Assessment of the KGSC - Phase 2 District Spotlight DK

Assessment of the Usage and Implementation of SAKALA

District Spotlight: Dakshina Kannada

Submitted to:

Dr. Shalini Rajneesh

Principal Secretary DPAR (AR) Government of Karnataka

Authored by: Sridhar Pabbisetty

Chief Operating Officer Centre for Public Policy

IIM Bangalore

Mahima Vijendra

Research Associate Centre for Public Policy

IIM [email protected] [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Summary of Findings..................................................................................................................................... 3

Performance Comparison: March and April ................................................................................................. 5

Receipts by Department ........................................................................................................................... 5

Receipts by District ................................................................................................................................... 6

Puttur: Receipts by Department ............................................................................................................... 6

Puttur: Transport Department – Receipts by Service ............................................................................... 7

Mangalore: Receipts by Department ........................................................................................................ 7

Mangalore: Transport Department – Receipts by Service ........................................................................ 8

Findings by Department ................................................................................................................................ 9

Road Transport Office, Puttur ................................................................................................................... 9

Revenue Department, Puttur ................................................................................................................. 10

Commercial Taxes Department, Mangalore ........................................................................................... 12

City Corporation, Mangalore .................................................................................................................. 14

Appendix 1: Officers Interviewed ............................................................................................................... 15

Appendix 2: Questionnaire (Officials) ......................................................................................................... 16

Appendix 3: Questionnaire (Citizens) ......................................................................................................... 18

Centre for Public Policy, IIM Bangalore 10th May 2012 3

Introduction Following our initial analysis of the usage of Sakala in pilot phase, we carried out an in-depth assessment

of its implementation and functioning in the pilot taluk of Puttur and Mangalore city in Dakshina

Kannada district. The assessment involved interviews with a cross-section of officers from four

departments on the advantages of Sakala and the challenges in its successful implementation. The study

ascertained areas where additional assistance is required for better performance and best practices that

have been introduced to improve the delivery of Sakala. In addition the study also included interviews of

citizens who were at the various government offices for availing Sakala services, to gain an

understanding of the level of awareness of Sakala.

The four departments assessed were chosen on the basis of age-wise delayed reports during the pilot

phase. While the Transport department in Puttur and Commercial Taxes department in Mangalore

showed 20 and 16 delays as of 09/04/12, respectively, the Revenue department in Puttur and the City

Corporation in Mangalore showed a good disposal pattern.

Puttur was one of the top performing taluks during the Pilot Phase and we find that Dakshina Kannada is also among the top 10 district across many departments for the month of April.

Summary of Findings The key findings from the interaction with officials and citizens were as follows:

Speaking to citizens who were availing services at the time of field visit, many responded by

saying that they were not facing any particular difficulty or delay in availing the services in

Puttur and Mangalore. However the level of awareness of Sakala was minimal, with majority of

the citizens unaware of Sakala and unable to identify the symbol and the caption.

In departments such as Transport and Revenue services were delivered within the time limits

imposed by Nagarika Sannadu much before the launch of Sakala. Our recommendation is to

provide a department specific training and create a training manual identifying the workflow for

each of the service under Sakala.

The Revenue department in Puttur and the City Corporation in Mangalore observed that due to

their erstwhile legacy of being with the Madras Province, many of the documents mandated by

Sakala for Revenue and City Municipal Corporation services were not applicable. The mandatory

document list has to be reviewed for the coastal districts and changes have to be made in the

Sakala system.

The biggest benefit of Sakala is the ease of monitoring the delivery of services. Many

departments use the practice of going through the due for today and due for tomorrow reports

to find any requests that may have not already been delivered. Senior departmental staff found


it helpful that the software enabled all staff to self-monitor any delays in the applications they

were handling.

Officials felt that Sakala empowers and recognises officers who have been performing

conscientiously, and also found that interaction and cooperation between team members

increased since the introduction of Sakala.

Resolving technical glitches relating to incomplete integration of existing departmental software

and the Sakala System should be taken up on a priority basis.

o A request after being disposed in the Commercial Taxes Department EFS software was

not shown as disposed in the Sakala system even after many hours. There appears to be

a significant delay before the status is updated. This delay was also seen in the

Transport department but to a lesser extent.

o In the Revenue department’s Nemmadi system, a cancelled request in the Nemmadi

system continued to remain as a pending request in the Sakala system.

o The Sakala system currently doesn’t allow citizens to track the step wise status of the

application. When queried through the SMS gateway, we found that the first request in

Puttur for Land Conversion still showed the status of “Received” even after a month.

Though the service has 120 days for disposal, it will be useful for the citizen to know its

progress.

The Sakala display boards and acknowledgement receipts did not include the website address or

the mobile number through which citizens could check the status of their application through

SMS.

Officials in all the departments said they were overburdened due to the Unfilled Vacancies. They

said just filling up these vacancies would enable to deliver the services efficiently.

Many officials said there is a need for staff with IT skills. They also requested a training program

for the existing staff that are not proficient in IT skills. Department wise knowledge sharing

session with other districts would help the staff share the good practices. Any opportunity for

some staff to also interact with other states who are implementing right to services will be

beneficial.

There is a need for rationalization of services across departments and the mandatory

documents to be submitted while requesting a service. For instance in the revenue department

there were services that were rarely used such as population certificate and living certificate.

These could be replaced by services such as pension, new ration card requests, election forms 6,

7 &8 for the various elections that the Tahsildar oversees.

The competent authorities were not clear about the operationalisation of the penalty process.


Performance Comparison: March and April With Sakala coming into force across the state starting from April 2, 2012, there has been a significant increase in the number of applications for services under Sakala up from 165,673 in March 2012 to 780,056 in April 2012. Similarly the number of disposals has gone up from 133,400 in March 2012 to 599,502 in April 2012.

Receipts by Department The top 5 departments for which services were most requested were Revenue Department (47%),

Transport Department (23%), Commercial Taxes Department (17%) and Urban Development

Department (8%). The Commercial Taxes Department rolled out Sakala state-wide during the month of

March, accounted for 67% of requests. For the month of April the department’s share has gone down to

17%.

MARCH APRIL


Receipts by District During the pilot phase the top 3 districts receiving applications for Sakala services were Bangalore (46%),

Dharwad (11%) and Dakshina Kannada (7%). In the month of April, Bangalore (22%) retained the top

spot followed by Belgaum (7%) and Mysore (6%) as the top 3 districts.

Puttur: Receipts by Department While Transport, Revenue and Town Municipal Council remained the top 3 departments for both the

months of March and April, their respective share has changed from 64%, 12% and 9% to 57%, 19% and

8%. We now see significant number of services being requested from the Food and Civil Supplies, Rural

and Panchayat Raj and Home Departments.

APRIL MARCH

APRIL MARCH


1202

880

4

1049

4

1567

1003

11

1170

20

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Learning Licence Driving Licence Duplicate Licence Registration of Vehicle

Duplicate Registration Certificate

No. of receipts - April No. of receipts - March

Puttur: Transport Department – Receipts by Service Transport department continues to be the most sought after department in Puttur. In absolute terms,

the number of services requested went down from 3,753 in March to 3,139 in April. Amongst the

services of the Transport department - Learning License, Registration of Vehicle and Driving License are

the most sought after services.

Mangalore: Receipts by Department Transport, Commercial Taxes and Revenue were top 3 departments for the month April, receiving 37%,

29% and 21% of the applications respectively. City Corporation accounted for 5% of the receipts.

MARCH

APRIL


Mangalore: Transport Department – Receipts by Service Receiving 6,931 applications in the month of April, the Transport department services have the highest

demand in Mangalore. Similar to Puttur, amongst the services offered by the Department - Learning

License, Registration of Vehicle and Driving License receive the largest share of applications of 40%, 37%

and 22% respectively.

APRIL


Findings by Department

Road Transport Office, Puttur A total of seven services are offered by the Road Transport Office (RTO), five of which are included

under Sakala. The two additional services currently not included under KGSC – permits and transfer of

ownership. The office receives approximately 100-150 applications per day along with over 200

applications received during reach out camps at Sulya (Fridays) and Belthangady (Wednesdays).

Benefits and Changes:

Computerisation of data at the RTO was done long before the launch of Sakala. The RTO adopted

Nagarika Sannadu (NS) about a decade ago, which set out the same procedural workflow as Sakala but

with more stringent deadlines. Prior to Sakala, under NS, applications had to be processed within two –

four days. With the stipulated time being more than two days under Sakala, it has given the staff a sense

of relief.

Sakala has ensured that conscientious officers are recognised. With strong support and guidance from

District Commissioner (N.S. ChannappaGowda) and Deputy Commissioner for Transport, Shimoga

Division (Maruthi Sambrani) staff work together to ensure applications is processed well within the

stipulated time. Case workers are working faster and are more alert, thereby increasing efficiency of

service-delivery. Additionally, given that applications are uploaded only after a chalan is submitted, any

informality in the procedure that existed prior to Sakala is reduced / avoided.

Capacity Building and Awareness Creation:

Training was provided to all staff around the 3rd / 4th week of February and since then on a regular basis.

Specific training was given to additional commissioners by NIC officers at the DC’s office. Additional

training and re-instruction is provided to staff on the basis of any recurring errors in data entry or

recording of requests.

During the pilot phase the RTO of Puttur interacted with the RTO at Chitradurga to share knowledge and

experience. Since the state-wide launch, Bangalore and Mangalore RTOs have approached Puttur RTO

with certain procedural queries. However, there have been no interactions with RTOs in other states

that have implemented the RTS Act.

With regard to awareness creation, officers interact with citizens visiting the Office and deal with any

issues immediately. Display boards placed near the application counters and an advert in Udayavani /

Sanjayvani have been used to disseminate information.

Software:

KGSC integration with the existing software – Sarathi and Vahana – has been relatively smooth.

Superintendent / case worker and a few other designated staff are in-charge of resolving minor


problems with the system. NIC representatives Ashwin Kumar Rai and Vinod are points of contact for

troubleshooting.

Monitoring Mechanisms and Adaptations:

RTO Superintendent uses “Over Due”, “Due for Today” and “Due for Tomorrow” reports in the Sakala

website. To avoid pendencies, applications without required documents are not being accepted. E.g. For

issuance of Driver’s Licence (DL), application not accepted until driving test has been passed. This has

resulted in no rejections of applications for DL. Whether this is the process of follow is something that

has to be clarified by the Sakala Mission.

Issues and Suggestions:

Co-ordination between Sarathi, Vahan and KGSC has been slightly problematic, with delays in the

update of applications status. There is a need to resolve technical glitches in the system to ensure that

all disposed cases are reflected on KGSC (currently there appears to be a delay in updating, which is the

only reason behind the pendency figures for the department).

Unfilled staff vacancies have led to a severe shortage that is overburdening existing staff. If additional

services are to be included under Sakala then recruitment of IT-skilled staff is imperative.

Step-wise tracking of applications is not available. Application status tracking phone no. should be

included on the display board for citizens. Acknowledgement printout of application receipt should

include information on status tracking such as phone no. and website.

Sakala implementation faces some hindrances due to delay in delivery of materials. Example – Cards for

Smart Cards are supplied by Rosemerta from Bangalore and any delay in the availability of the smart

cards will result in pending applications.

There is need for tailored training along with a manual specific to the department.

If transfer of ownership of migrated vehicles and issue of clearance certificate services are included

under Sakala, there will be a need to integrate the RTO system with the Police IT system.

Additional Requests:

Repeated requests to Rosemerta to repair air-conditioning in the server room and back-up for hard-

drive have been pending for the last 4-5 months. The RTO has also requested for laser printers.

Revenue Department, Puttur 24 services offered by the revenue department have been included under Sakala.



Deadline for processing requests and grievance redressal mechanisms have inculcated a sincere and

conscientious work ethic among staff.


Training session for the Tahsildar has included a training session conducted by ATI at ZillaParishad,

Mangalore as well as 2 meetings held the DC’s Office in Mangalore. Together these training sessions

have been sufficient and subsequently the Tahsildar has been able to train field and office staff.

Given that there have not been any formal / official knowledge sharing opportunities provided to the

officers, Tahsildar has relied on the internet to learn about RTS Act of other states.

Officers from other districts interacted with the Puttur office since the state-wide launch.

Awareness about Sakala has been created through advertisements in the local newspaper, field staff

disseminating information and working with community leaders.

Software:

‘Bhoomi’ and ‘Nemmadi’ are integrated with GSC. Other software used by the department not currently

integrated with GSC are ‘Election’ and ‘Ahara’. NIC representative, Ashwin Kumar Rai is the point-of-

contact for troubleshooting.


Tahsildar receives texts detailing receipts and disposals figures on a regular basis. Additionally, a Grade 2

Tahsildar reviews receipts and disposals.

Tahsildar has introduced certain measures to ensure a simplified and faster income and caste certificate

application validation and approval process.

Feedback is gathered from citizens visiting the Tahsildar office as well community leaders.


Specific issue with one pending request: An application submitted via Nemmadi was subsequently

cancelled by the applicant to due some error, which was closed on the Nemmadi system. However, on

the GSC system the application continues to appear as pending.

Apart from the above specific issue, there is a need for rationalisation of services. It was also said that

Agricultural Family Member Certificate, Agriculturist Certificate and Agricultural Labour Certificate are

similar certificates and could be combined into one. Removal of rarely used or redundant services such

as Domicile Certificate, Population Certificate and Living Certificate were suggested.

Staff shortage and inadequate number of computers are significant issues concerning the department.

Although one operator has been employed at the Nemmadi Kendra since the pilot phase, to cope with


the volume of work, two additional operators have been employed at the Nemmadi Kendra unofficially.

In Kadaba only one person is managing the work of the entire Hobli.

The zero BC/DC requests for Puttur at the time of the interview was attributed to GSC system not

supporting requests for Birth and Death Certificates after one year and through court intervention.

Clarification on the status of penalty corpus was sought along with information on the funds disbursed

at the Taluka level.

It was suggested that knowledge and best practice sharing with corresponding departments and officers

of other states would be beneficial.

Services currently not under Sakala, recommended to be included on the basis of the benefits to

citizens, are pension service, new ration card requests, and election forms 6/7/8.

Home Department (Police passport verification) stipulated time has increased from 30-90 days resulting

in citizens complaining about delay.

Commercial Taxes Department, Mangalore Only Local VAT Offices are under the purview of Sakala.


Delivery of services within limited-time was implemented prior to Sakala however, since its launch there

is greater awareness amongst businesses of the time-limits on service delivery. This has enhanced the

officers’ sense of responsibility.

With the GSC system holding staff accountable for their performance, it has relieved managers of some

responsibility to constantly oversee staff to ensure timely delivery of services.


Officers were trained at ATI as well as at the DC’s office in Mangalore. 2/3 additional meetings at the

DC’s office were convened to discuss the performance of the pilot project. The department also has a

manual with all the guidelines available online.

EFS awareness creation was done by educating practitioners and dealers, and regular advertisements on

e-filing and online system published in leading and local newspapers.


Designated officers (six) track receipts and follow-up due and overdue requests for their departments.

Any technical glitches or pendency related issues are conveyed to the Nodal Officer, who contacts the

GSC representative from NIC at the Bangalore H.Q.


Software:

EFS system (previously known as VATSOFT) was installed across the commercial taxes department in

2005. All services offered by the dept are under the purview of EFS. Helpdesk for software

troubleshooting (NIC) is based in Bangalore.


Officers suggested that departments unfamiliar with computer systems and software are likely to find it

difficult to use GSC without appropriate training. With regard to the CT software, the officers

recommended that Head office seek feedback or consult with officers on possible improvements. The

officers suggested that the PELSOFT system be improved.

Although there are a few vacancies in the department, the situation is not dire. However, it is imperative

that CT officers are not recruited for non-CT work or seconded to other departments such as when the

DC office recruits CT officers for census work. Also, when certain officers are on leave officers in-charge

are overburdened and are unable to deliver services within the stipulated time. Officers are also often

expected to act as a ‘help desk’, answering queries and troubleshooting for citizens, which constricts the

time available to for officers to attend to service requests.

Cases disposed on EFS are not immediately updated on GSC and the GSC no. is not being displayed on

statutory forms on EFS. It would also be helpful to make certain changes to EFS to ensure that all

required documents (10) are uploaded by consumer before the GSC number is generated.

Officers expressed that on the ‘pending for approval of complete CST forms’ page it would more useful

to see GSC dates (which are the submission dates of forms) instead of oldest and latest request dates.

Additionally, pendency list should be arranged in order of due date – due for today, tomorrow and in

three days.

The website – VAT.KAR.NIC.IN/CTO – has a lot of down-time, which disrupts tends to disrupt officers’

work. Resolving this issue and ensuring high-speed internet would greatly improve efficacy.

The officers seem to be unaware of local NIC representative - Ashwin Kumar Rai’s purview and

availability.

Officers recommended that ‘de-registration’ and ‘amendments’ be brought under Sakala in the next

phase.

Additional Requests:

VAT and PT are combined in Mangalore unlike other cities, overloading the officers – who suggested

that minor acts be separated from VAT.


CT office infrastructure should be similar to corporate offices. Officers believe functioning in a corporate

office-like environment (including the dress code) would provide impetus to staff to work more

effectively.

City Corporation, Mangalore Issues and Suggestions:

Many of the challenges faced by the Corporation concern the Revenue department. GSC has made

mandatory certain supporting documents that are not required. Particularly renewal requests, which do

not require supporting documents, cannot be processed without certain documents.

Also, it is likely that new Trade Licences are being issued without a GSC no. because the system currently

demands supporting documents that are required only for renewal of Trade Licences.


Appendix 1: Officers Interviewed

PUTTUR – 19.04.12 MANGALORE – 20.04.12

ROAD TRANSPORT OFFICE COMMERCIAL TAXES DEPARTMENT

Regional Transport Officer (Addl. Charge) Assistant Commissioner, LVO270

First Division Assistant Assistant Commissioner (Audit)

Superintendent Commercial Tax Officer, LVO270

Second Division Assistant Commercial Tax Officer, LVO270

Second Division Assistant Assistant Commissioner, LVO260

REVENUE DEPARTMENT CITY CORPORATION

Tahsildar Commissioner (Appellate Authority)

Assistant Commissioner Joint Commissioner


Appendix 2: Questionnaire (Officials)

Date:

Name:

Department:

Designation:

Email / Phone:

Address:

General:

What in your opinion are the advantages and disadvatanges of Sakala?

What do you think are the necessary preconditions for the success of such an initiative?

What is level of interaction and knowledge transfer within Karnataka (between districts) and

with other States that have implemented the RTS Act?

Pilot Project:

Can you elaborate on what the pilot phase entailed (including training provided to DCs and

other staff)?

Which departments and services were covered under the pilot?

What were the findings/conclusions/results derived from the pilot project?

Implementation and Monitoring:

What measures have been implemented to improve the efficacy of the system post the pilot

phase?

What are the major challenges faced in the implementation of Sakala? How are they being

overcome?

Is there a monitoring system in place to assess the efficacy of the implementation and usage of

Sakala? If yes, can you explain the monitoring system in place? If no, are there any plans of

introducing a monitoring system – please elaborate?

Who is responsible for monitoring the adequate usage of Sakala?

What parameters of service delivery are monitored?

When there is an under-performing department (in terms of receipts and defaults), what

corrective action is taken and who is responsible for taking corrective action?


What are the formal and informal methods by which citizens’ and staff feedback is collected and

assessed?

How are citizens’ and staff perceptions ascertained and managed?


Software has been integrated with departmental database to monitor details about

applications. How was this integration carried out?

Who is responsible for technological troubleshooting?

How many more departments and services are planned to be covered?

Are there any vacancies in the department? If yes, at what level?

How many vacancies have been filled since the launch of Sakala?

Were officials given any training? If yes, what did the training entail?

What are the major enhancements planned for the future? In terms of:

o Systems

o Training

What efforts were made to generate awareness among citizens about the Act and their ability

to track the status of their applications?

Impact and Next Steps:

What are the major achievements of Sakala?

What has been its impact on:

o Government departments

o Service delivery procedures

o Citizens

What would enable you to ensure successful implementation and usage of Sakala?


Appendix 3: Questionnaire (Citizens)

Date:

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Occupation:

Level of Education:

Contact Info:

Can you identify the Logo below?


How did you hear about Sakala?

Do you think the Government is doing a good job in creating awareness about Sakala? If no, what do you

think would help the Government promote Sakala more effectively?

How many departments and services fall under the purview of Sakala?

Have you availed any service offered by Sakala?

What has been your experience in using the Sakala system?

What are the areas for improvement?

Assessment of the KGSC - Phase 2 District Spotlight DK

Documents

Transcript of Assessment of the KGSC - Phase 2 District Spotlight DK