SWAGAT wins UNPSA (United Nations Public Service Award)

1. People with Grievances Attended Solved
Chief Minister’s Office
j ,
Government of Gujarat, India
SWAGAT
State Wide Attention
St t Wid Att ti on Grievances
Gi
through Application of Technology
Functional since April 2003

3. SWAGAT is Winner
2010 United Nations Public Service
Awards Forum, Barcelona Spain
Improving Transparency, Accountability and
Improving Transparency Accountability and
Responsiveness in Public Service
The UN Public Service Award
Th UN P bli S i A d
recognizes the creative achievements
and contributions of public service
institutions that lead to a more
effective and responsive public service
administration in countries worldwide.
administration in countries worldwide
Through an annual competition, the
UN Public Service Awards promote the
role, professionalism, and visibility of
l f i li d i ibilit f
public service.

4. Gujarat State Profile
Gujarat State Profile
•PPopulation: 55 million
l ti 55 illi
• Land mass: 196,000 sq.km
• Villages: 18,000
• Towns: 225
• Districts: 26
• Sub Districts: 225
Sub Districts: 225

5. In the local language
SWAGAT means
SWAGAT means
Welcome
First and foremost, it denotes that citizens
are welcome to the Forum named SWAGAT

6. “People’s voice is
the key driver
of a
of a
democracy…
…and listening
to that voice is
to that voice is
the key test of
Good
Governance
Governance”
Mr. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, India

7. SWAGAT – the concept
• Citizens do have grievances of all kinds. Genuine expectations
from the Government, not duly met, become grievances
• Grievance redressal is the key to Good Governance; more so
Grievance redressal is the key to Good Governance; more so
in a democracy. Efficiency, transparency and the speed in
redressal is the key to citizen satisfaction
oAn expectation should ideally be met duly
oIt should not convert into a Grievance
oIt should not convert into a Grievance
oIf it does, it should be redressed at the local
level
oIf it is not, the buck must stop at the highest
level
oAccountability must be fixed

8. SWAGAT – the concept
p
• The top functionaries of the State can not
redress all the grievances on their own
o Moreover, the citizens need not come to the
Head of State for their routine grievances
d f f h
o Such grievances should be redressed at the
level they belong to or they originate at
l l th b l t th i i t t
• H
Hence, accountability at all levels of
t bilit t ll l l f
administration particularly the local
levels is a must
l l i t

9. Overall mandate of SWAGAT
1. Attention on grievances to strengthen good
1 Att ti i t t th d
governance
• Analysis of the nature of grievances submitted to
Analysis of the nature of grievances submitted to
Government at all levels
• Attention on the quality of redressal at all levels
2. Activate Administration to solve public grievances
at State, District and Sub District Level
t St t Di t i t d S b Di t i t L l
• Monitoring the quality of grievance redressal by
local administration
local administration
3. Solving the grievances from the top when they
g g p y
need such intervention

10. Before SWAGAT
Public grievances were not handled systematically
Paper‐based Not transparent:
process was Officials had no
cumbersome & fear of being
lengthy exposed
Common person
Common person No system for
No system for
has no access to monitoring or
higher levels
higher levels follow up
follow‐up

11. 3 levels of SWAGAT
C
Cover th whole of G j t St t
the h l f Gujarat State
State SWAGAT
every 4th Thursday of the
month held at the State
Capital Gandhinagar
l dh
District SWAGAT
every 4th Thursday held at 26
District Offices
Sub‐District SWAGAT
every 4th Wednesday of the
month held at 239 Sub District
Offices

12. Public Awareness
Success of SWAGAT in resolving public grievances was promoted
through local media to increase awareness of the facility to all

13. Systematic SWAGAT
State SWAGAT every 4th Thursday of the Month
y y
9:00‐12:00 grievance applications registered online at SWAGAT
Office: details immediately available to concerned Officers
12:00‐15:00 Officers enter responses and information online
15:00 Hon CM & Senior Officers interact with applicants.
District and Sub‐District Officers attend the program through
video‐conferencing
ideo conferencing
Cases are redressed on the same day or in time bound manner.
Cases are redressed on the same day or in time‐bound manner.
All directions given by Hon CM are formally recorded on the
same day

14. Format for online application
All grievances & redressal information (State, District & Sub District)
are fed into the same system, through an online portal

15. Applications registered in 3 categories
Applications registered in 3 categories
Policy Matters: where a limitation or gap in
P li M tt h li it ti i
the policy requires attention
Long‐Pending: where the case has remained
unresolved after at least 6 months after
l d ft tl t6 th ft
initial application
First‐Time: such cases are first referred to
the concerned lower office for attention
h dl ff f

16. State SWAGAT Session
27th May 2010
May 2010
Video
Video
Case
conferencing Hon Chief
Information Applicant
with District Minister
on screen
& Sub District
& Sub District
Senior Officers
Secretariat
and SWAGAT
Level Senior
Administration
Administration
Officer
Team

17. Information
viewed by
viewed by
Hon. CM during
State SWAGAT
Sessions

18. Integrated from State to Sub District
Analysis of May 2010 SWAGAT cases
Revenue
State Industry
Urban Development
At monthly State 16 cases Water Resources
Rural Development
Sessions, Hon. CM 0 2 4 6
reviews District and
Sub District cases District
Rural Development
Revenue
for: Urban Development
Home
1. Quality of redressal 466 cases
Water Resources
2. Understanding the 0 100 200
nature of problems
Revenue
at local level Sub District Rural Development
Food Supplies
Urban Development
2199 cases Water Resources
0 400 800

19. SWAGAT: ICT Infrastructure ‐ GSWAN
District Centres (25) Sub District Centres (239)
BSNL
BSNL
8‐2Mbps

20. SWAGAT operates on
Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN)
Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN)
• Connects all 26 Districts to State Data Centre with
8Mbps to 2 Mbps connectivity
p p y
• Leased circuits provided by BSNL, Reliance and Tata
Tele Services
• Interconnects 8,496 District and Sub District Offices
• 23,017 user‐IDs created for Government Officers
• Video conferencing centres at:
– 26 Department Offices
– 26 District Offices
– 239 Sub District Offices

21. SWAGAT live multi‐conferencing
across Gujarat
j
State Wide Knowledge sharing as all 26 District and 239
Sub District Offices are present through live video
Sub District Offices are present through live video‐
conferencing at all Sessions

22. SWAGAT IMPACT
97% of applications have been resolved
97% of applications have been resolved
Most grievances are attended at local levels, not State level
April 2003 to May 2010
60000
49891 49614
50000
45117 43621
40000
30000
20000
10000
971 971
0
State District Sub District
Applications made Applications Resolved

23. SWAGAT IMPACT
• Public accountability strengthened
• S
Systemic changes as decisions lead to policy
i h d ii l d li
reform
• Citizen’s satisfaction when grievances
attended at highest‐level
g
• Monitoring system focuses attention on
unresolved cases
unresolved cases
• Access to all guaranteed through proximity
of local offices
of local offices

24. SWAGAT IMPACT
• Total Transparency as all stakeholders are
p
present in real‐time
• Administration activated as Hon CM is
directly reviewing cases
directly reviewing cases
• Inputs from all allow fair decisions: citizens,
key Officers and elected members
key Officers and elected members
• Highest‐level authority gain awareness of
nature of problems at local levels and
f bl l ll l d
awareness of practical issues of local
administration

25. SWAGAT cases
2003: Result after long struggle
2003 R lt ft l t l
• Session: State SWAGAT with Hon CM 22nd May 2003
• Case: farmer had not received entitled Government
compensation of Rs.19,000 after losing cattle in flash floods of
1997. The Farmer had made repeated efforts over 6 years to
obtain the compensation at local offices, without success.
• Result: farmer received Rs.19,000 compensation
2004: Policy Impact
2004: Policy Impact
• Session: State SWAGAT with Hon CM 22nd July 2004
• Case: the accused was exhorting money after making false
claims for land in Ahmedabad. The litigation process was mis‐
l i f l d i Ah d b d Th liti ti i
used to harm people’s interests
• Result: accused was dealt with the rule of law and was
imprisoned. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was
imprisoned A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was
established to investigate it and any other such cases. The SIT
is still functional.

26. SWAGAT case
2005: Case for Welfare
• Session: State SWAGAT with Hon.
CM 28th July 2005
CM 28 July 2005
• Case: Homeless Tribal families
were waiting for 42 houses to be
i i f 42 h b
built through a Government
scheme. Payments to the
contractor had been made but
t t h db d b t
construction work was not
completed.
• Result: construction of all 42 houses was completed.
Nodal officers were reprimanded. Contractor was
black‐listed so as not to gain any future contracts.
black listed so as not to gain any future contracts

27. SWAGAT case
2006: Harassment of common people
• Session: State SWAGAT with
Hon. CM 28th September 2006
• Case: Below‐Poverty‐Line (BPL)
disabled agricultural
disabled agricultural labourer
was given a Government Plot
and Building. The Local elected
member (Sarpanch) and Officer
( p )
(Talati) accused the applicant of
encroachment and they then
had the building destroyed.
g y
• Result: a house was built on the same land and penal
action was taken against the local elected member and
action was taken against the local elected member and
officer.

28. SWAGAT case
2007: Case resolved after 36 years
• Session: State SWAGAT with Hon. CM 26th April 2007
• Case: 48 plots of 9 x 4.5 metres were purchased by
low‐income people in 1970 through auction sale by
local Government Prant Office. Following completion
local Government Prant Office Following completion
of sale the land title was not given. After 36 years the
case was brought to attention of Hon CM, after 26 of
the original purchasers had deceased.
the original purchasers had deceased
• Result: within one month the land was measured and
g p g
land titles given and possession given to the 48
purchasers or relatives of the deceased.

29. SWAGAT cases
2008: Relief for disabled
2008: Relief for disabled
Case: a disabled man of 25 years had
submitted a form for a Government loan
to open a General Provisions Store in his
village. The applicant had no other source
of income, and waited for a year for the
of income and waited for a year for the
loan. The applicant was illiterate and
came across difficulties in following up the
case until he visited SWAGAT Office
il h i i d SWAGAT Offi
Result: after case details were communicated to
Result: after case details were communicated to
the Department, the Department acted instantly
and brought a cheque for Rs.39,245 to the
SWAGAT session of the same day and presented
SWAGAT session of the same day and presented
to the applicant.

30. SWAGAT cases
2009: Result after long struggle
• Session: State SWAGAT with Hon CM 22nd January 2009
• Case: as per a new Government Policy to reduce
li d
electricity theft awards 5% of payments to an informant
g p y
who gives details of non‐payments. The local officers
received information from the applicant and would not
then pay the required 5% sum..
• R lt
Result: on direction of Hon. CM the payment of
di ti fH CM th t f
Rs.20,664 was made to the applicant within one month
(9th February 2009)
( y )

31. SWAGAT cases
2010: Severe Action
2010: Severe Action
• Session: State SWAGAT with Hon. CM on 27th May 2010
• Case: citizen had paid a bribe of Rs 700 to Police Officers
Case: citizen had paid a bribe of Rs.700 to Police Officers
after being harassed by them.
p g p
• Result: formal complaint against the police officers was
filed
• Transfer of the police officers within 24 hrs as ordered

32. Applicants are
given a unique ID
given a unique ID
through which
applicants can
applicants can
access their case
details and status
details and status
online ‐ anywhere
TOTAL
TRANSPARENCY

33. Lessons Learned
• Focus on outcomes has driven the system to ensure
Focus on outcomes has driven the system to ensure
positive outcomes.
• Chief Minister interacts personally so there is greater
attention to resolving cases successfully.
• Systemised process ensures administration is organised
and prepared
and prepared
• Activates local level administration by the system requiring
local level grievance resolution before consideration to
escalate to State level
• Analysis of policy issues through compilation, classification
and analysis of data has brought to fore many policy issues
and analysis of data has brought to fore many policy issues
which have been resolved
• State‐wide Administration interaction as Officers of all
Districts and Sub Districts view and participate in the
SWAGAT sessions.

34. Financial & Human Resources
• SWAGAT has not required additional financial or
SWAGAT has not required additional financial or
human resources, as it has been developed from
the previous Jansampark Grievance redressal
the previous Jansampark Grievance redressal
system
• E i i
Existing resources have been utilised with
h b ili d i h
greater efficiency through training the team and
strengthening the software system at all levels.
h i h f ll l l
• Software and Web‐Based Application has been
developed by the National Informatics Centre
(NIC) without charges to the Government of
Gujarat

35. Sustainability and expansion
• SWAGAT was extended from 26 Districts to 239
Sub Districts in January 2008
Sub Districts in January 2008
• SWAGAT has been replicated by other States of
India in different forms
I di i diff tf
• Now, the effort is to take SWAGAT to 18,000
villages.
– Villages are already connected with broadband
Villages are already connected with broadband
– Once SWAGAT can be accessed at village level –
people will not have to travel to Sub District Offices
people will not have to travel to Sub District Offices

36. Thank You
http://swagat.guj.nic.in/
http://swagat guj nic in/
www.gujaratindia.com