A Win-Win Situation

Project Panchdeep is the biggest e-governance project not only in this
country, but perhaps in the world, claims Prabhat Chaturvedi, director general,
Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). The project, nonetheless, which
aims at the application of ICT to the processes of ESIC, is a prominent, high
profile project in the e-governance terrain. The primary purpose of
implementation of the IT plan is upgradation of quality of service.

ESIC: A Briefing

The Employees State Insurance Corporation was set up under the ESIC Act,
1948, which envisaged a social security scheme that would protect the interests
of workers in contingencies such as sickness, maternity, disablement, etc.
Workers, earning wages up to Rs 10,000 are benefited by the scheme. ESIC has its
own hospitals and dispensaries where those insured can avail free of cost
treatment. Workers also get benefits in the case of loss of work hours due to
disability. The scheme covers industries that fulfil a certain criterion. Small
industries, like handicraft and cottage industries, are not covered under the
plan as they dont meet the threshold criterion.

Automation will simplify procedures at ESIC hospitals

Roughly 1.25 crore workers have been covered by the scheme. If we multiply
this number by four (the average number of family members a worker might have),
we get the total number of beneficiaries, which is a total of approximately 5
crore, says Chaturvedi. The scheme is unique, as unlike other insurance
schemes which pay benefits in proportion to the premium paid, there is no upper
limit on the health benefits that can be accrued in ESIC. Through the project,
144 hospitals, 1,400 dispensaries and around 1,000 offices of the ESIC will be
connected through a twenty-four hour IT network. Apart from health benefits,
ESIC has pension programs and other schemes such as the Rajiv Gandhi Shramik
Kalyan Yojana, wherein retrenched persons are paid compensation for one year,
and are even given training to help them speed up the process of finding other
employment options.

Project Sketch

Under Project Panchdeep, every worker gets two smart cardsone for himself
and one for his family. The project consists of five stages, namelyPehchaan,
Milaap, Pashan, Pragati, and Dhanvantri. When the worker visits a hospital, his
medical history would be available in the smart card and all information can be
fed into the system. The same smart card can be used anywhere in the country,
and hence, even if the worker gets a transfer or changes his job, it wont prove
to be an impediment to the system. The project is on similar lines to the
recent developments that have been taking place in the railways, says
Chaturvedi. With e-ticketing, you can now buy your ticket from anywhere in the
country. Similarly, by connecting the entire system in real-time, we intend to
make the services accessible to our employees irrespective of the place, and of
the gap after which a service is obtained.

The project was awarded to Wipro on the basis of global tender. A formal
contract was signed in March 2009, and the model adopted for the project was
BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) model. Under this, ESIC would not be
required to make any physical investment. All investmentshardware, software,
networking, data centers, etcwould have to be made by Wipro, which has invested
around Rs 1,181 crore in the project.

In twenty quarterly instalments of approximately Rs 59 crore each, Wipro will
be paid for this project over a period of five years. At the end of it, the
entire infrastructureconsisting of hardware, software and all related
componentswill get transferred to ESIC. The ESIC personnels trained by the
agency, in the meanwhile, would be completely prepared to take over the system
after the stipulated period, ensuring smooth transition. Strict timelines are
being followed and non-completion of the project in time will amount to a
penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh per day. Wipro has commissioned around 3,000 persons
to work on Project Panchdeep.Work on the project started in February 2009, and
it is expected to be rolled out in August 2010.

According to Chaturvedi, there are two major advantages to the agreement. The
first is that the problem of technological obsolescence, which usually tends to
dominate public sector organizations, will be corrected. The second is that all
the risk, that would have otherwise been part of such a project, has been
successfully transferred to the system operator.

There was a lot of interest generated by our model at the ISSA
(International Social Security Association) conference recently, and a lot of
countries are keen to implement a model on similar lines, says Chaturvedi.

The Benefits

The beneficiaries covered under the scheme have the advantage of being able
to submit their documents and information from their own offices, instead of
making unnecessary visits to the main office. The system makes it easy to
identify defaulters, and reminders can be sent to them. Better delivery of
services at ESIC centers, capacity building of employees, monitoring at various
levels within the organization will take place through the project. Also, an
integrated ESIC data center, a dispensary management system, and a hospital
management system are all under the ambit of the plan.

Other advantages include being able to analyze health trends and correct
them. Since everyones medical history is recorded in the system, when they
visit the hospital, it becomes easy to identify the current infections doing the
rounds, and take preventive measure, says Chaturvedi. Also, from the
employees perspective, the entire system becomes more transparent. They can now
check for themselves whether the deductions shown on their salary slips have
been deposited with the ESIC.

We didnt face any obstacles at all, says Chaturvedi confidently, when
asked about the barriers in the path of the program. We have done our homework,
and extensive research has gone into understanding the needs and details of the
program. With that kind of self-confidence in place, it surely looks like the
prospects are bright for the ESIC drive.

Vandana Sebastian

vandanase@cybermedia.co.in