Odisha’s DAMPS Project Clinches SKOCH Silver Award 2023 for E-Governance Excellence

Bhubaneswar: In a remarkable achievement, the Odisha Government has been honoured with the prestigious SKOCH Silver Award 2023 for its innovative Disaster Assistance Monitoring & Payment System (DAMPS). The accolade recognizes the state’s commitment to excellence in e-governance and efficient disaster relief management.

The DAMPS project, implemented by the Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Govt. of Odisha, stood out among various e-Governance projects from different states, securing the SKOCH Silver Award for its outstanding contribution.

Developed in technical collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Odisha State Centre, Bhubaneswar, the DAMPS project has been operational for the last two years. The award ceremony, held on February 10, 2024, in New Delhi, saw officers from the Government of Odisha receiving the accolade.

DAMPS is an integrated online workflow-oriented system that combines Government to Citizen (G2C) services and Departmental (G2G) services with real-time systems. The primary objective is to ensure the timely, hassle-free, and transparent disbursement of financial assistance to the Next of Kin (NOKs) or victims directly into their bank accounts, eliminating the need for intermediaries.

The system includes advanced features such as data linkage to management dashboards and decision support analytic reports with an administrative focus on selective disasters and geographical areas of concern. Currently implemented in 30 districts of Odisha, covering 317 tahasils and more than 2400 Revenue Inspector (RI) Circles, DAMPS has registered over 14,860 cases. Among these, 12,463 cases, representing 14,485+ NOKs, have received ex-gratia assistance amounting to more than ₹490 crores.

Chief Secretary Shri Pradeep Kumar Jena and Additional Chief Secretary & SRC Satyabrata Sahu extended congratulations to all stakeholders of DAMPS for this significant achievement. The success of DAMPS not only exemplifies Odisha’s commitment to service delivery standards but also sets a benchmark for other states in adopting proactive and timely disaster assistance measures.