InstItute news

Vol. LVII No. 11 November 2013IIPA—Inspiring Excellence www.iipa.org.in

Annual subscription: Rs. 10.00; Single Copy: Re. 1.00

The IIPA fraternity extends its greetings to all its readers for Diwali, Bhai Duj, Chhat Puja and Guru Nanak’s Birthday

Election of ChairmanThe Executive Council in its meeting, held on October

18, elected Shri T.N. Chaturvedi as Chairman of IIPA for a two-year term, i.e. till the Annual General Body Meeting to be held in 2015, through secret ballot.

Election of Vice-PresidentsThe Executive Council in its meeting, held on October

18, also elected Prof. R.V. Dhanapalan and Shri Suryya Ray as Vice-Presidents of the Institute for a two-year term, i.e. till the Annual General Body Meeting to be held in 2015, through secret ballot.

Annual General Body MeetingThe fifty-ninth Annual General Meeting of the

General Body of the Institute was held on October 18 at IIPA auditorium. Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice-President of India and President of IIPA, presided over the programme. In his address Shri Ansari made a strong pitch for plugging the leakages in the service delivery systems of the government especially those aimed at the welfare of the poor and deprived sections of society. He observed that the primary objective of an administration is to deliver justice to the people it serves. Shri Ansari underlined the need to address other issues like the role of “excessive discretion” in decision-making that promotes corrupt practices and finding more effective and efficient ways to implement socio-economic welfare schemes. He emphasised that concern for the people should result in interactive, responsive and evolving governance, especially with the rising expectations and greater awareness among the people. He observed that IIPA could encourage more case studies of successful

use of technology, media and simplified procedures/processes in administration as a part of its training and research curriculum. Shri Ansari observed that IIPA should continue evolving to keep up with the changing times and use its institutional credibility and capacities to deal with governance issues, in this phase of transition, which the country is currently undergoing. He stressed that administration should be action-oriented field-based activity in the service of the people and the nation. In peroration, Shri Ansari opined that skill-development, research and consulting work of the Institute should ideally concentrate more on field-based research and training that will ensure greater synergy between policy formulation and its implementation. In his address, Dr. Karan Singh, M.P., recipient of Paul H. Appelby Award, expressed that efficiency and transparency are the corner stone of good administration. Earlier, Dr.

Shri Hamid Ansari addresses the AGM.Sitting on his left are Prof. S.N. Mishra,

Dr. Tishya Chatterjee and Prof. R.V. Dhanapalan.

2 IIPA NEWSLETTER/NOVEMBER 2013

Tishyarakshit Chatterjee, Director of IIPA, in his welcome address highlighted some future plans and projections. Showcasing the long and rich history of the Institute, Shri T.N. Chatiurvedi, Chairman of IIPA, highlighted the activities, expansion plan of the Institute and showered encomiums on in-house faculty for their initiatives; and also for the good work of the administration and the entire IIPA fraternity. Prof. R.V. Dhanapalan, Chairman of IIPA’s Standing Committee, proposed the vote of thanks. About 275 members attended the programme.

Members’ Annual ConferenceThe fifty-seventh IIPA Members’

Annual Conference was held on October 19 at IIPA auditorium. The theme of the conference was “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness”.

In his welcome address, Dr. Tishyarakshit Chatterjee, Director of IIPA,emphasised important issues to be deliberated around the theme. Shri T.N. Chaturvedi, Chairman of IIPA, gave the opening remarks and presided over the morning session. Dr. V. Shanmugasundaram presided over the afternoon and evening sessions. Prof. Anil Chandy Ittyerah presented the theme paper in which he emphasised that food security is determined by the availability of food, the access to food and the absorption of food in the system; and these three conditionalities for food security are closely inter-related and thus availability and access to food can increase absorption or nutritional levels among the households. He observed that while the performance in terms of access to food has shown an overall improvement the trends in nutrition have been far

from satisfactory especially for the poor. He opined t h a t w i t h o u t w i d e s p r e a d reforms on various f ron ts and the required changes in policy coupled with an improvement in the effectiveness of implementation, food security will remain a daunting c h a l l e n g e . He emphasised that there is in particular the urgent need to address governance issues specially those related to effective and efficient public service delivery systems. He mentioned that the governance needs to conform closely to the soc io -economic env i ronment and appropriate institutions are needed to improve the governance system. Prof. Abhijit Sen, Member of Planning Commission, in his address, emphasised that just passing the bill would not solve any of the problems related to siphoning off or access to good quality food. He observed that the food bill is not likely to make a dent in India’s current account deficit. He mentioned that the spending on the bill can be reduced further if we do not keep such large stocks of grain in our godowns.

Besides the discussion paper, following 12 papers on the theme were presented: Dr. Md. Mushfique Alam, Bhagalpur; Dr. P. Kothandarami Reddy, Tirupati; Dr. Navanit Sinha, Patna; Dr. Mamta Mokta, Shimla; Shri Kanhiya Lal, Jharkhand; Prof. Bishnu Charan Choudhury, Berhampur; Dr. G. Vedanthadesikan, Annamalai Nagar; Shri Gujrant Singh, Punjab; Dr. Murari

Mohan Jha, Drabhanga; Dr. Pradeep Baburao Londhe, Maharashtra; Dr. Nittam Chandel, Bilaspur; and Shri K. Padnabhan, Kanyakumari. In addition 25 synopses of the papers on the theme by the following were presented: Dr. Surendra Kumar, Patna; Dr. S. Sudaresan, Chennai; Dr. Punya Baruah, Jorhat; Dr. Arvind Adityaraj, Patna; Prof. Bala Ramulu, Hyderabad; Dr. Madan Gopal Sinha, Ghazipur; Dr. Sunita Kumari, Ranchi; Dr. Binita Kumari, Ranchi; Dr. Sunil Kumar Jha, Ranchi; Dr. Arun Kumar, Rampur; Prof. Asish Ray, Howrah; Dr. Tanuja Singh, Patna; Dr. B.K. Mahakul, Raipur; Dr. Janak Singh Meena, Jodhpur; Dr. Seema Gupta, New Delhi; Dr. R.K. Gupta, Garhwal; Dr. K. Gopal Iyer, Chandigarh; Dr. Nagendra Nath Misra, Dimapur; Dr. Anil Kumar Ojha, Muzaffarpur; Dr. S.K. Pachauri, Noida; Dr. B.N. Singh, Patna; Dr. Supriya Singh, Patna; Smt. Pratibhaa Sinha, Patna; Dr. Binda Kumari, Samastipur; and Dr. Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Muzaffarpur. About 275 members participated in the programme.

Election of Chairman of IIPA’s Standing Committee

Prof. R.V. Dhanapalan, Vice-

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment — Lao Tzu

Prof. Anil C. Ittyerah addresses the membersat the Annual Conference

IIPA NEWSLETTER/NOVEMBER 2013 3

President of IIPA, was unanimously elected as Chairman of IIPA’s Standing Committee for a two-year term by the Executive Council in its meeting held on October 18.

Result of Annual Essay Competition

Shri Hamid Ansari handed out the prizes to the following four winners of IIPA’s Annual Essay Prize Competition 2013: one first prize of Rs. 5000 to Dr. Surender Adki, Hyderabad for his entry on “Violence against Women: Causes and How to Combat the Menace”. One second prize of Rs. 3000 and one third prize of Rs. 2000 to Ms. Ansul S. Bhamra, New Delhi; and Col. K.L. Noatay, Shimla for their entries on “Violence against Women: Causes and How to Combat the Menace”. For Hindi essay, one first prize of Rs. 5000 to Shri Avinash Chandra, Haridwar for his entry on “Mahilaon ke Birudh Hinsa—Karan tatha Sankat se Sangharsh kaise kya Jae”.

Case Study Award SchemeAs none of the entries merited

any prize, the judges of the Case Study Committee have recommended following two entries to be fit for publication with an honorarium of Rs. 2000 each: (i) “Decision-Making in Vigilance Branch in Department of Telecommunications” by Ms. Vandana Gupta, New Delhi; and (ii) “Emotional Intelligence in Public Administration” by Shri Srikanta Panda, New Delhi.

Distinguished Members of IIPA Honoured

Shri Hamid Ansari honoured the following members with Paul H. Appleby Awards at the AGM for their distinguished services to the Institute: Dr. Karan Singh, Shri P.K. Umashankar, Dr. C.V. Raghavulu,

Shri Kewal Krishan Sethi, Prof. Asok Kumar Mukhopadhyay. Dr. P.L. Sanjeev Reddy (posthumous), and Shri Veeranna Aivalli (posthumous).

T.N. Chaturvedi Award for Best Article

Shri T.N. Chaturvedi award for the best article published in Indian Journal of Public Administration for the year 2012 has been awarded to Prof. Bidyut Chakraborty for his article on “The Minnow brook Conference III, 2008 and the State of Public Administration” (published in October-December 2012 issue of IJPA).

Release of Special Issue of the IIPA Journals

Shri Hamid Ansari released the Special Issue of Indian Journal of Public Administration on “Ethical Governance and Society” at the AGM. The issue, containing 364 pages, carries 26 articles on different aspects of the theme by authors of eminence along with one note and a select bibliography. The special issue of Hindi journal, Lok Prashasan, containing 380 pages, carries 35 articles on “Samajik Nyay evam Samaveshi Vikas” was also released.

Meeting of Office-bearers of Branches

Office-bearers of the regional/local branches of IIPA met at IIPA on October 18 to discuss a large number of issues pertaining to strengthening of IIPA activities and development of branches. Dr. Tishyarakshit Chatterjee, Director of IIPA, presided over the meeting.

Books Released Shri Hamid Ansari released the

following publications during AGM: (i) Strengthening of Panchayats in India: Comparing Devolution Across States:

Empirical Assessment—2012-2013 by V.N. Alok; (ii) Panchayats and Rural Development in India: Changing Role by V.N. Alok; (iii) Empowering Young Consumers by Suresh Misra and Mamta Pathania; (iv) Wastage of Food and Ostentatious Behaviour during Social Gathering by Suresh Misra, Sapna Chadah and Mamta Pathania; (v) Knowledge Management for Sustainable Development by Vinod K. Sharma and Usha Munshi; (vi) Prashasak Prashasika 2011 (from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Regional Branch)—K.K. Sethi; (vii) Souvenir for Celebrating 35 years of J&K Regional Branch—A.K. Bhan; (viii) Conference Volume—Workshop on Food Security in India (from Odisha Regional Branch)—Representative from Odisha Regional Branch; (ix) Bihar Journal of Public Administration (July-September 2013)—Navnit Sinha; and (x) Rajnaetik Nretitya Lekhak Dr. Ravindra Kumar Verma (Bihar Hindi Granth Academy Patna)—R.K. Verma.

Modesty is the conscience of the body — Honore de Balzac

For Information of IIPA Members

C o n s e q u e n t u p o n t h e Institute’s request to the Railway Board regarding grant of rail travel concession in 3 AC to the members to attend the AGM and to enhance the present income limit for concession from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 15000, the Board has declined the request stating that 25 per cent concession in second/sleeper class is already admissible to the members with income limit up to Rs. 5000 per month for attending Annual Conference, which can be availed of directly from the Zonal Railway Administrations.

4 IIPA NEWSLETTER/NOVEMBER 2013

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much — Blaise Pascal

Andhra Pradesh Regional BranchThe branch organised a panel

discussion on “Food Security in India—Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” on October 9. The programme started with opening remarks of Dr. Prashanta Mahapatra,

Director General and Special Chief Secretary to Government of Andhra Pradesh. He highlighted the features of the National Food Security Act and the importance of food security and nutrition in improving the Human Development Index of India. Shri

Madhusudhan Rao, Commissioner of Agriculture, Government of Andhra Pradesh, observed that food availability is not an issue but the distribution, accessibility, affordability and the improvement in processes are issues, which

Book ReleasedJustice P. Sathasivan, Chief

Justice of India, released a book entitled Reclaiming the Vision, Challenges of Indian Constitutional Law and Governance edited by Lokendra Malik at ISIL Auditorium, New Delhi on October 7. It contains selected writings of eminent jurists Shri P.P. Rao. Renowned jurist Shri Fali Sam Nariman has contributed foreword to the book. Book Review Discussion

The Institute organised the eleventh book discussion meet on the book entitled On a Clear Day You Can See India by Shri C. Balagopal on October 8. The book is a collection of experiences, anecdotes of the author, which are captured in various chapters and can pretty much, be read in any order. However, there is a method to the sequencing of the chapters and an unseen thread that binds all the pieces together into a refreshing tale that is informative, humorous at places and commentary on the political and economical affairs of a region that is not well known in the rest of India. Dr. Tishyarakshit Chatter jee, Director of I IPA, moderated the discussion. After his initial remarks, Dr. Chatterjee invited the author of the book and the discussants for their comments and observations on the book. The discussants were Prof. Sushma

Yadav of I IPA, Dr. Subhash Ashutosh, Ms. Vandana Gupta, Shri P.K. Kesavan. Shri Balagopal presented a broad framework of the book in a lucid manner and pointed to the limitf of politics of identity. The reviewers while focusing on the importance of the book expressed their personal opinion about the role of district officials in running the day-to-day administration and highlighted pertinent governance issues. Dr. Usha Mujoo Munshi, Librarian, coordinated it.

ToT on Menstrual Hygiene Management

The programme was sponsored by Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Geneva and the National Coordinator for India, Shri Vinod Mishra in collaboration with Dr. Ambedkar Chair in Social Justice, IIPA was organised at the Inst i tute on September 24-27. Director, IIPA Dr. T. Chatterjee delivered the welcome address and shared concerns about environment, sanitation and personal hygiene in India. Shri Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, inaugurated the programme. He highlighted the dire need of Menstrual Hygiene Management in India and Government of India’s vision and strategy on MHM across the country. The programme was full of group activities followed

by discussion after every technical session. Fortyfour participants from both rural and urban areas of India actively participated in the event. Prof. Sushma Yadav coordinated it.

Faculty News• D r. Nupur Tiwar i was

interviewed by Doordarshan for a panel discussion on “Poverty Eradication” along withT.C.A. Anant, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, on International Day on Poverty Eradication, October 17. Earlier, she participated as a panelist in the session “Federalism and Local Governance” and presented a paper on “New Localism and Central-local Relations: The future Stratagem” in an International Conference on “Federalism and Localism” organised by Europium, Oxford and O.P Jindal University on October 10-11 at Sonipat, Haryana.

news FROM BRAnCHes

Change in Library Working HoursThe Library Committee, under

the Chairmanship of Shri T.N. Chaturvedi, in its meeting held on August 23 has decided that the working hours of the Library throughout the year will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all working days and from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on Saturdays and holidays with effect from November 25, 2013 due to substantial increase of overheads.

IIPA NEWSLETTER/NOVEMBER 2013 5

Ingratitude is the essence of vileness — Immanuel Kant

need attention. Shri Sunil Sharma, Commissioner of Civil Supplies, dealt at length on the Food Security Act and its problems and implications. Shri Kalyan Chakravarthy, General Manager of FCI, highlighted the issues of imports and exprorts of food grains. Shri A. Babu, Collector of Adilabad District, explained in detail the use of technology in the processes involved thus leading to a drastic reduction in the malpractices and cost of implementation. Assam Regional Branch

The branch organised the annual regional convention on September 28 under the chairmanship of Shri Jatin Hazarika, Chairman of the branch. As per guideline and as decided by the parent committee as a prelude to the 57th Members’ Annual Conference, the theme “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” was discussed in the convention. Prof. M.P. Bezbarooah, HoD of Economics, Gauhati University, delivered the key-note address. Shri S.L. Mewara, Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam in Food and Civil Supplies Department, delivered a talk on Assam Initiatives to Implement the Food Security Ordinance. Earlier, the branch organised a lecture-meeting on August 28, in which Shri Rajiv Kumar Bora, Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam in Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Training and IT department, spoke on “Converging Public Service Reforms”. He explained the provisions of the Assam Rights to Public Services Act 2013 and also narrated the reform measures taken up the Assam Government in this regard. Bihar Regional Branch

The branch organised the prelude seminar on “Food Security in India:

Issues and Suggestions with Special Reference to Bihar” on October 3. Prof. Sita Ram Singh, Director of Higher Education, Government of Bihar, was the Chief Guest. Dr. R.K. Verma of R.N. College introduced the theme and stated that the new law of food security requires proper implementation through a mechanism developed for the purpose. Shri A.V. Sinha, Chairman of the branch, gave the key-note address; and government’s views were presented by Ms. Pratibha Sinha, OSD in Department of Food and Consumer Protect ion. Dr. Navanit Sinha, Secretary of the branch, stressed on introduction of discipline of public administration at graduate and post-graduate level courses. Dr. Randhir Singh, former Professor of Public Administration, Magadh University, presided over the programme.

Burdwan Local BranchThe branch organised the

prelude seminar on “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effect iveness” October 8. Inaugurating the programme, Prof. Soroshimohan Dan, Pro Vice-Chancellor of University of Burdwan defined the concept of food security a n d i t s v a r i o u s dimensions. Prof . Arup Chattopadhyay, HoD of Economics, U n i v e r s i t y o f Burdwan, delivered the key-note address. H e a d v o c a t e d different approaches to the understanding o f t h e c o n c e p t , i .e. Individual ist ic approach, Collective approach, business

approach. He concluded by critically evaluating the salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013. Earlier, Dr. Bijoy Chand, Secretary of the branch, delivered the welcome address.

Delhi Regional BranchThe branch and Dr. B. R.

Ambedkar Chair in Social Justice organised a national seminar on “Dr. Ambedkar’s Thoughts and Vision” on October 17. Shri T. N. Chaturvedi, Chairman of IIPA, presided over the function. In his concluding observat ions, Shri Chaturvedi emphasised the contribution of Dr. Ambedkar to the cause of social justice and the downtrodden of our society. Prof. Sushma Yadav made a presentation on “Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and His Vision of Social Justice”. She concluded on the note that Dr. Ambedkar’s vision of social justice involves a normative element also in as much as it aims at the desirability of goodness in social life, dignity of the individual, equal rights of man and woman, promotion of social progress and better standards of life with peace and security in all spheres of human life. Prof. Jay Tilak Guha Roy, Chairman, of the branch, made a presentation on “Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s Contribution to Human

Shri T.N. Chaturvedi addresses the audience. Sitting on his right are Prof. Jaytilak Guha Roy and Prof. Sushma Yadav

6 IIPA NEWSLETTER/NOVEMBER 2013

Rights Movement in Modern India”. He emphasised that Dr. Ambedkar, with his talent, vision and leadership quality, should have been the leader of the Indian masses and not merely of the Dalit community. Dr. Pradeep Kumar Parida of IIPA also prepared a paper on “Social Justice and Tribals in Contemporary India: Reflection from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Vision” for the seminar which was circulated.

The branch organised the prelude conference on “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” on October 7. Prof. Anil Ittyerah delivered the key-note address on the theme. Dr. S.K. Pachauri and Dr. Seema Gupta also presented their papers on the theme. Prof. Jaytilak Guha Roy, Chairman of the branch, presided and gave the welcome address.

The branch organised free health check-up during AGM on October 18: (i) eye check-up camp in association with Centre for Sight; and (ii) heart check-up camp in association with Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi. Over 250 IIPA staff/members participated in both the camps. Gulbarga Local Branch

The branch jointly with the Department of Bio-technology, Gulbarga University organised a prelude seminar on “Food Security Issues and Suggestions for Effective Implementation” on September 28. Prof. Chandrakanth Yatnoor, Registrar of Gulbarga University, inaugurated the programme. Shri M.K. Pawar, Secretary of the branch, welcomed on behalf of the branch; and Shri Chandrakanth Kelmani, Chairman of Bio-technology Department, Gulbarga University, welcomed on behalf of Bio-technology Department.

Howrah Local BranchThe branch organised the prelude

conference on “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” on September 28. Rtn. D.K. Das, Chairman of the branch; and Prof. Asish Ray, Secretary of the branch presented papers on the theme. Rtn. D.K. Das presided over the programme.

Jammu and Kashmir Regional Branch

T h e b r a n c h o r g a n i s e d a lecture on theme paper for Annual Conference on “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” on September 21. Prof. R.L. Bhat, HoD of Economics, Central Universi ty of Jammu, delivered the key-note address. Prof. Bhat felt that the food availability does not automatically ensure food security and emphasised on complete nutrit ional security rather than calorie security. He expressed his apprehension that cost involved will put pressure on the fiscal health of the economy. He suggested for making more investment in agricultural infrastructure and research. Dr. Ashok Bhan, Chairman of the branch, presided over the programme. The branch also organised a workshop on “Urban Development and Urban Service Delivery” on October 7. Shri Nawang Rigzin Jora, State Minister for Urban Development, was the Chief Guest. He stated that the State Government is committed to upgrade the lifestyle and provide high class civic amenities to Srinagar citizens besides assuring hygiene and clean environment in and around Srinagar city. Highlighting the significance of e-governance, he mentioned that the

SMC has introduced e-governance to make the functioning of the Corporation accountable, responsive and transparent. Dr. G.N. Qasba, Commissioner of SMC, presented a detailed report on solid waste management in urban areas. Earlier, Prof. K.K. Pandey of IIPA gave the key-note address. Shri Y. Sachdeva of RITES spoke over issues related to urban mobility. Shri Tahsin Mustafa spoke on ERA and urban development. Shri Shafat Noor, Vice-Chairman of SDA, threw light on master plan for Srinagar; and Shri Bashir Ahmed Khan, Joint Commissioner of SMC, anchored the proceedings of the workshop.

Karnataka Regional BranchThe branch organised a lecture-

meet ing on September 21, in which Shri V. Balasubramanian, former Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka, spoke on “Bangalore—From Boom to Doom City—Will Half of Bangalore be Evacuated in Ten Years?” Shri Balu observed B a n g a l o r e a n s m u s t t a k e responsibility of the survival of the city or else we will be overtaken by a black swan event of evacuating half the city in ten years due to water scarcity, contaminated water and diseases. He stressed the need for water harvesting to replenish the ground water. Shri S. Ramanathan, Chairman of the branch, presided over the programme and proposed a vote of thanks. Kerala Regional Branch

The branch organised the prelude conference to discuss the theme paper ‘‘Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness’’ in the form of

Caution is the eldest child of wisdom — Victor Hugo

The Newsletter, published in the first week of every month, generally covers news of the previous thirty days. While all reasonable precautions are taken regarding the authenticity of the items included, IIPA is not responsible for any error or inadequacy therein – Editor.

IIPA NEWSLETTER/NOVEMBER 2013 7

Endurance is patience concentrated — Thomas Carlyle

Edited by Dr. Tishya Chatterjee and printed and published by Sunil Dutt for the Indian Institute of Public Administration, I.P. Estate, Ring Road, New Delhi - 110 002. Printed at New United Process, A-26, Naraina Indl. Area, Ph-II, New Delhi - 110 028, Ph. (011) 25709125.

a panel discussion in association with the Department of Economics, Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram on October 10. Dr. N. Veeramanikantan, Pro Vice-Chancellor of University of Kerala, inaugurated the panel discussion. The panelists were Dr. P.N. Sankaran, former Professor of Economics, University College; and Dr. P. Suresh Kumar, HoD of Economics, Government College. Dr. Sankaran in his presentation justif ied the Food Security Act passed by the Parliament in the context of the challenges to food security. He examined in detail the administrative machinery to effect ively implement the Act. Dr. P. Suresh Kumar cr i t ical ly r e v i e w e d t h e t h e m e p a p e r through the prism of national and international political economy. Dr. P. Sukumaran Nair, Vice-Chairman of the branch, presided over the meeting. Prizes to the winners of the Essay competition, organised by the branch in August 2013 was also distributed on the occasion. Maharashtra Regional Branch

The branch organised the prelude conference on “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” on October 17. Dr. M.R. Kolhatkar, Member of the

Executive Committee, gave the key-note address. He overviewed food grains production in India, availability of food grains, impact of population growth, history of PDS, and aspects of Food Security Act. The main speaker, Dr. Bhagwan Sahai, Principal Secretary, General A d m i n i s t r a t i o n D e p a r t m e n t , Government of Maharashtra, the main architect of the National Food Security Act-2013, gave detailed presentat ion on the Act w i th relevance to Maharashtra State. Shri Johny Joseph, Chairman of the branch presided over the function.Puducherry Local Branch

The branch organised the prelude seminar on “Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” on September 30. Dr. S. Varalakshmi, Principal of Bharathidasan Government College for Women, inaugurated the programme. Prof. V.N. Viswanathan, EC Member, delivered the special address; and Prof. V. Raji Suggumar of Bharatihidasan Government College, presented the theme paper. Prof. V. Gopal, Principal, College of Pharmacy, Mother Teresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Science, also spoke on the topic. Dr. R.R. Dhanapall, Chairman of the branch, preside over the programme.

Rajasthan Regional BranchThe branch organised the

following programmes: (I) Seminar on Food Security in India: Issues and Suggestions for Effectiveness” on October 14. Shri M.L. Mehta, former Chief Secretary, Rajasthan, gave the key-note address. (II) Lecture-meeting on October 15, in which Prof. Anil Mehta, Professor of Business Administration, Rajasthan University, spoke on “Recent Trends in Human Relations Management”. (III) Power point presentation on “Flat World Economy” by Prof. N.D. Mathur of Rajasthan University on October 16. (IV) Prof. Ramesh K. Arora, Chairman of the branch, discussed certain critical issues pertaining to the civil services in India. The primary focus of his presentations was on performance, integrity, transparency, accountability and motivation in civil services. He discussed these problems in the light of observations made by Shri S.K. Das in his book The Civil Services in India.

New Branch FormedThe Executive Council of IIPA in

its meeting, held on August 20, has approved the proposal regarding formation of IIPA Local Branch at Cuttack.

news FROM tHe CentReSustainable Development in North-east India

NERCORMP, a joint development project of IFAD and Government of India, works towards the objective of creating livelihood for vulnerable g roups wh i le cont r ibu t ing to environmental conservation. The

North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) aims to address the existing issues of inefficient government service mechanism in the livelihood sector and the absence of ideal development projects in the north-east region of India. The

project, implemented jointly by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Government of India represented through the North Eastern Counci l , br ings together the knowledge, expertise and ideologies of the government, IFAD, local civil societies and the

Quotable Quotes• Successislargelyamatterofholdingonafterothershaveletgo—Zig

Ziglar• Whatweanticipateseldomoccurs,whatwe leastexpectedgenerally

happens—Benjamin Disraeli• Thecharacterofapersonisindirectproportiontohiscommitmentto

excellence—Vince Lombardi• Thepowerofaman'svirtueshouldnotbemeasuredbyhisspecialefforts,

butbyhisordinarydoing—Blaise Pascal• Growthmeanschangeandchangeinvolvesrisk,steppingfromtheknown

totheunknown—Benjamin Franklin• Successalwayscomeswhenpreparationmeetsopportunity—Henry

Hartman

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RNI. No. 684/57 DELHI POSTAL REGD. NO. DL (C)-01/1230/12-14 LICENCED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT (Date of Posting 10-11 of every month) UNDER No. U (C) - 21/2013-14 Published on 7-8 every month

Editor : Dr. Tishya ChaTTerjee

Asstt. Editor : Sunil DuTT

communities to unleash the potentials for development tapped in the backward areas. This case study captures the impact of the project in Meghalaya, and describes the bottom-up model as the project emphasizes on active community participation in the planning and implementation processes. Formations of community building organisations are a key to implementation - Natural Resource Management Groups and Self Help Groups are formed in the project villages for this purpose. Further, NERCORMP assists in generating

various livelihood options focused on agriculture and forest based, such as organic agriculture, sustainable shifting cultivation, livestock and fisheries, forestry, Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), medicinal and aromatic plants, and non-farm enterprises such as eco-tourism, handloom and handicrafts. While creating these livelihood opportunities, efforts are made to conserve the rich biodiversity in the region. A major endeavour in this direction has been the awareness campaigns that were taken up to demonstrate

effective environment friendly ways of managing shifting cultivation. While the absence of efficient local NGOs is identified as its major challenge, its sustainable success in the conflict areas is highlighted as the project’s major impact in the region. Nevertheless, positive response to the initiatives in two hilly districts of the Meghalaya has encouraged the Government of India to launch its second phase in 2012. The Planning Commission, the Ministry of DoNER and the North Eastern Council will be supporting the activities of this phase.

Andhra PradeshDirect Agricultural Marketing

Rythu Bazar, established with the intention of eliminating middlemen, allows consumer to directly purchase good quality produce from farmers. Rythu Bazars have been established in the major cities of Andhra pradesh to create direct linkages between farmers and consumers for the sale and purchase of agricultural produce. These bazars are transforming the environment in which farmers in Andhra Pradesh sell their produce. Due to direct marketing, farmers not only making profits but are also safe from the harassment of the middlemen. The government has fixed the prices in a Rythu Bazar 25 percent above other wholesale market prices to motivate farmers to opt for Rythu Bazars. However, at the same time, the prices are beneficial for consumers as it is still at least 25 percent lesser than the retail shops. In addition, farmers have an organized place to sell their produce and are provided with operational resources like transportation and storage options. An online market information system is developed to help keep consumers aware about the produce and respective prices. This approach followed in implementing Rythu Bazar is encouraging and sustainable. It offers lessons on meeting consumer satisfaction and running the markets through a well formed management and administration structure.

Arunachal PradeshGuide for Schools

The State Department of Education has launched a new scheme titled GUIDE for nurturing the government schools of the State. It is premised on the concept of mentoring. It works on the belief that every educated and well-informed individual needs to attach himself/herself with the present day school system. The officers in the Department and in the districts are expected to become the torch-bearers of this strategy. At the beginning, it intends to cover secondary and senior secondary schools in the State. Gradually, it will be extended to the elementary and primary schools in the State. GUIDE neither involves financial expenditure nor does it intend to substitute the inspection mechanism of the school education system.

RajasthanMobile Query System

LifeLines Education is a digital inclusion initiative aimed at enabling academic-pedagogic support for rural school teachers in Rajasthan through mobile. OneWorld, the Government of Rajasthan and UNICEF have partnered to launch the programme, which reaches over 4.5 lakh teachers in over 100,000 schools in the State. Accessible on a toll-free number, the service is mediated in the local language whereby the telephone serves as the medium of user interface. High-end communication technology and custom-made computing applications are configured at the backend to support integrated call handling and management of a very large audio and text database. Enabling continued academic guidance and didactic advisory to teachers, via phone and in their local language, LifeLines has established itself as an effective support platform in rural Rajasthan. Teachers today recognise LifeLines-Education for providing them with access to curricular instruction and teaching guidance from experts, which they acknowledge is having a positive impact on the standard of qualitative learning. This recognition of LifeLines is reflected in its increasing demand and usage by teachers.

GujaratmGovernance for Municipal Services

The mGovernance project of Rajkot Municipal Corporation leverages the simple, ubiquitous, affordable mobile technology to catalyse organisational efficiency and improve public service delivery. In 2009, to take an optimum leap in its performance by increasing operational efficiency and transparency, improving government citizen partnership and providing cost-effective services, Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) introduced mGovernance initiative. This was an extension of eGovernance applications as with mGovernance, the municipal services are taken to the door steps of citizens. Presently RMC is providing 75 different services under four categories of alert services, interactive services, management services and payment reminder services. Under alert services reminders are sent to citizens on dates of vaccination under national Immunisation programme, property and professional tax transactions, statuses

of birth and death certificates etc. Interactive services include SMSs on property tax outstanding dues, water charges outstanding dues, and details of the SMS services etc. The call centre operations, and daily income and expenditure SMS to higher officer etc come under management services. Payment reminders are also sent for property tax dues, water charges dues and Awas Yojna instalment dues. Major success of the project is reflected in the increased revenue collection by the RMC through improved and efficient system of service delivery. Regular reminder SMS and hassle free payment options brought in the desired changes. mGovernance project has a major role in aiding the National Immunisation Programme in Rajkot as the personalised vaccination alerts have decreased the dropout rates to zero. Given the higher usage of mobile phones compared to the internet, mGovernance has successfully to bridge the digital divide in service delivery. With effective m-governance now services come to the citizen’s door step reducing the cost and time of travelling to the municipal offices for information and services. Now the services are more transparent and hassle free. The single point communication through call centre has made grievance redressal faster. This project, developed in-house by RMC, has been honoured with Citizen’s Choice Award, eIndia 2010, Manthan (South Asia) 2010 Awards, National eGgovernance Awards 2010-11, Nagar Ratna Award, All-India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG), 2011 and mBillionth (South Asia) 2011 award.

KarnatakaTransformation of Mineral Administration through e-Governance

In the recent past, the mining sector in the State was characterised by large scale illegal mining and severe leakage of royalty payable to the government which was the result of inadequate manpower, manual processes, loopholes in the system and weak enforcement. It was at this juncture the State Government introduced the project Transformation of Mineral Administration through e-Governance through Department of Mines and Geology to plug the loopholes in the entire mining value chain. In the extraction phase, the system validates the compliance of the lessee with various government regulations, which has led to a near total arrest of illegal mining. The new system has several checks to curb illegalities in the transportation of minerals. By this system, total transparency in transactions between the department and the lessees has been achieved and at the same time, efficiency of such transactions is greatly enhanced. There is a significant improvement in the departmental service delivery; reduced harassment to lessees; and reduced drudgery for officials. In just one year, the new system has achieved a 33 per cent increase in government revenue through royalty and other taxes despite suppressed mineral extraction because of the temporary ban on iron ore extraction by the orders of the Supreme Court. With the resumption of normal mining activity, the revenue that can be realised will be much higher. Through e-auction of iron ore, Rs. 7,000 crore have been realised in just one year.

KeralaImproving Transparency through e-Housing

The Scheduled Caste Development Department (SCDO) of Kerala initiated a web-based e-Housing project to improve transparency in the process of providing housing assistance to the scheduled caste beneficiaries. Scheduled caste groups faced several constraints in applying for housing allowance from the government. Apart from the regular delays in receiving disbursements, the complicated procedures combined with no option to track applications make the process cumbersome. The beneficiaries had to skip several days of work and physically visit the department to request for funds at different stages of construction; wasting time and effort. Moreover, there was no transparency as to how much amount was being disbursed in their account. In order to overcome these challenges, government introduced a web based solution to specifically target the beneficiaries. E-housing project, launched in February 2011 by SCDO in Kerala with Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, ensures time-bound, efficient, transparent and error-free housing applications. SCDO allots a total of Rs 1 lakh to each beneficiary at particular construction stages and is disbursed in four installments: first 15,000, second 30,000, third 40,000 and last, 15,000. Since the execution of the project, a total of 1423 houses have been built, 2000 beneficiaries have opened postal savings bank and an amount of Rs five crore has been disbursed through the system.

Madhya PradeshCaring Touch for Disabled

Special Project for Assistance, Rehabilitation and Strengthening Handicapped (SPARSH) project is being run by Social Justice Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh. The objective of the SPARSH is to leverage the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to facilitate effective management and administration of the activities related to the welfare of target population in a manner so as to ensure better services; use of ICT for proactive and effective implementation of various provisions as per the spirit of the ‘persons with disabilities’; to facilitate identification and registration of Persons with Disabilities (PwD), mentally retarded, multiple disability and dependent old age persons without financial income, etc. The project covers door-to-door survey in the entire State, nearly one lakh remote habitats have been covered to identify and register as the PwDs. Over eight lakh people have registered as PwDs, Children with Special Needs (CWSN) and their family members. Over 700 urban and rural local bodies are supposed to provide assistance and other benefits to such persons. Departments/ Nodal Agencies are working for the welfare of such persons. Institutions/NGOs are also working for the welfare of such identified persons. Portal provides a common and integrated platform for effective implementation, monitoring, evaluation and enabling environment for this project. The project has made possible to plan and extend the services as per the actual requirements of the individuals. Monthly and routine work involving the release of the financial assistance to mentally retarded and mentally disabled has been simplified and automated as the system generates the bank advice and allows the transfer of funds directly into the account of the concerned person. Online portal also facilitates direct interface of the PwDs with the government, thus eliminating the need of middleman for their benefits/assistance. The web portal is seamlessly integrated with the following: (i) SMS to the registered users on the schemes and camps organised in any area; (ii) voice call alert system to create awareness about disability, opportunities, schemes, rights of PwDs; and (iii) toll free call centre to provide for guidance and assistance.

RPSC e-GovernanceRajasthan Public Service commission (RPSC) is a constitutional body just like Public Service Commissions in

other states of India, established to take up recruitments for various government positions. But RPSC has a unique position as it has been delegated additional responsibilities for recruitment for those posts, which are usually not mandated by Constitution. This leads a huge workload and also a mode, which must be transparent and responsive. Prior to this system, more than 100 posts were pending for advertisement and 150 for examinations. Thus the Online Application System was initiated in year 2011 to cope up these challenges. Though the Online Application System is not new and has already been adopted by several institutions in different modes and patterns, yet the RPSC Online Application System is unique in the sense that it is the Only Online Application System of India, which has “Single Window” Online Application System. In this system, a candidate does not need to visit banks and fill-up any additional form for bank challan to deposit the required examination fee. So it is an “One go System”, since the applicant does not break the process in between. RPSC utilises the services of e-Mitra and CSCs for exam fee deposition and online form submission. These e-Mitra kiosks/CSCs are fairly high in numbers i.e., more than 3500 centres, which is almost 10 times to the branches of any commercial bank in the State. They also provide other facilities concerned with examination process i.e. providing print-outs of admit cards, mark sheets, results, etc. RPSC has strived to make this system responsive. Candidates need different information at each stage of recruitment process such as submission of application, notification of exam schedules, declaration of results, recommendation of selected candidates, etc. They are also being informed through SMS and email, if required. RPSC also promotes information through social networking sites, so that applicants should not only be properly acknowledged, but easily informed. Since the commencement of this system, 20 lakh candidates have already applied for more than 100 exams. It has saved almost Rs. 1.5 crore within one year, which recovered its project costs.

OdishaHuman Resource Management System

The General Administration Department of Odisha has developed a modern personnel management system that

makes effective use of the latest information technology. The Human Resources Management System (HRMS) has been successful in computerisation of personnel details in 38 administrative departments, with 102 heads - a total of 4, 50,000 employees in 6543 offices across 30 districts. Prior to its implementation, mismanagement, combined with an unclear management structure created delays in recruitment and promotions. Pensioners also faced difficulties in claiming their pensions because they were not sanctioned on time. Moreover, there was no mechanism for redressal of employee grievances. HRMS has improved productivity by allowing public sector managers to have greater freedom and discretion in managing their staff. They are now in a position to enhance meritocracy and strengthen the process of performance monitoring and evaluation and finally improve the quality and skills of the workforce. With HRMS, personnel information can be shared by departments, establishment offices and field offices easily which was impossible when it was manually managed. It provides accurate and timely information on the size and composition of the civil service. It has achieved success in ensuring efficiency and increased employee productivity across the state departments and district offices. HRMS has improved communications and cross-functional integration. The efficiencies created by the tool has maximised employee satisfaction.