In tune with the times
E-GOVERNMENT — From Vision to Implementation: Subhash Bhatnagar; Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., B-42, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 280.
GOVERNMENTS NEVER fail to swear by efficiency in everything they do and in the era of information and communication technology (ICT) they ensure that they are politically correct by supporting e-government.
Giving government an e-dimension is seen as a measure of not just efficiency and transparency, but also of being in tune with the times. But experience has shown that in India, the success of initiatives hinges on the commitment to reform the system at the political level.
E-government can be a virtual non-starter in the absence of a national driver for the programme. The supreme paradox of e-government in India is that it is seen as a solution to many problems but those who stand to benefit, the bureaucrats, are also its leading opponents. The resistance, as the author finds, is rooted in the diffuse net of corruption and vested interests that has proliferated in government.
Scope
His findings form the basis for the book under review — a practical guide for policy-makers, administrators, researchers and the concerned citizen. <243>Despite the holding of seven annual conferences on e-governance at the national level, there is no universally accepted definition for the term.
Bhatnagar thinks the term has wide scope. It encompasses, he says, the use of ICT to promote efficient and cost-effective government, enable more convenient government services, provide greater access to information and ensure accountability to citizens.
Part of his book is devoted to one of the most "difficult" departments in the states — land records and registration. This is a department that touches the lives of millions of rural Indians who must frequently buy and sell immovable assets and get updated land records such as a "patta" for financial transactions. It is also notorious for corruption.
Initiatives
The book, which contains several useful web links to complete project reports, describes two initiatives in the area of land records, "Bhoomi" in Karnataka and CARD (Computer-Aided Registration of Deeds) in Andhra Pradesh.
These were aimed at cutting through the layers of, variously, brokers, stamp vendors, document writers and registration agents to speed up delivery of documents to applicants, many of them illiterate and poor.
The review of these projects produces some sobering facts that have a wider message: that e-government cannot cleanse the system entirely of its corruption because human intervention cannot be eliminated. In the case of "Bhoomi", the changes in land records necessitated by sale or partition, for instance, have to be attested manually, allowing corrupt officials to gain a foothold, as it were.
Though automation provides better management information by flagging up undue delays caused by officials, these have to be closely monitored by superiors if the system has to be overhauled.
Thus, for e-government to claim any level of success, a set of primary conditions must be fulfilled by the state says the author. The plan must start with a clear vision of what outcomes are desired, look at re-engineering processes to eliminate needless bureaucracy and give serious attention to "change management" to secure employee cooperation. "Bhoomi" made issue of certificates through the new system compulsory, forcing the employees to make the transition.
Benefits
The experience with schemes on which this book is based indicates that with proper implementation, e-government confers tangible benefits: a project to computerise Gujarat's inter-state check posts tripled revenues, though its efficiency was affected by technological limitations.
In Kerala, the district-level FRIENDS kiosks set up to help citizens pay taxes, fees and charges at district level received good patronage. Yet, there are other lessons to be learnt. Over 40 per cent members said in a survey that they did not know the kiosks existed.
As the national and global e-governance examples given by Bhatnagar seem to show, it is "project champions" and committed policymakers who have worked to introduce transparency and accountability through online processes. Vested interests and corruption have worked at cross-purposes within government to defeat them.
There are some debatable conclusions in the book on issues such as the desirability of buying off-the-shelf proprietary software versus developing in-house software. Locally developed software worked fine in Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu but efficiencies declined after the "project champion", the district collector was shifted.
The message for governments is to move into the mission mode and work to create a national umbrella for standardisation and sharing of software. That conclusion is reinforced by the author's examples presented in the book.
G. ANANTHAKRISHNAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
