GurminderBharani

Sampark - Breaking the Barrier of Communication
(Mobile and Web Application Development)
THESIS SUBMITTED TO
Symbiosis Institute of Geoinformatics
FOR PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE M. Sc. DEGREE
By
Gurminder Bharani
(Batch 2014 - 16)
Symbiosis Institute of Geoinformatics
Symbiosis International University
5th Floor, Atur Centre, Gokhale Cross Road,
Model Colony, Pune – 411016.

Sampark
-Break the Barrier of Communication
Gurminder Bharani
1
CERTIFICATE
Certified that this thesis titled ‘Sampark - Breaking the Barrier of Communication’ is a
bonafide work done by Mr Gurminder Bharani, at Webonise Lab and Symbiosis Institute
of Geoinformatics, under our supervision.
Supervisor External
Prateek Srivastava,
Devdatta Tengshe,
Varun Sood,
Vipul Tope.
Supervisor Internal
Dr Navendu Chowdhury.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
2
Contents
1. Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………… 4
2. List of Figures…………………………………………………………………... 5
3. List of Tables…………………………………………………………………… 5
4. Abbreviation list………………………………………………………………… 6
5. Preface…………………………………………………………………………... 7
6. Introduction……………………………………………………………………. 8
6.1. Objective………………………………………………………………………… 8
6.2. Background………………………………………………………………………. 8
6.3. Need for Sampark………………………………………………………………… 9
6.4. Assumptions……………………………………………………………………… 10
7. Literature Review……………………………………………………………….. 12
7.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………. 12
7.2. The Habermasian concept of ‘Communicative Action’…………………………... 12
7.3. Geographic Information System (GIS)…………………………………………… 14
8. Study Area………………………………………………………………………. 18
8.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………. 18
8.2. Sectors of the Municipality……………………………………………………….. 19
8.3. Areas of Concern…………………………………………………………………. 21
9. Methodology……………………………………………………………………. 22
9.1. Relationship…………………………………………………………………….... 24
Development……………………………………………………………………... 27

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
3
10. Result…………………………………………………………………………… 33
10.1. Web Application…………………………………………………………………. 33
10.2. Database Server………………………………………………………………….. 36
10.3. Mobile Application………………………………………………………………. 37
11. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 39
11.1. Journey So Far……………………………………………………………………. 39
11.2. Way Ahead……………………………………………………………………….. 39
12. References………………………………………………………………………. 41
12.1. Content…………………………………………………………………………… 41
12.2. Images……………………………………………………………………………. 42
13. Glossary………………………………………………………………………… 43
14. Annexure……………………………………………………………………….. 45
14.1. Annexure I: Sampark - Survey…………………………………………………… 45
14.2. Annexure II: Complaint Registration Forms of Other Municipalities……………. 46
14.3. Newspaper Articles………………………………………………………………. 51
15. Appendix……………………………………………………………………….. 53
15.1. Community Participation in Municipal Governance…………………………….. 53
15.2. JNNURM: Works, Achievements and Problems in Pune………………………... 59

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
4
Acknowledgement
The last two months working on my project ‘Sampark’ with my project partner, Ms
Marcia Chen, has been a very productive journey.
Getting an opportunity to have a glimpse of what the corporate world looks and feels
like could not have been possible had it not been for Mr Prateek Srivastava, who hired us to
intern in Webonise Lab, a world-wide product development and services company, excelling
in their field. Under his constant supervision and auspices, it was possible to complete this
project.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Mr Devdatta Tengshe, who
particularly helped in developing the web application by rendering us his remarkable and
constant guidance through his technical expertise in the field.
Technical guidance apart, it would not have been possible to assemble all the modules
of this project without Mr Vipul Tope, who gave valuable insights from a business
perspective and providing his flare in documentation.
Also, the vision of the project was made even clearer by Mr Varun Sood, who gave us
a head start in this project through his proficiency in project handling.
The experience in this esteemed company could be marked as leaving an indelible
mark on our learning experience. It has been a great exposure and had served as a reality
check through which we plan to better ourselves and polish our learning skills in the days to
come.
Further, I would thank the faculty of Symbiosis Institute of Geoinformatics, Pune,
namely Dr T. P. Singh, Dr Navendu Chowdhury and Col B. K. Pradhan, without whom my
knowledge about GIS and its application in the various domains would not have been clear.
Lastly, I would like to thank my parents without whose constant guidance and support
none of this would have been possible.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
5
List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Corruption Perception Index, 2014: India
Figure 7.1: Point, Line Polygon
Figure 7.2: Hierarchical Data Structure
Figure 7.3: Relational Database
Figure 8.1: Growth of Population in Pune over the Years – Census of India
Figure 8.2: Raw Source of Water in Pune
Figure 8.3: Sources of Solid Waste in Pune
Figure 9.1: Relationship between the Mobile App, Server and the Web App
Figure 9.2: Escalation of Complaints to the Superior Officer
Figure 9.3: Wireframe of Sampark – Web Application
Figure 9.4: Entity Relationship Diagram of Sampark
Figure 9.5: Structure of the database of Sampark
Figure 9.6: Proposed UI of the Mobile Application
Figure 10.1: Screen Shots of Sampark Web Application: Sign Up and Log In Activity
Figure 10.2: Screen Shots of Sampark: Sub Officer’s Dashboard
Figure 10.3: Screen Shots of Sampark: Superior Officer’s Dashboard
Figure 10.4: Screen Shots of Sampark: Check Box List and Markers
Figure 10.5: Screen Shots of Sampark: Setting the Date using Date Picker
Figure 10.6: Screen Shots of Sampark: Image of the Complaint
Figure 10.7: Department-wise Hierarchy, PMC Officers
List of Tables
Table 8.1: Growth of Population in Pune over the Years – Census of India
Table 9.1: Layout of Sampark

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
6
Abbreviation List
CDP City Development Plan
ERD Entity Relationship Diagram
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IDE Integrated Development Environment
JNNURM JawaharlalNehru National Urban Renewal Mission
ORDBMS Object – Related Database Management System
PMC Pune Municipal Corporation
RDBMS Relational Database Management System
RTO Regional Transport Office
UI User Interface

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
7
Preface
As the name itself suggests, Sampark is an initiative to break the barrier of communication
between the people and their municipality, mainly caused by system faults. Sampark follows
the concept of ‘Communicative Action’ as devised by a German sociologist and
philosopher named ‘Jürgen Habermas’(ref: Literature review) to counter this problem. In
this project, we will begin with familiarising ourselves with the study area, i.e., Pune and
some responsibilities that the municipality is in charge of. Once this is done, we will move on
to understanding as to why do we need Sampark and how will it be beneficial to all.
As far as developing this application is concerned, we have first tried to understand the key
pain areas of the public and then designed the optimum solution for it. The development of
Sampark has mainly been divided into three main segments: the web application, the database
server and the mobile application, aided with flowcharts and ER diagrams.
Through this project we have tried to emphasize that as we are at an age of ever-increasing
technological advancement, our Government, too, must embrace the technology to cater to
the needs of the masses with greater efficiency and regularity.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
8
Introduction
6.1. Objective:
There are two major objectives of this application. First of all it seeks to bridge the gap
between the Government and the Public by providing a comprehensive mode of
communication. Second of all, it seeks to increase public awareness about their environment,
enhance civic responsibilities and empower them with a tool that will enable them to raise
their questions as and when required.
6.2. Background:
One of the key indicators of a progressive nation is that all of its people get the basic
community services like electricity, water, road, sanitation and communication. Even though
India has a huge potential for progress, there are still some parts of our nation which are
struggling for these basic necessities. While the Government and local corporations are
committed to providing such facilities, the gap between the NEED and SUPPLY is huge.
This is due to the constantly increasing population, which is increasing in a geometric
progression. One reason for this could be the communication barrier between the people and
the Government.
According to the World Happiness Index, India ranks 117th
for the years 2012-14 out of 158
countries, where Switzerland ranks 1st
and Togo ranks 158th
. World Happiness Index is a
unique way of measuring a nation’s residents’ satisfaction levels with the current affairs of
that country. By the look of it, India has not been faring too well. There could be several
reasons for this. One, of course, could be the lack of proper infrastructure and basic facilities.
Once this hurdle is crossed India will be faring much better in this index.
According to the Census of India 2011, Pune has a population of 9,429,408 individuals.
Among them, there are as many as 44 per cent of Puneites who have confessed to
using smartphones most frequently (according to The Indian Express). Since mobile today
has become an integral part of almost everyone’s life, with numerous utilities added to it,
right from getting food delivered at your doorstep to online shopping, we thought why not
utilize this device to make a connection with our Government? Sampark aims to do just that.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
9
Sampark, as the name itself suggests, is a mobile and web application that hopes to build a to
and fro communication between the people and their Government. It aims to form the joining
dots between the two bodies: the Public and the Municipality.
6.3. Need for Sampark:
Traditional information and communication technologies (ICTs) have not been so successful
in bridging the gap between government and citizens. However, new ICTs have, of late, tried
to link the two bodies in their own way. That is primarily the Internet. Even if we are at an
early stage of adopting and shaping ICTs for social and political use, new guiding visions are
coming forth as “e-democracy” and “e-government” which is being widely accepted today.
All these visions are somewhat a product of the internet. There is a strong link between the
quality of democracy and information. The quality of the democratic process is determined
by the information infrastructures that takes place in. The successful functioning of any
democratic government is dependent upon efficient, multi directional flows of information.
There are four categories of direction of information and communication flow; downward,
upward, lateral (inward or outward), and interactive.
Both citizens and governments need information for many reasons. Citizens need information
about their central or local representatives so that they can be evaluated on the basis of their
record and so that representative institutions can be transparent in their activities.
Representatives within elected assemblies or parliaments need information about the
executives’ policies so that they can pass effective legislation, scrutinize executive functions
and hold governments to account if necessary. They also need information from individual
citizens and groups about those issues of local or national importance that they are expected
to follow up. They do so in order to represent the public and thereby to have a strong prospect
of being re-elected.
Today, as most people prefer getting things done by the click of a button, why not empower
them with a mobile application that will immediately link them to their Municipality? Also,
the Government needs to turn over a new leaf and embrace more tech-savvy methods to cater
to the needs of the masses. This is where our application, Sampark, comes into the picture. It

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
10
will serve as a smarter solution for an ever-growing problem and provide that missing link
between the two bodies.
Figure 6.1: Corruption Perception Index, 2014: India
According to Transparency International – the global coalition against corruption, India ranks
85th
out of 175 countries and has an average score of 38 out of 100 for the year2014. Sampark
can, if not eradicate, at least help to lower incidences of corruption by looking over the
system barrier in problem management which is very common in problem-handling in the
Municipalities today.
6.4.Assumptions
While designing the layout and functionality of Sampark, we made two assumptions for the
functioning of the Pune Municipality Corporation. They are as follows:
1. The hierarchy of the prevailing officers have been assumed to be as a two-tier
simplified one

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
11
2. It is assumed that one of the main functions of the Superior is to examine the areas for
which complaints have been lodged
We were obliged to make these assumptions as, in spite of all our efforts and attempt to
personally interview a PMC officer for obtaining actual facts about the functioning of their
organisation, we were unable to set up a meeting with them.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
12
Literature Review
7.1. Introduction
“Communication is not only the essence of being human, but also a vital property of life”
John A. Piece
This line is rather fitting. The unique way in which we communicate is one of the key
differences between the all other creatures and us humans. The gift of speech is, in fact,
scarce among living organisms. Since we are endowed with this priceless virtue, why not use
it to overcome our qualms? Why not interact with one another to come up with fruitful
outcomes?
Every day we face numerous difficulties based on the work of the municipality such as
broken pavements, garbage on the roads, dysfunctional street lights, etc. Wouldn’t it be easy
if we could bring these problems to their notice at the click of a button or two? With this
motive in mind, we have designed Sampark – A web and mobile application, to help all to
reach the respective PMC officers directly.
7.2. The Habermasian Concept of ‘Communicative Action’
In a society, communication plays a pivotal role in order to convey one’s thoughts, ideas,
feelings and requirements. It is the only means of initiating any activity. The word
‘Communication’ comes from a Latin word ‘commūnicāre’, meaning ‘to share’. It is the
activity of conveying meaning through a shared system of signs and semiotic rules.Effective
communication occurs when a desired thought is the result of intentional or unintentional
information sharing, which is interpreted between multiple entities and acted on in a desired
way. This effect also ensures that messages are not distorted during the communication
process. Effective communication should generate the desired effect and maintain the effect,
with the potential to increase the effect of the message. Therefore, effective communication
serves the purpose for which it was planned or designed. When the desired effect is not
achieved, factors such as barriers to communication are explored, with the intention being to
discover how the communication has been ineffective.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
13
There are several barriers of communication such as physical, attitudinal, ambiguity of words
or phrases and physiological barriers, but the one barrier which our project delves into is the
barrier caused due to system design. System design faults refer to problems with the
structures or systems in place in an organization. This barrier is very much prevalent in the
political scenario today where the structure of a Governmental body is so complex that this
itself forms a barrier between them and the common people. Our concerned Government
body is Pune Municipal Corporation. How many of us know whom to contact when there is a
dysfunctional street light or garbage dumped on the road? It is mainly due to the system
barrier between us and the PMC.
One solution to this problem could be sought through “The Theory of Communicative
Action” as hypothesized by Habermas. Habermas is a contemporary philosopher with a
worldwide reputation. He is one of the most renowned philosophers and social theorists of
our time and undoubtedly the best known German philosopher. His stance as a “critical
theorist” — the most famous of the “Frankfurt School”—and his ideas of communicative
action and the “public sphere” are known to many intellectuals in a variety of disciplines.
Communicative action is individual action designed to promote common understandingin a
group and to promote cooperation, as opposed to "strategic action" designed simply to
achieve one's personal goals. Similarly, if the society too chooses to attain their goals such as
better standards of living, they too should reach a common understanding and coordinate
actions with the PMC by virtue of reasoned argument, consensus and cooperation.
Habermas provides a theoretical basis for a view of planning that emphasizes widespread
public participation, sharing of information with the public, reaching consensus through
public dialogue rather than exercise of power, avoiding privileging of experts and
bureaucrats, and replacing the model of the technical expert with one of the reflective
planner. Thus, if this theory were to be followed, PMC too would be entitled to share all
details with the society and have frequent communication with them in order to reach a
consensus and solve critical problems. As of public participation, the more people involved in
bettering their neighbourhood, a more valuable and long lasting result can be achieved. This
will also lead to better informed individuals in the society who will be more than willing to
cooperate and coordinate with the PMC.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
14
Thus, our project is based on the Habermasian concept of Communicative Action as reflected
above. The most basic solution for any problem is communication. Establishing this can, if
not solve the problem; at least, make the key pain area known to the other party involved.
Lack of communication, on the other hand, will lead to a stagnant society where there is no
progress or improvement expected. Therefore, once the key pain areas are brought to the
notice of the PMC through effective communication, they will at least be aware of the
problem and try their best to give time to it in order to solve it sooner or later. The involved
people, on the other hand, will emerge to be better informed about the prevailing problems in
their locales and will function as catalysts in their respective society to educate others about
the same. A GIS application can be used as a powerful tool for this purpose.
7.3. Geographic Information System (GIS)
A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for capturing, storing,
checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth’s surface. GIS can show many
different kinds of data on one map. This enables people to more easily see, analyse, and
understand patterns and relationships.
Feature classes are homogeneous collections of common features, each having the same
spatial representation, such as points, lines, or polygons, and a common set of attribute
columns, for example, a line feature class for representing road centre lines. The four most
commonly used feature classes in the geodatabase are points, lines, polygons, and annotation.
Generally, feature classes are thematic collections of points, lines, or polygons, but there are
seven feature class types:
Figure 7.1: Point, Line Polygon
1. Points—Features that are too small to
represent as lines or polygons as well as point
locations (such as a GPS observations).
2. Lines—Represent the shape and location of
geographic objects, such as street centre lines and

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
15
streams, too narrow to depict as areas. Lines are also used to represent features that have
length but no area such as contour lines and boundaries.
3. Polygons—A set of many-sided area features that represent the shape and location of
homogeneous feature types such as states, counties, parcels, soil types, and land-use
zones.
4. Annotation—Map text including properties for how the text is rendered. For example,
in addition to the text string of each annotation, other properties are included such as the
shape points for placing the text, its font and point size, and other display properties.
Annotation can also be feature-linked and can contain subclasses.
These features are of great importance. Using them, we can establish various relations and
utilize them for several purposes. In Sampark, the ward in which the reported problem is
located will be found using the point-in-polygon relation.
In GIS, real world data must be captured and converted to digital format in order for it to be
analysed and manipulated. There are many methods in which this can be done. However, the
two most basic methods are Primary method (involving field survey, remote sensing and
GPS) and Secondary method (involving manual digitising of analogue maps, scanning of
analogue maps and using existing digital data.
This data is can be categorized and stored in different files. A collection of multiple files is
called a database. The complexity of working with multiple files in a database requires a
more elaborate structure of management, called a database structure or database
management system. Although new forms of database structure are being created all the
time, the three most types that are important in GIS education are as follows:
Figure 7.2: Hierarchical Data Structure
1. Hierarchical Data
Structures: In many cases,
there is a relationship

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
16
among data called a one-to-many or parent-child relationship. The parent-to-child
relationship implies that each data element has a direct relationship to a number of
symbolic children, and, of course, each “child” is also capable of having an
association with his or her “offspring”, and so on. A major feature of hierarchical
systems exemplified by the taxonomic hierarchy is a direct correlation between one
branch and another. The branches are based on formal criteria or key descriptors that
act as a decision rule for moving from one branch to another through the structure.
2. Network Systems: Many GIS databases have many-to-many relationships in which a single
entity may have many attributes and each attribute is explicitly linked to many entities.
Rather than being restricted to a branching tree structure, each individual piece of data can be
linked directly anywhere in the database, without the existence of a parent-child relationship.
Network systems are generally considered to be an improvement over hierarchical structures
for GIS work because they are less rigid and can handle many-to-many relationships.
Figure 7.3: Relational Database
3. 3. Relational Database Management System (RDBMS):
Several disadvantages can be avoided by using this
system. In relational database structures, the
data are stored as ordered records or rows of
attribute values called tuples. In turn, tuples
are grouped with
corresponding data rows
in a form collectively called
relations because they retain their
respective row positions in each column and are, of
course, related to one another. Each column then represents
the data for a single attribute for the entire dataset. Relational systems are useful because they
allow us to collect data in reasonably simple tables, keeping our organizational tasks equally
simple. When we need to, we can match data from one table to corresponding (same row)
data in another table by the use of a linking mechanism called a relational join. Relational

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
17
database system is predomination the field of GIS. Any number of tables can be “related”.
The process is one of matching the primary key (column) in one table to another column in a
second table. The column in the second table to which the primary key is linked is called a
foreign key.
In Sampark, relational database structure has been followed to design the database server. In
turn, information from different but related tables is fetched using joins. This is very useful as
confusion can be avoided by maintaining separate tables which are logically linked to one
another using foreign keys. Thus, systematic records are kept in each individual table.
With GIS technology, people can compare the locations of different things in order to
discover how they relate to each other. Researchers can also look at change over time. They
can use satellite data to study topics.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
18
Study Area
8.1. Introduction
Pune is the ninth most populous city in India and the second largest in the state of
Maharashtra after Mumbai. Pune city is the administrative headquarters of Pune district and
is the second largest fast developing urban agglomerations in Maharashtra, ranking eighth at
the national level. A plateau city situated near the western margin of the Deccan Plateau, it is
situated at an altitude of 560 m above the mean sea level. PMC lies between latitudes 18° 25'
N and 18° 37' N and longitudes between 73° 44' E and 73° 57' E and the geographical area is
around 243.84 sq. km with a population of 9,429,408 and average literacy rate of 86.15%
(according to Census of India, 2011).
Figure 8.1& Table 8.1: Growth of Population in Pune over the Years – Census of India
There are 76 wards which were converted into 14 administrative wards by Pune Municipal
Corporation. The initial provisional data released by Census of India, 2011, shows that
Census Population
1851 73,209
1881 1,29,751
1891 1,61,390
1901 1,53,320
1921 1,33,227
1951 4,88,419
1961 6,06,777
1971 8,56,105
1981 12,03,351
1991 15,66,651
2001 25,40,069
2011 62,26,959
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000
7000000
Census Year Population

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
19
density of Pune district for 2011 is 603 people per sq. km. The area in the central part of the
PMC is densely populated than the peripheral regions.
The city of Pune is managed by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) which consists of
149 directly elected councillors, who are led by the Mayor of Pune. The Pune Municipal
Corporation is the urban local body of Pune. The City DevelopmentPlan (CDP) gives the
vision for development in Pune and has prepared a total outlay of Rs. 7,550.84 crores for its
achievement. Pune gets 70% of its project funding from the central and state governments
under JNNURM.
8.2. Sectors of the Municipality
Some of the important sectors that the municipality handles which affects the public directly
are as follows:
Water Supply: Punekars use the waters of the Mutha from the Khadakwasla reservoir. Dams
at Panshet, Warasgaon and Temghar supplement the storage capacity of Khadakwasla. The
Katraj and Pashan dams are not directly used for water supply by the PMC, but probably
have a significant role in recharge of groundwater which is used by thousands of Punekars.
All these dams are managed by the Irrigation Department. PMC buys water from them and
treats and supplies it to us.
Figure 8.2: Raw Source of Water in Pune
The city of Pune draws water
from the following surface
sources:
 Khadakwasla Dam
 Panshet Dam
 Warasgaon Dam
 Temghar Dam
The total live storage of all the
four dams is around 30 TMC. The total water supplied to the city is around 14.5 TMC (1250
MLD). Around 70 per cent of the total requirement of the city is fulfilled through closed

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
20
Househ
old
Waste
40%
Comme
rcials
25%
Hotels
&
Restaur
ants
25%
Market
5%
Vegeta
ble
Waste
5%
conduit of 3000 mm diameter while the remaining 30 per cent is fulfilled through open
canals.
Sewage Treatment: Wastewater or sewage from houses flow through small open drains or
underground sewage pipes. These join big drains or sewage pipes that carry the sewage to a
Sewage Treatment Plant. Several households are not connected to the sewage network.
Instead they have septic tanks, or they may just have open drains discharging their
wastewater into a nearby water body. The river’s flow naturally treats sewage. However,
since the quantity of sewage is very large, the river cannot cope and has changed
considerably with increased sewage over the years.
Solid Waste Disposal: Solid waste management is among the basic essential services
provided by municipal authorities to keep the city clean. The rate of per capita waste
generation in India has increased from 0.44 kg per day in 2001 to 0.5 kg per day in 2011.
Pune is one of the fastest developing cities and it generates a total quantity of waste of about
1,300 to 1,400 metric tons per day.
Figure 8.3: Sources of Solid Waste in Pune
Municipal Waste is generated as dry waste and wet
waste. Pune city generates dry and wet waste
approximately in equal proportion (i.e. 50% -
50%). Wet waste generation is more in residential
and commercial area such as hotels or food
industry. The given chart shows the dominant
sources of waste in Pune.
Transportation:
Pune is one of the most rapidly motorizing cities in the country. Over 1.5 million vehicles are
currently registered with the Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Pune, with another 600
getting registered every day. Two wheelers form the bulk of these - there were over 1.1
million two-wheelers in Pune in 2007.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
21
In addition, there are many other closely related systems that also play an integral role in how
smoothly the traffic moves. These include:
 The road infrastructure (including the infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists),
which is built and maintained by the PMC,
 The traffic signals, signage etc., also built and maintained by the PMC.
 The traffic police and systems to enforce traffic discipline,
 The RTO, which is the authority that issues licenses to vehicles and drivers alike
and
 The anti-encroachment division of PMC that ensures that spaces meant for traffic
are not used for other (illegal) purposes.
8.3. Areas of Concern
As far as the functioning of the municipality is concerned, one of the most crucial areas of
concern could be the unresponsiveness of the online grievance system of the Government.
Several newspapers including The Economic Times have recently reported that about 1.2 lakh
complaints registered using these online redressal system have been unresolved ever since
they were registered (Refer to the newspaper articles attached in Appendix III). This could be
a simple indicator that our Government has not yet embraced the present-day technology to
reach out to the public, and continue to hold on to the traditional ways of dealing with
grievances.
Even with their out-dated system of functioning, they are unable to resolve problems that are
reaching them in the conventional way. They either take too much time or have to be
constantly urged to take action. Today, as everyone has a fast-going lifestyle, most detest the
slow and easy –going attitude of the municipality of dealing with problems. Thus, there is the
need for a smarter, faster and fool-proof solution which will ensure long-lasting results.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
22
Methodology
At the nascent stage of the project, while we were planning how to go about this topic, we
started off with trying to understand the audience that we will be catering to: The public and
the PMC. For this, we designed a survey for the public, involving very simple and straight-
forward questions, structured to look for the key pain areas. Among the 104 individuals, all
within the age group of 20 to 45 years, an overwhelming 90 per cent of them were
dissatisfied with the services provided by the PMC and most of them were unaware of whom
to contact in case of any such problems. The survey sheet, along with the vital stats, has been
attached in Annexure I.
Also, we went through the web portals for complaint registration of the municipalities of
several cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Surat and Pune itself. They all had many
things in common: Lengthy complaint forms requiring excess details which consumed time
and also confused the user. This could serve as a reason why the users may not be registering
all their complaints as and when they came across any. These forms, too, have been attached
in Annexure II.
After this process, we created a tabular representation of the contents of the application as
shown below. It seeks to provide a clear picture of what we had planned to cover and what
plans we have made for the future of this application.
Table 9.1: Layout of Sampark
Sr.
No.
Module Sub-Module Details Description
Current
Development
1 Login
1.1 User- Login 1.1.1 - Sign up - Email Address
- Create Password
- For new user
1.1.2 - Sign in - With email id
- Create and reset
password
- For existing user
1.1.3 - Forgot
Password
- Reset password - Option available in sign in
page

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
23
1.2 Employee - Login 1.2.1 - Create
Password
- Employee Id
- Create & Reset
Password
- Fetch details of employee from
created database
1.2.3 - Forgot
Password
- Reset password - Option available in sign in
page
2 Dashboard
2.1 User Dashboard 2.1.1 - Launch
Complaint
- Take Image
- Geo- Tag
- Content
- This should be allowed to be
used offline
2.1.2 -
Notification
System
- Receive complaint id
- Complaint Status
2.1.3 - Profile
Setting
- Input personal details
2.1.4 - Maps - View of all existing
complaints
2.2 Employee
Dashboard
2.2.1 - List of
complaints
- Accept & Reject option
- Two tables: In buffer
and not in buffer
- Due to inaccuracy through the
Geo-Tags Employees
should have the option to accept
or reject the complaint
registered for them
2.2.2 - Map View - All complaints shown
- Filter complaints based
on days left
- Use radio buttons
Future
Development
A Homepage - Introduction - About us
- Sign up option
- Gauging User Participation
- Process - Process Guide
- Step's details
- Form with Dropdown option
for problem type selection
- Maps Integration
- Social Aspects - Facebook
- Twitter
- Pinterest
- Instagram
- Youtube
- User's ability to gauge PMC's
attention depending on
social popularity of his
complaint
- Increase civilian awareness
- Gain people's support

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
24
- Statistics - Users
- Complains registered
- Complains Resolved
- Increase user interest and
participation
- News - Information about your
neighbourhood
- Information about your
interests
- Depending on your locality
- Depending on complaints you
respond to
- Success Stories - Through videos and
testimonials
- Make your personal video and
upload
- Can do the same through blogs
- Available mobile
apps
- Apps for different OS - Windows
- iOS
- Android
- Sampark - Complaints
- Images
- Information
- Pages
- Provide gist of what we do to
non-users
- Also accessible to existing
users
- About - About us
- In the news
- Success Stories
- Blogs
- Our social presence
- Difference our users make in
the society
- Support - Terms
- FAQ
- Contact us
- Privacy policy
- Information
The development of Sampark on the whole can be divided into three broad categories. They
are related to each other and together they result in the functioning of Sampark. They are as
follows:
1. Web Application
2. Server
3. Mobile Application
(To refer to the definitions of terms in this section, please refer to the Glossary.)
9.1. Relationship:
The above named segments are interrelated and together constitute the functioning of
Sampark.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
25
A flowchart shown below depicts the interrelationship between the web application, server
and the mobile application.
Figure 9.1: Relationshipbetween the Mobile App, Server and the Web App
As shown in the above diagram, a new mobile application user will sign up by setting his user
ID and password while an existing user will put in his already set user ID and password. Once
logged in, in order to register a complaint he will have to follow only three simple steps: (1)
Take picture, (2) Select the complaint type (e.g. garbage, encroachment, water or sewers)
and (3) Submit. As soon as he clicks the “Submit” button, his complaint enters the database of
the server. This complaint is then processed using PostGIS queries and the ward in which it
lies is found. A complaint ID is generated and sent to the mobile user. Also, the PMC

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
26
employee responsible for taking care of that problem is found from the existing database.
Furthermore, this complaint is forwarded to that employee, which appears in his table of
complaints in the web application. He, in turn, is entitled to submit the number of days in
which he will be able to solve the problem in date format. This date is submitted in the
database.
Figure 9.2: Escalation of Complaints to the Superior Officer
Once the mentioned date approaches, that problem will escalate to his Superior Officer. Now
this problem will appear
in the Superior’s table of
complaints once he logs
in to his web application.
After he inspects the
given site of problem, he
will either pass it as
“Approved” or
“Rejected”. Once he
submits either of the two,
that problem will be
removed from his table of
complaints. Depending
on which option he
chooses, a “Complaint
Status” for that particular
complaint will be
uploaded on the table of
complaints of the Sub
Officer. If the issue has been approved by the Superior, it will automatically move to the
column of “Final Status” in the database of complaints and will be removed from the table of
complaints of the sub officer. If it is rejected, it will remain in the table until he resolves the
issue. Given below is a flow diagram depicting the above explained procedure:

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
27
9.3. Development:
Web Application:
The web application has been developed using several programming languages including
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Jquery, PHP and Leaflet. Leaflet is a JavaScript library for inserting
maps in web applications as well as mobile applications. The theme has been set as black and
grey with a customised district map of Pune as a header.
This web application has mainly been designed for the PMC employee so as to enable him to
view the list of complaints that have been directed to him from the database. Given below is a
wireframe of the user interface of the web application. It gives a fair idea of how the page
will look once its development is complete.
Figure 9.3: Wireframe of Sampark – Web Application

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
28
Following the policy of minimum clicks and maximum output in our web application, we
have ensured that the PMC personnel will need to put in minimum details while signing in or
logging in. In both cases, he will only have to put in his Unique Employee Number (which
the PMC itself provides to all its employees). Once he does that, his name will be retrieved
from the database of the PMC officers and he will be asked to set a password – this is the
Sign up procedure. In order to Log In, all he will have to put in is the unique Employee
Number and his set password.
Post log in, he will be able to see his dashboard. This consists of the a header with his at the
top left, Activity Icon and Log out Icon at the top right, a table showing the list of complaints
and their details and a Map View at the right.
The table of complaints will include details such as the complaint ID, location of that
problem, date of its registration, options for the PMC personnel to put in the estimated date
for resolving that problem and progress – which will include a “Done” button to enable him
to remove that problem from that table once he resolves it before approaching his given date.
Once he submits an estimated date for resolving the problem, that field will be disabled so
that he will not be able to edit or delete it later. As soon as the day by which he claimed he
could resolve the problem approaches, that complaint will be escalated to his Superior, who
will them review the area of problem and either mark it as “Approved” or “Reject”.
The map will contain markers showing exact location of the complaint and on clicking on
them, a pop up will appear with the registered image taken by the mobile app user along with
some details. In order to filter out the markers depending on the number of days left for him
to resolve them, he will be facilitated with a list of check boxes above the map. This list of
check boxes will include options such as all problems, less than two days remaining, less than
one week remaining and less than two weeks remaining. Once he checks any of these boxes,
markers of that property will appear with the marker symbol 2, 7 or 14.
The activity list will mainly include all the complaints which he could resolve before time,
the ones that were approved by his Superior as well as the ones that were disapproved. It will
help him keep track of his progress. On clicking any item on this list, he will get all details of
that complaint.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
29
To the top-right corner of the window will be the Log Out option which will enable him to
log out of his session for that moment.
Database Server:
The database server has been designed using PostgreSQL along with PostGIS 2.1.7 extension
and pgAdmin III. PostgreSQL, often simply referred to as “Postgres”, is an object-relational
database management system (ORDBMS) with an emphasis on extensibility and standards
compliance, while pgAdmin III is a comprehensive PostgreSQL database design and
management system for Unix and Windows systems. It is freely available under the terms of
the Artistic Licence and may be redistributed provided the terms of the licence are adhered to.
PostGIS, on the other hand, is an open source software program that adds support for
geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-oriented database. It follows the simple feature
for SQL specification from the Open Geospatial Consortium.
Figure 9.4: Entity Relationship Diagram of Sampark

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
30
Given above is the Entity Relationship Model of the relational database structure of Sampark.
It hopes to explain the intricate relationship between the three modules of this project. As
portrayed a mobile user and a complaint have a one-to-many relationship, due to which the
table name ‘complaintlist’ holds the foreign key of the table ‘mobileusers’. One complaint
and a ward, in turn, have a many-to-one relationship as a result of which the ‘complaintlist’
table holds the foreign key of table ‘pmc_15wards’. One ward can have many PMC officers,
thus holding the foreign key of table ‘pmcofficers’ too. Although even table ‘pmcofficers,
has a one-to-many relationship with table ‘complaintlist’ and table ‘mobileusers’ these
relationships have not been shown in the given diagram in order to avoid complexity and
confusion.
Given below is the structure of the database of Sampark. Note that the primary key of any
given table has been shown in red while the foreign keys have been shown in green in every
table.
Figure 9.5: Structure of the database of Sampark
The above given Entity Relationship Diagram of Sampark gives us a vivid explanation of the
structure of the database and how data is stored and interaction between one segment to
another. As shown, since one mobile user of the application can have many complaints while
one complaint can have only one mobile user, the table ‘complaintlist’ will hold the primary
key (mob_id) of the ‘mobileuser’ table as its foreign key (mid), thus rendering it to be a

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
31
Relational Database. It is further noted that one complaint can be located in only one ward
while one ward can have several complaints registered within it. Thus it establishes a many-
to-one relationship with table ‘complaintlist’ holding the primary key of table
‘pune_15wards’ (gid) as its foreign key (gid).
Mobile Application:
The mobile application has been designed for android phones. Thus, android programming
has been used to develop this segment.
In order to design this segment, Eclipse Indigo has been used with android plugins.
Eclipse is an integrated development environment (IDE). It contains a base workspace and an
extensible plugin system for customizing the environment. Written mostly in Java, Eclipse
can be used to develop applications. By means of various plugins, Eclipse may also be used
to develop applications in many other programming languages.
Given below is what the user interface of the mobile application will look like once the
development is complete. This includes the UI for sign up, log in and dashboard.
Figure 9.6: Proposed UI of the Mobile Application
Main Activity:
Complaint Registration
Log In

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
32
As shown in the above wireframe, the mobile application will have three user interfaces:
 Log In Activity
 Main Activity: Complaint Registration
 Notification Activity
A new user will sign up by putting in his mail id and setting a username as well as a
password. An already existing user will only need to put in his username and password to
Log In. Once logged in, he will be able to see his dashboard where he will be facilitated
with the opportunity to register a complaint. At the top-right corner of his dashboard will be a
Notification icon and a Log Out icon.
To register complaints, all that he will need to do is select one of the options among the given
in the list of radio buttons to classify his complaint. At the bottom right will be a button
named ‘Take a picture’. As he does so, the taken image will automatically get geo-tagged.
In case he wishes to additionally put in the address he can do so using the ‘Enter Address’
button at the bottom left. Once he takes an image, he will get a preview of it before
submitting it. If he is dissatisfied with it, he can retake the image by clicking on ‘Retake’
button. If he is satisfied with the image, he can ‘Submit’ the same. As soon as he clicks
‘Submit’, his complaint will be sent to our database and he will receive a notification saying
so and he will be provided with a ‘Complaint ID’ as well for future reference. From then on,
as and when the respective PMC officer replies to his complaint, he will keep getting
notifications regarding the current status of his registered complaint.
Notification Button

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
33
Result
With the termination of our two months internship in Webonise Lab/ Precision Hawk, we
have been successful in developing the major modules of the mobile as well as the web
application of Sampark.
10.1. Web Application
Given below are a few screen shots from the web application.
Figure 10.1: Screen Shots of Sampark Web Application: Sign Up and Log In Activity
For a new user, all he will
have to do is put in his
employee number provided
to him by the PMC. Once he
does this, his name will be
automatically be fetched from
our database and all he will
have to do is set his password and re-enter it for confirmation. If his password does not match
he will not be able to proceed.
An already existing user will need to
put in his employee ID and his set
password in order to Log In.
Once logged in he will be able to
access his dashboard. Note that the
dashboard of a Superior and a Sub
officer will differ in some aspects.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
34
Figure 10.2: Screen Shots of Sampark: Sub Officer’s Dashboard
In case of a Sub
officer, he will be able
to see a Welcome
Note with his name.
Below that, to his left,
he will see his table of
complaints, consisting
of the complaint ID,
status, image of the complaint location, registered date, option to submit the date within
which he will be able to resolve the issue and the current status. To the right of the table of
complaints will be the Map View.
Figure 10.3: Screen Shots of Sampark: Superior Officer’s Dashboard
The dashboard of the
Superior officer is
almost the same as that
of the Sub. It merely
differs in case of the
table of contents. In his
case, there will be the
registered date, image
of the complaint area, his date for resolving the issue and a column with the options
‘Approve’ and ‘Reject’. These options are given to him so that once the he approves of the
work done by his sub officer by checking that complaint location it will be removed from the
table of complaints of the sub officer as well as his table.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
35
Figure 10.4: Screen Shots of Sampark: Check Box List and Markers
In the case of both the Superior and Sub
officers, there will be a list of check
boxes which will enable him to filter
the complaints depending on his needs.
In this image you can see that all the
check boxes except ‘All’ have been
checked, as a result of which markers
indicating the number of days left have appeared on the map. On clicking ‘All’, the usual
blue markers will appear.
Figure 10.5: Screen Shots of Sampark: Setting the Date
using Date Picker
In order to set the date within which the PMC officer will
be able to solve the problem, he will
have to fill in a date at the column
‘Estimated Date’. Before he has set
any date it will be editable as shown on the left. As soon as
he clicks on this field, a date picker will appear, as shown
in the image on the right. Once he selects a date, that date
will be sent to our database and it will no longer be editable.
Another feature that the web app
includes is that the PMC officer will
be able to view the image that the
person lodging the complaint has
uploaded. Hence once he clicks on
the image on the table of complaints,
the image will enlarge and be set at

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
36
the centre of the computer screen.
To the top right for both the sub officer and the superior will be the Log Out option, enabling
him to leave the web app as and when required.
10.2. Database Server
As decided during the inception of the project, the
database follows the structure of a relational
database and consists of four major tables:
mobileusers, complaintlist, pmcofficers and
pune_15wards.
The mobileusers table mainly consists of the
mobile id of the user which serves as a primary key
(mob_id), his set user name (user_name) and password (user_pass) and a foreign key (pid),
linking it to the table pmcofficers.
The complaintlist consists of the complaint id which is
the primary key of the table (cid), registered location of
the complaint (complocation), description of the same
(compdescription), image URL of the taken image
(imgurl), date of registration of that complaint
(reg_date), aaddress of the same (address),
acknowledgement of the PMC officer (ack), current
status of the complaint (status) and final status of the
same (final_status). This table consists of three foreign
keys connecting it to the tables mobileusers (mid),
pune_15wards (gid) and pmcofficers (pid).

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
37
The table pmcofficers includes a primary key of
the employee number (emp_no), name of the
employee (emp_name), his designation
(emp_desig), his department (emp_dept), his set
password (emp_pass), his acknowledgement to a
problem (emp_ack), his position in the two-tier
hierarchy (emp_hier) and a foreign key connecting
it to the
pune_15war
ds (gid2).
The table pune_15wardsincludes a primary key of
ward no (gid), ward name (description) and polygon
geometry of a given ward (geom).
All these tables are interrelated and together store the
essential details of all complaints, mobile users, ward
details and ward officers’ details.
Given below is the two-tier hierarchy of the PMC officers which guides the escalation of any
given problem if the requirement arises.
Figure 10.7: Department-wise Hierarchy, PMC Officers
10.3. Mobile Application
The mobile application development has been a challenge as it was one of the newest
avenues for us. Nevertheless, we have been able to develop most of the modules of this
segment. Given below are a few snapshots of the mobile application.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
38
In order to ‘Register’,
a new user of the
mobile application will
require to fill in his full
name, email address
and set a password. An
already existing user
will need to put in his
email address and his
set password to Log In.
Once logged in, he will be able to see his dashboard. In order
to lodge a complaint, he will have to follow three simple
steps:
 Choose the problem type (garbage, sewage or
encroachment)
 Take a picture of the problem area
 Submit.
In order to Log Out, the user can use the ‘Log Out’ option
given on the upper right corner of the dashboard at the drop
down menu.
This segment of Sampark requires further development in features such as notification icon
and activity icon are yet to be added to it. We hope to achieve progress in those areas in the
coming days.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
39
Conclusion
11.1. Journey So Far
So far, we have merely developed the exoskeleton of Sampark. Currently, it has only limited
functionalities. As mentioned in the previous section, as of now the mobile user will be able
to register complaints to the concerned PMC officer and this will reflect in his table of
complaints.
As of now, these two months have been a great learning experience in terms of development,
documentation and time management as we had to juggle with our internship responsibilities
along with completing this project. However, this is not the end for Sampark. We will be
developing this app further and adding even more meaningful functionalities to it
11.2. Way Ahead
As discussed, Sampark could bring about a remarkable difference in the way the Government
works, especially in case of the Municipality. Getting to know the exact problem along with
all the required details, they will be able to handle the problem better and provide faster and
more effective solutions. It will also result in the breaking of the communication barrier
between the public and the Government body, providing a mutual understanding and an
effective give-and-take mechanism.
As is the case of the future of this mobile and web app, we hope to make it usable at a
national level, provide greater understandings between numerous individuals and their
Municipalities. Further, we hope to develop Sampark as a social network which will enable
everyone to have a look at the state of affairs at different levels: District, State and National.
They will be able to make a personal account and register their complaints through this site.
Also, maps will be available for free download which will show markers in the problem
areas. In case of the municipality, they will be able to see hotspots which have greater
number of complaints registered, areas which must be catered first depending on the need of
the hour and optimum route to be taken for the same. Also, a route map can be generated for
them on the basis of urgency of the problem and density of problems in an area, showing
them the optimum route which they can take to save time and fuel.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
40
We hope to include more GIS functionalities in Sampark in the future. With all the data
collected through this application, a highly detailed database can be created. Through this,
we can generate vital statistics applicable for several domains such as infrastructure, solid
waste disposal system, sewage and pipeline system, public transport, health and sanitation
and encroachment.
One could call this a far-fetched idea, but we sure do think that centralization of all
departments of a municipality using Sampark is possible. This could lead to one solution
for all problems of the public. Right from applying for a birth or marriage certificate to
applying for passports and uploading personal documents to the Government using Sampark
– all this could be catered to through one basic solution.
Thus, we conclude by stating that Sampark holds unexplored capabilities to cater to
numerous issues. Having an open mind and embracing this app would only lead to more
promising escapades for the public and the Government alike, in time to come.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
41
References
12.1. Content
 Websites:
o http://leafletjs.com/
o https://www.mapbox.com/
o http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/
o http://www.techopedia.com/
o http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisserver/9.3/Java/index.htm#geodatabases/featur
e_class_basics.htm
o http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/geographic-
information-system-gis/?ar_a=1
o http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/user-interface
o Nations, Daniel. "Web Applications". About.com. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
o Calore, Michael. "How Do Native Apps and Web Apps
Compare?". Wired.com. Condé Nast. Retrieved20 January 2014.
 Books:
o Garrett, Jesse James (2010). The Elements of User Experience: User-Centred
Design for the Web and Beyond. New Riders Press. ISBN 978-0321683687.
o Brown, Dan M. (2011). Communicating Design: Developing Web Site
Documentation for Design and Planning (Second Edition). New Riders
Press. ISBN 978-0321712462.
o Nalawade, S.B. "Geography of Pune Urban Area". Ranwa. Archived from the
original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
o Demers, Michael N. Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems
(Second Edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 9814-12-619-5.
 PDFs:

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
42
o Bolton, Roger. “ Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action and the Theory
of Social Capital”
o "Cities with population of 1 Lakh and Above" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in.
o Flyvbjerg, Bent. “Planning and Foucault- In search of the dark side of
planning theory”.
o Habermas, Jürgen, Volume One. “The Theory of Communicative Action”.
o Tosun, Tanju. Tosun, Erdogan. “Bridging the gap between Local
Governments and Citizens: Do Web Sites Matter for Creating Governance? Some
Observations on Turkish Local Governments”.
 E-Newspapers:
o http://www.scoopnews.in/det.aspx?q=47469
o http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-05-19/news/62368879_1_public-
grievances-monitoring-system-citizen
o http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Govt-can-set-up-e-helpline-for-
potholes/articleshow/47195978.cms
12.2. Images
 http://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results
 http://www.census2011.co.in/
 https://www.google.co.in/

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
43
Glossary
 A Web Application or web app is any computer program that runs in a web browser.
It is created in a browser-supported programming language (such as the combination
of JavaScript, HTML and CSS) and relies on a web browser to render the application.
Web applications are popular due to the ubiquity of web browsers and the
convenience of using a web browser as a client, sometimes called a thin client.
 A Server is a running instance of an application (software) capable of accepting
requests from the client and giving responses accordingly. Servers can run on any
computer including dedicated computers, which individually are also often referred to
as "the server". Servers operate within client-server architecture. They are computer
programs running to serve the requests of other programs, the clients. Thus, the server
performs some tasks on behalf of clients. It facilitates the clients to share data,
information or any hardware and software resources.
 A Mobile Application or mobile app is a computer program designed to run
on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices. Apps are usually
available through application distribution platform, which began appearing in 2008
and are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the
Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry App World.
Some apps are free, while others must be bought.
 A Primary key: A primary key is a special relational database table column (or
combination of columns) designated to uniquely identify all table records. Its main
features are that it must contain a unique value for each row of data and it cannot
contain null values.
 A Foreign key is a column or group of columns in a relational database table that
provides a link between data in two tables. It acts as a cross-reference between tables
because it references the primary key of another table, thereby establishing a link
between them.
 A Relational Database (RDB) is a collective set of multiple data sets organized by
tables, records and columns. RDBs establish a well-defined relationship between
database tables. Tables communicate and share information, which facilitates data
searchability, organization and reporting.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
44
 An Entity–Relationship Diagram (ERD) is a data model for describing the data or
information aspects or its process requirements, in an abstract way that lends itself to
ultimately being implemented in a database such as a relational database.
 A Wireframe, also known as a page schematic or screen blueprint, is a visual
guide that represents the skeletal framework of a website. The purpose is usually
being informed by a business objective and a creative idea. The wireframe depicts
the page layout or arrangement of the website’s content, including interface elements
and navigational systems, and how they work together.
 Eclipse is an integrated development environment (IDE). It contains a
base workspace and an extensible plugin system for customizing the environment.
Written mostly in Java, Eclipse can be used to develop applications.
 An integrated development environment (IDE) or interactive development
environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities
to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of
a source code editor, build automation tools and a debugger. Most modern IDEs
have intelligent code completion.
 The User Interface (UI) is everything designed into an information device with
which a human being may interact -- including display screen, keyboard, mouse, light
pen, the appearance of a desktop, illuminated characters, help messages, and how an
application program or a Web site invites interaction and responds to it. In early
computers, there was very little user interface except for a few buttons at an operator's
console. The user interface was largely in the form of punched card input and report
output.
 JNNURM is a mammoth mission to promote urban development in the Indian cities.
It aims at creating ‘economically productive, efficient, equitable and responsive cities’
through a three pronged strategy of social and economic infrastructure up gradation in
cities, provision of basic services to urban poor and wide-ranging urban sector
reforms to strengthen municipal governance in accordance with the 74th
Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.Pune is one of the cities identified for funding
development projects under JNNURM.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
45
Annexure
Annexure I: Sampark - Survey

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
46
Annexure II: Complaint Registration Forms
LEGEND:
Fields that is required to be filled every time in these complaint forms.
This will be avoided in our application.
Fields that is not required.
COMPLAINT REGISTRATION FORM FOR BBMP
(Source: http://vigeyegpms.in/bbmp/?module=helpdeskpublic&action=raisecomplaint)

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
47
COMPLAINT REGISTRATION FORM FOR PMC
(Source: http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx)
CHECK COMPLAINT STATUS

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
48
CHENNAI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
(Source: http://164.100.134.92:8280/pgr/citizen/BeforeReg.do)

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
49
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI
(Source:
http://111.93.49.28:18080/mcd_commonweb/GrievanceManagementtoLodge.action?loginType=CITIZEN )

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
50
SURAT MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
(Source:https://www.suratmunicipal.gov.in/Complaint/mailcomplaint.aspx?SrNo=6050053054052054069054
05 )

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
51
Annexure III: Newspaper Articles
Date: Thursday, May 28, 2015
(Source: http://www.scoopnews.in/det.aspx?q=47469 )
Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2015
(Source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-05-19/news/62368879_1_public-grievances-
monitoring-system-citizen )

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
52
Date: Thursday, May 07, 2015
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Govt-can-set-up-e-helpline-for-
potholes/articleshow/47195978.cms )

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
53
Appendix
15.1.COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE
Constitution 74th Amendment Act, 1992
Decentralisation is a backbone for democracy and the Constitution of India recognized it. The
74th amendment to the Constitution in 1992 provides that each urban area shall have a
municipality and municipalities are categorized into three, a nagar panchayat, for a
transitional area, that is to say, an area in transition from a rural area to an urban area; a
municipal council for a smaller urban area; and a municipal corporation for a larger urban
area. In addition to the municipality, the Constitution also provided, in each municipality,
Wards Committees, consisting of one or more wards within the territorial area of a
municipality having a population of three lakhs or more.
Wards Committee
The subject ‘municipalities’ is a state subject in India. In compliance with the constitutional
mandate, many states have provided the institution of Wards Committees.
The states have interpreted the constitutional provision according to their convenience; and
many states have provided the Wards Committees, not limiting to one, but for a group of
wards. The constitution and composition of Wards Committees in general are
- Wards Committees are constituted in municipalities having population of three lakhs or
more. In some states, they are constituted even if the population is less than three lakhs. In
such cases, certain conditionality like minimum annual income of the municipality etc. are
imposed.
- Each Wards Committee shall consists of 5 to 10 wards
- The Wards Committee shall consists of the members elected from the wards for which
Wards Committee is constituted

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
54
- The Chairperson of the Wards Committee shall be elected by the members from amongst
themselves.
- There would be a Secretary to assist the Wards Committee in its functioning. The Secretary
is an official of the municipality to be identified by Commissioner.
The powers and functions of Wards Committee in general are
- Maintenance of sanitation, solid waste management, water supply and drainage/sewerage
- Maintenance of roads and street lighting
- Maintenance of markets, parks and playgrounds,
- Maintenance of school buildings, dispensaries and maternity and child welfare centres,
- Review of revenue collections
- Preparation of draft annual budget of its jurisdictions and forward to council for
consideration and incorporation in municipal budget
- Approval of capital and maintenance works to certain limits in some states.
The Wards Committee, no doubt became an administrative decentralized apparatus in the
municipal governance, but devoid of real participation of the people in its functioning. The
principal reason for non-participation of people in the governance is due to large size of the
Wards Committee. The aspirations of the common people could not be represented in the
system.
JNNURM – Mandatory reforms
The real people’s participation, i.e., community participation can be achieved, if the
decentralisation is at some lower level, say a ward in the municipal context. The Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) therefore, among others, has identified
‘enactment of community participation law to institutionalise citizen’s participation and
introduce the concept of Area Sabha in urban areas’ as a mandatory reform at the State level.
This reform is indeed in consonance with the provisions of Constitution 74th Amendment. As

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
55
indicated above, the 74th Constitutional Amendment provides establishment of Wards
Committee consisting of one or a group of wards in a municipality.
Community Participation Law
The basic model of Ward Committee would be
- There would a Ward Committee for every ward in the municipality
- The ward member would be the chairperson of the Ward Committee
- The Ward Committee would consists of a few members who are voters in the ward, and
they would be nominated by the municipal
- The members nominated would represent Non-Government Organisations,
Community Based Organisations representing the urban poor, resident welfare associations,
professional groups, trade or industrial groups, academicians, social or cultural groups etc.
and half of them would be women
- If the population of the municipality is large enough (say one lakh or more) the ward may
be divided into areas, and each area would be represented by Area Sabha Representative, who
is nominated by the municipality.
- The Area Sabha Representative should be a voter in the concerned area of theward. The
Area Sabha Representatives will also be made members of the Ward Committee.
- Each ward will have Ward Sabha and all voters of the ward will participate in Ward Sabha
meetings.
- In case areas are established, each area will have Area Sabha and all voters of the area will
participate in Area Sabha meetings.
- Members of Ward Committee as well as Area Sabha representatives would be nominated by
the municipality and they would neither be elected nor nominated by government or
government agencies.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
56
- This arrangement brings the community, i.e., people at the grass-root to the system of
governance.
Area Sabha/Ward Sabha
During the Area Sabha and Ward Sabha meetings, all voters of the concerned Area and the
ward respectively would participate and show their voice. The objective of the Area
Sabha/Ward Sabha meetings is to ensure people’s participation in municipal governance and
to make the public voice reflected in the decision making process of the municipality. The
Area Sabha and Ward Sabha are not decision making bodies and as such do not have any
powers to exercise. However, they would have certain functions to perform. The functions
may consist the following:
- Generate proposals and determine priority of schemes in the area and forward to Ward
Committee for inclusion in Ward Development Plan
- Identify the eligible beneficiaries under government sponsored welfare schemes on the basis
of already fixed criteria
- Identify deficiencies in the services provided by municipality
- Suggest location of street lights, public taps, public conveniences etc.
- Cooperate with Ward Committee in maintenance of sanitation
- Impart awareness on matters of public interest like literacy, health care, environmental
issues and pollution etc.
The Area Sabha/Ward Sabha should have certain rights also, like getting information
- Of the services rendered or works taken up in the next three or six months from the officials
concerned,
- Of the action taken by the Ward Committee on the proposals sent by it and the decisions
taken thereon.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
57
Ward Committee
The Ward Committee should have an office and a Secretary to assist in the functioning of the
Ward Committee. The Secretary is not an independent office. The Ward Committee is a
formal institution and the proceedings of Ward Committee should be recorded formally and
maintained. The Commissioner should provide formal accommodation (office) to Ward
Committee and identify an officer of the municipality to act as Secretary to the Ward
Committee to assist in its functioning. The Secretary assists in convening Ward Committee
meetings; and also Area Sabhas and Ward Sabha meetings. The Ward Committee should
have certain functions to perform. They may include
- Supervision over sanitation, distribution of water supply, working of street lights, minor
repairs to roads, maintenance of markets, parks and play grounds
- Monitoring poverty alleviation programmes
- Monitoring the functioning of schools, maternity centres and dispensaries.
- Facilitate collection of taxes and non-taxes
- Preparation of list of beneficiaries under various government welfare schemes
- Preparation of annual Ward Development Plan including financial plan and forward to
municipality for consideration and inclusion in the municipal budget.
- Approving works relating to maintenance of services to a limited financial extent.
The Ward Committee should have certain rights also. They may include
- Seek information from Commissioner on any matter pertaining to the ward
- Seek information on Master Plan and Zonal Development Plan of the municipality
- To be consulted in development of land use and zonal development regulations in the ward
- To obtain municipal budget
- To obtain details of revenue items relating to ward

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
58
The Ward Committee, while making decisions or in its normal functioning should take into
consideration the outcomes during Area Sabha meetings and Ward Sabha meetings, which
are attended by all voters in the Area or Ward respectively. In fact, these Area Sabha and
Ward Sabha are represented by the community, i.e., people at the bottom.
Allocation of Funds
In the present day context, unless certain financial powers are allotted to the Ward
Committee, there would not be any effective decentralization. The municipality may allocate
certain percentage of budget earmarked in the annual budget towards maintenance of services
to all ward committees for performing the functions referred toabove.
Some states have already responded and passed the law and it has to be seen how many states
would respond to the mandate of reforms identified by JNNRUM and really decentralize the
municipal governance to enable community participation.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
59
15.2. JNNURM: WORKS, ACHIEVEMENTS ANDPROBLEMS IN PUNE
C. THE MISSION IN PUNE
I. Pune – An Urban Perspective
Pune city is a part of the Pune Metropolitan Area. The administrative body in the city is the
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The PMC is both a service provider and a facilitator and
administers a municipal area of about 244 sq. km and a population of approximately 2.5
million.
Pune is the 2nd largest city in Maharashtra and one of the eight mega cities of India. The
city’s journey to its current status has been long. Once a place of retreat, the city has several
titles to its credit – Oxford of the East, military centre8, cultural capital – the latest being the
‘country’s software hub’ only next to Bangaluru. Pune has expanded physically,
demographically and economically.
The main thrust of Pune’s economy is its industries (manufacturing, automotive, IT and agro
based industries). Amidst the mushrooming of cyber cafés and IT firms, cultural
organisations and festivals keep the city culturally alive. The remnant wadas remind one of
its rich Peshwa heritages. Pune has experienced a demographic explosion.
Migration from virtually every corner of the country has significantly played its part. This
popular mélange has no doubt a cosmopolitan flavour, but has given Pune its vibrancy.
However, behind its bold new face, Pune, like other big cities of India, is experiencing the
setbacks of urbanisation. Acute shortage of infrastructure, poor urban service standards,
proliferating slums and shantytowns underline another reality of Pune’s transformation.
Growing dissatisfaction of the people and deteriorating service delivery mechanisms is a sign
of Pune’s struggling urban lifestyle. JNNURM has come as a big opportunity to enhance the
city’s infrastructure image, quality of service and standardof living.
II. Pune City Development Plan – An Appraisal
The City Development Plan (CDP) is a mandatory requirement of any city to access the
JNNURM assistance. Pune’s CDP is a comprehensive document identifying the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the city and strategies to achieve the vision for the
city through a list of projects and corresponding estimates of financial requirements. A three
phase approach was adopted in this process: defining vision and 7 According to Census 2001.

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
60
The CDP has been prepared through a city assessment involving consultation and workshops
of the municipal officials and stakeholders9. Nine areas were covered under the assessment
and key issues identified.
1. Urban Land Use Management/ Development Planning
• 42 percent of land is under residential settlement, 13.04 per cent is used for transport
and 11.9 percent constitutes forests and reserved areas.
• Physical development and growth, both, in residential and industrial areas, is
haphazard and uncontrolled. Fringe areas need to be developed to avoid ill-organised
growth.
2. Water supply
• Pune has a good service level and average rate of water supply. But the distribution
system is old and energy cost in water production and distribution is high.
• An estimated 30 percent of water is lost in distribution. The main cause of water loss
is heavy leakages and imprudent household use.
3. Sewerage and Sanitation
• All developed areas have access to underground drains (UGDs).
• The city’s sewage treatment capacity is poor. A large volume of untreated water is
released in rivers. Thus, rivers are unclean.
4. Road, Traffic and Transportation
• Absence of functional hierarchy of road network results into mixing up of local and
regional traffic.
• Road quality is poor. Roads are characterised by lack of footpaths and encroachments.
• There is a lack of adequate public transport. Existing service standards are poor. The
bus fleet is old. Public transport accounts for only 15 per cent of the vehicle kilometres
travelled in the city. Growing private vehicles are leading to congestion.
• There is a lack of civic sense towards traffic.
5. Storm Water Drains
• Of the desired 130 percent, Pune has only 44 per cent tertiary drains. Primary and
secondary drains have been obstructed by silting.
• There is need for a storm water drain master plan for the city.
6. Solid Waste Management

Sampark
Gurminder Bharani
61
• Primary sources of solid waste in Pune are local households, markets, commercial
establishments, hotels, restaurants and hospitals. Total waste generated per day is about
1000-1200 tonnes.
• Pune needs an integrated solid waste collection system. Civic education for waste
segregation should be promoted.
7. Urban Poor/Slums
• Although there is no absolute poverty, 40 percent of the city’s population lives in
slums. Density in slums is 6.32 times that of the overall density in the city.
• According to PMC’s secondary data collection, there are 56410 slums in India
(353 are declared slums and 211 are undeclared).
• Almost all slums have access to basic services. Slum problems include security of
tenure, quality of housing and access to urban infrastructure.
• Of the total population growth rate of 3.64 percent, 50 per cent growth is due to
migration. Due to the shortage of EWS/LIG housing facilities, most migrants settle in
slums.
8. Environment
• The Mula – Mutha Rivers of Pune are highly polluted11. Untreated domestic waste
gets discharged into these rivers.
• Khadakwasla Lake has been polluted by gasoline and oils from vehicle cleaningand
litter from picnic parties.
• Increasing vehicle ownership is the main cause of pollution.
9. Street Lighting
• No major issues have been listed in terms of street lighting.
Vision Statement: (To make Pune) ‘An economically vibrant and sustainable city with
diverse opportunities and rich culture; where all citizens enjoy a safe and liveable
environment with good connectivity’.

GurminderBharani

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (17)

Similar to GurminderBharani

Similar to GurminderBharani (20)

GurminderBharani