RTGS vs GSWS: Both systems play important role in influencing party’s victory in CM formation

RTGS vs GSWS: If Chandrababu was in power, real time governance, when Jagan was in power, village and ward secretariats… The new systems that have emerged in the last ten years as part of governance reforms have been useful to the people, But they have played their role in changing those in power. In a way, they indirectly inspired people to oppose the governments.

Real time governance…

RTGS came into existence in the middle of 2016-17 with a view to improve transparency in government administration, speedy delivery of information, resolution of public problems and resolution of administrative problems. AP CM Chandrababu Naidu, a pioneer in the use of technology, founded it to provide information technology-based citizen services.

Krishna Pushkarla was the first to use integrated technology services for integrated services. After this it gradually became RTGS. Real Time Governance is one of the technological systems established in line with Chandranbabu’s ideas after the bifurcation of the state.

RTGS system was developed in AP Secretariat to bring all the government departments under one umbrella and check any issue in any department. There have also been instances where RGGS cameras alerted the Visakhapatnam Police if visitors were in danger when wave intensity was high in coastal areas. After the formation of RTGS in 2017, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu used to hold meetings from there.

The other side of the coin…

Despite the many positives of RTGS, there is another side to it. There are also criticisms that some people misled the government between 2014–19 based on Chandrababu’s obsession with using technology. Constantly taking feedback from people on government schemes, programs and citizen services is part of governance. There are reports that in this sequence a record level of positive public opinion has been received in resolving the complaints received from the people.

This trend between 2014-19 continued recently when Budameru flooded Vijayawada city. It is alleged that the government was intimidated by giving reports of 100 per cent positive results and this was done even when the complaints were not resolved.

In the early days of RTGS, there were 80 percent positive results in any case like cyclone, natural disaster, damage compensation, crop damage, farmer assistance. Chief Minister Chandrababu believes that the CM’s statements were not in accordance with the conditions at the field level. Everything looked good and governance was running smoothly. The public opinion gathered by RTGS was not at all relevant to the situation at the regional level, Chandrababu could not even recognize where this mistake was being made until his defeat in 2019. Who knows what RTGS did for five years after YCP came to power. Jobs and salary payments did not stop in its name.

Jagan’s secretariat is the same…

As soon as he came to power in 2019, YCP President brought the village ward secretariat system. A new system has been set up with 1.30 lakh permanent staff and 2.5 lakh volunteers to deliver welfare schemes to 4 lakh people at doorsteps. A volunteer was appointed for every fifty houses and was made part of the administration.

Direct cash transfer schemes have been implemented for 90 percent of the population, taking welfare schemes to every eligible family. Even though it has been announced that people will get citizen services through village and ward secretariats without the need to visit government offices, village ward secretariats are limited to the delivery of schemes only. Secretariats are limited in selection of beneficiaries, providing cash transfer schemes to beneficiaries as per a monthly schedule.

There was no situation where the Secretariat directly provided any civil service like revenue, municipality, stamps and registration, electricity, transport etc. Even if you apply to the secretariat for services provided by government departments, you still have to visit the offices.

And following the establishment of the secretariats in 2019, the implementation of the plans through 2020 was driven by the increase of secretariat staff and volunteers. When the public representatives protested that they were not included in the implementation of government schemes, the employees and volunteers were handed over to the public representatives. With this, there started to be some political interference in the civil services. The secretariats played their role in suppressing to a serious level the protests of public representatives against the YCP government, mainly in the towns.

From selection of beneficiaries to government approval of schemes, it has contributed to increasing oppression of people. Public opposition to village and ward secretariats has arisen because secretariat staff work in the hands of corporators and MLAs in urban areas. There was widespread discussion among IAS officers at the national level that there has been no qualitative change in the governance system from village and ward secretariats. The failure of the AP Model System has been widely debated in public policy schools.

After the establishment of the Village and Ward Secretariat system, its designers could not succeed in providing effective civic services to the people. Ultimately the opposition put political stamp on it but YCP failed to remove it. The lack of field-level supervision over secretariats has left it as an add-on to government departments rather than a part of the system.

Now it’s RTGS’s turn again…

The first coalition government came to power in AP under Arnel. Then Chandrababu’s mind went towards RTGS. Chandrababu has completely forgotten that RTGS surveys and reports have sunk the TDP government in the past. RTGS and Public Grievance System were also functioning as before in case of compensation to the victims of Budameru flood in Vijayawada city last year. Although thousands of people have not received compensation, it is reported that everyone has been compensated.

On one hand, village ward secretariat system, on the other hand, technology based citizen services like WhatsApp governance are being run under the leadership of RTGS. There has been no exercise on the extent to which people will benefit from these two parallel systems. AP government is also running a public grievance portal to take technology to the people. If a complaint is filed in this, it is another step to show the situation as resolved even if it is not resolved. The reality is that officials who behave like Chief Ministers believe that these systems are working miracles.