Beams Empowerment -Janbhagidari

Portal link: https://janbhagidari.jk.gov.in/Pages/Home#

Abstract

The implementation of EMPOWERMENT (Enabling Monitoring and Public Overview of Works being Executed and Resources for Meaningful Transparency) and BEAMS (Budget Estimation Allocation and Monitoring System) are unique and unprecedented initiatives not just in Jammu and Kashmir but in the entire country. This has heralded an era of transparency, citizen’s involvement and bottoms-up planning. The one of its kind facility to the citizens to access every single developmental work in Jammu and Kashmir on an online platform without the requirement of any username or password is a unique citizen empowering step. So far, works of over Rs 12000 crores have been listed on this portal and over 67000 citizens have directly viewed this portal.
Under the EMPOWERMENT portal, all services from planning to payment of works are on online mode which has not only ensured transparency, speed, and quality of execution but also has resulted in the reduction of human interface eliminating vested interests. The strict compliance to financial guidelines and technical conditions has ensured improvement in quality, speedy completion of works without any cost or time overruns. In fact, a reduction of 20 – 30% in the cost of works has been generally observed. The transformation in the financial eco-system of Jammu and Kashmir involving a combination of technical, digital and financial decisions is unparalleled anywhere in the country. The figures speak for themselves. On average, the number of works completed in the year 2018-19 was 9229 while the corresponding figure in 2019-20 was 12637. However, during the year 2020-21, a 100 percent increase in the execution of works has been seen with the completion of 2,1943 works and during the current financial year i.e., 2021-22, a further 100% increase is anticipated with 40000 works. As of date, no bill, non-conforming to e-tendering, online allocation through BEAMS, and geo-tagging is processed for payments. Moreover, only those bills are processed for payments that are clearing online. This is empowerment in its truest sense.
‘Janta ki Scheme, Janta ki Bhagidari’ is a targeted campaign that has been launched to improve access to EMPOWERMENT. It focuses on encouraging, educating and empowering the common people to access the details of all ongoing works in an area/village, available online and to utilize the information to help the government bring about greater responsiveness and accountability.

Scope

The Government of UT of Jammu and Kashmir is committed to providing efficient and accountable governance by leveraging technology to create an enabling environment. EMPOWERMENT is one of its kind initiative to bring transparency in the execution of works by enabling citizens to monitor works/projects being implemented in their respective areas and become a partner in the process of development.
The EMPOWERMENT initiative was made possible on account of the successful rollout of BEAMS which was introduced for budget formulation and authorization. The BEAMS web portal hosting all the works being executed in the UT is designed to capture the flow of funds to each individual project under execution on a real-time basis. An online billing system called JKPaySys has been introduced in the treasuries. The real-time data of JKPaySys and budget details from BEAMS are generated to get the dynamic information on the EMPOWERMENT portal. The integration of BEAMS and PaySys enabled the availability of real-time data of works to the citizens through the EMPOWERMENT portal which they can access without any username and password.
The introduction of BEAMS has brought out immense discipline in financial management. As soon as the budget is released, the Administrative Departments can allocate funds to their Controlling Officers
/ Drawing and Disbursing Officers through this system. Thereafter, all the expenditures are not only checked for budget availability before the submission of bills but also the monthly cash flows are controlled against pre-determined targets. Management Information System (MIS) within the reporting module gives various reports on budget authorizations, cash flows, fund transfer transactions, and authorization slip generation. There is no execution of works without administrative approval and e-tendering. 100% physical verification and geo-tagging of works are being done with pre, during, and post-execution photographs.

In comparison to the manual budgeting process which was lacking transparency due to delays in authorizations and ineffective monitoring, the new system offers the flexibility of inputs with an emphasis on output and performance. BEAMS has inbuilt tools enabling internal budget control and external interface as under:
The functional tools available within the BEAMS application which augment internal control mechanism are Budget Estimation, Budget Allocation, withdrawals and Reallocation, Excess / Surrender, Re-appropriations, Budget Control Register, Monitoring of the CSS and other resources, Budget Release order, Discussion Sheets
BEAMS enables the external interface mechanisms which include Integration with Treasury/PAO system, Interface between function DDO and Payment system, and Reporting and expenditure reconciliation system with AG/Accounting authority.
BEAMS has ensured that the diversions/blockage of funds is contained and the funds under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) / generation of utilization certificates (UCs) are monitored properly. The real-time data of JKPaysys and Budget details from BEAMS are generated to get the dynamic information on the EMPOWERMENT portal.