Inspection in government departments is one of the most significant administrative tools for ensuring a better work environment and on-time service from officials. However, department heads frequently conduct inspections without actually going to the field. They then submit the report with false claims. To address these issues, Mr. Bhaskar Lakshakar, a 2010 batch IAS officer and the Collector of Ratlam, has taken the initiative and launched an app called ‘Parakh’.
The first of its kind in Madhya Pradesh, ‘Parakh’ would monitor all district departments in real-time and offer an accurate picture of the official’s works. The app has been designed so that real-time location can be traced using it, and flaws may be exposed by uploading photographs. This will reduce departmental negligence, and senior officers can take rapid notice and action.
Indian Masterminds interacted with Mr. Bhaskar Lakshakar and District NIC officer, Mr. Narendra Singh Chauhan, to know more about this project.
PARAKH
Mr. Lakshakar initiated this project in January 2024 and directed the district NIC officer to create an app. He presented all of his pointers to Mr. Chauhan and urged that the app run properly. All government officials must create a database for their gram panchayat and ward so that urban and rural areas can be easily managed separately.
Mr. Chauhan began working on this app on January 22nd, 2024, and completed it within a month. This entire app was created at the district level only. This app was made using the Flutter framework. Flutter is Google’s open-source framework for creating beautiful, natively compiled, multi-platform applications from a single codebase.
Until now, government officer inspections were conducted offline, making monitoring difficult. But now the entire system is online. This will be done via the ‘Parakh’ app, which will also capture the location, and if something is to be used as proof, it will capture an image of the same. All officials will log in under this name, and they will be monitored thereafter.
Mr. Lakshakar said, “Earlier, all this inspection exercise used to be offline, so it would take months for the reports to come. But now, being in real time, the data will immediately go to the concerned officer.”
THE FEATURES
The primary requirement of the collector was that the location be collected. This should be foolproof so that there is no way to give false workplace location while sitting at home. Along with this, an image option will be available, allowing you to insert a photo of the current situation. The software keeps track of everything.
This app allows you to see the results of the inquiry into complaints as well as the actual scenario. The app also has a variety of reporting features. It will also clearly indicate which Gram Panchayat, department, or office was inspected. Finally, the concerned officer has to submit the report by entering remarks.
There is also an option in the app to send the report to the department for investigation or not. If the inspection report is sent to the department for investigation, then the concerned officer will take further action through the process option.
HOW IT WORKS
Ratlam district has a huge database. The district has over 1500 Anganwadis and over 2,000 schools. To make it easier to handle, a hierarchy structure was implemented.
For example, one must first select Municipal Corporation Ratlam, followed by any ward, and finally some department. Then select the entity, such as inspecting an office or Anganwadi. The form will then open based on that information.
Mr. Chauhan stated, “The inspection points of all the offices have been made according to their departments. For this, every department had given its own input as to what they wanted.”
The process flow of this app has been created so that officers can only inspect their work area. District heads and block officers can only inspect their own departments and offices. For example, a block-level officer can only inspect the schools under his jurisdiction. However, the education officer will be able to inspect every school in the district. These officials are not authorized to conduct inspections in any other department. While the SDM would be able to inspect all departments of the tehsil.
AIM
The main objective of this inspection is to keep improving all the departments. Mr Lakshakar said, “As we continue to inspect and find flaws, we will be able to tell the department where they are lacking and need improvement. Also, if the performance of all the employees is monitored, this will inspire them to do better.”
