HUBLI: The Union Ministry of Urban Development is poised to introduce a scheme of e-governance in municipalities all over the country. The scheme is designed to use information technology to deliver public services in a much more "convenient, customer-oriented, cost-effective and better manner."

According to the Union Government sources, the plan is being implemented as a "mission mode project" with a view to brining about better interaction between urban local bodies and citizens and other groups, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector.

The Union Ministry of Urban Development has already prepared a draft scheme for implementation and is awaiting approval from the Planning Commission before implementing it. A provision of Rs. 25 crores has been made in the budget for the current year.

The Union Ministry of Urban Development with the help of the Union Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has made a lot of headway in standardising the required hardware and software, and the State Governments are being approached for their concurrence in implementing the scheme. Initially, the scheme will be implemented in all the "million plus" cities and extended to the "one lakh plus" cities in the next phase.

While the management of services will remain with the urban local bodies, helped by the State Governments in the case of cities other than the million plus ones, the Union Ministry of Urban Development wants to take up what is described as "handholding" operations for a period of two to three years till the staff is trained in the operation and maintenance of the hardware. The Lok Sabha Committee on Urban Development paid a visit to Coimbatore in November last year for an on-the-spot study and inspected the computerised facilitation centre of the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation. The committee found the computerised property tax collection to be a very efficient method.

The Union Ministry or Urban Development has proposed that the computerisation programme be carried out within a specific timeframe. It has been suggested that the Ministry should persuade the State Governments and Union Territories to set up computerised facilitation centres in all the municipalities to bring in transparency in financial and administration matters and reduce malpractice and delay.

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