NHAI launches app to ensure staff don’t skip project site visits

NEW DELHI: Field staff of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will from now onwards need to visit each project site at least twice a month and also present evidence of their visit. They need to click a selfie from the spot and upload it on the NHAI app, which will capture the longitude and latitude of the site visited.

NHAI launched the app for project management information system (PMIS) on Tuesday which tracks progress of more than 3,000 projects online. At present, the app can be used only by NHAI functionaries. NHAI has struggled for long to keep track of project directors and regional officers and their site visits.

In the next two months, public will also be able to use the app for getting details of projects, their progress and money spent. Moreover, they will be able to rate a highway on different parameters including road condition, greenery along the stretch, amenities and safety.

Sources said the app with provision of mandatory uploading of selfie by officials will bring more accountability. "The app will be a tool for actual inspection and visit to the project," NHAI chairman Deepak Kumar said. He added once people are allowed to use the app to report their experience and complaints, it will prove to be a bigger asset for NHAI.

"The rating of officials will be linked to the rating of highways," he added.

Chief general manager of NHAI's IT wing Akhilesh Srivasatava, who has developed the mobile app, said the PMIS app will be the single largest platform for all stakeholders to get details of project and see the progress.

Considering that NHAI now needs to focus its effort on maintenance and operation of already built stretches, the authority recently set up a separate wing for this purpose. Soon after taking charge Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked officials to make the highway drive "enjoyable" and last year he had even asked the highways ministry to assess " highway users satisfaction".