governance

THE SECOND ROUNDTABLE ON IT IN GOVERNANCE
Towards Efficient, Transparent & Citizen Centric Governance


New Delhi March 12, 2002




The above seminar, which was held in New Delhi’s Hyatt Regency hotel, was attended by a large number of participants from Central and State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings. From Indian Railways, Shri A.K. Bhatnagar, EDFC/Railway Board, attended the seminar.



The Round Table was organized by IMA India, an associate of Economist Corporate Network – a part of The Economist Newspaper Group, UK.



The Keynote address was delivered by Shri Digvijay Singh, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh, with Shri Adit Jain, MD, IMA India, in the chair. Shri Digvijay Singh’s vision for Madhya Pradesh and the enthusiasm that he has displayed has initiated an eye-opening transformation within this so-called 'old economy' state. Equally, it is offering inspiration to a multitude of others. Mr Digvijay Singh offered insights into the role of the political leadership and the bureaucracy in bringing about change. He shared his vision for IT in governance for India as a whole. Based on the Madhya Pradesh experience, he commented on the benefits that eGovernance can offer and how these are being harnessed for Madhya Pradesh.



There was then a panel discussion on Preparing for e-governance. The principal speaker was Shri S. Regunathan, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Delhi & Principal Secretary, IT, Government of National Capital Territory(NCT) of Delhi. There was a lively discussion after his speech, which was aptly summed up by Shri D. Prakash, former Secretary, IT, Government of Tamil Nadu. Shri Regunathan said that while infrastructure, technology, connectivity and communication networks are important prerequisites for launching an eGovernance initiative, in the Indian context, preparatory work must focus on a lot more than that -fundamental changes in Government decision making and management, procedural and legal changes in processes as well as institutions, changes in accountability and the delegation of authority, transparency in governance and the resulting loss of vested interest and assumed power etc. He gave his assessment of how can India manage this change and what will be the key drivers. While summing up, Shri Prakash stated that over the last few years, Tamil Nadu has tread surely and rapidly and has made significant progress in the area of eGovernance. Importantly, the focus of this initiative has always been on 'governance'. Despite the fact that Tamil Nadu is one of the most urbanised states in the country, the path towards IT enabling governance in the state was far from being easy. He provided a first hand account of how Tamil Nadu readied itself for the eGovernance challenge.



This was followed by another panel discussion on Overcoming the barriers. The participants were: Shri R. Gopalakrishnan, Secretary to the Chief Minister, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Anil Mukim, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Gujarat and Shri Rajeev Chawla, Additional Secretary, Department of Revenue, Government of Karnataka. The discussions were moderated by Shri Adit Jain, Managing Director, IMA India. The participants in the panel discussion agreed that several impediments exist on India's path towards e-enablement - technology, connectivity and communication networks are some of these. There is low level of development, lack of education and low literacy rates in rural India. Perhaps the most challenging task would be to bring about a change in the attitude, mindset and thought processes within the government's decision-making levels. Funding eGovernance initiatives is another constraint, especially in the Indian context. They also agreed that best practices need to be exchanged between state governments in order that the wheel is not re-invented. Ultimately, the success of any model is to be judged with reference to the costs involved versus the benefits realised.



After a short lunch break, the forum reassembled for another discussion on The ‘E’ in Egovernance: Optimal Models. The main speaker was Shri Tariq Farooqui, Director Services Sector, SAP India. Shri Rohit Singh, Additional Commissioner, Commercial Taxes Department, Government of Rajasthan also spoke. Shri Farooqui said that a successful eGovernance initiative requires technology infrastructure that can act as a backbone. Profound changes are required in improving the communication with citizens, redesigning processes and structures, enhancing co-operation within and between government agencies and managing knowledge for support of complex administrative decisions. How can the use of IT bring transparency and balance into the government-citizen relationship? He stated that a technology company like SAP with wide-ranging experience in bridging this gap can offer an international perspective. Long known as an 'old economy' state, Rajasthan is now well poised to make headway in the area of eGovernance. It is, perhaps, the first among Indian states to experiment with outsourcing the use and implementation of IT in governance through the 'managed service provider model'. Shri Rohit Singh described what led the Rajasthan Government to opt for this model, how were the various technology vendors evaluated and what was it that the Government looked for during the process of selection? Importantly, he also explained what benefits does the Government foresee accruing as a result of this choice?



Thereafter, Shri Manish Kapoor, Sales Manager, Asia South, Sun Microsystems, spoke on The Future Beckons. He stated that as governments try to reshape themselves through the Internet age, the private sector could provide vital support systems. It can contribute significantly towards building and maintaining the

infrastructure to deliver (24X7) services, re-engineering and the security of back-end IT infrastructure as well as evaluation of operational schemes. Finally, systems can be put into place to assess electronically, the advantages to businesses and citizens in accessing the range of government services. He gave examples of some e-governance initiatives where Sun Microsystems has provided the necessary support. Among other examples, he mentioned about the Java-based Smart Card (Common Access Card) provided to all defence personnel in US Armed Forces. Later Shri Rajeev Chawla, Additional Secretary, Department of Revenue, Government of Karnataka described as to how in the Indian context technology can be harnessed to make it accessible to the common man. He spoke about the need to integrate and forge a successful partnership between the private sector, community groups, media and the government. He said that technology could assist governments and public service providers in their quest to empower the entire gamut - citizens, public servants and businesses. Shri Chawla then presented the case study of Bhoomi: Online Delivery of Land Titles in Karnataka.



Shri N Vittal, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Government of India delivered the valedictory address, on EGovernance: The Next Chapter. Shri P C Sharma, Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, Government of India also spoke on the subject.



Shri Vittal stated that between the grand vision of e-governance and its actual realization, there is a big gap. The main impediment is the government culture of secrecy, seniority and corruption. Secrecy because the entire work of government is seen as an exercise of power. Lack of access to information to the citizen and monopoly of information gives a sense of power to the public servant. Since IT can make citizen’s right to information more meaningful (it can make information more easily available to the public), the culture of secrecy of the government goes against it. The second element of culture in government is the element of seniority. Generally, senior people are conservative and definitely innocent of IT. They may suffer from techno phobia and also feel threatened by the youngsters who may be more computer savvy. The third important element of government culture is corruption. In fact, greater e-governance means lesser scope of corruption. We can expect all sorts of resistance for the process of e-governance from the corrupt elements in the government.



Shri Vittal stated that any attempt at introduction of IT in governance should take in to account the above aspects of the culture in government. Perhaps, it would be best to adopt a cafeteria approach. We need not try to reengineer the entire government systems at one go but try the following recipes/steps that seem to be working in our country:

(i) Making citizens interface with government easier.

(ii) Back end computerization.

(iii) Total system reengineering.

(iv) To take individual departments and see how extensively they can be computerized.

(v) Experiments like the Gyandoot model in MP, where IT has been taken to the rural areas.

(vi) Introduction of transparency like the publishing of the names of charged officers on the CVC website.



Apart from the culture aspect, Shri Vittal stated that perhaps the most important aspect to promote e-governance is the imagination and commitment. We must go after ostensible and demonstrable benefits to the people so that e-governance develops its own momentum. Initially, e-governance may require champions in the bureaucracy and the political leadership. But once new schemes like the Gyandoot are introduced or for experiments going on as in Andhra Pradesh, the benefits must themselves be so tangible and persuasive that even in our country full of illiterate people the benefits will outweigh the objections.



In this context, Shri Vittal mentioned the computerization of the passenger reservation system in the Railways, and said that that is the only long standing positive example of successful application of computers and information technology.



Finally, Shri Vittal said, in the next chapter of e-governance, we should ensure that it is more demand driven rather than supply pushed. Ultimately, we will have to practise what the Chadokya Upnishad says if we want to succeed. We have to apply our knowledge with faith and conviction and also deep thinking. Only then our actions would become stronger and lead to success.



In his brief speech, Shri P C Sharma, Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, Government of India, implored that it is also essential to exercise caution amidst the 'hype' that has been created around the potential for information technology in governance. What would be the implications of a widespread and all-pervasive electronic infrastructure for economic and criminal offences in the country ? The costs and benefits of any scheme of e-governance should be clearly worked out before any funds are committed.