Rajasthan 2020: Gains in District Administration, e-Governance, Health

Rajasthan 2020 registered gains in District Administration, e-Governance and Health categories. Some good initiatives came from Rajasthan in the District Administration category in 2020. However, there was no noteworthy project from Rajasthan in the previous year. Similarly, the state has performed well in the Health category as well. In the overall ranking, the condition of Rajasthan was not up to the mark of 2019. Rajasthan slipped from the 12^th position in 2019 to the 18^th position in SKOCH State of Governance Rankings 2020.

Top Gainers

Rajasthan posted gains in three sectoral rankings. Firstly, in the District Administration category Rajasthan ranks 19^th in 2020. During 2019, Rajasthan did not submit any project for assessment and study in the District Administration category. In Health category Rajasthan secured the nineth position in 2020. In contrast, the state did not submit any projects for assessment in the category the previous year. And finally, in the e-Governance category Rajasthan’s ranking improved to the 5^th position in 2020 from the sixth position in the previous year.

District Administration In Rajasthan 2020

Five projects were studied from Rajasthan in the District Administration category. Out of these, one project was in the highly impactful category while the another project was in the impactful category. This helped Rajasthan secure the 19^th position in the District Administration sectoral ranking.

District Administration Baran conducted intense inspection of Anganwadi Centres under the initiative called “Aanganwadi Pulse Inspection”. ICDS Department conducted the inspection in collaboration with Education Department through their Teachers and Principals. SDMs and BDOs also participated in carrying out the inspection additionally. This was done in order to send a strong message of discipline in the field and to ensure government services are reaching the much needed through ICDS. Anganwadi Workers addressed a total of 51 questions about their operations. Project members used Google forms to record the responses, supplemented by Time Stamped Photos of each survey.

As a result of this intense inspection drive, opening rate of Anganwadis on a daily basis have increased by over 20 percentage points. Since then over 90 per cent Anganwadis are opening on a daily basis which is the best in the state of Rajasthan and among the best in the country. Additionally, beneficiary participation has increased. This is because people are now aware about the services they are entitled to through these Anganwadis. ICDS runs its services for children under 6, pregnant and lactating women through Anganwadi Centres. There are 1,618 Anganwadi Centres in Baran district. The total number of beneficiaries in the district is around 150,000, nearly 10 per cent of the total population.

District Administration Jaisalmer conducted financial inclusion drive ‘Smriddh Jaisan Abhiyaan’ in a mission mode in order to make people aware about various financial inclusion and social security schemes of the Government of India and the Government of Rajasthan.

Gram Panchayat organised camps to inform the people about the benefits of the schemes and to resolve their questions and confusion related to the schemes. Project runners arranged the enrollment procedure at each Gram Panchayat with the help of the bank functionaries. This was done to boost people’s participation in these schemes. Pre-camps activities organised in each Gram Panchayat helped increase the participation during camps. For this purpose, District Administration, Panchayati Raj Department, NABARD and all banks (PSU and Cooperative) worked together for the betterment of the rural people.

Rajasthan Gramin Aajeevika Vikas Parishad, District Administration Churu, has implemented a scheme called ‘Rajeevika’ to provide livelihood support to rural women. Around 45,000 rural women belonging to 4407 Self Help Groups (SHGs) are actively involved with ‘Rajeevika’. In the hope that harnessing the potential of these groups can help increase the annual income of families involved with these groups, District Administration has come up with few initiatives which are scalable and replicable throughout the state with positive effects. Rajeevika is a project of Government of Rajasthan, to enhance the economic opportunities and empowerment of rural poor by providing livelihood support, developing skills of rural youths, financial support through project funds and bank linkage specifically focussing on women and marginalised groups in Rajasthan.

With a view to provide additional income support to the women involved with the Rajeevika scheme District Administration Churu has assigned them the works like Canteen in the collectorate which was closed for the last 15 years, Kasturba Corner and e-Mitra Kiosk in Tehsil office.

District Administration Bikaner has launched an initiative called ‘Smart Citizen’ app. The focus of this initiative is to connect people with their City and the City to its people to improve the environment, increase awareness and involvement of citizens for social works.

Improved e-Governance For 2020

Rajasthan improved its standing in the e-Governance sectoral ranking by moving up one place. The state ranked sixth in 2019. In 2020 Rajasthan’s position improved by one place to the fifth position. Three projects were studied from in this category. One of these projects was in the impactful category.

Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Limited (RSMM) has launched Marketing And Sales Application to provide end-to-end solution to its customers, vendors and employees. The state-run company has decided to implement the application in phase manner. Firstly, it has provided the complete solution to the customers as automation of Sales and Marketing processes.

Since the automation of Sales and Marketing process, customers can place online orders, track their dispatches, loading advices, invoices, make payments and account statements. RSMM has automated the mines operations, provided the interface with weighbridges using desktop application which retrieve all release orders during dispatches. Presently, invoices are e-signed and customers can access the customer portal and download. Hence, RSMM is able track and monitor the complete operations using this automation. RSMM is also able to plan and control the demand and production based on pending orders. Customers and their transporters are being notified by SMS on successful approval and e-signing of release order and invoices. Customers and Management both have Dashboard with further drill down reports to have better control of operation.

Department of Information Technology and Communications, Government of Rajasthan, has implemented two innovative steps – Raj Kaushal and Raj Sahakar.

Raj Kaushal seeks to bring job-seekers and employers on the same platform. During the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns the condition of unemployment worsened, especially due to the return of migrant labourers. Industries also faced problems due to the lack of trained manpower. Raj Kaushal initiative played an important role in bridging the gaps between job-seekers and employers.

Raj Sahakar application has proved to be game changer solution in delivery of Cooperative services to citizens. The citizens and cooperative societies can now conveniently avail the following benefits through this solution: Online cooperative society registration and issue registration; Online Society Audit process; Online Society Election; Online society grievance for citizen; Online EWR and Online release commodity process.

Rajasthan 2020 Ranks #9 In Health

Rajasthan ranks ninth position in Health sectoral ranking with one project. In contrast, Rajasthan did not submit any project for assessment in this category in 2019.

The Covid-19 pandemic severely affected Bhilwara in Rajasthan. The first case of Covid-19 was detected in Bhilwara city in March 2020. The first person to be diagnosed Covid-positive in Bhilwara was a physician at a private hospital. This created panic in the city. RVRS Medical College and Associated Mahatma Gandhi Hospital played an important role in managing the Covid-19 crisis in Bhilwara. The District Administration and the Health Officials specifically worked hand-in-hand to manage the crisis. They:

1. Formed separate OPD for ILI patients on 22nd march 2020 in the hospital campus which had an isolated and separate Drug store and a Blood sample collection centre. This was done for the purpose of preventing symptomatic and suspected Covid patients mixing with general patients.
2. An awareness programme using mobile public announcements, distributing pamphlets and the local media helped the lay people.
3. Authorities established a 24X7 help line and help desk centre.
4. A separate team established to work for stress management of patients as well as staff working for them.
5. Using Geo-Fencing to track Covid patients.
6. Using an app to monitor the conditions of those under home quarantine on a daily basis as well as keeping an eye on them through the geographical information system.

Medium Performers

While Rajasthan registered gains in three sectoral rankings its performance was not up to the mark in several sectors. Rajasthan had topped the Women & Child Development sectoral ranking in 2019, but it slipped to the fourth position in 2020. In Governance (General Administration) category Rajasthan slipped from third position in 2019 to the sixth position in 2020. Furthermore, performance in some other categories was even worse. In Skill Development category Rajasthan secured the second spot in 2019, but did not submit any project for assessment in this category during 2020. Rajasthan ranked third in the Education category Rajasthan 2019 but did not submit a project for the same this year. In Municipal Governance and Municipal Sanitation categories also the performance was disappointing. This badly affected Rajasthan’s overall ranking. Rajasthan state ranking slipped from the 12^th position in 2019 to the 18^th position in 2020.

Women & Child Development In 2020

Rajasthan had acquired the number one position in Women & Child Development sectoral ranking in 2019. However, in 2020 Rajasthan slipped to the fourth position. This is in large part due to only one project sent in for study by Rajasthan in Women & Child Development category. The lone project selected in this category from Rajasthan was also in the impactful category.

Education of children was among the worst hit due to the lockdowns imposed to curb Covid-19 pandemic. Integrated Child Development Services, Department of Women & Child Development, Rajasthan, took measures to provide help to the children in this time of the crisis. The challenge at ICDS was to continue Early Childhood Education (ECE) for children and engage them in continued learning.

With this in mind, the department with the help of its partners developed a plan, where the parents would become the teachers and facilitate learning of the children at home. To facilitate these weekly and monthly calendars were developed which were aligned with the current ECE curriculum followed in Rajasthan. These calendar and videos (ECE materials) were sent to the DDs, LS and Anganwadi workers through official WhatsApp and email groups. These material then through AWW reached to the parents, which facilitated them to engage their child in various ECE activities as given in the calendar.

Governance (General Administration) In Rajasthan 2020

Rajasthan slipped to the sixth position in Governance (General Administration) category in 2020 from the third position secured in the previous year. All things considered, Rajasthan has performed reasonbly well in the category, maintaining its place in the Top 10 for the niche for the last few years. The state placed seventh in this category in 2018. One project was studied from Rajasthan in Governance (General Administration) category in 2020.

Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL) has taken innovative measures to deal with Covid-19 pandemic challenges. The company has developed an automatic hand sanitiser dispensing unit. It is a contactless sanitiser dispenser that sprays alcohol-based hand rub sanitiser solution for sanitisation of hands. Automatic hand sanitiser is an ideal ubiquitous hygiene solution for residential, commercial, and industrial applications wherein one simply needs to put hands below the machine dispenser and the sanitiser will be dispensed. Thus, it can easily be deployed at government offices, malls, airports, theatres, banks, business parks, factories, educational institutions, bus depots, railway stations, hotels, restaurants, etc.

The machine is based on water mist aerator technology, which was developed for the purpose of water conservation. The unit operates without contact and is activated through an IR sensor. A single fluid nozzle with a low flow rate is used to generate aerated mist to dispense the hand rub sanitiser. Therefore, it sanitises the hands with minimum wastage. Using a nozzle, only 3-4 ml sanitiser is released for 2-3 seconds in one operation and it gives the full cone spray over both palms so that the disinfection operation of hands is completed.

Indifferent

Rajasthan registered gains in only three sectoral rankings while the performance in six sectors were not up to the mark of 2019. This negatively impacted the state’s overall ranking. The state’s ranking was also negatively impacted due to the indifferent attitude of the departments and organisations in various sectors. The sectors in which no project was submitted for assessment from Rajasthan include Agriculture, Disaster Management, Ease of Doing Business as well as Finance & Revenue, Food & Civil Supplies and Infrastructure. Others in this list include Irrigation, Labour, Police & Safety, Power & Energy, Rural Development, Social Justice & Social Security as well as Tourism & Culture, Transport, Urban Development and Water.