Innovations in ICT
Department of Agriculture, Maharashtra has number of projects which leverage ICT for better service delivery
Key projects include:
eThibak
eParwana
Maharain
Cropwatch
Horticulture Information System
Horticulture Census
CROPSAP (Crop Pest Surveillance & Advisory Project)
Soil Health Card
Maha Krushi Sanchar CUG
Agriculture Census
Licensing for Manufacture,
Import, Distribution & Retailing
of Seeds, Fertilizers and
Pesticides
Online system for application &
processing of Micro irrigation
subsidy
SMS based recording of daily rainfall
from all Circles of
Maharashtra
eParwana eThibak Maharain
Recognised Applications
Recognitions
eParwana:
Skoch Order of Merit 2013,2014,
eLets PSU Award 2014
State eGov Certificate of Recognition, 2013
eMaharashtra Jury Choice Award 2013
eIndia Jury Choice Award 2012
eThibak
Skoch Order of Merit 2014
Maharain
Skoch Order of Merit 2014
CROPSAP
National eGov Award 2012
CUG: mBillionth Awards 2014: Certificate of Recognition
eThibak
An online application to perform all administrative activities
Standard procedure for applying and obtaining subsidy
Reduce human bias and intervention
Uniform cost of micro irrigation components across the state
Real time reporting and application tracking
Make the beneficiaries data available in public domain
Description of solution
Proposal Scrutiny
Fixing of SubsidyDemand of Subsidy
Beneficiary EntryApplication EntryHard copy acknowledgement Scrutiny of applicationsQuotation entryGrant of pre-sanction
Pre Installation
Subsidy Fixation
Subsidy Payment
Bill Invoice EntryProposal Ack.Proposal ScrutinySpot Verification
Post Installation
Pre Vs. Post implementation scenario
Criteria Pre- eThibak Post eThibak Benefits
Application for subsidy
• Multiple visits to dept. offices: • Application
form • Supporting
documents • Application/s
ubsidy status
• Online form submission
• Online Supporting document checklist
• Online application tracking
• Saving in time & money
• Realistic application tracking
• Reduction in farmers’ visits to Dept.
Farmer’s information source
• Dealers • Limited choice • Multiple sources
• Standard rates of components, available online •Same rates across manufacturers
• Well informed farmers
Pre Vs. Post implementation scenario
Criteria Pre- eThibak Post - eThibak Benefits
Duplicate beneficiaries
• Fake/duplicate beneficiaries, leading to subsidy ‘leakage’
• Each application is unique
• End-to-end tracking
• Re-application rejected based on fixed criteria
• Subsidy saving in the tune of Rs 50 Cr
Transparency • Beneficiary data provided only upon follow up with Dept.
• Block wise list of beneficiaries available online
• Transparency leading to public trust
eParwana 1. Overview of Project
2. Challenges faced before deployment
3. Objectives
4. Description of solution
5. Beneficiaries
6. Pre vs. Post Deployment Scenario
7. Key Learning
8. Merits
9. Other initiatives
Overview of the project Agriculture inputs largely manufactured &
retailed by private sector
Choice of inputs by farmers depends on multitude of factors
Concern over implementation of relevant Acts
Large scale backend processing involved
Need for tracking revenue generation
Reduction in processing time
Challenges faced before eParwana
Difficulty in effective implementing of Govt. Acts, Rules & Orders
Complicated process of applying & obtaining licenses
Difficult to monitor quality of Inputs produced
No single source of information on Inputs
No database for forecasting Input demand
Difficulty in processing monthly sales returns
Objectives
Effective and useful implementation of Acts, Rules and Orders
Uniform & convenient process across the State
Effective monitoring and reporting
Expediting license granting process
Reliable product information for farmers
Validation of license anytime
Advance notice for license renewal
Description of solution
Governance Practices:
Before eParwana, application submitted at Taluka level; submitting at Dist. Level has removed one step
Reduced the list of documents from 30-40 to about 10
Documents like Toilet certificate removed from list
Online Payment using GRAS
Online filing of Monthly Sales Returns
SMS based alerts for: License validation,
License renewal
Application status
eParwana application developed by NIC Pune, launched on 5/5/2012
Description of solution
Technical solution
3 tier MVC design
Developed using PHP & Java; Apache app server
Database: Postgre SQL; Jasper reports
Description of solution
Modules
License Application & Processing System
Monthly Sales Return (MSR)
Product Information
Features:
Online submission
Application status tracking
Report generation on the fly
SMS alerts
Beneficiaries
Farmers
Pesticide Industry
Fertilizer Industry
Seed Growers/Producers
Dealers of Seed, Fertilizers and Pesticide
Importers and Exporters of Seed, Fertilizers and Pesticide
Agriculture Department – Quality Control Division
Pre Vs. Post implementation scenario
Criteria Pre- eParwana Post eParwana Benefits
License procedure
• Manual • Non uniform • Time
consuming • Repeated office
visits
• Online • Reengineered • Uniform
• Processing time – from 3 months to 1 month
• Monthly applications up from 10 to 30
• Advanced renewal SMS alerts
Monthly sales returns
• Manual submission
• Huge paper work
• No electronic database
• Online submission • Reduction in efforts
• Demand forecast possible
Pre Vs. Post implementation scenario
Criteria Pre- eParwana Post eParwana Benefits
Product information
• Available only in paper format, mostly in English
• Manual submission
• Online submission
• Marathi & English
• Easily available information in Marathi
License Renewal
• Most renewal after license expiry
• Difficult to track invalid licenses
• Rare advance renewals
• License expiry details available
• SMS alert for license renewal
• Users can also ‘pull’ license information
(Check Validity: EPARWA<space>LICV<space><Licence no> to 9766899899(from BSNL) or 09766899899)
• Better license enforcement
• Increase in timely renewals
Key Learning
Phased manner rollout ensures efficient implementation
Starting Change Management early in the project lifecycle ensures future sustenance
Important to understand requirements of farmers
Single source of data is essential
Merits
Application developed & hosted at NIC, without cost
Dept. bears only manpower cost of programmers
Approx cost is about INR 8 Lakh/year
Revenue generated till date – About INR 3.5 Cr
Services available under one portal, reducing direct and indirect costs of obtaining licenses, product information and filing sales returns
Licenses issued till date:
Input No. of licenses
Seeds 30,880
Fertilizers 42,457
Insecticides 47,261
Nursery 48
Other initiatives
Mobile apps Shetkari Masik Android app launched
Planned apps
Krushi Vaidya (pest, disease management and dosage calculator)
Aadarshgaon magazine
Scheme information
Package of practice
USSD: Brief information about schemes
Pest, disease & weed management information
IVRS: Fertilizer rates
Web based Scheme Monitoring MIS