Life and Campus @ JNU

Jawaharlal Nehru University was established in 1969 by an act of parliament.[7] It was named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. G. Parthsarthi was the first vice-chancellor.[8] Prof. Moonis Raza was the Founder Chairman and Rector.[9][10] The bill for the establishment of Jawaharlal Nehru University was placed in the Rajya Sabha on 1 September 1965 by the then minister of education, M. C. Chagla. During the discussion that followed, Bhushan Gupta, member of parliament, voiced the opinion that this should not be yet another university. New faculties should be created, including scientific socialism, and one thing that this university should ensure was to keep noble ideas in mind and provide accessibility to students from weaker sections of society. The JNU Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on 16 November 1966 and the JNU Act came into force on 22 April 1969.[11] The Indian School of International Studies was merged with the Jawaharlal Nehru University in June 1970. Following the merger, the prefix "Indian" was dropped from the name of the School and it became the School of International Studies of the Jawaharlal Nehru University.[12]

The Fact Check: the Delhi Doorstep Scheme

Is it first of this kind ?

The Delhi Doorstep Delivery (DSD)scheme is first of this kind where government representative reaches at the doors of citizens to process and deliver 100 public services. Manipur has claimed they are the first. However the Manipur government on 8th sep 2018 launched a Citizen Facilitation Centre (CFC) for specified categories and announced   'GO TO VILLAGE' scheme on 1st May 2018. 60 villages and 60 constituencies have selected. However, it's implementation was still vague. Kerala has a model called 'Akshaya' launched in 2002. Those are again CFCs at every panchayat and towns. This scheme also required digital skills for citizens to avail at home.

However, many has followed the Delhi's way. Andhra Pradhesh is the typical example. CFCs and Sahayaks at every villages.1 person for 50 people. It is yet to roll out fully. Karnataka has recently started the doorstep scheme in a very extensive way and launched the first phase. They have doorstep scheme and CFCs also. The Govt. of Odisha and Rajasthan as well also planning to implement the scheme and undertook the preliminary study with the Delhi Govt to check the feasibility. 

2. How does the Common Service Center (CSC) initiative of Central govt ? Is it a same model of Delhi's doorstep?

CSCs are the much glorified scheme of central govt in par with doorstep.Sources revealed that there are about 2.6 lakh VLE’s (Village Level Entrepreneurs), which deliver 3,462 services across the country . The total transactions for this year are about 1,975 lakh. This includes services that are both ‘government to citizen’ such as Aadhar, PAN card registration, motor vehicle license and so on, and ‘business to government’ such as train ticket booking, music downloads and so on. Some of these are also ‘information services’, such as checking one's bank balance or information on eligibility of schemes and so on. 

However, this cannot compare with DSD as no government representative is visiting homes of citizens and help them in processing. 

CSCs are also criticized for

• Exorbitant charges to citizens by the VLEs

• VLE are not financially sustainable 

• Multiple visits required 

• No proper SLA Management 

• Inordinate delay in System updates and management 

• No professional expertise 

• Absence of citizens charter 

• Inefficient citizens support mechanism 

• Issues on accessibility and time consuming 

• Lack of digital know-how (citizens points)

The issue of online services is that majority of the ordinary citizens are not equipped to go online and understand procedures. In a way, many are landed at intermediaries or touts.They charge huge amounts as processing fee. When Delhi Govt charges Rs.50 as processing fee under DSD, agents are charging thousand for income certificate and more than 4000 for marriage certificate. Hence the economic  impact of the DSD scheme is worth noticed in comparing to the CSCs of  central govt. 

3. Do MCDs of Delhi also initiated the doorstep scheme ? How the Doorstep delivery scheme stands out in comparison with the MCD public service delivery plans ?

MCDs are often blamed for corruption and mal-governance. People find huge difficulty in getting services. Though BJP opposed DSD Scheme, the SDMC has been saying that we will deliver services at your doorstep for more than a year, but couldn't materialise it. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation on  last month opened the online licensing module developed for household industrial units employing up to 9 workers and having 11 KW meters. would no longer have to go to the MCD office for submitting licence applications. This is an approval of DSD scheme by the BJP led MCDs.Study shows that around 30 per cent residents of the city have to pay bribes to get their work done in municipal corporations," (Pandey) Union minister and BJP leader Vijay Goel earlier sparked a controversy by calling Delhi’s municipal corporations corrupt (" Aap mujhse kahoge MCD kaisi hai. Mein kahoonga chor hai. Mujhe koi inkar nahi hai.)

Earlier in Delhi citizens had to visit an avg. 4 times to office for getting a service. It amounts to job loss and travel cost. Also, more than 50 % were relayed on touts and agents. Now they can get services at the doorstep. The scheme estimated saving of one million man hours in an year. It also axed touts and prevented corruption  in large. 

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the scheme was the first of its kind initiative in the world letting citizens avail 100 government services at their doorstep. The scheme was launched in September last year with 40 services and 30 facilities were added in August this year. “Now citizens don’t need to stand in long queues in government offices. They can also avoid multiple visits to government offices, taking leave from office and seeking touts’ help to get public services,” he added.    

Under the scheme, citizens can call on the number — 1076 — to avail government services. After the call, a person will visit the citizen and collect documents required for the service and process the request. Citizens can book an appointment online through www.edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in or www.delhi.gov.in or by visiting any RTO or SDM office.

 “Now, there are three ways to get things done at the government offices in Delhi. First by visiting the government offices, where the success rate is 57% and 43% of applications get rejected. Secondly, by applying online, in which 45% of applications get cleared while 55% get rejected. The third is doorstep delivery, where the success rate is 91%, whereas only 9% of applications get rejected. This is due to mobile Sahayaks’s intervention to ensure that all documents are complete and attached in the right order along with the applications,” he added.    

The scheme was launched with 40 services on September 10, 2018, and 30 more services were added in August 2019. A total of 16,31,772 calls were received and of this, many were enquires. The call centre received 2,89,762 service requests and 2,64,927 applications were disposed of till December 2019. The current disposal rate is about 95% and the remaining 5% under process, said the government.    “The top services under this scheme is issuance of caste [OBC] certificate [21%], issuance of caste [SC] certificate [19%], issuance of income certificate [17%], learners license [8%], issuance of domicile certificate [5%], registration of marriage [2.5%], issuance of delayed birth order [1.8%],” an official statement said.

IITF India International Trade Fair New Delhi 14. - 27. November 2019 | India International Trade Fair

IITF India International Trade Fair New Delhi

14. - 27. November 2019 | India International Trade Fair

The IITF India International Trade Fair is an international consumer goods fair. Due to its wide range of different areas this fair is an audience magnet and very popular among exhibitors. Here, visitors will receive information on the latest products and trends in various industries.

Already for the 39th time the IITF India International Trade Fair takes place on 14 days from Thur., 14.11.2019 to Wed., 27.11.2019 in New Delhi.

India - A land of Challenges and Opportunities

India is a land of opportunities despite having challenges. Around half of the population is at the youth stage and this demographic dividend is an excellent opportunity for the country. However, it is a affect that we are not able to properly utilize the dividend and resources. It results large number of unemployment and subsequent ill effects among youth. In the absence of social security measures theses people are either going directionless or become the victims of poverty. There is a huge scope in the utilization of human resource for productive purpose in order to get rid from this vicious cycle. Primary challenge in this regard is developing a skilling ecosystem in the country where people are skilled and industries are hiring the right resources. This industry-skilling disconnect along with demand-supply mismatch shall be addressed in order to effectively utilize the resources. A demand driven approach and industry lead skill development endeavours can bear fruit. Secondly, the fact that sustainable livelihood can be emerged from responsible business enterprises. It is inevitable to have conducive environment for entrepreneurs as job creators are very important for a country like India. Entrepreneurship shall be an aspirational element for the youth in order to address the dual challenge of addressing the needs of youth and availing these human resources.

We cannot simply ignore the fact that the economic inequality in India is a pressing concern. More than eighty percentage of the wealth is accumulated at the hand of twenty percentage of the people in the country. Being one of the most populous countries, this ever-growing concern is looming as threat to the society. When economic resources are scare, condition of people are becoming worst. It is inevitable to reduce this gap by equal sharing of resources, control over resource consumption, and rationale tax measures including green taxes. . For instance, around sixty percentage of the population is engaged in agriculture and their livelihood depends on the earnings from farming. However, their produces are not getting fair price due to the over reach of intermediaries. Price fluctuations and weather phenomenons are moving them to the debt trap and resulted suicides. Poverty, malnourishment, wasting, and stunted growth are still looming as crisis even though we put best efforts to meet Global Millennium Goals and Sustainable Development Goals.  We must understand that solving these challenges are a social goal where an effective public private participation is required. Wide consultations with industries to promote responsible business and sustainable business practices can surely bring changes.

We are not udicious in using resources which are becoming a greed than need. Our environment is in a war fighting situation as it has to meet the needs and greed of the populace. Number of vehicles and density of polluting industries including prevalence of plastic are also in rise. When the effects of environment damage are equally shared the share of wealth is not equally distributed. The transparency measures like voluntary disclosure, reporting, and environmental footprints are still more to go. Country has to adopt sustainable development principles in all walks of life specifically in the industrial development and revenue sharing mechanism.

The paradox of protectors become polluters is biggest challenge in India. Corruption is beyond all threshold levels. When government servants are supposed to be at the service of common public, they become the masters of public. People are forced to avail their rights at the mercy of these officers and at utmost despair destined to offer bribes from their hard-earned money in order to save time and to avail their entitlements. In contrary, a portion of the influential section rules them with muscle and money power. This leads to the unethical practices and resulted irreparable damages to society, economy and environment. Every violation of environmental polices or social norms by this offers at the behest of high hands is against the spirit of equality which are counterproductive. The terrible lag in maintaining transparency measures, accountability standards and vigilance are costing to the citizens of the country. Technology driven elements with very intense sensitization in long run is required to make our government responsible to the public.

Though we are at the clutch of all the aforementioned concerns, the civic sense of people is to be evolved. This lack of ownership and right civic sense always side track the sustainable development initiatives that helps the corrupted elements in one way or another. The voice of public is the single most solution to all the prevailing crisis. Once the citizen is empowered and dared enough to demand their rights, no one can over power them. Also, their consciousness to protect the environment also shall work. We cannot speak against pollution when we pollute our own environment, we surely cannot complain about plastic menace as long as we use and throw plastics. Succumbing to bribe demand rather that complaining is not the sign of civic sense. Making public places dirty and talk about waste management will not be a ideal propaganda. The sense of mine and the feeling ownership (our own) seems the solution to many of the prevailing concerns.     

ICT (Information Communication & Technology) has tremendous scope to improve governance in the country. It can have a pivotal role in the empowerment of nation. As more than half of the population have access to smartphone and internet, a digital revolution can be possible in India. To an extent less human interference and automation are essential to solve many existing challenges in the country. It is an inevitable ingredient to consider ICT as a panacea to corruption and various governance challenges. However, the challenges of achieving digital literacy have huge fathoms. Collective effort under the leadership of government is a need of this time to reach the goal of digital empowerment of citizens.

Though hard to say, polarisation on the basis of various fringe and fanatic elements are in rise.. An ultra-national approach surpassing the diversity of the nation and humanity will not produce positive results. Political parties widely use caste cards in election which is dividing the social fabric of the nation. It is not rare to see the crony-majoritarian political media. Furthermore, voices against the divided politics are seen suppressed by the ruling parties in some corners which are not the true spirit of democracy.

Amidst challenges and concerns our country is in a great pace to assure faster, inclusive and sustainable growth. Initiatives like Swatch Baharath Mission, Skill India, Start Up India Stand Up India, and Digital India are right in the direction. We require more responsible leaders to drive the change. Governance and management expertise shall be acquired by our bureaucracy to make certain the reach of benefits to the grass root without leakages. Continuous awareness and sensitization exercises are to be implemented to get the required results. Women of the country shall be brought the front to lead many of these thought provoking missions.

The Size and Impact of the Doorstep Delivery of Public Service Programme of Delhi

The doorstep delivery of public services programme by Govt. of NCT of Delhi in India aims at effective delivery of public services at the doors of citizens which is free from office visits, corruption and touts. This innovative service design assures various services of government delivered at their doorsteps. Up on request government representative will reach the home of citizen in the pre-fixed time and offer required services. Delivering various public services at the doors of citizens make the term public services more meaningful. Hence our vision encapsulates the cores of transparency, accountability, and digital innovations which make the government both responsible and accountable to common public. 

Mission

1.         Responsible Governance, Accountable Government and Citizen Friendly Approaches

                We have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to bridge the gap between             government and citizen through multiple ways a) A 24*7 Call centre is functional           where citizen can call to get government services at their homes. B) A facility is   enabled online to book requests C) Special hassle free citizen facilitation centres           are                 established across the state to help public. 

2.          Technology as tool to make governance design strong and public service delivery effective 

                Well sophisticated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is in place to manage and monitor citizen requests. Movement and progress of files            are         automatically tracked till the end of the process and updated to the applicant              through voice call/sms/e-mail. In order to assure timely reach of government                 representatives, geo tagging and time stamping is also                 incorporated.    Furthermore, anyone can complaint their grievance at PGMS        (Public Grievance           Monitoring System) for fast resolution.

                E-SLA is an innovative design by our team to ensure timely delivery of public                services. Once the Service Level Agreement             (SLA) is breached, alerts will     automatically pop up at the officers at different levels.  To give better customs                 experience and to improve        transparency, citizen    can file their questions                 through an online RTI portal. This information shall            be provided within 30 days.     Citizen can claim for     penalty for delays in such cases. 

3.         Professional excellence in programme management  

                A well qualified and experienced professional team is deployed to look after each        and        every aspect of the programme. The team will manage, monitor and evaluate        program on a regular basis. Required redesigning, reengineering and           restructuring required any will be taken up by this project management experts           to                 appropriate levels.

Delhi is the Capital of India and it the National Capital Territory (NCT). Hence the scheme catered to the demands of around two crore people of Delhi. Actions of Delhi government are easily getting the national attention.  Following the success of the doorstep delivery of public service scheme of the Delhi governments, many states started replicating the same. The programme is large in size, scale and impact as it covers 12 departments with hundred public services. Around one crore services are delivered every year which signifies the large impact of the system. It was observed that citizen has to visit government offices in an average of four times to get a service. One visit may cause up to four hours including commuting. Similar situations aroused to time and energy cost including absence from work. These repeated harassments tempt them to try their hand with bribes or to avail services of external agents like intermediary or touts. In such cases, a citizen had to spent additional amount of 1000-4000 an average.  This was also a nurtured a tout-driven system with corrupted officials.  Doorstep delivery scheme saved millions of man-hours and crores of amounts to the common people. One can imagine the time, money and energy save by the common public with the introduction of customer friendly service delivery system.

The scheme offers diverse services of revenue, transport, water, social welfare etc. Focus is on government to government services initially which can largely impact the lives of millions. The manpower involved in the programme is also nearly thousand except normal functionaries. The scheme is designed as a Public Private Partnership model where front end operations are being handled by an external agency while sovereign functions are handled by the government staffs. The governance system of the scheme is also an innovative model in government. 

Andhra government adopts Delhi Doorstep model

After the successful implementation of Doorstep Service Delivery (DSD) of Delhi government Andhra Pradesh now comes up with a similar scheme for delivery of public services. The 'Village Secretariat' designed by the newly sworn Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's government envisages setting up centres in every village, under which the volunteers would function to deliver various government services to the citizens at their doors. The government sources said that the concept of village volunteers aimed at ensuring timely and transparent services and to eliminate corruption at all levels of administration in the state. Also, the volunteers will identify various problems faced by people under their jurisdiction and will bring them to the notice of the gram panchayat for resolution. 

“The government is committed to revamp delivery systems in the state with an aim to improve living standards of the people through the concept of Navrathnalu as the core theme of governance", a department release says. The scheme provides village volunteers with an honorarium of Rs5,000 per month and entrust them with the task of door delivery of the government welfare schemes. There will be one volunteer for 50 households. The government will spend Rs 1,200 crore per annum to employ about four lakh volunteers from villages to take the benefits of government service to the doorstep of beneficiaries in rural areas. Besides the normal rule of reservation, women would be considered for 50 per cent of the posts within each category.

 The emulating model of Delhi government offers diverse services at the doors of citizen without hassles and doing away from brave snaking queues and visits to the offices. In order to avail the services citizens have to call the 24x7 helpline number 1076, and the call centre will take down the relevant details and inform you about the documents required as well as the applicable payment. Once the appointment is confirmed, the government will send a representative (mobile sahayak) to the doors of citizen to help and apply the service. A service charge of Rs.50 will be accounted from the applicant for this service.

Mail Today report revealed that the number of well-entrenched touts in some of the Delhi government offices in Civil Lines, Mall Road, Burari, Janakpuri and Matiyala had reduced sharply within two months of the scheme's launch. The programme launched in in last September 2018 has overwhelming response from the citizens. More than ten lakhs request were handled under the programme. There are 150 mobile sahayaks, 200 call centre executives,  and 50 dealing assistants are working under the programme. The programme envisaged to implement in three phases which comprises of a total of hundred services. Government is planning to make DSD a single window inorder to curb touts and intermediaries. A dedicated professional project management unit is constituted and hired an agency to strengthen the operation of the scheme.

Eyes to the city by Delhi government

After a long wait, Delhi government now started installing CCTVs all over the city. Being a major move towards the safety of women, the project expects reduction of crimes to a larger extent. According to the chief minister of Delhi Aravind Kejrival, a total of 2.80 lakh cameras will be installed across the city.

After the Nirmbhaya incident, Delhi came to the spotlight on women safety. According to the National Crime Records Bureau data, Delhi was reported as the most unsafe among 19 major cities, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of rapes , 33 per cent of crimes against women and the highest crime rate in 2016. As per police records, Delhi sees one murder, six robberies, as many rapes, nine molestations, 19 snatchings, 126 vehicle thefts and 17 fatal road accidents every day, besides the ever present threat of terrorist attacks. A total of 236,476 cases were registered in 2018, with an increase in the number of murders (3.25 per cent) and thefts (7.7 per cent), particularly of vehicles (12.98 per cent), even as street crimes such as robberies and snatching came down from the previous year. Delhi came in just two positions shy of being the worst state when it comes to safety of girls and women (Gender Vulnerability Index by NGO Plan India).

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) has become a mainstream crime prevention strategy around the world. According to some researchers, the camera surveillance systems in the UK discourage criminals and thus preventing crime. London has managed to bring down crime by 80 per cent by the use of CCTVs. Scholars have concluded that increased offender apprehension, increased natural surveillance, publicity, and improved citizen awareness are potential mechanisms of CCTV‐generated crime reduction. CCTV was associated with a 16% reduction in crime, which was a significant effect. This effect was driven by a 51% reduction in crime in the car park schemes, with CCTV in the other settings having small and nonsignificant effects on crime. Estimates from the United Kingdom suggest the presence of over 4.2 million cameras, a ratio of 1 per every 14 citizens. In the United States, 49% of local police departments report using CCTV, with usage increasing to 87% for agencies serving jurisdictions with populations of 250,000 or more. Philadelphia’s CCTV cameras generated a 13% reduction in overall crime, a 16% reduction in disorder, but no change in serious crime.

The findings of each area are shown below: 

City outskirts: Following its installation, recorded crime decreased by 28 per cent. 

Hawkeye

Vehicle crime saw a statistically significant 73 per cent decrease following camera installation. Car parks experienced different levels of crime and those with a high and medium level of risk of crime suffered statistically significant 80 per cent and 62 per cent decreases. The sharp decrease in crime demonstrated a deterrent effect. The police were also provided with evidence allowing them to arrest known offenders, showing that the system also worked by detection. 

City Hospital 

Crime rates were low before the implementation of CCTV, and a non-significant reduction in the overall level of crime after CCTV implementation was primarily caused by a reduction in vehicle crime. Although the cameras may have deterred vehicle crime, this reduction may also be attributed to other crime reduction measures. 

South City 

The number of public order incidents increased and this could be attributed to increased reporting of incidents by the control room. Although fear of crime reduced after CCTV was implemented, the findings suggested that this was not caused by the presence of cameras, but other crime reduction measures operating in the area. 

Shire Town

There was an overall decrease in recorded crime following the installation of CCTV, but these were non-significant and could be attributed to fluctuating crime trends experienced across the division as a whole.  

Market Town 

There was an overall increase in recorded crime following the installation of CCTV, but this could be attributed to random fluctuations experienced across the division as a whole. 

Borough Town

Following their installation, overall crime remained unchanged, and any change in individual offences was attributed to changing local crime trends and other initiatives operating in the area, one of which possibly caused displacement into the target area, thus increasing crime. 

Northern Estate 

Following their installation, overall crime showed a non-significant reduction, which could not be attributed to CCTV. However, there was a noticeable reduction in burglary, which was shown to have displaced into areas outside the cameras’ viewshed. Feelings of safety increased in comparison to the control area. 

Westcap Estate

There was a statistically significant reduction in worry about being a victim of crime. Although there was a high level of awareness of the cameras, the presence of cameras did little to reassure residents. A reduction in reported victimisation most likely accounted for the decrease in worry about crime. 

Eastcap Estate

Following their installation, overall crime levels increased in line with the control, although reductions in specific targeted offences, especially vehicle crime, suggest a deterrent effect. Fear of crime levels remained unchanged. 

Dual Estate 

Recorded crime reduced in the small residential area (Area A), which had a high level of camera coverage, and there was a high level of awareness of the cameras. However, small numbers of crimes were involved. Conversely, crime increased in the larger residential area (Area B), which had just six per cent of coverage. Hotspot coverage of the shopping parade saw a 49 per cent decrease in shoplifting in this area. Worry about being a victim of crime reduced in both areas, significantly so in Area B compared to the control area.

Southcap Estate 

Recorded crime saw an increase in the areas covered for the longest period. The overall increase consists of a rise in violence against the person, which can be accounted for by a change in Home Office counting rules. Worry about being a victim of crime reduced in the target area, but at a similar rate as the control area. 

Borough 

Recorded crime increased across the target, buffer and division area following the installation of CCTV. The scheme did not appear to achieve its aim of tackling sporadic crime hot spot areas, as crime increased in the target areas at a higher rate than the division. The presence of the cameras initially reassured local residents, but these positive effects reduced when youths realised the cameras were on auto-pan, thus were no longer deterred by their presence. 

Deploy Estate 

Taken as a whole, crime increased following its installation, accounted for largely by the increase in criminal damage in one part of the area covered. This could be attributed in part to a number of acts of vandalism against the cameras themselves. The proportion of individuals who worried about being a victim of crime was largely unchanged in both surveyed areas before and after CCTV installation. 

(This document is available only in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) through the RDS website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds)