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Project ARONAI is being implemented in Baksa district of Assam, the district newly created for administrative and governance feasibility. Implemented in 2006, the project was designed to meet day-to-day administrative and governance challenges and reaching out to the masses minus the hassles in public service delivery and office management. In less than five years of its implementation, the project has been able to streamline much of the district administrations activities with greater accountability, efficiency, and timeliness. That ARONAI is one of the best e-gov practices in the state is proved by its implementation in Kamrup (metro) district of Assam. This e-gov application has been able to implement and manage various national policy programs like Old Age Pension scheme and National Familiy Benefit scheme in a smooth and transparent manner.

Introducing ARONAI
Baksa district is one of the twenty-seven districts of Assam. Mushalpur town is the headquarters of the district. This district is bounded by Bhutan in the North, Udalguri district in the East, Barpeta, Nalbari, and Kamrup districts in the South and Chirang district in the West.

Baksas temporary headquarters at Barama have been functioning from a PWD, IB, along with some tarza walled huts, with the least infrastructure. However, the district has gone ahead with ARONAI, an e-gov applicationa combination of several applications developed in a common platform using SQL server as database to automate the day-to-day functioning of Baksa district administration. It was first implemented in 2006, with few applications on subjects like development schemes under MLA Area, Public Facilitation Center, and National Family Benefit scheme. Now, more applications have been incorporated in the system for day-to-day functioning on most of the subjects of the administration.

The Issues Addressed:

• Matters related to disposal of public petitions like PRC, domicile certificate, NOC for birth and death registration, bakijai clearance certificate, NOC for passport, legal heir certificate etc. The office process has been mechanized to deal with the issues.
• Matters related to development and social welfare schemes. Process has been re-engineered to make the functioning of the office speedy and transparent.
• Easy access to all information by citizens at any node of the office on the click of the mouse.
• Selection of beneficiaries under National Old Age Pension scheme and National Family Benefit scheme computerized for minimizing corruption at different levels.

Advantages
The application has provided back-office computerized process against each subject for the employees, for their day-to-day functioning, which is hardly seen in any district administration, at least in Assam. This has led to creation of a strong database of the district.

Information sharing amongst all sections of people is made possible without depending on menial records and employees of the office throughout the network.

The system has provided monitoring modules for the administrator who can do so from his chamber without resorting to the help of any staff or menial records.

Moreover, the computerized selection process applied during the selection of beneficiaries under National Family Benefit scheme and in Old Age Pension schemes is unique. This has helped the administration in tackling the menace of corruption, nepotism, etc, which are often observed in menial process.

As per the requirement of the RTI Act, each public authority should create a database of all information pertaining to that authority, so that information can be provided in electronic format as and when required. ARONAI has made it possible for the Baksa district administration to create a systematic database on all items, including financial matters.

Implementing ARONAI
It was first implemented in 2006, with two applicationsnamely MLA area development schemes and National Family Benefit scheme. Latter on, more applications were incorporated in to the system and as of now the following subjects have been incorporated.

Networking: The application is staged in a district server connected to all computers of the DC office as well the community service centers of the district. Therefore, all employees and officers can access the system for their day-to-day functioning. Employees, as well as officers, are accounted for every work in the system.

The application has been running since 2006, and is about to complete three years. Evaluation of the system has been done throughout the operation of the system at different levels. The NIC, Delhi had evaluated the system in 2007, after it was demonstrated through a video conference which was inaugurated by Dr S Dash, DDG, NIC on September 8, 2007.

Almost all the branches of the office as well as departments like elementary education, DRDA are partners (users) of the system.

The system is very cost-effective and time savvy. Data is stored dynamically, and therefore, there is least requirement for paper.

Replication: The application of ARONAI is easily replicable in any district or sub division of Assam with the least infrastructure of IT and less manpower. An example is Kamrup district in which it has been replicated in November, 2007.

Sustainability: A system of its kind will always sustain when the users of the administration realize the utility of the system. As for Baksa district, the employees are motivated by the merits of the system, not from outside. The application is so user-friendly that any staff with the least knowledge of computer can work with the application.

Maintenance of hardware involves a financial matter. It is not at all difficult for a DM to maintain the hardware from different sources.

Cost-effectiveness: In terms of maintenance of hardware, etc, required for the system, it is costly. But in terms of volume of work which can be done effectively by the system, it is commensurate with the maintenance cost.

Of course from the perspective of the citizens, the cost in getting the service is reduced to a great extent because the back-office process makes it easy to dispose as many applications as are submitted in a day.

Speed of Service Delivery: Delivery of service depends on the volume of work as well as the system of work. It has been proved beyond doubt that speed of disposal of public petitions as well as other services has been increased to manifold as compared to that in the menial system. For example, it was not possible for an assistant to deliver more than fifty certificates in a day. But in this computerized process, it has been possible for him to deliver more than 300 certificates in a day.

Conclusion
As of now, there has been no computerized system in Assam in the district level administration where all applications are combined in a single platform, and that too with back-office processing. The process flow in all the subjects have been designed as per requirement of the branch concerned, and therefore, the assistants have been able to operate with great ease. Dependency on menial records as well as assistants has gone down.

The aims and objectives of a democratic government are to provide services to the citizens promptly in all aspects. The services not only include delivery of different certificates, but also include providing platform for the citizens to get information on different schemes of the government and the like. This can be achieved only when there is a computerized system having efficient and user friendly back-office processing mechanism as available in ARONAI. The lessons learnt from ARONAI can be summed up as follows:

• The district administration can have a tool for performing day-to-day activities in a systematic way through back-office computerized process by phasing out age old file process wherever possible.
• It can also have a tool for the administrator to closely monitor on the performance of his/her subordinate staffs without depending on menial records and that too from his chair.
• It can take suitable steps for minimizing scope of corruption especially in selection of beneficiaries in different schemes like the Old Age Pension scheme, National Family Benefit scheme by running such an application.
• The workload on all employees of the office can be minimized.
• The spirit of the Right to Information Act can be maintained through such an application.
• Digital gap can be reduced among the citizens as they have to come in contact with the system in any case.
• Motivation for using ICT in district administration can be done without pressurizing from outside. It is a glaring example that Baksa district administration has successfully implemented the project without much motivation among the staff. Once they were made to realize the benefits of the system, they started working with it and they would adhere to the system.
• Replication of ARONAI as Mahanagar in Kamrup (metro) in Assam in 2007, and its continuation for more than one year without further modification has proved that the ARONAI application has been able to cater to the needs of the administration in dealing with different subjects as well as to address the difficulties of the citizens in getting certificates, etc.

Syed S Kazi
The author is with Digital Empowerment Foundation
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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