eSampada Paving the Way for Transparent Government Housing

eSamapada is a digital platform offering seamless access to data with controlled permissions for transparency. It eliminates the need for physical presence, reducing travel costs, and simplifies tasks like waitlist generation and rent assessment. This online system enhances citizen experience, saves officials’ time, and promotes data-driven decision-making with digital records.

eSampada, launched on December 25, 2020, is a single online platform that consolidates all services provided by the Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. It simplifies and standardizes the house allotment process across 40 locations in India, covering properties such as 5 Ashoka Bungalow, Kidwai Nagar Lawn, Vigyan Bhawan, 58 Holiday Homes, and Touring Officers Hostels. The services offered include office and market accommodation allotment, rent generation, and services for Members of Parliament.

This initiative, inaugurated by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, alongside senior officials, is aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability while improving the quality of life for Indian citizens. It unifies all Directorate of Estates services onto a single digital platform, aligning with the vision of ‘One Nation, One System.’

The eSampada mobile app caters to both iOS and Android users and was developed in-house by the NIC Team of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It streamlines processes for different stakeholders, offering role-based workflows. Citizens can now effortlessly register and update their profiles on the eSampada portal, simplifying the application process, ensuring transparency, and saving time, effort, and money. eSampada also employs role-based workflows, guaranteeing smooth task execution for all stakeholders. Over a span of three years, it transformed the Directorate of Estates by replacing multiple proprietary software-based

Fig. 7.1: Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, along with other senior officials inaugurating eSampada portal and app on the event of Good Governance Day 2020

General Services

House Allotment

Registered applicants can apply for house allotment in their city of residence. The system allocates houses monthly, and applicants occupy them with CPWD / NBCC assistance. Houses are allotted to waitlisted applicants based on their position in the waiting list for the eligible house.

Retention / Regularisation

Occupants can apply online to retain their house when transferred to an ineligible zone, Jammu & Kashmir UT, or in case of death. Online applications for house regularisation are also ac cepted upon retirement or transfer by a family member / spouse for the same house or another house as per entitlement.

License fee Recovery

The monthly license fee of occupants is collected through the PFMS database where it’s implemented, or it is uploaded by Drawing and Disbursing Officers where PFMS is not yet in use nationwide.

Vacation of House

Occupants can declare their houses vacant online to CPWD/ NBCC in their respective localities.

Certificate Issuance

Clearance Certificate / No Demand Certificate are issued by Directorate of Estates on request by the occupant by assessing their dues and licence fee received.

Holiday Homes / Guest House Booking

All holiday homes/ Guest Houses are booked online instantly as per the policy of Directorate of Estates across the country

Venue Booking

Venues for marriage, social gathering etc. are booked online according to policy defined for their allotment.

Generating Provisional Rent Assessment

An occupant can generate provisional rent assessment online as on date.

Services for Directorate of Estates Officials

eSampada also has developed various solutions for Directorate of Estates Officials in order to reduced administrative costs, efforts, time, and paperwork.

Subletting Cases

Formation of team for inspecting Sublet cases and reporting the inspection online

Monthly Rent Bills / No Demand Certificate for Member of Parliaments

Monthly rent bills are generated for Member of Parliaments of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as per the license fee, furniture issued and electrical equipment used.

Litigation Cases

Litigation cases against occupants who overstayed and even after notices do not vacate it are referred for litigation

Governance of market / shops

For management and allotment of shops and ownership rights of markets and ships

Inter pool exchange of houses

Allotment of accommodation according inter-pool exchange policies

Office Space management

Online application of office spaces are applied online from different places where it is available under GPOA (General Pool Office Accommodation). The Office Spaces are allotted as per the requests received online.

Eviction and DRC

The process of eviction of house by Directorate of Estates even after many notices and Recovery of license fee / Damage Charges on overstaying in the house.

Features

• Single Sign-On: Streamlining access for users using Mobile No./ Email id and OTP
• Personalized dashboards: Users have personalized dashboards and usage archives
• Real-Time Fee Status: Instant updates on license fees and dues for financial management
• RCO Services: Monitoring and Reporting: Officials can efficiently view data and generate reports to optimize services and system performance
• Payment Integration:eSampada seamlessly Integrates with Bharatkosh for secure online payment transactions with complete transactional data tracking
• Alert Services:Integrated SMS and Email alerts keep all users informed and engaged
• Role-Based Access: DDOs, Admins, and Directorate of Estates Officials have authorized access based on their roles
• Document Storage: Uploaded documents are securely stored in Network Access Storage
• Two-Factor Authentication: Ensuring security, users must perform Two-Factor Authentication using OTP and Mobile Number / Email ID
• Cloud Hosting: A flexible, secure environment with dynamic resource scaling on-demand
• Bilingual Support: Letters generated in both Hindi and English for wider accessibility
• High Availability: Implementation of EFM ensures server reliability, even in the face of potential disasters
• Visual Resources: Photos and Google Maps available for Holiday Homes and Hostel locations
• Video Guides: Accessible tutorials for a comprehensive understanding of system features
• Complaint Redressal: A dedicated mechanism for resolving issues and ensuring user satisfaction

Fig 7.3: User registration along with House Allotment and Booking Process

Technologies Used

eSampada system utilizes open-source technologies: Linux OS, Tomcat Web Server, PostgreSQL database, Java Programming Language, and Spring Boot framework. The Mobile App is developed with Flutter. Open-source tools like JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, and Bootstrap ensure scalability, availability, concurrency, reliability, maintainability, and performance.

Key Benefits

Following are the key benefits of the eSampada application:

• Improved Data Accessibility: Access data effortlessly anytime, anywhere
• Transparent Data Control: Maintains transparency through controlled digital data access permissions for authorized individuals
• Cost Efficiency: Achieved significant cost savings by eliminating the need for physical presence, reducing expenses related to travel and in-person interactions
• Improved Efficiency: Realizes enhanced efficiency, with reduced effort required for tasks like waitlist generation, checking holiday home availability, rent assessment, and report generation
• Convenient Online Access: Diminishes the necessity for physical visits to the Directorate of Estates, providing a more cost-effective approach
• Time Savings: Citizens save time as long queues are reduced, and officials can redirect their efforts towards more productive tasks
• Effective Crowd Management: Efficiently manages crowds, thereby reducing congestion at the Directorate of Estates, allowing for better attention to critical tasks
• Enhanced Citizen Experience: Provides citizens with convenient, time-saving services, significantly enhancing their overall experience
• Informed Decision-Making: Utilizes datadriven insights for swift, informed decisionmaking, leading to improved service quality
• Accountability and Responsibility: Establishes greater accountability and promote responsible practices through digital record-keeping
• Unified Ecosystem: Fosters seamless interactions between citizens and officials, creating a unified digital environment for better communication
• Sustainability and Environmental Benefits: Adopts environmentally friendly practices that reduce paper usage, contributing to sustainability, and saving applicants time and effort
• Efficient Cloud Hosting: Eliminates the need for physical hardware, software procurement, on-site space, and maintenance through cloud hosting, resulting in further cost-effectiveness

Sampada assists in Asset Management for entire Govt. of India Buildings down to room bookings and help in their operations and maintenance for their life cycle till their disposal and is seamlessly integrated with CPWD. It provides management with critical data and reports and is a systematic approach to governance and realisation of value for all asset classes. It boosts productivity for all stakeholders including license fee recovery by all ministries and departments seamlessly for Government accommodations. I appreciate the effort of all officers of NIC for dedicated work to facilitate eSampada for Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Sharmistha Dasgupta

Dy. Director General, NIC

Way Forward

Future plans encompass the expansion of services, the utilization of advanced analytics, and the enhancement of security measures with ongoing feature enhancements. Additionally, the implementation of an AI / ML-based Chatbot is underway.

• Tag:
• Internet
• Technology
• eGov
• Tech