The Hindu Business Line : TCS pilot project for efficient functioning of rural job scheme

TATA Consultancy Ltd is working on a pilot project that would use technology to create efficiencies in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

Mr S. Ramadorai, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TCS, told Business Line, "Without automation, this would be a non-starter. The objective is minimise leakages, measure productivity and quicken payment cycles."

The EG scheme has been in place in Maharashtra. TCS has studied the existing system and proposed changes for the project that would go nation-wide. "We studied the existing system in Maharashtra and recommended changes," he said. The changes would be in processes and controls to be introduced into the system. These controls, according to Mr Ramadorai, would help check inflated schemes, bogus registration, inflated muster leading to bogus attendance, fraudulent requisition of funds, fraudulent wage payment and the like.

The pilot project would cover 10 districts. IT overhead costs would come to about Rs 4 crore.

Asked how technology would play a role, Mr Ramadorai, said, "Generating unique registration numbers, barcoding of those, display of information on Web sites to ensure transparency, schemed databases, data reconciliation, management information systems and the like all require technology."

Replying to a question on whether TCS had got the mandate from the Government for the whole project, Mr Ramadorai said, "We initiated the thought process. After the pilot, how the Government manages it or rolls it out further is its decision. Our idea is to prove that technology can stop leakages."

A statement released by TCS said that using technology here would help reduce costs. It said, "Benefits include complete reconciliation of work and wages, alerts on possible leakages, reduced data capture efforts and administrative cost, reduced cycle times between measurement and payment and a data warehouse of 100 million Indians.

"An estimate of funds required for the nationwide project is about Rs 40,000 crore. Our own estimate is far lower, at Rs 14,200 crore in the worst case scenario where a majority of districts are hit by drought."

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