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Local Government

Indian e-file system praised for curbing fraud

By Crystal Low | 30 June 2009

Indian government officials in Uttar Pradesh (UP) have praised a web-based file tracking system known as e-patravali pranali for helping government departments ensure the speedy disposal of files, and reduce paperwork and corruption.

The e-patravali pranali is part of the state’s e-governance initiative and was first launched as a file management and tracking exercise to ensure transparency in government departments.

Two state government departments which are actively using the e-patravali pranali are the state finance department, where it is on trial, and the UP Board of Revenue. Officials and staff in these departments say that after the introduction of this software, efficiency levels have improved and work has been simplified.

Both departments produce a large quantity of files for schemes projects. Files are received by various offices and, after showing them to the officers concerned, are sent to the respective departments that have to deal with them. Corruption has a tendency to creep in as files are often delayed or at times lost.

With e-patravali pranali, every time a file or a letter comes into the department, it is given a unique identification number, through which its details are recorded in the e-patravali software’s data. A printed receipt of this data entry is then pasted on the manual records register, which ensures that every file has a soft and a hard copy.

As soon as the file is recorded, the departments update details of where the file has been sent, to which employee or department it has been marked, and for how many days it stayed on a particular table.

In case there are any specific notings on a file, these are marked on the e-edition of the file. Whenever an official needs to know the status of the file, all he or she needs to do is log into the portal and track the file through its unique identification number.

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