Information about pockets of corruption and bottlenecks in processes can easily slip through the cracks. Paying a bribe of a few hundred rupees is hardly frowned upon and is, in fact, routinely accepted as ‘speed money’. No one even bothers to report such petty corruption.
But why can’t the government set up mechanisms to solicit citizen feedback? Why can’t the government simply reach out to the citizen and ask them: You just interacted with a government office for a service, did everything go well?
Simple? Indeed. And that is exactly what we started doing almost two years ago.
Our system, called the Citizen Feedback Model (CFM), proactively calls the cell phone of a citizen to solicit their feedback about their interaction with the government. The data is automatically compiled, processed and analysed by the chief minister’s office. So far, over 4.4 million citizens have been contacted through the CFM and nearly 4,000 corrective actions have been taken on the basis of the feedback received.
Here’s how the system works: when a citizen accesses a government facility for a service, his/her cell phone number is logged into a central database along with the details of their transaction. Once this happens, the citizen receives an automated call in the voice of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, asking for feedback, followed by an SMS from 8070. These feedback SMSs are then read and categorised, random calls are made by call agents and the results are analysed by a team of data analysts. The results are used to benchmark services across the province and ‘district scorecards’ are sent to the DCOs from the chief secretary’s office every week. The system includes automatic checks to ensure that the phone numbers being recorded are not repetitive or invalid, and historical trends are analysed to verify that the office is not under-reporting data. Bogus or incorrect numbers entered in the system negatively affect a district’s scorecard.
The CFM has several subtle features that have led to its scale up. First, it is not a complaint cell; we do not wait for a citizen to be dissatisfied enough to go through the process of lodging a complaint. In fact, the system does not receive unsolicited complaints; the system calls out only those citizens who have freshly interacted with the government for some specific service. The system is designed to gather data about specific parameters of service delivery and avoid generalised opinions. The CFM is not an individual grievance forum; actions against personnel are automatically initiated if there are repeated complaints, but each complaint does not trigger an open-ended inquiry. Each day, the system calls out between 10,000 to 30,000 randomly chosen citizens (who have freshly interacted with the government); the statistically significant and randomised data set minimises the chances of administrative biases. It also helps us control the volume of the feedback to a level against which the government can affirmatively take action. Presently, after about two years of operation, we have also started informing citizens about the actions taken on the basis of their feedback.
The nuanced features of the system have enabled us to keep ourselves focused on using it as platform for data-driven analysis to improve service delivery. Working with a great team of experts – most notably World Bank’s Zubair Bhatti, whose Jhang model (when he was DCO Jhang) inspired this system – has helped us avoid the caveat of the CFM becoming a traditional government complaint cell.
Currently, the CFM is operating with 17 government services in Punjab, including Police 15, Rescue 1122, emergency medical services, indoor patients at rural health centers, issuance of domicile, driving licence and character certificate, and district revenue branch operations. In the near future, it will be extended to cover more services.
Other provincial governments in Pakistan have already started adopting the CFM model. While we still have a long way to go, the success of the CFM demonstrates that technology can play a central role in helping us reform government.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 23rd, 2014.
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COMMENTS (21)
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Umer Saif was running his own company and was heading up the PTIB. Either he was duffer to understand the obvious conflict of interest or he is utterly dishonest which is much more dangerous in positions of responsibility. He had made mass SMS sending system which he then infiltrated to all parts of Government. I am more than half sure that he must have copied the idea of that too from somewhere. He advertised himself as most young innovator under 35 on basis of simply that mass SMS sending and a failed SMS based social network. Crooks like him have are present in government science machinery who block other's good ideas, block them or copy them to portray as their own. ICT RnD fund had long list of discouraging good ideas and good people and made sure no economic activity takes place in country based on technology. This crook Umer Saif should be told to either leave his private companies or leave the Government positions.
I think its about time we step out of this PTI/PLMN thing and think of Pakistan's progress as a whole. I think CFM is a very good initiative from Punjab government. Mr. Bhatti totally deserves respect for this brilliant idea, but you just can't ignore the efforts of Dr. Saif. Coming up with a new idea and successfully implementing that idea on a larger scale are two different things.
@mohammad What good are you doing by criticizing Dr. Saif's MIT record (And that too without giving any proofs)? Trust me, getting into MIT is an achievement in itself, and its not an ordinary achievement. Millions of students from across the globe dream just to get admission in MIT.
P.S: I am not a PLMN or PTI supporter. I just want Pakistan to make progress!
Where did the PTI come in from in this? We have all sort of jerks around us! Did this article change or how can so many people missed his name at first and started commenting against Umar Saif? The article is good but the debate is really a sad affair.
typical attention hogging, self-patting umar saif it's rare to hear him give credit to where it's due. if it were upto him he would tell you he even programmed this single-handedly.
I am amazed at the naiveté of the people. Just because someone signs his name as Bhatti, does not make him the same person. If I put my name in the comment box as Michael Jackson or even better Janet Jackson, should we believe that Michael Jackson wrote that comment? Given the history of sleazy politics of PML - and Umar Saif is part of that machinery - how do we know that it was not someone from the group, or even Umar himself who wrote the comment? The fact that Bhatti was not mentioned as the person who came up with the idea is VERY problematic and certainly puts a big question mark on the credibility of Umar Saif (surprise, surprise!!).
@mohammad
how we check mit record? tell us link.
Whoever thinks Umar Saif is some great technology genius should just check his record at MIT and how he got into trouble for shamelessly making up lies about his CV and achievements.
@Ahmed Khan: Or you could simply read the print edition at http://tribune.com.pk/epaper/ In my opinion, the article was changed before printing in order to fit the available space. btw, Umar Saif is closest governments shall ever get to really capable people. Compare him with DG LDA (especially check LDA website) and you shall learn what I meant.
@Ahmed Khan: Next time, you frown upon others, learn to appreciate the tricks of ET. The article was edited to add tribute to the creator of this initiative. You indeed are a confused being. You should have known how to look for cache entries to read the original print. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:oOopgGlfEGoJ:tribune.com.pk/story/711802/using-technology-to-help-citizens/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk NOTE: The entry may change later. As far as Umar Saif is concerned, he did not say that it was his brainchild. He simply attributed it to Punjab Govt., and Zubair K Bhatti said the same in his comment.
@chachoo did you even read the article before starting to spew hate? It clearly mentions Bhatti's name.
I am a bit confused. Mr. Zubair Bhatti's name is not only mentioned but previous press about the history of the project properly linked by the op-ed. Then what is going on?
Can PTI please stop slandering every good activity in Pakistan and focus on doing something worth reporting from KPK? I find the comments highly distasteful. I don't know Dr. Umar Saif or Zubair Bhatti sb (who seemingly himself had to make a comment to defend the op-ed), but I am personally embarrassed with the way PTI fan club has commented on the op-ed about a very well thought out and high impact project.
Friends, Dr Saif has acknowledged Mr. Bhatti as a young talented CSP, and a person who put forward the concept of this project in a TV show "GEO SHAN SE''. I have seen the complete show.
Please respect your future NADRA chairman. After all, he is about to get full access to all your personal data.
Friends,
I've worked closely with the Punjab government to implement this idea. Ideas are important but implementation is much more so. All credit to the provincial government and Punjab Information Technology Board, ably led by Dr. Umar Saif, for owning, funding, scaling, improving and using the model to improve service delivery.
With the help of the World Bank and DFID, we do want to expand the reach of this effort, as Dr. Saif has indicated, to other provincial governments and indeed other countries. Its after all a unique Pakistani innovation that deserves export.
Some links below may be relevant.
http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21578520-technology-and-government-how-clever-use-mobile-phones-helping-improve http://bigstory.ap.org/article/pakistan-tries-new-way-tackling-corruption http://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/m-government-innovations-punjab
Also, I left government of my own accord. I was never thrown out and never had or have any problems with this or any other provincial government.
I do want to thank my irate friends for mentioning me. But its really not necessary. Not at all. I can only say that I found the article to be extremely well written, precise, and illuminating. Many thanks, Dr. Saif, for writing about this important world class Punjab Government initiative!
Dear @Chachoo you expect this honesty from Umer Saif ? No doubt Umer Saif is a telented person but he is proudy and roudy type of person as well and a bluff master as well. Well done punjaab govt for at least continuing Zubair Khurshid Bhatii's initiative
Really shameful, what about moral corruption Mr. Saif????? Salam to Zubair Bhatti who started this in pure soul, not for fame and relation with corrupt people.
Its a pity ... Bhatti deserves acknowledgment... perhaps the basic reason why our individuals do not become intellectuals. Mr. umar saif is a Cambridge graduate where it is assumed that the acknowledgments must be made to the deserved.
This is excellent work. This model has been refined and scaled up magnificently by the Punjab government. Rare to see technology projects in government achieve such success. Kudos to the truly brilliant Dr. Saif and his team. Hope other governments can also adopt this model.
Dr Umer Saif is a part of Nawaz Government. They have stolen many ideas and now publicizing these ideas as their own. Shame on You Mr Saif for not naming the Original Creator of this Project. The Original creator of this Project is Zubair Bhatti who called it Jhang Model of Governance. Later Punjab Goverment decided to take hold of the Project and Since Zubair Bhatti was not close to Nawaz family so he was thrown out. Mr Zubair Bhatti was forced to resigned afterwards. Not a Single time Zubair Bhatti is mentioned in the whole Article. This is my beloved Pakistan where we are living. This is Pakistan where the Chiefs get the whole credit and the people who develop ideas are thrown out to get the whole credit.
A small memory lesson for everyone who want to know who is Zubair Bhatti and what type of Model he perceived for the Punjab government. Sadly his model name is changed and project renamed and Umer Saif and Shahbaz Sharif are now claiming the idea as their own.
Jhang Model Of Governance Youtube Link:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiB5-JGNArM
Express Tribune Original Report about Jhang Model:: http://tribune.com.pk/story/338621/punjab-model-for-proactive-governance-new-anti-corruption-drive-makes-waves/