Excelsior Correspondent
After the administrative reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir, a series of IT reforms have been introduced by General Administration Department at various levels, which in its essence have brought a paradigm shift in the governance system of Jammu and Kashmir. Interaction of various stakeholders and the Government i.e. between Government to government (G 2 G); business to Government (B 2G); or citizen to Government (C 2 G) have been simplified and facilitated through these IT initiatives with an aim to create a healthy, accountable and progressive administrative ecosystem.
Towards ensuring seamless governance, the General Administration Department, through Information Technology Department, has successfully rolled out e-office in all the administrative departments of Civil Secretariat and office of Heads of Departments. This has resulted in speedy disposal of official business, made real-time file tracking possible thereby enhancing accountability for avoiding any undue delay in disposal of cases and further administrative accountability has been established by having access to pendency at any level.Moreso, it has also helped in striping of expenditure incurred on the practice of physical movement of files. The impact of this historic reform is tangible and can be seen in the number of files processed, time bound disposal and tracking at every stage of file movement.
Further, for fostering accountability and responsiveness among employees, the Employee Performance Monitoring System (EPMS) has been rolled out. The system enables checking/monitoring monthly work done by the employees and promoting public service delivery. On the EPM Portal around 3 lac employees have filed their Monthly Performance Report (MPR) reflecting their contributions to public service which is being regularly reviewed by the controlling authorities. The initiative has been successful in bringing accountability and performance monitoring down to the individual level.
For facilitating human resource management, the Electronic Vigilance Clearance System (VCS) for issuance of e-vigilance clearances through online mode has been implemented. This has simplified the process of seeking NOC and vigilance clearance and has made it time-bound, efficient and transparent. The issuance of vigilance clearance has become time bound with disposal within 7-10 days time. This has not only eased the process/procedure of promotions/deputations but has minimized person to person contact. The system enables real-time checking of pendency and enables employees to track status of their vigilance clearance for any follow-up.
Similarly, online portal for e-filing of property returns (PRS-Portal) mandates filing of property returns by every government employee under Employees Conduct Rules as well as J&K Public Men and Public Servants Declaration of Assets & other Provisions Act, 1983. The portal facilitates access and monitoring of the property details of all the employees, especially while processing vigilance clearance in their favour, besides, assisting the ACB in expeditiously investigating the cases of disproportionate assets. It is noteworthy that prior to the introduction of PRS-Portal, only a few thousand employees used to file their annual property returns, whereas, in the previous year itself, as many as 3.50 lac employees have complied with the mandate.
Further, Annual Performance Reports of JKAS officers have been shifted to online mode on SPARROW Portal, which has simplified the process of filing APRs by the members of the service. Similar steps have been initiated for shifting APRs of all Gazetted officers of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir to this portal.
Online Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVO) Portal has been launched and it has established a communication channel between ACB and Departmental Vigilance Officers (DVOs) posted in different departments/Districts. This has streamlined tracking of vigilance cases, time-bound completion of preliminary enquiries and facilitates checking of status of such cases through online mode, minimizing person to person contact thereby preventing chances of any possible corrupt practices in the process.
Moreover, “SatarkNagrik App” has been launched to assist citizens in lodging their complaints with ACB through online mode and tracking their complaints through the same application ID. This has phenomenally increased the citizen to government interaction and encouraged the general public to participate in preventive measures for eradicating the menace of corruption. It is proving to be a catalyst for having a corruption-free administrative ecosystem.
Many more initiatives like e-HRMS system for online application of leaves of all kind, trainings maintenance of service books in digital form etc being planned. Integrated dashboard for employees is being planned for better management of employees of J&K.
Under the leadership of LG Manoj Sinha and guidance of Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, GAD, these initiatives are steering J&K into a new era of good governance and Citizen Centric Public Service delivery.
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