A Road-Map

For

Personnel Information System

Prepared by:
Department of Civil Personnel Records,
Ministry of General Administration

In consultation with:
Mr. Ashish Joshi, PIS Consultant ADB TA: 3622
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Table of Contents
Policy Matrix – PIS Implementation plan.........................................................................16

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Executive Summary

This document has been designed to present a long-term plan for a four years
roadmap for the Personnel Information System (PIS), which is envisaged to
evolve into a complete Human Resource Management System (HRMS) for His
Majesty’s Government of Nepal, not just limited to Ministry of General
Administration. It describes the measures to be taken by all stakeholders in this
respect.

The PIS development project supported by the Asian Development Bank under
its Technical Assistance Number 3622 - Institutional Support for Governance
Reform (ISGR) has been successfully implemented and information of 80,000
civil servants has been entered into the database. Under the same support, the
PIS was extended into a more intelligent and interactive system with the addition
of the Post Management System (PMS) that keeps track of all authorized posts
and positions within the government and links these to the personnel records of
civil servants that occupies them. This has facilitated in first and foremost
determining the availability of vacancies in all ministries prior to service events.

Significant progress has been made towards strengthening and institutionalizing

of the PIS at the Department of Civil Personnel Records under the Ministry of
General Administration.

In order to move towards the objective of strengthening the operations and

institutionalization of the system, it is necessary to prepare the groundwork by
addressing underlying issues that are a barrier to the objective so that the system
continues to evolve and the momentum gained from the past three years is not
lost.

This document also describes the systems further needed to achieve the benefits
as the total Management Information System (MIS) for the civil service.

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Introduction

Ministry of General Administration (MoGA) is an agency of His Majesty's

Government of Nepal that regulates & manages the civil service as prescribed by
the government’s rules and regulations. Ministry of General Administration works
as a human resource (HR) arm of the government. In order to make the civil
service more competent, responsible, motivated, transparent and service
oriented, this ministry has been implementing various structural & institutional
reform programs.

The Department of Civil Personnel Records ( DoCPR) otherwise known as by its

Nepali name, Nijamati Kitabkhana, under MoGA, is the Department that keeps
all records and information on the employees of the government. DoCPR has
been carrying out the task of organizing and maintaining personnel records of all
permanent employees holding civil ranks in various branches within the central
and local level of His Majesty’s Government. Information on every civil employee
is collected and maintained from the time an employee is appointed to the date
she /he retires from government service.

Mission for this roadmap

1. Introduce E-Governance by complementing manual way of

maintaining files
2. Issue pension and gratuity schemes in the same district at the time
of retirement
3. Strengthen human resource management within the civil service
4. Management Information System (MIS) for a civil service
5. Identify and remove ghost employees, if any.

A brief summary on MoGA’s vision and commitment

MoGA’s initiative and support has been the basis for continued successful
implementation and institutionalization of the PIS system over the past 2.5 years.
This is a distinct success story in the Government of Nepal’s and the ADB’s
efforts at supporting and institutionalization of good governance.

Recently MoGA has recruited 6 more computer operators at DoCPR as its

permanent staffs to ensure PIS updates and data entry on a daily basis. The
DoCPR currently has 8 computer operators and 1 computer officer dedicated for
PIS operations.

Realizing the technical competency needed for maintaining and managing the
PIS on a daily basis and ensuring its independent operation, DoCPR is taking

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steps to establish a position for a Computer Engineer. The sole responsibility of

this position is to manage and maintain PIS.

The Department of Civil Personnel Records recently has purchased several

hardware and software to operate PIS in the most efficient way possible. These
include purchase of 25 Oracle user’s license and 6 computers. In addition, the
DoCPR has undergone tender invitation for the purchase of additional 6
computers, laptop, projector, network printers and the generator for the constant
power-backups.

Presently, the DoCPR has been providing a PIS orientation program to all the
ministries in order to sensitize the PIS and its future goals. The department has
also been distributing the PIS data in a CD. It is also important to point out that all
the participants have well appreciated this venture and given the assurance to
updating the data. Such efforts speak volumes about the MoGA’s long term
commitment towards the PIS implementation and ultimately utilizing Human
Resource Management System for a good governance.

MoGA envisions the evolution of the PIS as a comprehensive human resource

management system (HRMS) for the entire government. In order to achieve this
objective, the DoCPR through its own initiative and funds has also pursued the
development of several other modules that have been developed and integrated
with PIS. Also, because the PIS will be able accessed over the Internet and be
capable of performing transfers, appointments, promotions etc on-line, a
proposal shall be developed to legalize the electronic based transactions.

The figure below shows how the different systems are integrated together to form
a cohesive system providing the MoGA the information that it requires.

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These modules can be summarized as follows:

Payroll Management System

The Payroll Management System, whose development was again funded by the
Asian Development Bank, keeps track of all the pay-scale and grade related
information of a civil servant. This system has also been integrated with the PIS.
The linkage with PIS/PMS has allowed the DoCPR, to validate 100% of the
salary and grade related information, submitted by the line ministries. In addition,
the system also forecasts monthly and annual total expenditure on salaries and
grades, and has thus provided a useful tool for budget management and
forecasting analysis, and policymaking decision support.

The development of PMS has saved the DoCPR’s hundreds of hours of manual
labor and intensive work of updating each payroll record. The information
generated by this system is based on PIS and therefore is current and accurate.
It is also noteworthy to mention that the PIS is the only up-to-date central
repository of civil personnel data in the country.

Upon the successful implementation of Payroll System, MoGA will be able to

circulate the payroll list to all offices on time, rather than offices having to request
for the information, allowing it to be pro-active. Reports and data in the Payroll
are able to produce information needed for analysis and forecast budget
requirements.

Payroll Management System in conjunction with Asset Declaration and Tracking

System will prove to be a way of controlling corruption. As income data is
collected by the system, total assets of each personnel can easily be assessed
and verified with the income. This information can be very useful to anti –
corruption agencies like Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority
(CIAA). Through Payroll, reports regarding increase or decrease in salary /wage
or bonus can be generated throughout the civil service.

Pension & Gratuities Management System

The Department of Civil Personnel Records has developed and successfully

implemented the Pension & Gratuities Management System with linkage to
existing PIS. The development of Pension Management System has been
carried out upon MoGA’s own initiative and funds as mentioned earlier.

The Pension Management System currently serves as the primary method for
maintaining the database of pension related information for all retired civil

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personnel. The linkage to PIS facilitates an automated means of transferring the

data records of retired civil personnel, including his/her pension sum into Pension
Management System.

The department has already entered 35,000 records of retired personnel

information into this newly developed system. Efforts are underway to enter the
remaining 6000 records making this system 100% operational.

The system has enabled MoGA to deliver higher quality service at reduced costs,
better management the verification of retired civil personnel information,
eliminate manual processes, maintain data integrity and ensure flexibility in
adapting to future requirements. Further, the system has been able to forecast
the total budget needed for the pension scheme for current and upcoming years,
thus providing strong budgeting tool for Ministry of Finance to carry out
necessary budget allocation and decision making processes.

Property Tracking System

Corruption along with other vices is seen as one of the major hurdles impeding
transparency. The government has enacted various laws and initiatives towards
eliminating corruption. However, loose enforcement of relevant laws and the lack
of an effective system that maintains a single repository of all declared assets
have allowed such vices to continue. A system that keeps a record of declared
assets will give teeth to anti-corruption laws that are currently in place and will act
as a formidable deterrent. It has been suggested that a system for Property
Declaration and Tracking System could be linked to the PIS.

MoGA has been authorized as the custodian of information on declared assets of

civil servants. Presently, MoGA maintains all assets related information which is
submitted by all civil servants annually. Upon the request of such information by
authorized agencies such as the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of
Authority, it provides the maintained record to the requesting organization.

The proposed system would maintain records of all declared assets linked to the
payroll system so that the expected income of employees could be updated and
verified against his/her assets declared on a timely basis. The presence in
government, of a system that is known to keep all information of every single
employee, will prove to be a major deterrent to dishonest employees.

This development comes at the DoCPR’s initiative and funding. A process is

underway to begin the development of the system and its linkage with PIS.

Management Information System (MIS)

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The central aim of the development of MIS is to fulfill the government’s need for a
wide range of precise information which can be gathered from the PIS database.
Statistics and forecasts has until now been unused for crafting policies or basing
decisions even for basic management functions. As PIS contains a significant
amount of information on civil service personnel, it can used for a variety of
statistical reports and modeling. Such information which can be gleaned from
reports produced is expected to be extremely useful for the upper-level
management officials especially in decision making capacity.

MIS will be able to produce crucial budgeting and expenditure information such
as the total budget the government would need for its personnel and pensions
over a ten year period with a hypothetical decline on its rolls due to devolution.
Such information can help the National Planning Commission in identifying
growth and decline expenditure areas in its ten year plans or yearly budget. MIS
can also produce demographic information that can be used to make hiring
policies more effective and efficient in tune with good governance practices. The
MIS will allow the government to access strong analytical tools through its use.

Furthermore, the DoCPR has identified various MIS reports that are required on
a regular basis by the senior level officials to help them make correct decisions
based on the information provided. The PIS database being the central
repository of personnel information in various categories contains a huge amount
of data. This system will help such officials to fetch data as required from PIS and
transform into meaningful information. Efforts are underway to integrate a MIS
within the PIS.

Plan of Action
1. Institutionalize PIS at all ministry level
2. Evolution of Human Resource Management System
3. Rehabilitation of DoCPR Premises
4. Implementation of Policy matrix

1. Institutionalize PIS at all ministry level

The designers of the PIS have developed and implemented the system not just
to satisfy the requirement of MoGA. The architecture of PIS is designed to
accommodate growth and ultimately fulfill the human resource requirements of
the government. The information that is captured in the PIS can easily be
accessed or shared by other ministries, department or offices. This functionality
of the PIS is available in Internet-based version where the users can have
access to the system using a normal Internet browser.

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Using this version, ministries that have access to the PIS can perform regular
transactions like appointments, promotions, transfers or view reports of their
employees. This proves the PIS is a more collaborative system that allows
multiple stakeholder to use and benefit from the system.

The institutionalization of the PIS/PMS across all ministries is a process not a

single act or task. It consists of a sequence of tasks, some which are sequential
in nature and others that can be run in parallel. Institutionalization of the PIS
helps the government adopt the system. This process will ultimately benefit its
users with all advantages that MoGA and the DoCPR has had until now. These
benefits are not a trickle down effect as seen with most systems. Rather the
benefits are immediate and tangible. Initialization of such processes however
takes considerable effort from the owners of the systems (i.e. MoGA and
DoCPR) and its recipients.

Initial efforts involves, the establishment of proper management structures,

regulations and a chain of authority that clearly sets forth the duties and
responsibilities of all persons or agencies involved in the operation of the system.
Effective management and proper maintenance of the system will be the most
important factors in determining whether or not the PIS will to be successful in
the long run.

MoGA and DoCPR will bear a special set of responsibilities because they must
manage the central repository of data and continuously ensure its integrity and its
availability to all users.

First Steps

Due to the fact that most of the offices of the various ministries are located
outside the Kathmandu Valley, the proper implementation in these areas could
be difficult to initiate as most of the offices lack the basic infrastructure required
for the PIS/PMS operation. So, in order to simplify the initial implementation
process, MoGA has identified a focus group of several smaller ministries the
following characteristics:

1. Fewer civil service personnel; and

2. No offices outside the Valley

Implementing in such agencies will be easier because personnel and physical

records are accessible. Training and support for these ministries can also be
provided on a timely basis. Close proximity to the DoCPR will help PIS operation
people in hand-holding these offices.

Such efforts will also add visibility to the PIS/PMS, broadening awareness and
stimulate the interest of other ministries. The focus here is to lead by example.

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As ministries see for themselves how the usage of the PIS helps them help
themselves, they will be more likely to adopt its use and institutionalize
throughout their ministries.

Implementation Details

After consultations with a number of key line ministries regarding the deployment
of PIS/PMS, the consultant and the DoCPR concluded that the deployment
should be carried out in three phases. In the beginning, it would be best to begin
with smaller ministries in the immediate physical vicinity of MoGA and gradually
progress to larger and more complex organizations and ultimately to ministries
with operations primarily within the districts.

Phase I – Kathmandu Valley

The first phase implementation of PIS will carry out in small-scale ministries
operating only inside Kathmandu valley. These ministries includes the Office of
Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretariat, CIAA, Raj Parisad etc.

Phase II -- Larger Ministries

Once the first phase organizations have satisfactorily adopted the PIS system,
larger and more complex ministries will be selected for implementation.

Phase III – Remote Locations

Under the third and final phase, organizations whose presence is primarily in the
regions and districts will be incorporated into the PIS network.

2. Evolution of PIS into a Human Resource Management System

The PIS is the most up-to-date repository of personnel information in the country,
therefore, it will be the most logical foundation for developing and maintaining all
components to serve as an integrated Human Resource Management System
(HRMS).

This HRMS can then be used by the Government for the proper management of
civil servants, therefore functioning as a major tool for the purpose of building
good governance, effective management and decision-making.

In the recent study carried out by the consultant in close collaboration with MoGA
officials and various line ministries, the following additional software components
have been identified that needs to be incorporated into existing PIS system in
order to extend PIS into a Human Resource Management System. These
include:

Personnel Information System

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Status: Technical assistance supported by ADB TA: 3622. Development

completed and implemented at DoCPR

Post Management System

Status: Technical assistance supported by ADB TA: 3622. Development
completed and implemented at DoCPR

Payroll Management System

Status: Technical assistance supported by ADB TA: 3622. Development
completed, implemented at DoCPR

Pension & Gratuities Management System

Status: DoCPR’s own initiative and funding. Development completed and
implemented at DoCPR

Property Declaration and Tracking System

Status: DoCPR’s own initiative and funding. Development in progress.

Management Information System (MIS)

Status: DoCPR’s own initiative and funding. Under due process for
development

Performance Management System: Future Development

As of till now, the government lacks a system whereby it can determine an

employee’s performance and productivity during his or her service. This has
resulted in an inefficient and demoralized workforce as there is no reward or
reprimand for the amount of effort put by an employee. As promotions or
appointments are not based on performance but rather the period of time in
service in a specific post or position, employees lack any incentives to work more
productively. This is the single biggest factor for very low efficiency of the
government employees.

Therefore, a performance indicator system has to be developed and sufficient

regulations have to put into place that allows employees to feel that their efforts
are rewarded or reprimanded according to their performance. These indicators
not only record employee performance but will also include their capabilities.
Such a system can strengthen the Post Management System, which can
therefore incorporate intelligence that can recommend service events according
to performance.

This system can prove to be the single most powerful tool to help the
government improve its efficiency and productivity of its employees.

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3. Rehabilitation of Kitabkhana Premises

Physical Record Storage

At present, there are inadequate storage facilities for the many paper records
that Kitabkhana must maintain for legal purposes. These paper includes all the
legal documents of civil servants activities called as 13-page Sheet role and
cannot be discarded even PIS is fully computerized because of the
Government’s legislation. Presently these documents are lying in a huge stack of
unmanaged files covered with dust. Primarily because of the dust and
carelessness, the lives of documents are either bound to decrease or get
misplaced completely. Therefore there is urgent need for a proper document
filing and indexing system in accordance with the PIS so that the files can be
located easily.

Required Actions:
1. A folder for each file with proper indexing;
2. Maintenance of these files;
3. Identification of source of funding; and
4. Authorization of work.

Predecessor Tasks:
1. Determine adequacy of size of existing storage area;
2. Perform survey of work to be done;
3. Identify potential contractors; and
4. Obtain estimates of cost.

4. Implementation of Policy Matrix

A policy matrix has been developed indicating the various functional area,
activities, indicators and the expected start and end date of each function. Please
refer to Appendix 1.

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End Results

 Access to PIS at all ministries (Greater service delivery)

One of the biggest benefits of this exercise is that the PIS will be deployed
and made available to all ministries. The result is effective collaboration.
Whereas, previously only MoGA was executing its responsibility and authority
for human resources of the government on its own, the implementation of PIS
at all ministries, effectively delegates responsibility as well as authority
making each of the line ministries, a stakeholder rather than just a silent
recipient of the system. It forces all line ministries to be pro-active and take
responsibility.

 Post retirement compensation at district level

The availability of post retirement compensation through pensions and

gratuities at the district level provides for better service delivery for the
pensioners. This also devolves the authority of the pension services at the
local level.

 HRMS capacity building in civil service

Given the variety of tools from the PIS system, including the Performance
Management System, ministries will be able to put the right candidate for the
job and training, and also provide incentives for the best performer. It gives
each ministry the powerful tools needed for the management of their own
human resources. Whereas previously, ministries had little or no choice in the
candidates required for the posts and positions, ministries will now be able
actually see the record of the civil service employees. This will also lead to a
trickle down effect in terms of performance.

 Establish HRMS as the tool for strategic planning and management

of entire civil service

The PIS system will enable MoGA, the custodian of the system to better
manage the civil service. With most of its labor intensive processes
delegated, it can better put its resources to make the system work better. The
PIS through its vast repository of civil service personnel information will allow
MoGA to look ahead and plan for the future rather than just managing the
present.

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Conclusion

PIS /PMS has been a good start and has singularly brought about changes in the
way the Ministry of General Administration and its partner agencies function. In
order for this system to run smoothly in the coming years, it is essential to
continue to support the effort with adequate financial and skilled human
resources so that the system continues to evolve and the momentum is not lost.

The impact of PIS on governance reform has been a small demonstration at the
changes that can take place if given the proper tools. PIS /PMS have shown that
the benefits are large and share four main points as outlined below:

 Developed human and institutional capacity;

 Effectively promotes improved policies and devolution of authority;
 Promotes networking and knowledge dissemination; and
 Facilitates multi-stakeholder consensus and collaboration.

The PIS/PMS system has eased the previous manual record keeping
methodology by providing various precise information for policy decisions and
maximizing the potential of civil servants through effective human resource
management which in turn acts as a stepping stone for building good governance
within the government.

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Appendix –1

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Policy Matrix – PIS Implementation plan
Functional Area Start Date End Date Activities
Strengthening PIS July, 03 March, 04 • The computer shall be installed
in every section of DoCPR to
ensure the on-time update of the
PIS data and strengthen data
accuracy.
• PIS orientation to all ministries
• PIS training for the newly
recruited staffs
• PIS will be made accessible to
MoGA over the Local area
network.
• PIS orientation for MoGA’s
newly appointed senior staffs
• Print outs of all the offices and
its darbandi from PIS and it re-
verification
• Print outs of all the information
on the civil personnel and its re-
verification
• DoCPR to make compulsory for
all employees to prepare and
submit a progress sheet or work
status summary of all the
functions and activities
performed by them in a monthly
basis.
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Performance Indicators
• All the six sections of the
department will have direct access
to the PIS and be able to update
the data easily.
• Staffs will be fully trained and shall
be familiarized with the system
• MoGA can independently operate
PIS and be able to generate
“transfer form” of the civil servant
from the PIS.
• Data update in PIS on a daily basis.
• First round of data updating
process to be completed by Feb,
04.
• Up to date information on civil
service and darbandi (post)
• Accuracy of data generated from
PIS for analysis.
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Implementation of Dec, 03 July, 04 • Data entry of pay-scale and • DoCPR will be able to verify and
Payroll grade of civil servants auto-calculate pay-scale and grade
Management • Data validation & checking in of all the civil servants.
System Payroll • Auto integration with PIS thus
• User level training allowing user to find salary and
grade of employees
Human Resource Jan, 04 Dec, 05 • Recommend in modifying the • Government to generate strong
Development at job description of non-gazetted pool of technical manpower.
DoCPR first & second-class employees • Independence (Capacity Building)
by incorporating the compulsion • Good service delivery
of computer skills for • Increase in employee performance
recruitment.
• Recommend in establishing
computer software engineer’s
position at DoCPR or acquiring
technical services to mainstream
the department’s core function
of maintaining PIS and ensuring
data integrity.
• Implement performance
management strategy to boost
employee’s performance.
• Equip & train existing employees
with basic computer skills.
• Provide comprehensive training
in MIS and civil service reforms
within country or abroad

Implementation of Nov, 03 June, 04 • System Design and • Integration of this module with PIS
Property Tracking development will further strengthen the system in
System • Integration with PIS making a comprehensive Human
• Strong security features Resource Management System
• User level training (HRMS)
• All the assets related information of
the civil servants will be captured
into the database thus replacing the

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manual way of maintaining the

information, which has been very
labor intensive
• Various assets related MIS
reporting.
• Prompt information, easy to
manage and maintain
• Full computerized asset tracking
system.

Implementation of June 04 Dec, 05 • Implementation will be carried • All the ministries can have direct
Web-based PIS in out in 3 phases as described in access to the PIS over the wide
various phases the Final PIS Report of the ISGR area network and access the
project. information with a click of a mouse
• Ministries will be trained to button (transparency, improved
operate PIS over a wide area service delivery)
network and perform various • Ministries will be able to generate
transactions. transfer letter using web-based PIS.
• Produce training material or user • PIS will be updated as soon as any
guides to operate PIS over the transfer occurs.
network. • Most updated database on civil
• DoCPR to provide training to service information
ministries. • Kitabkhana to ensure data
availability and integrity
Design, establish Dec, 04 Dec, 06 Government to introduce Performance • The introduction of Performance
and implement Management System and integrate with Management System with
Performance PIS. integrated PIS will assist
Management government to carry necessary
System actions based upon employee’s
performance. Performance
Management System will also
capture each of the job description
and performance indicators based
upon post and institutional levels.
• Promotions/transfers shall be
based upon the employee’s true

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performance and merits rather than

the number of years of his/her
service period.
• A mechanism for appraising
employee’s performance will be
made transparent.

Civil service July, 05 July, 07 Recommendation on issuing Pension, • A major step towards achieving
related information family pension, gratuities at the district better service delivery to ex-civil
at the district level level service personnel
Introduction of Mar, 04 Dec, 04 • DoCPR to implement MIS based • MIS with integrated PIS shall
Management upon PIS and its sub-modules improve MoGA’s managerial and
Information administrative capability and also
System (MIS) enhance the overall personnel
administrative system of HMG/N
• Strong analytical data for
resolutions or making policies.

End of File.

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