Advertisment

Networking the Gods

author-image
CIOL Bureau
Updated On
New Update

Jaspreet Singh likes to begin his day early. At 5.30 am each day, he takes a dip

in the holy sarovar at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in central Delhi before moving to

the prasad counter. Singh hands over some money and hums the gurbani, while the

sewadar at the counter passes him the prasad, some flowers and an IBM

desktop-generated receipt for Rs 21.

Advertisment

On his way out, Singh makes a cash donation at the gate. He is promptly

handed another receipt for this, and both transactions are fed into the gurdwara’s

brand-new ERP system.

Does it seem far-fetched to picture computers whirring away in places of

worship, in perfect sync with sabads, kirtans and gurbani? Especially in the

Indian context, where large sections of business are yet to be touched by

information technology? Perhaps yes, but that is exactly what the Delhi Sikh

Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has done. In a bid to centralize the

workings of gurdwaras under its purview, the committee has implemented an

ambitious project to integrate Delhi’s four major gurdwaras–Bangla Sahib,

Rakab Ganj, Sis Ganj and Nanak Piao.

The project was initiated by a team of consultants from Delhi-based Multiple

Zones India and Webuzz Software, which devised and implemented a solution for

the automation of all processes at the four gurdwaras. "With IT influencing

every sphere of life, I had this dream–a computer network that would

streamline all our functions and bring in transparency," says DSGMC

president, Avtar Singh Hit.

Advertisment

Thanks to the very progressive and religious Sikh community, the DSGMC

collects an annual Rs 100-120 crore in donations, its primary source of cash

inflow. The more devout and prosperous make cash donations running into a few

lakhs, or in kind–property, gold and silver. These funds are used for

management, maintenance and expansion of the gurdwara, including the cost of

running the regular langars that gurdwaras are so renowned for. A part of the

funds are utilized to run the committee’s educational institutions and

hospitals. According to Hit, "The idea was to make the system vitreous and

accessible at the click of a button, right from collection to the last penny

spent."

It was this endeavor to integrate all functions in the major gurdwaras in

Delhi, that saw Multiple Zones and Webuzz Software entering the picture. Webuzz,

a Delhi-based startup, which provided computer education at Guru Harkishan

Public School in New Delhi, was approached by the DSGMC. The numbers thrown at

them–an average day, about 20,000 transactions take place in each of the

gurdwaras. On weekends and festival days, the number rockets to 1.5 to 2 lakhs.

Click here http://dataquest.www.ciol.com/content/ebiz/101060103.asp

tech-news