IWDMS: Failed twice in other states, running successfully in Gujarat

IWDMS: Failed twice in other states, running successfully in Gujarat.
By Himanshu Acharya

Earlier so many people had asked/suggested/shouted for transparency in Government working style, accountability of officers, Speedy work like corporate, No Document loss in Government Offices and many more things which they see in their private offices, corporate culture.
But Now Gujarat Government has the answer which most of the readers don’t know/aware OR if they know, knowledge is very limited. Today I will provide you in detail article on IWDMS system. This system is currently used by all Govt offices in Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad, which includes Board/Nigam/Corporations since 2005. Initially usage was low, but gradually it has been increased with constant effort, training, and most important Government’s strong vision. First lets see;
What is IWDMS: Integrated Workflow and Document Management System.
This is custom software is made by M/s TCS as per the E-Gov initiative of Government of Gujarat. It fulfils mainly below points, while there are so many minor benefits also.
1) To provide transparency in the Government procedures
2) Which speed up the routine procedures,
3) Which digitise the Govt records, GO, resolutions, online service book, leave management etc
4) Which unify the Govt communication.
5) Which provides traceability of records.
6) Which provides accountability to the Govt. officers.
7) Above all provides green working environment, very less papers.

This common software is developed by M/s TCS. It is based on Govt Manual and general procedures followed by various government departments.
Now the some history of this software:
Our Govt is using this software since 2005. Govt of AP and Tamilnadu had used the similar software developed by same M/s TCS in their respective states earlier in 2003-04. They failed to continue with such software for long time (it ends in almost 2 years). The possible reasons are:

1) Main and most proven thing is Govt. Officers attitude.
2) Poor knowledge of computer and systems
3) Poor software training or training on paper only.
4) Some process takes more time than manual.
5) Last reason “They have to do work with accountability”, you can relate this with first reason.

So what Gujarat Government has done to cope all above possible reason to run successfully this project. We will discuss on same further, but let us have first common idea about govt working style.
Suppose there is one department, there are total 25 departments in Gujarat Govt. Now the structure is like this low level officerSection officer (SO)Under Secretary(US)Deputy Secretary(DS)Secretary(SEC). Now low level officer receives tappals marked for his department from the registry. He simply forward it to respective SO or US, they read the tappal and give the instructions like in put up a new file, or file that tappal in any ongoing file and put up OR simply record that tappal without any action.
There are bunch of physical files with every officer, you might have seen their table full with files. This is their main duty. Sometime some files are missing, lost or intentionally blackout. Now to solve this problem above said IWDMS project come to picture.
In IWDMS system, each tappal is the Central registry receives is converted into PDF and sent to respective department’s low level officer. He does the same as said above but only difference is electronically. He has to clear all his tappal from his folder within a day, then respective officers frequently checks their folder and instruct their subordinates what to on that tappal. Whole new files created based on that tappal electronically or Tappal is sent to archive. There is also provision of digitizing old physical files through scanning of the same.
Please don’t stop your imagination here, there are lot more uses of IWDMS. Like
1)E-filing 2) Easy archiving 3) Department specific application integration with common username and password 4) emailing in built 5) some forums are available for some specific purpose 6) reporting, etc and many more

Now one may think that how Gujarat Govt can do what other two can’t?
The reason is Gujarat Govt has made the IWDMS system in line with office manual; they don’t stick with age old rules, but become liberal where required. They first asked M/s TCS to study the system and instructed to make changes accordingly.
Second, there was a compulsory training for particular software for the Govt employees in Gandhinagar. This was done thrice not twice.

Strict orders from high ranks to follow the system and weekly, monthly monitoring is there in each department. Periodic assessment done by Chief Secretary (next to CM) level.
There is constant support from M/s TCS for whole three years in each department, so that minor issues can be solved easily and in timely manner. System got changed many times as it got evaluated.
It is true that there are majority of 50+ age persons in SO and LOW level officers as there is no direct recruitment in almost last 15 years. But then also they supported the system in good manner. There was some unhappiness or attitude problem in early years, but got resolved gradually.
This system is used by almost 11000+ Govt employees in Gandhinagar Secretariat and borad/Nigams offices. Initially there was only 25-50% use in most of the departments, only some 3-4 departments use this system optimally. But now due to constant efforts and by seeing the results itself usage is increased.
There were some instances where system got down for 2-3 hours due some technical problem, but such scenario was very rare. There is strict SLA and monitoring mechanism there.
IWDMS Project was selected by Public Sector Technology and Management Magazine, Singapore, for Government Technology Award, 2007 in the Connected Government Category.

One can find more information on the same from below link.
http://www.gujaratinformatics.com/gov/projects/depts/7_IWDMS.htm