eTapal - Document Journey Management System

Brief description of the programme/project/initiative :

Any interaction of the citizen with the Collectorate (Collector Office), whether a query, a complaint, an application, or a request, requires quick response and action from the respective departments. It is inconvenient for citizens to visit the collectorate from remote villages, just to follow-up and know the status or the progress of their complaint/application/request. On the other hand, the departments of collectorate needed an efficient and new automated system to manage their records, files and documents so that they could deliver the citizens in a timely and transparent manner.

Target Group: The stakeholders include the Collector Office employees, Citizens, non-governmental and Business Organizations.

Objective:

• Create a system to enable the department to easily monitor, validate, and track the progress of the various files and documents across departments and employees.
• To be able to service the citizen in a quick, efficient and transparent manner.
• To be able to view the performance of the various departments and employees with regards to pending lists of actionable / files which are yet to be closed.
• To have a transparent and easy inter-department interaction in order to execute/ action the required files.
• To enable the citizen to know the status of their file at their convenience.

Challenges

• The department needed to relay the quick response and action on the request/query/complaint filed by the citizen.
• The citizen had to visit the department office to know the status of their ‘file’.
• It was difficult to track and monitor the current updated status of the file by the department and decision making was delayed.
• An automated process of directing a query/complaint/request was needed to easily to the right/ concerned person for response/action/resolution.
• The earlier system had several constraints in functionality and technology. There were performance issues as well.

Solution

A new web solution of Document Journey Management System (DJMS) was designed, developed and implemented. DJMS is a web application that helps validate and track the progress of files and references within the government department. It helps the government officials to monitor the movement of various documents in the process. This monitoring helps in making important decision at different levels. The DJMS application also used to generates various reports including a daily performance report and an Arrears List. An extensive Administrative module is designed to maintain departmental as well as employee details. The DJMS system will be available to Collector Office’s employees through intranet portal.

Citizens can now easily track the status of their file on the Collector Office. The system ensures reliable, up-to-date, full and authenticated information to the citizens. The system is integrated with IVRS, SMS and Web channels which are used to intimate the citizens on the current status.

User training was provided to all official and clerical staff, supported by manuals and documentation.

The process flow consists of –

• Creation of a unique reference number which is also sent to the citizen (if applicable) via SMS and Email. Using the reference number, the citizen can track the status online via the ‘File Status’ application on the Collector Office portal.
• This reference gets forwarded to the concerned department(s) in the form a SMS and email, after which a unique file number is generated by the concerned department
• The file can be forwarded/ assigned further down the organizational hierarchy as required. The SMS/email is automatically populated with the details including attachments, notes and is available in Marathi and English. The employee can recall, forward, reply etc. the mail.
• The status of the file can be tracked at any time in the system and escalated also.
• The system provides the senior officials with reports, which provide an insight into the activities done by their subordinates. With the help of various reports, quick decision making is possible at various levels.

10 points that make the program /project innovative:

• Enables the citizen to easily know the status of their file in Collector Office via IVRS, SMS and Web.
• DJMS is an integrated application across departments at Collector Office – The Chief Minister’s office and all departments now use the same version.
• Since One Reference Number can be there for many files, the earlier system did not link the Reference Number and File Numbers and hence a continuous end-to-end tracking was not possible by the employees. The new system links the reference number and the file number(s) so that end-to-end tracking of status is possible.
• The file can be forwarded/ assigned further down the organizational hierarchy or to another department as required. Thus, facilitating an easy workflow in the same department/ inter-department.
• The status of the file can be tracked at any time in the system and escalated also.
• Localization: The application can support in Marathi or English language.
• Senior officials have access to various reports, which provide an insight into the activities done by their subordinates including the pending tasks.
• The strong MIS enables quick decision making at various levels. Some of the reports include Department files/reference report, Employee file/reference report, Desk file/reference report and Inter department report.
• A single mail (with a reference number) can be forwarded to many departments at the same time where generation of unique file number for each department will be done. This has made assigning very simple and easy for the employees/ users.
• The system provides three ways of tracking status of file by a citizen.
  • The citizen can visit the Collector Office portal and use the ‘File Status’ application by entering the reference number.
  • (Pull SMS Service) The citizen can send an SMS to a code and receive the updated status information via SMS.
  • IVRS – The citizens can call to a 24x7 local phone number to know the status of their file.

Conclusion

The new version of DJMS has increased transparency and operational efficiency in the departments. It has increased Government-Citizens-Business interaction and engagement, making it easier for the Government to provide its services effectively. The citizen can access the status of their file anytime, anywhere at convenience without visiting the Collector Office. The new DJMS system has a user-friendly interface, is very easy to update and has good performance. It has significantly reduced the time taken by the government official to validate, approve, forward and track the files. The updated information is available in the system at all times. Supported by a strong MIS, this has made decision making quicker across levels.