Kolkata: The Bengal government is developing a digital platform for continuous monitoring of the public infrastructure (hospitals, schools, ICDS centres and public buildings) created by the state in various sectors as well as for their timely maintenance and upgradation.
The online system will act as a tool for rule-based inspection and assessment of public establishments to ensure higher quality of service delivery.
During the last 13 years, facilities pertaining to healthcare, education and others have been upgraded substantially in the state. Multiple new construction of hospitals, schools, ICDS centres and public buildings have been created through increased capital expenditure. The state has engaged various supervisors for timely inspection of public infrastructure who shall serve as the primary source of information.
According to a memorandum published by the state Finance department, the features of the online system include mobile app-based inspection of public service delivery establishments, online monitoring and supervision at all hierarchical levels of the government, OTP-based authentication and automatic geotagging on inspected establishments.
The system will be built on responsive design with the provision of scope to improve public service delivery. The state government has framed a standard operating procedure (SOP) for this mobile app and online-based application to purposefully capture and analyse the inputs and feedback of field inspections. The inspections may be carried out on a weekly basis. Officials at district, sub-division and block levels are required to make at least one such inspection within their jurisdiction every week without proper intimation. The inspecting official will use the mobile app and capture details of his visit and the uploaded data shall be visible to all levels of hierarchies above the inspecting official. A minimum number of visits will be mandated for various officials by an official order of the state government.
There will be a monthly review meeting at the subdivision level under SDO in which the uploaded works shall be categorised as Green (no action needed), Yellow (works required) and Red (urgent works required). The concerned line departments shall prepare estimates of the Yellow and Red categories and place them before the committee. Works within the financial capacity of the SDO level should be executed and after completion, geotagged photos shall be uploaded by the concerned supervisor to close the case. The same instructions will be applicable at the district level too. The departments shall appoint one nodal officer who shall receive all the cases sent by the district for further
action at their end.
The Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary and heads of all departments shall have an active dashboard to review the status of the works at all times.