The Hindu : National : E-governance programmes should be stabilised, says Maran

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Wednesday, Aug 04, 2004

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National

E-governance programmes should be stabilised, says Maran

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 3. The Minister of Communications & IT, Dayanidhi Maran, has called for extensive and imaginative use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in day-to-day management of urban local bodies to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations.

``ICTs have a particularly vital role to play in transforming the interface between governments and the citizens they serve, particularly in urban agglomerations,'' he said, adding that because of growing literacy and awareness levels among citizens their expectations in terms of services from the local bodies are also rising rapidly.

``It is, therefore, imperative that these bodies are geared to provide efficient services, meet the demands of the citizens and make their interaction with municipalities easy and simple, while ensuring accountability and transparency,'' said Mr. Maran while delivering the valedictory address at a national seminar on e-governance in municipalities, organised by the Ministry of Urban Development and Department of Information Technology, here today.

Mr. Maran said that e-governance programmes should be stabilised, enhanced and spread to overcome the increasing digital divide between municipal bodies across the country and speed up proliferation of the successes. A number of municipal corporations, particularly in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, have successfully implemented e-governance programmes but ``there is a perception that these tend to remain islands of success.''

An e-governance action plan has been included in the top 10 priorities of his Ministry. It envisages several mission mode projects focussed on improving service delivery to citizens and businesses.

Under this plan, projects would be undertaken by both the Centre and the States for countrywide implementation in a phased manner.

``It is my desire to make the national e-governance action plan result-oriented and citizen-focussed. I am quite keen to ensure that the results are visible in a short duration with tangible benefits to citizens,'' Mr. Maran said.

Pointing out that several states have implemented some e-governance projects, Mr. Maran asked other States not to ``reinvent the wheel in such cases'' but identify the successes and use them as a basis for rapid implementation.

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