Technology: An Assuming Enabler
NEETA VERMA, DEEPAK CHANDRA MISRA AND SEEMANTINEE SENGUPTA
National Informatics Centre, Government of India
IN LINE WITH the Vedic adage ‘Bahujan Hitaay, Bahujan Sukhaay’ (‘For the welfare of many, for the joy of many’) and inspired by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G) was launched as a nationwide campaign, with an aim to achieve universal sanitation coverage for India. To help make this goal a reality, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was used extensively and in an innovative manner, from conception to implementation. Based on the data insights and experiences from previous sanitation programmes, the guidelines for implementation of the programme were framed with adequate flexibility – keeping the geographic specificities in view – and not as a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Technology was successfully utilized across the programme, right from the use of a digital solution to monitor the programme’s progress, the use of social media, online platforms and collaboration systems to citizen engagement, information dissemination on sanitation best practices, and organization and management of village-level motivator activities.
Digital Platform
Figure 1: Components of SBM-G Digital Platform
To support the information management needs of SBM-G, a custom web-based platform was conceptualized and made operational by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) – the premier science and technology organization providing informatics services, information and communication technology applications to the Government of India.
The database established by the solution – the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) – contained up-to-date and real-time information about more than 17 crore households in rural India on various parameters, viz., the status of their household toilet facilities, Open Defecation Free (ODF) status of villages, and the disbursement and consumption of funds, to name a few. This data was regularly updated in a decentralized way by the field functionaries and used to deduce the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) critical to the success of the programme.
The digital platform acted as a single source of truth whereby all the functionaries of different tiers of the Government – as well as other stakeholders like NGOs, civic bodies, etc. – could monitor the progress of implementation, including financial management and the transfer of funds to beneficiaries. Field-level validations ensured that erroneous data was not entered into the application, and automated approval workflow ensured that data was approved by a competent authority in every district and state.
The solution enabled geo-tagging to monitor the construction of toilets. Mobile apps allowed the capture of geo-tagged images of toilets constructed to verify the progress, location and beneficiary. Over 8 crore (over 87 per cent of all toilets constructed since SBM) of the toilets have been geo-tagged across the country, as of the writing of this piece.
These apps also provided the citizens an interface with Government agencies and allowed sourcing of data directly from the beneficiaries of the programme. This crowd-sourced data enabled Government functionaries to get a glimpse of the ground reality and verify the data fed by the implementing agencies into the SBM-G database. This also facilitated an effective Geographic Information System-enabled dashboard that allowed the SBM-G leadership to monitor the progress vis-à-vis the plan, identify the data sources, analyse the reasons for delays if any, and determine corrective action.
Social Media and the Government’s Collaboration Systems
Social media, online platforms and the Government’s collaboration systems were also critical enablers in the success of the programme. They were extensively used by the programme managers and grass-roots workers for knowledge sharing and outreach to local communities. Reaching the citizens and getting feedback from the foot soldiers using these technologies had a great impact on policy formulation and programme management.
According to the Global Digital Report 2018, there are 3.196 social media users worldwide, India being among the countries with the largest number of users. For any programme of this scale, the ability to disseminate information and share particular achievements was an important component, which needed a simple, effective strategy. Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook served as invaluable tools, communicating information to a wide audience – in the villages as well as cities of India.
SBM-G has its own blog (https://sbmgramin.wordpress.com ), Twitter handle (@swachhbharat) with 4,31,600 followers, and a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SBMGramin ) with 98,574 followers as on 23 July2019. YouTube and WhatsApp were extensively used for sharing real-life stories and cross fertilization of ideas for successful implementation. Through these, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) has also been able to publicize its plans, initiatives and programmes across the country, given that almost all states and districts have their own social media sites, and there is large-scale sharing of information.
Social media has helped build the Swachh Bharat brand and increased its visibility by developing relationships and communicating with people involved in sanitation within the country and abroad.
Mass media campaigns – Darwaza Band, Shaucha Singh, mobisodes (mobile episodes) promoting the twin-pit toilet technology – have also been disseminated through social media. Swachh Sangraha is a learning portal where field functionaries and experts share sanitation best practices. These platforms have also enabled sharing of learning, best practices and capacity building.
Instant messaging tools such as WhatsApp and Hike have also provided senior leaders with a direct line of communication with functionaries and volunteers, facilitating faster dissemination of information. WhatsApp groups of officers and field functionaries are generally buzzing through the day with examples of best practices from the ground. Government collaboration systems such as video conferencing and web-casting were also extensively utilized for conducting trainings and capacity-building programmes.
Architectural Resilience
The SBM-G digital platform – a multi-tenant solution – was made operational in early 2014 and has been evolving ever since to meet the changing functional requirements for planning and monitoring. The basic data of toilets is updated by functionaries at the block level (5,921 block users) and other users who update data from districts (697 district users) and the 36 states and Union Territories, using role-based access. Apart from these Government functionaries, the Zila Swachh Bharat Preraks (motivators) at the field level also update the daily status of progress of the scheme and data related to mass campaigns like Swachhata Hi Seva, Chalo Champaran, etc. A total of 2.5 lakh mobile app users access the SBM-G portal on a regular basis. The toilet photographs captured through mobile apps are uploaded on the database along with the geo codes.
In order to get a holistic view of the outcomes, a cross sectoral view of the interventions through various social sector schemes is required. For this, the SBM-G solution inter-operates with other e-Governance solutions – such as Local Government Directory (http://lgdirectory.gov.in ) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (http://nrega.nic.in ) – in addition to some of the state-level systems, which facilitate Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for SBM-G beneficiaries.
The solution also interfaces with Swachhata Surveys carried out by third-party agencies, viz., Swachh Survekshan Grameen and National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) applications, as well as the Swachhata Sameeksha application, which facilitates capturing the status of Swachhata Pakhwada plans and activities.
In addition to these, the system inter-operates with the spatial database of administrative boundaries up to the village level. Executive dashboards are available with geographical representation of the data. This level of seamless inter-operability and horizontal linkage with external systems was successfully achieved through use of the data standards.
Way Forward
Technology will remain one of the foremost enablers for SBM-G. The rich data repository created during its implementation will provide a scientific basis for future policy formulation, planning and implementation. As SBM-G evolves, there may be a need to prioritize sustainability of the sanitation value chain, solid and liquid waste management and hygiene practices in subsequent phases. There is a need for increasing emphasis on collection, segregation and safe disposal of solid and liquid waste, and adoption of decentralized technologies like vermi-composting, community biogas plants, low-cost drainage systems based on geographical area, which are socially and technically acceptable and environmentally safe. Value created by the programme in the years to come could be increased significantly through the adoption of advanced technologies such as:
It is evident that several factors have contributed to the success of SBM-G. Of these, ICT was ingeniously and effectively utilized for creating a mass cleanliness movement. The timely and comprehensive support provided by an agile and resilient technology solution has been one of the critical success factors in facilitating the overall governance process. The policy makers and programme managers have extensively utilized the digital platform for immediate intervention through mid-course corrections in policy and transformation in strategy, by accessing real-time insight into the ground reality.
The use of a common digital platform at the national level, to view and evaluate the implementation progress as well as enable collaboration between different participating stakeholders, was highly effective as it ensured ‘anywhere-anytime’ availability of authoritative and consistent data. The management of a common platform was not only cost-effective, it also allowed for investment into an architecture that supported high availability of resources and delivered consistently strong performance in a dynamic and unpredictable environment.
Technology was also a critical enabler – as evidenced in the use of social media, online platforms and digital technologies – in engaging citizens; disseminating information of best practices and success stories; and organizing and managing activities of grass-roots functionaries in geographically dispersed locations. All these initiatives resulted in an enhanced level of transparency of processes.
As demonstrated by the experience of SBM-G, each programme poses unique requirements for ICT, and it is incumbent on the technology providers to suggest and support innovative use of technology towards ensuring the programme’s success. The success story of this digital platform has inspired many national e-Governance initiatives, and the body of knowledge acquired by NIC can be utilized for many such programmes in times to come.