.
* Developing standardized and simplified procedures for preparation of estimates makes the work of PRIs and civil society easy.
* Muster roll and Measurement books (measurement of work done) -> (these are most imp records) -> maintained by PRIs
* Recoms: - Muster roll and Measurement books should incorporate the physical dimensions of works backed by photographs of the work executed at different stages.
* Community control and racial audit of all works:-
* The act has a provision for setting up of a local vigilance and monitoring committee to monitor the progress and quality of work. Gram Sabha elects member to this committee and ensures adequate representation of SC/STs
* Gram Sabha regular social audits of all works.
Social audit is a process in which, details of the resource, both financial and one-financial, used by public agencies for department initiatives are shared with the community, often through a public platform -Enforcing accountability and transparency- Prescribed a continuous audit and a mandatory social audit forum one in 6 months.
* Social Audits Pre-requisite proper records, expertise to conduct audit, awareness among Gram Sabha members about their rights.
* Independent rectification of Records and Works Independent field monitoring system carry out concurrent monitoring and auditing so that corrective steps could be taken imm.
* Grievances Redressal Mechanism (GRM) Programme Officer at the block level is designated as the Grievance Redressal Officer and the District Programme Coordinator is designated as Grievance Redressal Officer at the district level.
* Recoms: - GRM should be proactive in reaching out to the people to redress their grievances. Take up cases Suo Moto.
* Transparency and RTI:
* Recoms- awareness generation about NREGA and RTI.
Awareness campaigns. Outsourcing generation tasks to NGOs and SHGs (Self Help Groups)
Emphasis on suo-moto disclosure of info and not only through web because theres a limited access to web.
NGOs have reach even in remote areas. They should be involved in implementing too.
* Use of IT:-
* Efficiency, accountability, flexibility objectives.
* Recoms:- Blocks as nodal, fully-electronic points Blocks (or villages, depending on internet connectivity) must be nodal levels of govt at which all info is electronic.
- Any info collected in non-electronic form at this or lower level of govt must be digitalized at
block level.
- Minimum and common set of national standard for data, collection, storage, retrieval.
- Assessment
- UID (Unique Identification) to each individual (being implemented)
- Earlier UID to each household.
- Computerisation of records at Gram Panchayat level.
- Periodic reviews
- (Voluntary) Suo-Moto disclosures
* GIS (Geographic Information System) for visualization of data on map spaces must be developed. Analysis solely from databases (without visualization) is very difficult. Visualization required to identify strengths and weakness in geographic terms.
* Unique Identification
Unambiguously establish identity of each beneficiary. Process of setting up of such a database Start from a database which is error free (like govt employees database) and keeps on adding other database. (like PAN, passport, driving license, LPG connection etc). Keep on eliminating errors, duplicates. PAN, passport, driving license etc covers mostly non-rural areas.- So NREGA database will be very useful Mutually Synergistic.
* IT system for financial Management Technology to keep costs under control by providing effective monitoring platform for expenditures, by allowing bypassing (by direct transfers of financial info flow) of unnecessary levels of financial administration.
Facilitates responsiveness and monitoring
* IT system for monitoring and evaluation of efficiency, effectiveness
Analysis of data reported by various implementing governments- Inspections (detecting errors) during operations correcting systematic inefficiencies and adopt the best practices.
- Recoms Prepare list of parameters for evaluation Automatic alerts in the IT system in case
of certain measurable violations.
- Ranks for all blocks in the country should be generated through IT based performance.
- GIS by IT.
* RTI in NREGA, use of IT:- Storing, processing of data, easy retrieval of data in intelligible form. Most of the raw information should be disclosed voluntarily. IT should be able to integrate the data disclose to generate suo-moto reports automatically.
* Smart Cards:- A plastic card roughly of the size of a credit card with a microchip embedded. This microchip cold be a mere data storage device and in advanced versions this may also incorporate a microprocessor. The storage device can store details of individuals and their transactions with govt. Details including biometric to confirm the identity of holders.
* Used like credit cards, access control, public transport ticketing.
* Use of smartcards requires infrastructure which includes access facilities like kiosks equipped with card reading and writing devices, card issuing and updating systems, data management systems etc.
* Same cards should be used for multiple purposes and not just NREGA.
* Implementation of NREGA in 5th and 6th Schedule Areas
* Relief employment at present given by revenue dept of states 10-12 days of relief employment every month to a beneficiary Wages in form of Cash and Food Grains can live for one month (rural household)
* Relief employment financed from relief funds Calamity Relief Fund (CRF)
* NCCF national calamity contingency fund in case of need for additional funds.
* Recoms:- In times of calamities in an area, employment should be given under NREGA. Relief Employment only for those persons who exhausted their entitlement under NREGA. (Parallel running of both leaks to wastage, corruption, administration problems)
* List of permissible works: Most of the works listed are suitable to drought prone and dry areas. Need to expand it with works suitable to local (climate and topography) requirements in different season Listed works are not suitable in high rainfall areas, J&K -> in winters.
- Watershed development, drought proofing, afforestation, land development.
- Expand watershed land development in private lands too (marginal and small farmers, SC/STs)
* Records:- Jobcards given to each household keeps track of the entitlement of the household (they are only such doc.) Details of the households, wages paid, work done, no. of days for which employment is provided etc.
Recoms:- Jobcards ledger should be maintained by PRIs to prevent tampering of jobcads.
* Coordination Mechanism:-
Various agencies are setup now.
Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) Setup by Centre. CEGC advices GOI on
Implementation of the act, establishing and evaluating the monitoring system, preparation of annual
reports to be laid before parliament.
State EGC (Employment Guarantee Council) These roles + deciding on the preferred works
Similar institutions for other flagship programmes + Bharat Nirman are setup.
* Recoms:- Similar Committees at state and district levels
A common inter-ministerial, empowered steering committee for NREGA, and other flagship programs, Bharat Nirman may be set up with the Cabinet Secretary as the chairman and secretaries of concerned dept/ministries as members.
Their powers:-
1. Oversee the work of sectoral ministerial committees in order to remove differences, bottlenecks, and lack of synergy and issue directions to bring about an integrated approach.
2. Takes timely and appropriate decisions for effective and accountable implementation of the concerned programs.
3. Bring about better coordination in implementation.
4. Ensure the centrality of local govts.
* Conclusion:-
* Will strengthen PRI, enable participatory planning at grass roots level, empower women, harbinger of rural transformation, bridge gender gaps, bring decentralization, energies administration and institutions structures, leading to good governance, dismantle unequal power structure.
by Shrey Rawat
Sources
1. Amarkeshs Hand-Written Notes available at https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzuxVwOA4U0YRjcwOWRjTXRJX2s&usp=sharing
2. Original ARC Reports.
* I have used Amarkeshs hand-written ARC Reports Notes to prepare this summary notes and also took
* Reference from the original ARC Reports whenever there was a requirement to add further details.
* So here you have the Summary of one of the ARC reports > much properly formatted spelling errors free
* more detailed and editable, Enjoy.
* Ill share the summaries of rest of the reports too, once theyll get finished. (Except 7th and 14th Reports)
* *Requesting*: Someone please prepare and share a summary, similarly formatted, of the 7th and the 14th Reports.
* NREGA 2005- signals a paradigm shift to legal entitlements, public accountability coupled with community rights, and responsive and participative management.
* Earlier wage employment programs had various problems:-
* Low coverage, <50% beneficiaries from most needs groups.
* Beneficiaries not from locals, actual wage < prescribed wages, gender bias, <30 days of work per year per worker, poor quality of assets, forged muster roll.
* Various schemes but poor impact on poverty, poor is caught in social captivity.
* Areas with extremism, or which are inaccessible - employment schemes are fully in the hands of contractors and middlemen.
* Empowerment of the poor through breaking the barriers of unemployment, illiteracy backwardness, ill health, debilitating (weakening) social inequality then form participation in gov = growth process and inclusive growth.
* NREGA promoting democracy through its accountability mechanism (social auditing) -which is demolishing the traditional hierarchy of power.
* Poor administration, public delivery systems affected the poor = corruption.
* Extremism Naxalism Areas with high concentration of poverty, poor governance systems, weak infrastructure, unequal power structure. Pachayat are non-existent, non functional, NREGA can promote democracy there.
* Institutional, administrative, financial management system of NREGA
* Contents:-
2. Review of public employment programs -Wage employment in the past Employee Guarantee Scheme Lessons.
3. NREGA- Implementation and Challenges Shift towards universalization funding execution centrality of local government Administration and institution arrangements.
4. Special challenges of backward areas.
5. Issues and Recoms
* Applicability to other programs
* Change towards universe entitlements
* Guaranteeing reach and outcomes
* Ensuring convergence
* Expanding the scheme
* Union funding and state execution
* Accountability mechanisms
* Fixing wages rates
* Financial Management System
* Preparing estimates for work
* Maintaining labour-material ratio
* Mechanisms for procurement
* Administration and institution arrangement
* Strengthening local government
* Selection and maintenance of works
* Block Resource Centre
* Entrepreneurship institutions for the Rural poor areas
* Monitoring Systems
* Curbing corruption and leakages
* Transparency and RTI
* Use of IT
* NREGA in 9th and 6th Schedule areas
* NREGA in areas affected by natural disasters
* Records
* Coordination mechanism
1. Introduction
* Shift in govts approach to development. Shit is towards universalization and entitlements. That means instead of just concentrating on the GDP growth to inc the living standards of citizens, now the approach is to recognize minimum levels of education, health, employment, nutrition as basic entitlement and static role in providing them to all.
* Emphasis on balanced regional development - problems in backward areas. Greater resources them.
* Fundamental change in funding and execution of government programs
* Increasingly key programs are being funded by the Union and executed by State this ensures no resources constraints and regular funds are available to Panchayat -> ensures peoples participation, initiative and supervision.
* Flagship programs SSA, NRHM, ICDS, NREGA, Bharat Nirman, Drinking water mission, total sanitation campaign these signal the shift towards universalization and entitlements.
* Challenges Maintaining regularity of fund flow and ensuring accountability.
* Common objective of flagship programs delivering entitlements universally. So need for their convergence at grass root level. Their planning systems should be integrated harmoniously for common implementation frame work for all schemes.
* Administration and institution (for financial management) arrangements for implementation and monitoring multi tier structures - Requires both vertical coordination of diff tiers and horizontal coordination across departments for execution through the local govt.
1. Review of Public Employment Programs
* Wage Employment programs in the past:
* Rural Manpower Program 1960-69 (RMP) employment to 2.5 m people in areas affected by seasonal employment.
* Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) 1971-74 350 districts. Labour intensive works. Creation of durable Community assets.
* Drought Prone Areas Program (DPAP) 1971-73 to mitigate severity of drought condition.
* Areas Development Program (ADP) - do-
* Food for Work Program (FWP) 1977-80 creating employment to raise income levels and so nutritional levels. Strengthening rural infrastructure = high production and better living standard utilize surplus foodgrains of HRD
* National Rural Employment Program (NREP) 1980-89 generate additional employment (rest same as FWP)
* Rural landless Employment Guarantee Program (RLEGP) 1983-89 provide 100 days of employment to at least oen member of a landless household.
* Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) 1989-99 almost same as FWP.
* Food for Work program II (FWP) 2000-02 food security through wage employment in drought affected rural areas.
* Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) 1993 99 100 days of employment to a person in 1752 backward blocks during lean agriculture period.
* Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) 1999-2001 creation of village infrastructure, generation of supplementary employment for unemployed poor (BPL) in rural area.
* Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) 2001 Provide wage/employment, food security, create durable assets . (This scheme was formed by merging Employment Assurance Scheme and Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana)
* Evaluation of these programs:-
1. Funds were not utilized in full, Reasons lack of planning; untimely release of funds, both from union govt to Dist. Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) , and from the DRDAs to blocks; inability of states to generate matching resources.
2. Low coverage of villages and target groups (non-poor beneficiaries)
3. Less labour intensive activities, more capital intensive activities. Normative capital labour ratio was not adhered to.
4. <30 days of wage employment in a year.
5. Bogus reporting on actual achievement
6. Poor quality of the assets created. Non durable.
7. Corruption at political and administration levels.
8. Manipulation of muster rolls and measurement books.
9. Very low participation of women.
10. Schemes explicitly forbade involvement of contractors and use of machinery.
* Employment Guarantee Schemes (EGS) - Early 1970, Maharastra. Unskilled manual work on piece rate basis - Self targeting EGS is still continuing > but little impact on reduction of poverty and unemployment, distress migration of workers continues, poor quality of assets created and their maintenance is not satisfactory, failure to adopt a local development policy to promote overall development.
* Reasons:
* Inadequate planning for assets, serious flaws in project selection. So hostile development plan is required which is integrated with the implementation of other development schemes.
* Lack of peoples participation in planning, implementation. Domination of bureaucracy resulted in technocratic and top-down approach.
* Limited role of Panchayat s in planning and implementation
* Lack of capability No training given to elected Panchayat Chiefs and others. Training of officials/representatives of Panchayats is the key to the success.
* Focus on physical work - It resembles the famine relief works of colonial period, our knowledge based rural economy was destroyed during the colonial period - Need to redefine employment programs to use knowledge and skills in the works will result in self-sufficient rural economy. Reduces rural-urban divide.
* Leakage: Fudging of muster rolls and measurement books. Contractors were involved.
1. NREGA Implementation Challenges
* Salient Features of the Act
* Paradigm Shift Employment is now a right which is enforceable Objectives are same as before, viz to provide livelihood security. Durable assets created through employments productive infrastructure for poverty alleviation on a sustained basis.
* Challenges: be arise because of 1. Shift towards universalization and entitlements, 2. Funding by the Union and Execution by State 3. Centrality of Local Govt. 4. Administrative and institutional arrangements 5. Problems in the backward areas.
* Shift towards universalization and entitlement:-
* Guaranteeing Reach - Legal guarantee of work, enforced within a specified timeframe. So creating work opportunity is a major challenge for the states. So there in need for in depth understanding of region specific demand and its seasonality to meet the demand the demand for work, otherwise unnecessary burden of compensation on states.
* Guaranteeing Outcome:- Creation of infrastructure which is sustainably generated employment for poverty alleviation and should be durable and productive. So proper planning is required for assets designing and construction. Monitoring mechanism should be created by strengthening institutional structure at local government level, for optimal use of resources.
* Ensuring Convergence:- Integration of implementation of flagship programs. Requires preparation of holistic integrated development plan at the local level and includes works to be identified, and undertaken systematically are part of long term strategy for rural development.
* Method of Expansion:- Already expanded.
* Gender balance :- in implementation.
* Union Funding and Execution by State Governments
* Fund Flows: depends on demand for work. A clear mechanism for flow needs to be evolved rather than through normal bureaucratic procedure.
* Accountability: makes it difficult for holding accountable because of duality of funding and executing agencies. So accountability mechanism should be clear.
* Moral Hazards and Distorted Incentives: Likelihood of wastage in the use of resources as executing agency is diff from funding agency.
* Centrality of Local Governances: PRIs execute the scheme. Responsible for identification, execution, supervision of projects as per recoms of Gram Sabha and Ward Sabha.
Gram Sabha chooses the projects for implementation.
-Ensures accountability. Conducts regular social audits
So capacity building is necessary.
* Administrative and Institutional Arrangements
* Technology: NREGP is a large scale program and complex. So technology should be used to facilitate its implementation. Efficiency, expediency, accountability, transparency, prevention of leakages etc.
* Corruption and leakages: Simultaneous monitoring by Gram Sabhas, SHG, Local Monitoring Committees , NGOs. Monitoring should be institutionalized by defining clear charter of roles, responsibility through activity mapping, capacity building of all monitoring agencies.
* Transparency in selection of beneficiaries, identification of works, preparation of estimates. Muster rolls should be freely available for inspection. Payments to workers should be made public on pre-announced dates. Panchayat has to discharge all obligation stipulated under the RTI.
* Community Participation a planning, implementing, supervising, monitoring of the schemes. Community decision making on the choice of works.
* Special Challenge of Backward Areas. Weak governance structure, low organizational capacity and highly stratified (divided castes) social and economic power structure. Difficult terrain. Poor accessibility. Poor infrastructure.
1. Special Problems of Backward Districts
* Extremism - Naxalism, Insurgence, Scheduled Areas, Tribal Area
* Non-functionality of PRIs. Widespread poverty. Mostly in arid and semi arid regions. No connectivity, low spread of banks and post offices.
* Socioeconomic indicators mostly below national average. Literacy, female literacy etc. %age of SC, ST population is high.
* Primarily agricultural society - Large %age of Agriculture Labors More than 33% of national average.
* Large scale prevalence of landlessness.
* PESA - Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Area Act 1996
* Powers and responsibilities of PRIs, Gram Sabhas in PESA is different from other areas. Gram Sabhas approves plans, projects, before they are taken up for implementation by the Panchayat at the village level. Gram Sabha identifies the beneficiaries, certify utilization of funds by Panchayat.
* No Uniformity in sizes of population and areas in villages and districts. And no uniformity in the norms for administrative staffing, service delivery
* Very poor mechanisms. Understaffing = overburdened, leakages, lack of motivation and professional competence. So, administrative apparatus should be strengthened.
* Gender Gaps
1. Issues and Recoms
* 5.2 Change towards universalization and Entitlements
* Guaranteeing Reach Creating awareness (through programs) among the people to register for work. Registration should be transparent and objective. Inherent prejudices in the rural society due to case class, religion and thus some cases are not registered. Social boycott, exclusion. So effective monitoring mechanisms involving civil society organisms should be created Recom
* Guaranteeing Outcomes Socio-economic impact evaluation should be conducted regularly. Impact on livelihood security, etc. Evaluation helps in policy corrections.
* Parameters poverty, nutrition, sustainability of income from assets created, the extent of unemployment, magnitude of migration, and access to different essential services, average annual income, and average market wage for agricultural laborers these should be determined with pre-define threshold level so as to meet the objectives of NREGA substantially.
* Districts should be ranked according to their performance. Parameters durability of assts, %age of people employed, involvement of Gram Sabhas, accountability, transparent, timeliness etc.
* Ensuring Convergence NREGA; objective livelihood security. It requires not just employment but also health services, education, housing, food security, social security, etc.
* Recoms- Convergence with other service delivery systems is required.
* Convergence with other infrastructure/asset creating programs. Convergence of funds of both, i.e. emerging the labour component of NREGA with the capital component of another program. This may create serious accounting problems.
* Convergence in planning. Currently, all major schemes have their own prescribed mythology of preparing a plan. 73rd Amendment Act There should be one integrated area plan for economic development and all sectoral/schemes wise plans should be developed from the plan. Synergy can be achieved.
* Convergence in machinery and infrastructure and monitoring - At present, different implementation machinery often working vertical silos. This leads to wastage of resources, leakages, duplication of administrative staff and infrastructure like buildings, computer, and equipment. So all rural development programs should be transferred to PRIs. They should be adequately funded and provided with well trained officials.
* Convergence with Bharat Nirman:- Central scheme for rural infrastructure in partnership with states and PRIs. (2005-09). Bharat Nirman has some targets set in creating rural infrastructure electricity, all weather roads, drinking waters, telephone connectivity, housing, irrigation. It needs large manual labours.
* Expanding the Schemes already expanded.
* 5.3 Union funding and state execution
* Accountability Mechanisms - Maturing federalism. States are increasingly empowered to determine their own policies and programs. Role of union is expanding in new ways.
* Education, healthcare, rural and urban development, social security largely under state jurisdiction. And yet, these services are increasingly driven by union govt. policies and funds.
* Reasons Paucity of resources at state level, need for standardization of services, equitable balanced development, imperatives of achieving challenges of growing economy; Different execution and funding agencies erodes accountability.
* Union govt funds bears entire cost of wages of unskilled manual workers; 75% of cost of materials and cost of wages of skilled & semi skilled workers; administrative expenses.
* States - 25% ; unemployment allowance incase work cant be provided.
* A distorted incentive system is created because of the funding pattern.
(Because in some cases of works like earthworks where no material component is required, states contribution is nil)
(Wherein inc in the central funds doesnt inc the matching funds of the states)
Thus states may run the schemes on a larger scale or for longer time than is actually required.
* Similarly, a Panchayat which prevents misuse of funds would in long run end up getting lesser funds than a Panchayat which is not so meticulous is ensuring proper use of funds under the schemes.
* So need for strong accountability mechanisms. (monitoring and evaluation), independent agencies, IT.
* Fixing wage rates - (minimum wages act)
* Variations in notified min wages for agricultural labors in different states.
* Min wages are generally fixed on time rate basis (per day etc) where as works are executed on piece rate basis (wage for piece of work)
* Reconciliation between the two is a challenge.
* Recoms: A detailed study about min wages should be made before fixing min wage.
* Financial Management System
* Essential elements of a system:
1. Adequate availability of funds
2. Smooth flow of funds from GOI to districts to Gram Panchayat, to workers.
3. Smooth flow of financial info from Panchayats to district, states, union.
4. Reliable accounting system.
5. Timely detection of financial violation
6. Transparency and accountability
Operational guidelines for fund flows as of now
* National Employment Guarantee Fund to State Employment Guarantee Fund (EGF) to District EGF to Panchayat EGF
* Release of funds to districts
* Cost and time both increase when funds flow through unnecessary intermediate levels. Experience shows that when centrally sponsors schemes (CSS) are routed through state govts, there are substantial delays in receipt of funds at lowest level.
* Argument for routing through states is that plans and budgets can be prepared, implemented and monitored more effectively only when state is the recipient and disbursal authority. However, this can be achieved by only giving info about the flow of funds to the states.
* Recoms Transfer funds directly to districts, which are closer to the points of utilization. Districts should be made nodal points for funds and Information.
* Pre-requisites for release of funds-
* In all Centrally Sponsors Schemes, the backlog in utilization of funds is huge.
* Recoms If a state doesnt make its contribution, it may be deducted from its central Assistance for State Plans.
* Proactive not reactive fund flows- to avoid delays in payment (for workers and employment schemes)
* Earlier (reactive fund flow), centre used to transfer funds to states (for CSS) only after states completely utilized the earlier funds. (utilization certificates) not appropriate for demand based schemes.
* Delays results in wastage of money in the form of employment allowance.
* Recoms: Delays can be avoided if certain minimum amount is always maintained in the Panchayat Employment Guarantee Funds.
* System of releasing funds based on utilization certificates should be replaces with a system of concurrent monitoring and audit through an independent agency.
* Panchayat Accounts with banks funds are transferred to them Replenished periodically.
* Emphasis on outputs and outcomes
* Recoms: PRIs have to ensure the quality and nature of assets created. Info and evidence on these aspects would have to be compiled and made available to all. Mandatory periodic social audits.
* Checks and Balances-
* Current mechanisms or ensuring proper utilization of funds are utilization certificates and audits. UC is a self certification document issued by a public authority (District program coordinator or someone else) certifying that the funds utilized by it have been expended as per the rules. It is expected that the public authority has carried out necessary verifications.
* UCs doesnt guarantee proper utilization of funds as verifications are seldom carried out.
* UCs delays in payments Audits are very irregular, generally.
* Concurrent Monitoring and Audit System: verification of accounts of all the implementing agencies (3 tier PRIs). Verification of works carried out too. By independent external agency. Every month. It will point out the discrepancies. Monitors the compliance of earlier observations.
* Recoms PRIs should be educated about new computerized accounting systems, funds flow management etc. Misappropriated money should be recovered from the responsible Panchayat or persons.
* Financial Information System:
* Recoms Gram Panchayat forwards all financial info to block Panchayat. aggregate all the info and forward to District Panchayat (nodal agency). Computerization of all blocks so easy availability of info Standardized formats - A uniform financial info system for the entire country.
* Mode of payment to workers- Through banks and post offices. But bank is very limited. Most of the Panchayat do not have a branch of a nationalized bank. Payment through banks and post-offices though are the surest way to ascertain the amount but they poses administrative and accessibility problems.
* Recoms: Choice of the mode of payment should be left to the workers; payment in cash may be the preferred option. The agency preparing the muster rolls must be different from the agency making payment to the workers. In drought prone areas, a part of the wages may be distributed in terms of food grains.
* Role of banks and post offices in funds flow-
* Large no. of zero balance accounts have to be opened. Transactional costs of the post-offices have to be borne by govt as they cant cover their cost if the account has low amount of money.
* Other issues guidance for rural poor in their banking operations So procedures need to be simplified.
* Preparing Estimates for Works:
* Time rate vs Piece rate-
* Time rate basis payment is proportional to the time (regardless of the actual work) spent by the worker at the work place. It is good for women, elderly people etc.
* Disadvantages low productivity, quality of assets
* Piece rate basis amount of work done. = measurement of work is necessary. Possibility of misuse of funds is very less.
* Being used in Rajasthan from 2006. Many other states too.
* Physical work is converted into monetary terms using the Schedule of Rates Prescribed by PWD in the state. Variation across the states. Rates are not updated. Prevalent market wages are high.
* Recoms States should evolve a more realistic rural schedule of rates for each district with certain min wage prescribed. District technical resources support group will supervise it.
* For elderly people, women, their normal productivity should be taken into account while preparing schedules.
* Centre should coordinate the nationalizing of schedule rate across the states.
* Maintaining Labor Material Ratio:-
* 60:40 in terms of cost of the work maintained at all levels of PRIs. May be misused for balancing of certain works.
* Eg 3 works undertaken by Gram Panchayat in a year. 2 have 80:20 and 3rd may have 20:80 to balance it out generate no employment.
* Recoms Ratio should be adhered in each work. If it is not possible at every level, atleast at Gram/Block levels it should be maintained.
* Mechanism for Procurement:-
* Procurement of material. 40% of total funds.
* Recoms Need for evolving transparent procurement procedures. (by the states)
* 5.4 Administrative and Institutional Arrangement
* Strengthening Local Govt (LSGs)
* Building Intuitions :-
* Gram Sabha (GS), Gram Panchayat (GP), Intermediate Panchayat (IP), District Panchayat (DP) all have role in planning and implementation of NREGA
* GS monitoring, social audit.
* GP (recruited by GS) identification, execution of works.
* PRI are not sufficiently empowered to implement large schemes. Collector often supervises the implementation of NREGA.
* Recoms: PRIs should be empowered Transfer all development schemes which are better managed locally. Transfer administration machinery to implement them. PRIs should evolve into institution which can plan, execute develop programs.
* District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA) should be included in the District Panchayat.
* Capability building:-
* PRIs understaffed. Officials posted in difficult areas do not reside there and prefer to function far from their place of work = Program suffers.
* Solutions 1) Appoint from local people 2) Appointment to a particular post rather than to a service cadre 3) contractual appointments 4) relaxation of some qualification if local persons with requisite qualifications are not available make up capability building programs 5) services of proven NGOs
* Gram Panchayat level administrative staff performs administrative functions, technical staff gives technical advice, prepares estimates, supervise the execution of work, measures the work, quantify the value of the work.
* Theres acute shortage of technical staff not enough engineers.
* Recoms: - a panel of non-govt engineers may be engaged at the block level. local educated youth can be trained to prepare (under non-govt engineers) estimates for work
* Areas affected by extremism officials often work through remote control. They should be motivated to work directly through special incentives liberal life insurance cover, hardship allowance, govt accommodation for family outside that place etc.
* Training should be a continuous process.
* Subjects in training of PRI Concept of poverty; NREGA; RTI; associated laws of NREGA like min wages Act etc.
* Distance learning technology should be used in remote areas. NGOs, SHGs, should be used to impart trainings. Evaluation of training activities through independent organization.
* Selection and Maintenance of Works:-
* Block Panchayat (BP) approves block level plan. Forwards it to District Panchayat (D.P.)
* DP approves block-wise shelf of projects.
* District planning committee consolidates Panchayat and municipal plans in the district and prepare by a draft development plan for the district as a whole.
* Recoms All individual works should be in harmony with District Development Plan be watershed development in the area.
* Most works relate to drought proofing, irrigation, land treating. Boundaries of watersheds mostly transcends the boundaries of GP or BP. So BP and DP should coordinate the work in that case/
* NREGA Provision atleast 50% of the works (in terms of cost) should be implemented at GP level. Bp take up work only in case of inter-Panchayat works or where GPs have not been able to meet the demand for employment.
* Block Resource Centre (BRC):-
* Technical experts planners, water resource experts, agricultural scientists they are essential at all levels.
* RBC should be constituted at the block levels under the guidance of District Technical Resource Support Center. (DTRSC)
* Currently TRSC, at central, state, district levels only.
* Recoms: Setup BRC
* Entrepreneurship Institution for the rural poor-
* Necessary to equip the beneficiaries under NREGA with knowledge based skills so that they dont have to do manual labour for livelihood.
* RUDSET program in Karnataka (Rural Development & Self Employment Training) Trained 1 Lac+ persons Public-Pvt-Partnetship - 70% of those trained setup their own enterprises.
* Recoms- Entrepreneurship training institutes should be setup in every block to make people seek self-employment.
* Monitoring Systems
* Ministry of Rural Development developing a comprehensive Monitoring and Information System (MIS). A notional online monitoring system for key performance indicators will be evolved.
* Recoms- Evaluation based on many parameters, not just the reports of 1) Employment generation, 2) Financial progress, 3) Physical progress of works.
* Independent monitoring and auditing agencies to carry out concurrent monitoring and audit. They should visit Panchayat every month, check all the records.
* Curbing Corruption and Leakage:
* Shift from allocation based approach to entitlement based Allocation based approach has built in checks against leakages (although to a limited extent). In these schemes, resources are limited, so implementing agencies are forced by the society, to use resources properly.
NREGP no limits on funds demand driven misused.
* Earthworks less durable so difficult for verification.
* Inflation of estimated cost of the works.
* Pronged approach:-
1. Templates of estimates at block level of general works should be prepare showing the inputs of labor and material required. This can act as an aid for preparation of estimates.
2. Documentation of all works and payments should be made perfect.
3. Very strong community control an audit mechanism should be put in place.
4. Independent monitors should carry verification of all records and assets
* An effective grievances redressal mechanism.
* Developing standardized and simplified procedures for preparation of estimates makes the work of PRIs and civil society easy.
* Muster roll and Measurement books (measurement of work done) -> (these are most imp records) -> maintained by PRIs
* Recoms: - Muster roll and Measurement books should incorporate the physical dimensions of works backed by photographs of the work executed at different stages.
* Community control and racial audit of all works:-
* The act has a provision for setting up of a local vigilance and monitoring committee to monitor the progress and quality of work. Gram Sabha elects member to this committee and ensures adequate representation of SC/STs
* Gram Sabha regular social audits of all works.
Social audit is a process in which, details of the resource, both financial and one-financial, used by public agencies for department initiatives are shared with the community, often through a public platform -Enforcing accountability and transparency- Prescribed a continuous audit and a mandatory social audit forum one in 6 months.
* Social Audits Pre-requisite proper records, expertise to conduct audit, awareness among Gram Sabha members about their rights.
* Independent rectification of Records and Works Independent field monitoring system carry out concurrent monitoring and auditing so that corrective steps could be taken imm.
* Grievances Redressal Mechanism (GRM) Programme Officer at the block level is designated as the Grievance Redressal Officer and the District Programme Coordinator is designated as Grievance Redressal Officer at the district level.
* Recoms: - GRM should be proactive in reaching out to the people to redress their grievances. Take up cases Suo Moto.
* Transparency and RTI:
* Recoms- awareness generation about NREGA and RTI.
Awareness campaigns. Outsourcing generation tasks to NGOs and SHGs (Self Help Groups)
Emphasis on suo-moto disclosure of info and not only through web because theres a limited access to web.
NGOs have reach even in remote areas. They should be involved in implementing too.
* Use of IT:-
* Efficiency, accountability, flexibility objectives.
* Recoms:- Blocks as nodal, fully-electronic points Blocks (or villages, depending on internet connectivity) must be nodal levels of govt at which all info is electronic.
- Any info collected in non-electronic form at this or lower level of govt must be digitalized at
block level.
- Minimum and common set of national standard for data, collection, storage, retrieval.
- Assessment
- UID (Unique Identification) to each individual (being implemented)
- Earlier UID to each household.
- Computerisation of records at Gram Panchayat level.
- Periodic reviews
- (Voluntary) Suo-Moto disclosures
* GIS (Geographic Information System) for visualization of data on map spaces must be developed. Analysis solely from databases (without visualization) is very difficult. Visualization required to identify strengths and weakness in geographic terms.
* Unique Identification
Unambiguously establish identity of each beneficiary. Process of setting up of such a database Start from a database which is error free (like govt employees database) and keeps on adding other database. (like PAN, passport, driving license, LPG connection etc). Keep on eliminating errors, duplicates. PAN, passport, driving license etc covers mostly non-rural areas.- So NREGA database will be very useful Mutually Synergistic.
* IT system for financial Management Technology to keep costs under control by providing effective monitoring platform for expenditures, by allowing bypassing (by direct transfers of financial info flow) of unnecessary levels of financial administration.
Facilitates responsiveness and monitoring
* IT system for monitoring and evaluation of efficiency, effectiveness
Analysis of data reported by various implementing governments- Inspections (detecting errors) during operations correcting systematic inefficiencies and adopt the best practices.
- Recoms Prepare list of parameters for evaluation Automatic alerts in the IT system in case
of certain measurable violations.
- Ranks for all blocks in the country should be generated through IT based performance.
- GIS by IT.
* RTI in NREGA, use of IT:- Storing, processing of data, easy retrieval of data in intelligible form. Most of the raw information should be disclosed voluntarily. IT should be able to integrate the data disclose to generate suo-moto reports automatically.
* Smart Cards:- A plastic card roughly of the size of a credit card with a microchip embedded. This microchip cold be a mere data storage device and in advanced versions this may also incorporate a microprocessor. The storage device can store details of individuals and their transactions with govt. Details including biometric to confirm the identity of holders.
* Used like credit cards, access control, public transport ticketing.
* Use of smartcards requires infrastructure which includes access facilities like kiosks equipped with card reading and writing devices, card issuing and updating systems, data management systems etc.
* Same cards should be used for multiple purposes and not just NREGA.
* Implementation of NREGA in 5th and 6th Schedule Areas
* Relief employment at present given by revenue dept of states 10-12 days of relief employment every month to a beneficiary Wages in form of Cash and Food Grains can live for one month (rural household)
* Relief employment financed from relief funds Calamity Relief Fund (CRF)
* NCCF national calamity contingency fund in case of need for additional funds.
* Recoms:- In times of calamities in an area, employment should be given under NREGA. Relief Employment only for those persons who exhausted their entitlement under NREGA. (Parallel running of both leaks to wastage, corruption, administration problems)
* List of permissible works: Most of the works listed are suitable to drought prone and dry areas. Need to expand it with works suitable to local (climate and topography) requirements in different season Listed works are not suitable in high rainfall areas, J&K -> in winters.
- Watershed development, drought proofing, afforestation, land development.
- Expand watershed land development in private lands too (marginal and small farmers, SC/STs)
* Records:- Jobcards given to each household keeps track of the entitlement of the household (they are only such doc.) Details of the households, wages paid, work done, no. of days for which employment is provided etc.
Recoms:- Jobcards ledger should be maintained by PRIs to prevent tampering of jobcads.
* Coordination Mechanism:-
Various agencies are setup now.
Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) Setup by Centre. CEGC advices GOI on
Implementation of the act, establishing and evaluating the monitoring system, preparation of annual
reports to be laid before parliament.
State EGC (Employment Guarantee Council) These roles + deciding on the preferred works
Similar institutions for other flagship programmes + Bharat Nirman are setup.
* Recoms:- Similar Committees at state and district levels
A common inter-ministerial, empowered steering committee for NREGA, and other flagship programs, Bharat Nirman may be set up with the Cabinet Secretary as the chairman and secretaries of concerned dept/ministries as members.
Their powers:-
1. Oversee the work of sectoral ministerial committees in order to remove differences, bottlenecks, and lack of synergy and issue directions to bring about an integrated approach.
2. Takes timely and appropriate decisions for effective and accountable implementation of the concerned programs.
3. Bring about better coordination in implementation.
4. Ensure the centrality of local govts.
* Conclusion:-
* Will strengthen PRI, enable participatory planning at grass roots level, empower women, harbinger of rural transformation, bridge gender gaps, bring decentralization, energies administration and institutions structures, leading to good governance, dismantle unequal power structure.
by Shrey Rawat
Sources
1. Amarkeshs Hand-Written Notes available at https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzuxVwOA4U0YRjcwOWRjTXRJX2s&usp=sharing
2. Original ARC Reports.
* I have used Amarkeshs hand-written ARC Reports Notes to prepare this summary notes and also took
* Reference from the original ARC Reports whenever there was a requirement to add further details.
* So here you have the Summary of one of the ARC reports > much properly formatted spelling errors free
* more detailed and editable, Enjoy.
* Ill share the summaries of rest of the reports too, once theyll get finished. (Except 7th and 14th Reports)
* *Requesting*: Someone please prepare and share a summary, similarly formatted, of the 7th and the 14th Reports.
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