March - 2001 - issue > Cover Feature

India has declared 2001 “The Year of E-Governance.” The idea is for the federal and state governments to extend their services and information to urban population and remote villagers who will be able to do anything from pay ingmonthly utility bills online anytime to registering grievances. For bill payers, the alternative is lining up outside a dozen or more offices, some of them as far as 35 km apart.


Under the current, non-electronic system, files that journey through government agencies can take a lifetime to get finally cleared. A person can run from government pillar to post to get retirement dues, pension clearance or emolument dues. With online government, people could obtain a variety of services, including passports, with much less hassle. But what can e-governance really do for India?


“E-governance can do wonders for India,” says N. Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, the first state to introduce this initiative. “It will bring in anywhere, anytime services to citizens, a one-stop shop for all transactions and better accountability and transparency of all systems.”


Perhaps the biggest improvement would be in expediting paperwork. “With e-governance, the file can be tracked in no time and the dues settlement could be known just by the click of a mouse. These are a few areas where e-governance can bring a radical change in the state of affairs. This means precisely replacing manual governance in the day-to-day government work,” says the IT-savvy CM in one of his laptop presentations.

Requirements for E-governance
So, what is required for effective e-governance? Basic infrastructure is a must. That means telephone lines (DELS, OFC/leased lines/satellite communication), adequate bandwidth, necessary funds, a high density of communication equipment, appropriate laws and policies and personal computers.


It's important to build the infrastructure through widespread deployment of communication equipment, computerization, the introduction of relevant laws and procedures, excellent database and knowledge management infrastructure, and establishing connectivity between all government departments, banks, districts, villages and the highways.


Ever since the “IT boom” in India during the 1990s, several states (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in Southern India; New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in the North; Maharashtra and Gujarat in the West, and Madhya Pradesh in the Central India) have taken steps to network government offices. The main objective has been to provide transparency of functions within these governments.


Andhra is the pioneer in launching an official government portal, www.andhrapradesh.com. “Our site received thousands of hits during the first one year of operations,” says J. Satyanarayana, IT secretary of Andhra Pradesh.


Other states have jumped on to the bandwagon of e-governance, including Karnataka (www.bangaloreit.com), Gujarat (www.gujaratindia.com), Delhi (www.delhi.gov.in), Punjab (www.punjab.gov.in) and Tamil Nadu (www.tn.gov.in).

The Primary Goal
What is the main objective of these sites? “Our e-governance's motto is to provide a 'SMART' government, that is, Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent one,” say Andhra officials.


They explain, “So, our Web site updates citizens about the government's functions, including releasing government orders, which was not a practice earlier.” Vivek Kulkarni, IT secretary of Karnataka suggests, “Bangaloreit.com is the mirror of Karnataka's initiatives in the area of Information Technology.” He adds, “We have evolved major IT schemes to develop the state in all sectors. We also plan to hold talks with British Broadcast Corporation, for introducing interactive learning education at primary and secondary education.”


Following is a summary of what the pioneering states are up to in the emerging field of “e-governance.”

Karnataka
The Karnataka government is the pioneer of IT activities in India. Under its IT Policy “Mahithi-2000,” the state has started computerizing all government departments, including education.
Currently, Bangalore is considered to be India's major IT hub, boasting more than 1,500 IT companies from the US, UK, Germany, Singapore, Japan, Australia and others.

Andhra Pradesh
Andhra's vision, under the stewardship of Naidu, is to become “Swarnandrapradesh” (i.e., “a golden state for all sectors”) by 2020. The government has also prepared a blueprint (“Vision 2020”) toward this goal. Last year, it created a separate IT department headed by Naidu himself and formed “The First AP,” a 15-member task force to make the state India's hottest destination for IT. It has already connected all district headquarters with the secretariat and extended a videoconferencing facility to all villages.


Andhra tied up with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to promote IT schemes for villages and urban cities. London-based telecommunication giant, WorldTel, will spread a network of Internet booths throughout Andhra Pradesh. Sam Pitroda, WorldTel's chief executive and the man behind the telecom revolution in India, recently signed an agreement with Andhra.


Under the agreement, the company will invest $100 million in Andhra in the next four years.

New Delhi
Delhi was among the last to issue a formal IT policy in 2000, but chief minister Sheila Dixit nevertheless wants to make Delhi a model “cyber city” by 2003.

India's E-Governance Initiatives
In addition to IT policy, the government of India has issued guidelines that require 2 to 3 percent of every ministry's budget be used to promote IT. The federal government has set up a National Institute of Smart Government (NISG) to be the focal point of this capacity building exercise.