How technology enables the citizens and the Govt to achieve a common outcome

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For the Inspector General, Traffic, for any smart city, one of the objectives of the management of traffic is to fulfill the twin purpose of inculcating traffic discipline in citizens and strict enforcement of traffic rules.

A common goal, for both the citizens and the traffic police is to avoid being on the wrong side of the law and reduction in traffic violations respectively.

Panel Discussion: How technology can improve governance in India | Digital Technology Sabha 2021

Raipur Smart city was one of the first smart cities to adopt an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS). Subsequent to the automation of the challan generation for traffic violations, the department was able to send the challan to the citizen with the video, location information attached. “While it helped traffic police to solve the traffic violation cases, the overall value of the challans rose to 165 Cr,” says Prabhat Malik, IAS, Additional MD, Raipur Smart City Ltd, Govt of Chhattisgarh. The system is being implemented in a phased manner. While the total amount of challans generated was worth Rs 165 Cr, the actual amount of challans issued was about Rs 3-4 Cr, which saw an improvement in the overall cases of traffic violations, as per the data available. In effect, the ITMS helped in the common objective of the citizens and the traffic police, i.e to reduce the violations.

Another example is about a centralised system enacted in Chhattisgarh. About two years back, an area-wise sentiment analysis of the citizens was sought and compiled for corrective action. The feedback is sought from the citizens on their opinion about the priorities in their areas and the Govt scheme related issues faced by them. The data and information is gathered and monthly reports were generated for the respective officials to act upon.

In this way, technology drives Govt officials to not just deliver for the sake of compliance but to use their time for more productive work and still effectively deliver on the routine work. 

This article is based on the views expressed by Prabhat Malik, IAS, Additional MD, Raipur Smart City Ltd, Govt of Chhattisgarh, on a panel discussion, ‘How technology can improve governance in India’ hosted as a part of the Digital Technology Sabha 2021

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