Wipro partnered with the Government of Assam to update the National Register of Citizens, leading to 100% enrolment of Indian citizens.

Client Background

Assam has been grappling with the issue of undocumented immigration since independence. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was first prepared in 1951 to document the names of Indian Citizens in Assam.

Industry Landscape

There has been a long-standing demand for updating the NRC 1951 as a result of growing infiltration. The Government of Assam has been entrusted with the responsibility of updating the NRC on behalf of the Registrar General of India. The NRC has to be updated to include Indian citizens and/or their descendants who were in India prior to 24 March, 1971.

The Opportunity

The state government needed the support of a strong System Integrator who could help them update the NRC within a timeframe of one year, as stipulated by the Supreme Court. The challenge was not just the short window for updating the records, but also the poor availability of legacy data related to Indian citizens and/or their descendants (prior to -24 March, 1971). The Assam government needed a data center that would deploy IT and non-IT infrastructure, including manpower, to receive offline applications at NRC Seva Kendras (NSK). The NSKs were in difficult terrains and extensive use of IT was required to shorten the timeframe.

Solution

Wipro developed bespoke business intelligence and case management solutions to receive offline and online applications.

• Deploy Document Segregation and Meta Data Entry (DOCSMEN), a complex software, which was used for slicing and segregating about 6.6 crore 
• Provide training and deployed more than 8,000 data entry operators to the state government
• Put in place a state-of-the-art fluid data center at Guwahati
• Software-generated family tree listing of all applicants
• Deploy over 8,000 laptops and 6,000 scanners and other IT and non-IT peripherals in NSKs located at remote locations
• Deploy over 3,700 generators in the NSKs
• Develop online application modules with user-friendly interface accessible from portable devices like Android, iOS mobiles and tablets
• Heavy data processing using more than 100 computers in parallel

This apart, we helped the Assam government with breakthrough micromanagement systems -- daily reporting and dashboard, map-based analysis of results, etc.

Business Impact

• 100% submission of application forms 
• More than 6.6 crore documents verified 
• 1.44 crore legacy data codes issued in 7 months, of which 66 lakhs were issued in NSKs and 78 lakh downloaded online 
• Fool-proof verification and validation of documents using automated systems 
• Improved fraud detection 
• Legacy data booklet made available online 
• Set up 3 model seva kendras
  

Without extensive IT deployment and development of bespoke solutions like digitized legacy data development, document segregation and metadata entry, micromanagement and business development tools for daily appraisal of performance of 2500 centers, 157 Tehsil offices and 27 districts, implementation of this Supreme Court-monitored project would not have been possible within short timelines. No other IT project of this scale has been implemented in Assam that covered 100% households in the state

Prateek Hajela,

IAS Commissioner and Secretary, Home and Political, Government of Assam and State Coordinator, NRC Assam