Off Site Real Time Monitoring System (OSRT)
Description
OSRT is a unique accountability mechanism because the ubiquitous, easy-to-use mobile phone has made possible the combination of accountability tools and processes. The unification is made possible by the innovative use of the largely ignored mobile phone eye (camera), leading to the generation of real-time off-site images of municipal activities valued by citizens. Now, GHMC managers are more responsive and responsible because complete and reliable information on their activities and outputs is available in the public domain at a single point. Cell phone monitoring of various civic activities e.g. sanitation (dumper bins, street sweeping, attendance and anti-larval operations), street lighting (on-off status), Parks (maintenance & attendance), Town planning (monitoring building permits, violations etc.) is being done across 625 sq.km area, 150 wards, 5 zones and 18 circles of GHMC. This initiative has helped in making administration transparent, gave information access on civic services to officials, non- officials and citizens, besides enabling generation of real time reports for monitoring civic services. All in all, OSRT is a reliable monitoring tool that has led to citizen empowerment.
What we deliver
Real time data availability to7.40 million citizens living in 625 sq.km. area of GHMC on several civic services – sanitation (dumper bins, street sweeping, attendance and anti-larval operations), street lighting (on-off status), Parks (maintenance & attendance), Town planning (monitoring building permits, violations etc.) is being done across 625 sq.km area, 150 wards, 5 zones and 18 circles of GHMC. Real time reports on status of civic services to officials facilitating monitoring of civic functions and functionaries.
Whom we deliver
All the field level officers of GHMC, elected representatives and citizens.
Why is the project unique?
The innovativeness of the OSRT mechanism is founded on the integration of accountability mechanisms by relying on the eye of the mobile phone. OSRT is a mobile governance tool that utilizes GPS/GPRS connectivity and all civic activities are monitored. OSRT is in public domain and all stake holders will have access to the same data which is latent by 2 seconds. People from anywhere in the world can view it. OSRT heralds an era of responsive and responsible governance.
Roadmap
The ability to replicate human faculties, such as the eye (camera), mouth (mouthpiece), ear (speakerphone), and hand writing (text messaging) has conferred magical properties on the mobile phone, labelled as “the single most transformative tool for development” by Jeffrey Sachs. In the economic, social, and political domains, the magical properties have wide applications. The most obvious economic benefits are providing timely market information (e.g., mKrishi, Farmer’s Friend) and inclusive banking – money transfer and savings (e.g., M-PESA, Gcash), promoting entrepreneurship and making agriculture more efficient. Jensen, an economist from Harvard University, has found that access to mobile phones had increased fishermen’s profits in Kerala by 8% and brought down consumer prices by 4%. Additionally, studies by Leonard Waverman (London Business School) and Christine Zhen-Wei Qiang (World Bank) have found that a 10% increase in mobile phone adoption in developing countries increases GDP growth by 0.8%. Finally, the social and political advantages of mobile phone usage are increasingly being recognised. However, what is missing is the use of mobile phones to increase government accountability. Recently, some sporadic efforts are visible – governments have started using mobile phones to reduce leakages in the public distribution system and to monitor attendance and resources use in schools and health centers. However, the scalable and replicable use of the eye (camera) of the mobile phone is little used, the emphasis being on relying on the mouth, hand and the ear. And, off-site real-time (OSRT), designed and developed by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), has addressed the gap by using the eye of the mobile phone to make municipal services more accountable.
Contact
Dr. Sameer Sharma, IAS
GREATER HYDERABAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Tank Bund Road,
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
500063
URL/Website – http://www.ghmc.gov.in
