article by Vinson Kurien
An IT products company based here has managed to compress ‘system of
office procedure’ written by late Richard Tottenham in pre-Independent
India.
The Tottenham system of governance may be of 1940s-vintage, but it is
faithfully followed by many Government offices, including in Kerala, to
this day.
CHALLENGING TASK
There is ‘nothing to beat Tottenham’ in the manner in which it has
sought to streamline functioning of Government Secretariat, the very
seat of the Government.
The challenge of putting the Tottenham genie into computer files was
worth taking, says Prasadu Vaghese, Chief Executive and Managing
Director, Ospyn Technologies, based in Technopark here.
Digital Document Filing System appears to have achieved exactly this, Varughese told Business Line, citing feedback from satisfied customers.
Richard Tottenham was a British civil servant working then as a District
Collector with North Arcot district (now in Tamil Nadu).
THREE MANUALS
He developed three manuals on the request of the then Government. These
were secretariat office manual, board of revenue office manual and
district office manual.
Tottenham system is based on the principles of bureaucracy. It divides the office into various sections.
The concept of office is in the form of a pyramid with management head
at the top and cutting-edge level functionaries at the bottom.
The pyramid becomes large at the base. Different levels of functionaries work in a hierarchy.
Every office is divided in to various ‘sections’ depending on
activities/functions of the office. These functions are allotted to the
sections.
VARIOUS REGISTERS
The system prescribes various registers to monitor progress of work in
the office. Registers will help not only to assess progress but also
arrest delays and cut down on arrears.
Common office functions represent a self-fulfilling chain of collecting,
clarifying and processing information; taking decisions and
communicating them.
While giving due credit to Tottenham, Varughese said that the system was not without its blemishes.
The filing system involved paper-based filing systems, which apart from
being space consuming and tedious, also posed serious cost and security
concerns.
Records management, data sharing, distribution and information retrieval
become more complex and difficult, thereby decreasing operational
efficiency.
DIGITAL SYSTEM
Digital Document Filing System addresses these issues and provides tools
to create, retrieve, distribute and organise documents Varghese said of
his company’s product.
It enhances business performance and productivity, while increasing
efficiency and reducing the cost and clutter of maintaining paper
records, Varghese said.
A major cause of concern in a majority of government departments is the
delay caused in the physical movement of files from desktop to desktop.
Once digital system is implemented, documents are passed on
electronically. Hence delays and overheads associated with paper based
document distribution are tremendously reduced.
Blame red tape on the British!
It is often said that the British was responsible for bringing red tape
into Government business while introducing an elaborate system of
handling records here.
Under the Tottenham system of office procedure, each paper and its
disposal are manually recorded. Depending on its importance, a decision
is made to determine how long it should be retained.
PAPERS RECORDED
Papers are of transitory value are kept for a year before being
destroyed. Others are retained for three years, 10 years and the most
important ones retained permanently or for 30 years.
A nomenclature of L, K, D, R, reflecting the period of extension is given to each file/paper.
But rules of procedure as delineated by Tottenham system find resonance
even under e-governance garb, says Prasadu Varghese. He said this in
reference to Tamil Nadu Government’s announcement that it wanted to do
away with Tottenham system and instead embrace e-governance.
PRIVATE SECTOR
Even the private sector is looking at the Tottenham system favourably,
though strictly in the digital version, Varghese said. Ospyn has had
some enquiries already.
A section assistant in the Government Secretariat told Business Line on condition of anonymity that his department’s was happy with Digital Document Filing System from Ospyn.
It takes care of the attributes of accountability, surveillance,
security and file retrieval. Significantly, it also helps avoid
dependence on office peons for delivering papers physically.
Last but not least, it affords even a clerk the luxury of accessing
office files from the comforts of his own home, provided he has internet
connection.
