Project information

StatusFinalist
CategoryPublic Administration
Public services - administration and management
CountryIndia
Operational areasUrban, Rural
Target groupsYouth, Women, Men, Seniors
Fixed connectionDSL
Wireless connectionland line basic telephony(PRI Line)
Access pointsTelecenter, Cafe, Payphone
InteractLandline Phone, Desktop Computer, Cellphone
Software License TypesProprietary

Project location

Random images Challenge 2008

"JAANKARI" Facilitation Centre for services under Right to Information Act(RTI)

  • Brief description
  • To provide transparency and accountability in the government system, a  user friendly ICT based facilitation centre  to assist citizens of Bihar(about 85 millions), in getting governance related information from Public Information Officers(PIOs) under the Right to Information Act,2005 (RTI) within stipulated time frame.
  • Vision, Objectives and Goals
  • Visualising the ramifications of the RTI Act for people’s empowerment and its effectiveness in reduction of corrupt practices in government offices, which result mostly due to holding of information and avoiding transparency, the State Government of Bihar decided to make provisions of RTI Act more broad based and easily accessible to ordinary people. As first intitative of its kind in India  it was decided that existing infrastructure and spread of ICT in Bihar  be innovatively and effectively employed for expanding the base of the RTI access through a hand holding and interactive Facilitation Call Centre Called "JAANKARI".The focus was to provide information and knowledge based support to the calling /accessing applicant citizenry in drafting and filing a suitable RTI application online.  To give shape to state Government’s desire and commitment for transparency and people’s participation in Government process via RTI it was decided that currently available Information Technology tools and Communication access should be used effectively to make RTI available to more number of people more easily. To overcome the digital divide and illiteracy , it was thought that the most universal of all communication i.e. voice communication over phone line be used for generating RTI applications. Some of the possible benchmarking measures are reduction in average time for processing citizen requests or applications, reduction in number of complaints about the level and quality of government services, increased citizen participation in  proceedings, lower costs to government in delivering services, and increased revenue.

    Many of these milestones have already been achieved resulting in improved delivery services,faster execution of work and more participative electorates.

  • How does ICT contribute to the organisational objectives
  • Use of ICT tools have been widely appreciated by the media and the people because of its user friendly format.Rural people making request calls to access 'government held information' without having to visit the office or make physical payment of fees. 
  • Transferability
  • Any kind of Organisation can replicate the project of Jaankari kind.It is more of concepts and procedures than capital or special skills.It can be done by any private groups or any agency big or small and it does not need any intervening Govt department or something for its setting up or operationalisation. But the private organisation will have to enter into an agreement with the Government so that the necessary fees for filing of application under RTI,Act could be deposited with the government treasury.
  • Project summary
  • Govt. of Bihar while making efforts for development on all fronts, is also keen on introducing transparency in the Government process. To ensure this, it has been consciously decided to implement the provision of Right to Information (RTI) Act, effectively in the State. In all the Government Departments and District Offices, Public Information Officers (PIOs) have been designated and appellate authorities have been notified.To overcome the digital divide and illiteracy incapacities, it was thought that the most universal of all communication i.e. voice communication over phone line be used for generating RTI applications. The Facilitation Centre was to be equipped with  Computers,Operators,necessary software for application, Telecom interface and voice recording H/W & S/W. Facilities for its monitoring as well as qualitative analysis were also put in place. Bihar Government's RTI Facilitation centre “JAANKARI” for filing RTI application with the concerned State government Department works on PREMIUM RATE SERVICES of BSNL.  In order to enable a common citizen to file an RTI application for seeking any information under RTI Act, without any hassle of his movement for purchase of postal order etc. for the requisite RTI application fee of Rs.10/- and for filing the application to the designated RTI Officer of the concern department, the primary and mandatory requirement was to charge RTI application fee (Rs.10/-) from the citizen without physical transaction of money. This could be fulfilled with the help of BSNL Premium Rate Services. BSNL’s Premium Service is basically a special service for subscribing premium services e.g. Doctor’s Advice, Fortune Telling, Exam Results over telephone, by paying at a premium rate i.e. higher than the normal call tariff. Later the Premium Service Provider gets his share of consolidated revenue from BSNL.   Necessary amendments were made in the relevant rules to lower the fees for filing first and second appeal from Rs 50 to Rs. 10/- each, to enable e-transactions through phone call to receive payments. Executive Orders were issued and the Facilitation Centre “JAANKARI” was designated with powers and authorized to receive phone calls from public at the pre arranged premium rate i.e. a Facilitation costing Rs. 10/per Facilitation to take care of the prescribed application fee and generate RTI application on behalf of the caller. Arrangement was made by Beltron to have PRI E-I lines of BSNL (15311) terminated at the Facilitation Centre. Besides premium rate Facilitation number, another five digit number (155310) for help line on normal tariff was also made available for general enquiry on RTI and application status etc. Both these numbers have been widely publicized for public knowledge and consumption.   Normally BSNL provides Premium Rate Service through its IN Platform using 12 digit no. with access code 1867 xxxx xxxx. Premium Rate Services are normally accessible only to STD subscribers. To make the RTI Facilitation Centre facility accessible to every citizen of Bihar from all telephones, special 6 digit code of level 1 i.e. 155311 has been got allotted from DOT. A special mechanism was evolved for extending the premium rate services without involving IN Platform. Premium Rate charge was generated by the Local/ TAX exchange itself. Of course this required a huge effort of opening of the "RTI Call Centre Code" in all the main exchanges of Bihar. In the present Technical arrangement the RTI Facilitation Centre Code 155311 (and also the RTI enquiry code 155310) has been routed to Patna Tandem Exchange. From Patna Tandem Exchange all Calls originated through out Bihar, are routed to EWSD local exchange, Patna from where a PRI (Premium Rate Interface) line has been terminated in RTI Facilitation Centre EPABX, located at BISCOMAUN Tower. Charging of Calls are done as below : (i)      RTI application filing number (RTN) 155311 – 10 pulses from One India Subscriber, 8 pulses (Rs.9.60) from Non-India One Subs. being charged immediately after the answer of Facilitation centre agent. This initial charge is valid for 5 minutes duration after which subscribers is charged @60 second pulse rate. (ii)              RTI helpline/enquiry number (RHN) 155310 – Normal Facilitation  Charges.  For all the RTI application filing Calls CDRs (Facilitation Detail Records) for code 155311 are being generated at EWSD exchange Patna. The Facilitaion Centre executive converts the request in soft form and sends it to the concerned PIO. PIO provides requisite information in 30 days.