use case

The co-design and development of a citizen’s information portal

The project involved citizenry and civil society organizations in a large Indian state working with the government to implement an innovative solution that improved their access to information as guaranteed in the law. The novel approach was envisioned as a ground-up approach where citizens and civil society organizations collaborated to effect change with the support of the government. The inputs from these interactions led to the development of a portal which held valuable information for citizens.

source of visual

S Asia, Rajasthan, India, Offline
- Where did this use case occur?
2015 - 2019
- When did this use case occur?
Government of Rajasthan, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Social Accountability Forum for Action and Research, SR Abhiyan (+ participation of several civil society organizations)
- Who were some of the key collaborators
Since this project involved the citizenry, the civil society, and the government, hundreds of people participated in the project in various capacities. Iterations of the digital dialogues saw active participation too.
- How many people participated?
Public
- What are some keywords?

What was the problem?

Information on a citizen’s eligibility is important to claim public services such as food ration, and employment benefits, offered by various government initiatives. However, this information is often difficult to access, leading to many citizens missing out on their public entitlements, although these are legally guaranteed. While digitalization transferred government records to online formats, the benefits of such a transformation did not reach ordinary citizens as they continued to face difficulties accessing basic rights and essential public services.

How does the community approach the problem?

Civil society organizations participated in yatras (marches), dharnas (protests) and advocacy to focus on issues of digital technology and its impact on transparency and accountability.

Process

Deliberation / Deliberative Forums , Deliberative Democracy

Technique

To facilitate structured interactions with public officials, a deliberative forum called “Digital Dialogues” was initiated by the civil society organizations with the government officials, which over time led to the design of the Jan Soochna portal. The dialogue promoted conversations between users of information, practitioners and activists. The idea was conceptualized by various civil society organizations, who advocated for this portal to demonstrate how digital technology should be used for empowering citizens to access their rights with the least effort. Based on inputs from such discussions, the Government built an accessible portal that carried relevant information.

Tool

No Specified Tools

What were the results?

• The Jan Soochna Portal of the Government of Rajasthan was developed through deliberations that proactively disclose information regarding 260 schemes across 115 State departments and public authorities. In a span of two and a half years, the website has received more than 100 million visits.
• The development of the Jan Soochna portal activated a forum for state and citizen interaction in a structured manner that led to a tangible outcome and enhanced trust in the institution.

In Our Opinions

How participatory was it?

Involve

Although the government collected citizen ideas and inputs into the development of the portal, there is little evidence to demonstrate that the citizens were involved in the continuous development stages of the portal. While the deliberations (digital dialogues) provides key design ideas for the IT team, the citizen's role was limited to these discussions in the process.

What makes this Use Case unique?