Common Services Centers Enabling Service Delivery: Bridging the Digital Gap

Enabling Service Delivery: Bridging the Digital Gap

July 2011

Government of India had launched the Common Service Centre (CSC) Project for providing sustainable digital access to rural communities and for giving the necessary impetus for upliftment of the rural community. The project is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), approved by the Government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale. The objective is to develop a platform that can enable Government, private and social sector organizations to align

their social and commercial goals for the benefit of the rural population in the remotest corners of the country.

The CSC Scheme is being implemented in a public private partnership (PPP) framework with a focus on rural entrepreneurship & market mechanisms. The CSCs has been set up by private entities called as Service Centre Agencies (SCA), who are appointed by the State Governments. The CSCs are run by the Village Level Entrepreneurs

(VLEs) who are appointed by the SCAs to run and manage the CSCs at pre-defined locations.

As on 30th June 2011, 95710 Common Services Centers have been set up across the country, covering 31 States/UTs out of the targeted 100,000 centers to be set up - one per every six villages. The CSCs are being set up in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

As envisaged under the Scheme, a National level Special Purpose Vehicle SPV has been formed as a permanent entity to provide ongoing support to the CSCs and to catalyse services to be channelized through the network. The name of the CSC SPV is CSC e-GoVErNANCE SErVICES INdIA LTd.

It is also now proposed to reposition CSCs as a network of Bharat Nirman CSCs to be set up in each Gram Panchayat as a delivery point of public services for rural areas. Accordingly, additional 150,000 Bharat Nirman CSCs are proposed to set up for the uncovered Panchayats.

Progress of the CSC Scheme

over 95,710 Common Service Centres (CSCs) have already been rolled out in 31 States/UTs as on 30th June 2011. 100% rollout has been completed in 12 States/ UTs and more than 70% has been achieved in 13 States/UTs. However, around 4,500 CSCs are non-functional due to termination of SCAs.

To ensure availability of connectivity to all CSCs, dIT is supporting BSNL to provide Wireline and WiMax based broadband connectivity to all 100,000 CSCs. In total, connectivity has been provided to 69,574 CSCs as on 30th June 2011. 18,512 CSCs are connected through BSNL dSL; 419 and 185 are using BSNL EVdo and WiMax respectively. VSAT Connectivity is being used by 24,297; datacard by 10,163 and 15,998 are using connectivity through other technology like WLL and GPrS of various service providers such as AirTel, reliance and Tata Indicom etc. BSNL would provide

connectivity provision to all CSCs by December 2011. DIT in providing VSAT conectivity Rs. 2,500 difficult location in

NE states, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttrakhand & Himachal Pradesh.

GOVERNMENT TO CITIZEN (G2C) SERVICES

Government-to-citizen (G2C) services refer to online communication between Government and consumer/individuals. It is an online interaction between local, central Government and private individuals which helps in making public

services and information accessible to all. CSCs are brought in to increase the transparency in transactions at grass-roots level. It has been seen that the transaction cost for services have also come down drastically and service delivery

through CSCs has given citizens easy access to many services such as online form filling, bill payments, municipal certificates etc, or complex applications like distance education, e-learning, and tele-medicine. G2C Services are classified broadly into three types based on their operation processes as following

-As per the data collected from 23,010 CSCs across 19 States (Andhra Pradesh, -Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, orissa, rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar

Pradesh, Uttarakhand & West Bengal) , following are the key findings

-Citizen Served 1.462 Crore (assuming avg. 5000 population/CSC; 1 citizen out of 10 has been served by CSCs in above States)

Revenue Generated rs. 129.26 Crore

Most preferred services where maximum citizens covered:

Issuance of certificates [Record of Rights (RoR), Birth, Character, Death, etc.] with over 10 Million (+) services being

delivered till date throughout the country.

Service through which maximum revenue has been earned:

Issuance of Certificates (RoR, Birth, Character, Death, etc.) with over Rs. 90 crore revenue generated so far.

e-Enabled Service Delivery Strategy

G2C Services Classification Information Services Interactive Services Transactional Services

Following are the key G2C services delivered through CSCs –

Services Description

Agriculture Farmer /Labour / Agriculturist Certificate, Crop assistance Certificate, Farmer Registration, Agricultural Family member Certificate, Appl. For incentive to

green fodder cultivation etc

Ration Card Issuance of new / increase or decrease of Units, Addition or deletion of name / renewal of ration card

Electoral Roll Application for Inclusion / Correction/ Cancellation / Transposition of names

Poultry / Fisheries Appl. Financial Assistance to Purchase cows/ buffaloes, Registration / renewal

of Fishing Nets, Application for Piggery/Poultry development Scheme , Application for Modern dairy / Subsidy to purchase Milking machine Scheme

Caste / Minority Application for issue of SC /ST/ OBC Caste Certificate, Appl. for scholarship

/ stipend to SC/oBC students, Appl. for Book Bank Scheme, Appl. for Kanya dhan for SC

Driving License Appl. for new / duplicate / renewal, Appl. for issue of Learner’s License

Income Certificate Appl. for Issue of certificate, Non creamy layer certificate

Data entry / Digital Print / MIS entry NrEGS MIS entries / other digitization works, Muster roll Entry of MGNrEGA, Cattle Census data digitization

Birth / Death Certificate

Other Certificates Affidavits, Domicile Certificate, Bonafide, Widow, Solvency, Character,

disability / senior citizen card, Non Tenancy, No Govt. Job, re-marriage, residence

Online filing of Public Grievances

Utility Bill payment Electricity bill, Landline bill, Water bill

Application / Renewal of Arms License Application for New or renewal of Hawker Kerosene / Retail Foodstuff License PAN Card

Sale of Stamps & Special adhesive stamps / PDS forms

Taxes returns and renewal of registration for Entertainment / Entry / Luxury/ Tax,

Payment of VAT / VATCST / CST, Filing of returns for CoT / CST / TdA

Pension / Incentives / Grants Application for Financial Assistance under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation / Incentives for Women Entrepreneurs, Grant-In-Aid Scheme

to provide Financial Assistance to the Mahila Mandals, Grants and financial

assistance to professional groups and institutions / cultural organizations, Indira Gandhi National old Age Pension, Handicapped Pension / Pension / Widow

Employment Exchange Issue of New card / registration, issue of duplicate / renewal of card

Forest / Environmental Fencing registration, Appl. for intimation of Felled Trees, Appl. for relief- Natural Calamity

Land Records Issuance of copy / Land holding / Land less certificate, Land Revenue Records,

Transfer/Mutation of land ownership

Process (case study of e-mitra, Rajasthan) –

A comprehensive Web-based application has been developed for on-line monitoring of progress of implementation of CSC Scheme up to VLE level. The transactions process for BSNL bill payment through CSC is explained below

-Goes to CSC/ e- Mitra Kiosk

Collects the Bill Amount

receives report & amount from

VLEs

receives printed reports & amount

by LSP/ SCA

Enter the bill information on e-Mitra portal reconcile & compile the report reconciliation & compile the

report

reconciliation & compile the

report deposits amount in deGS’s account Transfer the amount to BSNL through rTGS or online. Transfer the amount to BSNL through rTGS or online. Generates the receipt Collects the receipt Generate the reports at the end of day d ep ar tm en t d is tr ic t e-G ov er na nc e Soc ie ty LS P/ SC A K io sk Ho ld er Con su m er BSNL/ Service providers

Bill Payment Bill Payment

Service Charge Service Charge

Service Center Agency (SCA)

Village level entrepreneur

(VLE)

For delivering G2C services, access to department portal or availability of online information (either on State portal / district portal) is needed. For this, initiatives like e-district will form a platform for CSCs to deliver G2C from Government portal of a district.

Business to Citizen (B2C) denotes online communication between business entities and consumers/individuals.

CSCs offering B2C services cater and cover large population base at the rural level. By integrating these services

into CSC bouquet, rural villagers get access to such services in their vicinity, for which they might have to travel to nearby town and incur cost/face middlemen etc. This also resulted in income generating opportunities for VLEs apart from G2C services.

As an assumption for CSC Scheme business model, G2C services could only form the 1/3rd of the total revenue (as

most are at nominal fee). Hence there is a dire need to offer B2C services at such level.

Service bouquet framework through CSCs –

Content and Services Providers Corporate Business

B2C SErVICES B2B SErVICES SHArE rEVENUES Village Level Entrepreneur GoVErNMENT SErVICES VILLAGE CLUSTEr VILLAGE CLUSTEr SUBSCrIPTIoN B2C SErVICES Service Centre Agency

Following are the key B2C services delivered through CSCs –

Services Description

Financial Services Banking – Business Facilitator and Business Correspondent Services through CSCs (opening of Bank Accounts, Sourcing Loan Applications, Formation of SHG groups, deposits and disbursal of cash)

Key Bank tie-up : State Bank of India, HdFC Bank, CBI, J&K Bank, BoI Currently more than 1225 CSCs are active as Banking

Insurance Life and General Insurance Services through CSCs

Key insurance companies : Life Insurance Corporation of India, Birla Sunlife Insurance, Max Newyork Life Insurance, National Insurance Company Limited, HdFC ErGo General Insurance, TATA AIG

Education/ e-learning Online / Offline Education Services through CSCs

Key tie-up:

IGNoU – distance Education Courses Microsoft – Customized e-learning courses TCS – Cd based Adult literacy courses

ETS – IT Training, Spoken English and Internet courses doEACC–CCC Course

INTEL–Easy steps

Telecom Sale / recharge / Bill Collection services through CSCs

Key tie-up: BSNL, Idea Cellular, reliance, Airtel

Travel Train / Bus / Air ticket bookings through CSCs

Key tie-up : IrCTC, red Bus

Service Aggregators Utility Services / Mobile recharges / Entertainment Services through CSCs Key tie-up: Suvidhaa Infoserve, Pay world, oxigen

Astrology & Matrimonial Services Astrology and Matrimonial Services through CSCs Key tie-up: Astrovision, Bharat Matrimony Entertainment Services Sale and recharge of dish TV connections

Key tie-up : TATA Sky, reliance dTH Research and

Data Collection

Exploring opportunities to utilize CSC network for research and data collection

Agriculture Agri Information / Agri Input Sales / Agri Extension Services through CSCs Key tie-up: reuters Market Light, Agri Watch, PHI Seeds Limited

Media and Advertising Exploring opportunities for brand promotion and market analysis of various FMCG products

Key service provider: Group M

Department of Posts Extending Postal Services / rural Postal Insurance through the CSC Network

Digital Photos / CD writing /Typing

Web surfing / Email/Chats

Process (case study of IRCTC) –

The lengthy queues for booking tickets is no more the default way of buying tickets. IrCTC (Indian railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd) has played a huge role in transforming customer experience for buying a railway ticket. Now, like department online payment gateway, a citizen can also visit to nearest CSC and purchase/book online for railway ticket booking / cancellation with transactions amount handling to VLEs and VLEs in turn having a commission

based payment arrangement with SCA and IRCTC. Currently more than 45,110 CSCs are offering IRCTC services.

Common Service Center (CSC) State / department web portal IrCTC web portal

Bill Payment Payment Gateway Banks / FIs / Master / VISA Acknowledgement SCA online transactional portal

requirement with VLEs for IrCTC service delivery: i. Valid e-mail Id

ii. Bank Account (with ATM cum debit Card or Internet Banking facility or Credit Card) iii. Internet enabled Personal Computer (PC) iv. registration with www.irctc.co.in and valid User Id and Password

Financial Inclusion is delivery of Banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of the disadvantaged

and low income groups. reserve bank of India came out with a set of guidelines in January 2006 allowing the banks to appoint Business correspondents (BC) and Business facilitators (BF) to expend their outreach in the rural areas. Further, the rBI has allowed banks to engage with the CSC operators/VLEs as BCs.

Benefits of using CSCs in FI: Reach: Located in panchayats, CSCs are able to immediately serve the rural population

Accessibility: Being manned by local entrepreneurs and being a multi-purpose ICT centers without the formal bank atmosphere, rural population can access CSCs conveniently

Technology: CSCs are equipped with hardware (computer, printer, camera), power backup and internet and so

make it a cost effective BC outlet for banks

Centralized control: Monitored centrally by dIT/ SPV / SdAs and owned by SCAs, monitoring and controlling large nos. of BC outlets becomes easy for banks

Government linkages: Being a centrally sponsored project being implemented by States, mandating CSCs as banking

service outlets becomes easy for Governments. This allows increased transactions at CSCs increasing financial

viability both for Banks and CSCs

Payment of remuneration to BCs / Kiosk Banking operator –

Services Description

For opening new Accounts @ rs. 20/- per account

For issuance of Id cards @ rs. 10/- per Id card per Account

For withdrawal transactions @ rs. 0.50% ( minimum rs. 1/- & maximum rs. 12/- ) of the transaction amount Term deposits/spl. Term deposits @ rs. 0.50% of the deposit amount

An amount equivalent to 10% of the total remuneration shall be recovered at the time of payment of remuneration to the BC / Ko. Above rates are taken from AISCET.

Cash transactions framework:

Case study of AISECT (Service Center Agency) –

the greater emphasis given by Govt. of India for achieving 100% financial Inclusion within a specified time frame,

even the villages having a population of 2000 are being selected for setting up Banking Kiosk. AISECT has also selected 205 Channel Partners and appointed them as BF. AISECT has been able to do a business of approx. ` 36.72 crore under BC and BF model within a very short period and expect to double the turnover very shortly. Case study of Jharkhand–

State’s Nodal Agency for CSC Project (JAP-IT) and the rdd of Jharkhand made it mandatory for banks to have a presence in each Panchayat. The Government of Jharkhand and rBI met on the 3rd december 2010 and banks were directed to express interest on a block basis so that all 259 blocks of the State could be assigned to banks. As a result, the CSCs have become an integral component of the State’s banking network. Further, to facilitate better accessibility, all CSCs were directed to relocate to Panchayat Bhawans. district Collectors were also directed to

ensure that Banks use the CSCs for disbursal of Government benefits and wages (including NREGS wages).

Financial inclusion through CSCs –

States / UTs Banks CSCs Active SCA

Madhya Pradesh SBI & CBI 584 AISECT, NICT, reliance

Jharkhand SBI & BoI 250 UTL, AId

Chhattisgarh SBI 59 AISECT

J & K J &K Bank 400 J&K Bank

Bihar SBI SArK

orissa CBI 210 SrEI

Tamil Nadu CBI SrEI

Uttar Pradesh CBI 90 SrEI

Assam CBI 32 SrEI

West Bengal CBI SrEI

Total 1625

Status as on 30th June, 2011 Way Ahead –

There are other opportunities like Skill development and e-learning, Telemedicine, outreach & Awareness programmes through the CSCs. The need is to explore the newest and innovative ideas through which CSCs could become one stop destination for every citizen.

Useful Resources – http://www.csc-india.org http://india.gov.in/sectors/communication/e-governance.php http://www.mit.gov.in/content/common-services-centers http://www.nisg.org www.cscmis.emitra.gov.in www.rural.nic.in/Instruction%20Manual%20for%20CSCs.pdf http://indg.in/e-governance/cscscheme/common-service-centres-scheme/view?set_language=en http://www.egovonline.net/default.aspx http://jeevandelhi.gov.in/portalweb/g2cservicecharges.pdf

S.No. State CSC logo / boards SCA

1 Andhra Pradesh CMS Computers Ltd, Sreeven, Times, AP online

2 Arunachal Pradesh Tera Software/ Calance

3 Assam SrEI Sahaj, Zoom developers

4 Bihar SrEI Sahaj, SArK Systems

5 Chandigarh eSampark

6 Chhattisgarh AISECT, Zoom developers

7 delhi 3i Infotech

8 Goa 3i Infotech

9 Gujarat e gram/SdA

10 Haryana SCA selection under process

11 Himachal Pradesh Zoom developers, GNG/Tera Software

12 Jammu & Kashmir J&K Bank

13 Jharkhand UTL , AId, Zoom developers

14 Karnataka Comat Technologies

S.No. State CSC logo / boards SCA

16 Madhya

Pradesh

AISECT, CMS Computers Ltd, NICT, reliance Communications

17 Maharashtra SPANCo Ltd, BASIX, CMS Computers Ltd,

reliance Communications

18 Manipur Zoom developers

19 Meghalaya BASIX

20 Mizoram Zoom developers

21 Nagaland Tera Software

22 orissa Zoom developers, SrEI Sahaj, BASIX

23 Puducherry Tera Software

24 Punjab AISECT, BASIX, Calance/Vakrangee

25 rajasthan CMS Computers Ltd

26 Sikkim IL&FS Ltd.

27 Tamil Nadu SrEI Sahaj, 3i Infotech Ltd.

28 Tripura BASIX

29 Uttar Pradesh CMS Computers Ltd, SrEI Sahaj, Vayam Tech,

kvani Kendra

30 Uttarakhand reliance Communications

70%-100% (13)

50% - 70% (4)

Kerala TamilNadu Andhra Pradesh Orissa Chatsgarh West Bengal

J&K

Rajasthan

Karnataka

Kerala

Sikkim

Arunachal Pradesh

Puducherry

TN

WB

BiH

JHD

Uttarakhand

MP

Maharashtra

AP

10% - 50% (2

)

SCA Selected (1)

10% (1)

Daman and Diu Dadra & Nagar Haveli

Lakshadweep

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Under Discussion (2)

Delhi

100% (12)

Progress So Far (As on 30th June 2011)

CSC rolled out - 95,710

*Due to termination of SCAs in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand around 4537 CSCs are reported to be non operational

CSC e-GOVERNANCE SERVICES INDIA LIMITED

3rd Floor, Electronics Niketan, Department of Information Technology, 6, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003