7 December 2024 : Indian Express Editorial Analysis

1. Platforms like Pragati    

(Source: Indian Express; Section: The Ideas Page; Page: 15)

Topic: GS2 – Governance

Context

India’s PRAGATI platform demonstrates how digital innovation and top-level leadership can revolutionize infrastructure development, ensuring accountability, efficiency, and collaboration.

India’s Digital Revolution in Infrastructure Development

• As nations worldwide confront the challenges of implementing ambitious infrastructure plans amidst soaring costs and intricate regulatory environments, India has emerged as a quiet innovator.
• While much attention has been directed toward India’s technological breakthroughs in digital payments and identity systems, a lesser-known yet transformative initiative has reshaped the country’s approach to managing infrastructure projects.

PRAGATI: A High-Level Digital Governance Initiative

• It is a multi-purpose and multi-modal platform that is aimed at addressing common man’s grievances and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.

• The PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) platform, launched in 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, exemplifies India’s pioneering efforts.
• Highlighted in a case study by Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and the Gates Foundation, this digital platform has accelerated the completion of over 340 major infrastructure projects worth $205 billion.
• By integrating leadership with advanced tools like video conferencing, drone monitoring, and data analytics, PRAGATI has effectively dismantled traditional bottlenecks that have historically hindered infrastructure development.

Leadership as a Catalyst for Efficiency

• PRAGATI’s standout feature is its emphasis on top-level leadership. Modeled after SWAGAT, a grievance redressal platform implemented by Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, PRAGATI places the prime minister at the center of project oversight.
• Monthly meetings bring together central and state officials to address delays, set deadlines, and propose solutions.
• This active engagement fosters accountability, reduces bureaucratic inertia, and inspires collaboration across political divides.
• For instance, the Bogibeel Bridge over the Brahmaputra River, long deemed “unbridgeable,” illustrates PRAGATI’s impact.
• After a decade of stalled progress, its inclusion in PRAGATI in 2015 mobilized resources, coordinated agencies, and resolved land acquisition issues, culminating in the bridge’s completion within three years.

A Broader Digital Ecosystem for Infrastructure

• PRAGATI has inspired complementary platforms that enhance its ecosystem. PM Gati Shakti, launched in 2021, employs geospatial tools to optimize infrastructure planning and minimize environmental impact.
• Similarly, PARIVESH has revolutionized environmental clearance processes, slashing approval timelines from over 600 days to just 70-75 days.
• These platforms collectively underscore the power of digital tools in fostering transparency, efficiency, and sustainable development.
• Beyond physical infrastructure, PRAGATI has also catalyzed progress in social development programs, including rural electrification and universal tap water supply, highlighting the platform’s versatility and broad societal impact.

Lessons for the Global South

India’s digital governance model offers critical insights for other nations, especially in the developing world:

• Leadership Matters: High-level commitment ensures sustained momentum and accountability.
• Collaborative Design: Platforms must bridge government hierarchies while respecting local autonomy.
• Technological Synergies: Combining diverse digital tools amplifies oversight and efficiency.
• For example, the African Union’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) could benefit from PRAGATI’s approach to coordinating complex, multi-stakeholder projects.

Economic Impact and Future Challenges

• The economic dividends of India’s infrastructure push are evident. The Reserve Bank of India estimates a multiplier effect of 2.5 to 3.5 times GDP growth for every rupee spent on infrastructure.
• As India positions itself to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027, the PRAGATI model serves as a blueprint for other emerging economies.
• However, scaling this success will require adapting PRAGATI to handle increasingly complex projects.
• As India works toward its 2047 goal of becoming a developed nation, the platform must evolve to sustain its core principles of transparency, accountability, and collaboration.

A Template for the Future

• PRAGATI exemplifies how a judicious blend of technology and leadership can revolutionize infrastructure governance.
• Its achievements underscore the potential of digital platforms to transform not only national infrastructure landscapes but also regional collaborations, offering a powerful framework for the Global South to navigate the challenges of modernization and urbanization effectively.

Key Features of Pragati Platform

It is a three-tier system(PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States). The Prime Ministerwill hold a monthly programme where he will interact with the Government of India Secretaries and Chief Secretaries through videoconferencing enabled by data and geo-informatics visuals. The programme will be held once in every month on the fourth Wednesdayat 3.30 PM, to be known as PRAGATI Day. Issues to be flagged before the PMare picked up from the available data base regarding public grievances, ongoing programmes and pending projects. The system will ride on, strengthen, and re-engineer the databases ofthe CPGRAMS for grievances, Project Monitoring Group (PMG), and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. PRAGATI provides an interface and platform for all these three aspects. It will take into consideration various correspondences to the PM’s officeby the common peopleor from high dignitaries of states and/or developers of public projects. The issues flagged are uploaded seven days prior to the PRAGATI day(i.e., on the third Wednesday of every month). These issues can be viewed by the Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries after entering into the application. Union Government Secretaries and ChiefSecretaries have to put their comments and updates about the flagged issues within three days (i.e. by next Monday). One day – Tuesdayis available to the PMO team to review the data entered by the Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries. The design is such that when PM reviews the issue, he should have on his screen the issue as well as the latest updates and visuals regarding the same.

Practice Question: Discuss how digital platforms like PRAGATI have transformed infrastructure governance in India. Highlight the role of leadership, technology, and collaboration in overcoming traditional bottlenecks and ensuring accountability. What lessons can other developing nations draw from this model? (250 words/15 m)