Networking the Gods

Jaspreet

Singh likes to begin his day early. At 5.30 am each day, he takes a dip in the

holy sarovar at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in central Delhi before moving to the

prasad counter. Singh hands over some money and hums the gurbani, while the

sewadar at the counter passes him the prasad, some flowers and an IBM

desktop-generated receipt for Rs 21.

On his way out, Singh makes a cash donation at the gate. He is promptly

handed another receipt for this, and both transactions are fed into the gurdwara’s

brand-new ERP system.

Does it seem far-fetched to picture computers whirring away in places of

worship, in perfect sync with sabads, kirtans and gurbani? Especially in the

Indian context, where large sections of business are yet to be touched by

information technology? Perhaps yes, but that is exactly what the Delhi Sikh

Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has done. In a bid to centralize the

workings of gurdwaras under its purview, the committee has implemented an

ambitious project to integrate Delhi’s four major gurdwaras–Bangla Sahib,

Rakab Ganj, Sis Ganj and Nanak Piao.

The project was initiated by a team of consultants from Delhi-based Multiple

Zones India and Webuzz Software, which devised and implemented a solution for

the automation of all processes at the four gurdwaras. "With IT influencing

every sphere of life, I had this dream–a computer network that would

streamline all our functions and bring in transparency," says DSGMC

president, Avtar Singh Hit.

Thanks to the very progressive and religious Sikh community, the DSGMC

collects an annual Rs 100-120 crore in donations, its primary source of cash

inflow. The more devout and prosperous make cash donations running into a few

lakhs, or in kind–property, gold and silver. These funds are used for

management, maintenance and expansion of the gurdwara, including the cost of

running the regular langars that gurdwaras are so renowned for. A part of the

funds are utilized to run the committee’s educational institutions and

hospitals. According to Hit, "The idea was to make the system vitreous and

accessible at the click of a button, right from collection to the last penny

spent."

It was this endeavor to integrate all functions in the major gurdwaras in

Delhi, that saw Multiple Zones and Webuzz Software entering the picture. Webuzz,

a Delhi-based startup, which provided computer education at Guru Harkishan

Public School in New Delhi, was approached by the DSGMC. The numbers thrown at

them–an average day, about 20,000 transactions take place in each of the

gurdwaras. On weekends and festival days, the number rockets to 1.5 to 2 lakhs.

"The authorities were not clear on what could be done to streamline

their system," says Kewal Kahlon, director of Webuzz Software, herself a

Sikh. "We conducted extensive studies, consulted with management firms and

devised an ERP package–the Integrated Gurdwara Management System (IGMS)–with

14 modules." The package integrates all transactions including prasad

parchi system, langar donation, accounting, payroll and inventory

management."

Under

the IGMS, two high-capacity central servers have been installed at Gurdwara

Rakab Ganj, where the DSGMC has its head office. The servers are linked on a

wide area network to local servers in the other three gurdwaras. At present,

installation has been completed at Bangla Sahib and by mid-June, the entire

network should be up and running.

The network has been designed for expandability and reliability. "We

were conscious of the fact that this may be required to be upgraded at a later

stage, considering the likely increase in number of devotees over the

years," says 39-year-old Atul Asthana, head of IT services at Multiple

Zones, which executed the systems integration and networking. "We also

tested the network in the lab for implementation feasibility, bandwidth and data

communication requirements." About 60 IBM desktops and six IBM servers have

been used to wire up the gurdwaras. Another 28 servers in the schools and

colleges run by the DSGMC, connect them to the network.

Apart from developing and implementing the ERP package, Webuzz and Multiple

Zones also took up the task of training the DSGMC employees, the entire process

taking up around six months. And how much did DSGMC have to cough up to go

tech-savvy? "Under Rs 1.5 crore," says 35-year old Atul Kapoor, V-P

(sales and operations) at Multiple Zones. This was thanks to the discounts that

IBM and Microsoft gave us for the hardware, for developing the modules and the

networking did not cost too much,"

"The DSGMC is a progressive body," says Kapoor. "They were

particular that their own employees be trained to adapt to the system. And the

training issue was a tough one, as most of the employees had no prior knowledge

of computers." The training took about two months and there are still some

loopholes to be plugged, but the literacy level is rising fast. "Some of

the employees had not even used a mouse before this and it took them three days

to get used to just that. But everyone’s put in a lot of effort and learning

very quickly. Perhaps God empowers them," adds Kahlon wistfully. Currently,

representatives from Webuzz and Multiple Zone are maintaining the network, but

the DSGMC is in the process of hiring its own team of computer professionals.

But even though the basic level of computer literacy has been cultivated,

there still remains the need to create awareness about the system and what

exactly the DSGMC is targeting to achieve with it. Some of the people working on

the system are unclear on the relevance of putting this vast network in place

and have never heard of ERPbefore. "Working on a computer has not affected

my work-style. Where I used to make daily entries in the register, I now use the

computer," says Jaswinder Kaur, the librarian at Bangla Sahib. Point her

view out to Hit, and he just smiles. "Let the entire system get into place

and working, the benefits will be there for all to see." If this projects

is successful, nothing could stop other religious institutes from adopting such

a structure.

So where does DSGMC go from here? Next on the Committee’s agenda are plans

to webcast the festive gurdwara ceremonies. Is this a case of too much too soon?

"No," says Kapoor, "This is not ahead of time; it is the right

idea at the right time."

Is someone at Tirupathi and Vaishno Devi listening?

Meghna Sharma–Dataquest