eChallan

Introduction

To bring transparency on end-to-end mineral movement & accountability of each stake holders, Jharkhand Government has been determined to tighten all loose ends in the mining activities. The trust deficit between the Miners, agents with the Government is at the lowest level. Transparency in this sector is most essential for genuine business to operate. Hence its required to have end-to-end accountability of mineral, regulate the production, dispatch & self consumption of mineral from Jharkhand.

Why eChallan

With Partial online and partial manual system complicates the process and cannot verify the authenticity of original or a fake transit challans. The Transit Challan is one of the major requirements to track dispatch of ore from source to destination. Further in quadruplicate copy Transit Challan book system, it was very difficult to track daily activity in mineral dispatches. Due to manual intervention and voluminous paper works there are chances of misuse and loss of data. Hence, eChallan has been designed to simplify the process of issuance of Transit Challan and monitor them effectively using IT tools. The eChallan is uniquely Bar-coded with 2D containing specific details of the Mineral Carrying Vehicle which is used for verifying it at the check gates, railway sidings, etc.. The eChallan can be printed by the Lessee/Dealers who has been issued with a valid Permit.

Types of eChallan Solution

During study, it was identified that working through a common system is a challenge. To avoid the complexity, Three versions have been designed to accommodate all with strict accountability & tracking Ore from Source to destination.

• Online : This facility is suitable for those lessee/Dealers, where adequate infrastructure (Electricity and Internet Connectivity) is available
• Desktop : Facility is suitable for lessee, where adequate infrastructure (Electricity, Electronic WB and Internet Connectivity) is available. But one can generate eChallan upto 4 hours without having internet connectivity.
• Mobile : Suitable for both mines and delaers, who does not have adequate infrastructure, but they have to update eChallan utilization in JIMMS.

eChallan has been designed to simplify the process of issuance of Challan and effectively monitor them using IT tools.

The eChallan is uniquely identified 2D Bar-coded dual copy (1. Destination Copy, 2. Check Gate Copy). The 2D Bar-code contains specific details of the Mineral Carrying Vehicle which is used for verifying it at the check gates, railway sidings & as well as en-route.

On confirmation of the operator for generating eChallan, the system will allot a unique eChallan no. and is printed with time stamp.

Security Features

eChallan cannot be activated to the Lessee/Dealers until the permit is issued online.

At the mines end at loading point eChallan system (Desktop) has the integration with electronic weigh bridge and there is no human interventions updating tare weigh & gross weight. It has got the facility to auto capture & record the gross weight of vehicles.

No. of eChallans generated is automatically calculated by the IT Tool and can not allow more to be generated than the amount specified in the permit. The IT tool will automatically assign a unique bar code to the Challan. This can never be duplicated. Watermark will be provided in the challan for avoiding duplicity. Unique 2D Barcode is provided for verification at check gate and weighbridge.

Security Measures

As this eChallan will replace the manual challan issue process, its very much important to look into the security aspect of eChallan. The Challans contain encrypted data in 2D barcode that is not possible to decrypt easily. In order to prevent Xerox copies, department has instructed the mines manager to stamp and sign on the challans. Also the barcodes can be read at anytime to know the genuineness of the challan.

When the challan is scanned at the check gate, the entire history of the pass is displayed and the check gate officer can take a call on the details available on the challan against the real fact.

In case there is no access to the server to get real-time data, in that case the 2D barcode can be scanned using specialized application to decrypt the data and get complete information on Challan.

Once every transaction of mineral is made public, the assumption of favoritism, illegal activity and obnoxious figures claimed by a few on account of scams can be seen and judged by all said a top mandarin. The system is now planned to be integrated with Indian Railways and State Transport database. As the issuance of permit and challan is one of the most vital & tightly controlled processes laid down by the State Government, any mistake will have catastrophic results.