egov 75: leaders speak
Simplification Beyond Imagination My dream government would be like the ‘Apple Apps Store’, where one can register identity and get entitlements without any personal interface
L S N Tripathi
Principal Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Minsitry of Orissa & BP Mishra, Tech Officer, NIC
ot of changes have happened in the last six years in India in the area of e-Governance. The major breakthrough is NeGP. Attempts have been made at different levels to make Government more effective, transparent and accountable through the use of technology in the name of e-Governance. We may cite some best practices adopted in the country like PRIASoft (Panchayati Raj Institutions Accounting Software), one out of twelve modules comprising Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES) of e-Panchayat MMP. Similarly the e-Procurement system, has given a dramatic change in the tendering process. Floating of tenders for Prime Ministers Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) projects all over the country is done through this system. This has minimised the tender fixing and enhanced the transparency in the whole process. The same is for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The Management Information System (MIS) designed for MGNREGA and PMGSY by the Ministry of Rural Development makes the whole system transparent and the information is available in the public domain. Another important aspect of e-Governance is service delivery i.e G2C. The NeGP speaks clearly about it; to make all government services available to the citizens in their locality at affordable costs. We need to work more on this aspect now. ITeS is not for governance but only a “tool” for government. The challenge is to use this tool effectively. Best example is Railway reservation, first e-enabled Train Table then computerised ticket and now even e-Ticket. The internet-enabled governance requires not only change in mindset of implementers but also a rule-based governance and prior setting of rules of game. The digital divide is not one of access only but that of affordability and accessibility. My dream government would be like the A ‘ pple Apps Store’, where one can register identity and get entitlements without any personal interface of delivery agents. Technologies such as Cloud Computing and GIS can make it happen. From
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“Law enforcement agencies in many parts of the world lack expertise, knowledge and resources to investigate and prosecute cases related to cyber crime. We must understand that it is a funding issue. We believe that training law enforcement agencies should be the first step to combat cyber crime” – Guillermo Galarza Abizaid, Senior Programme Manager, International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) March 2007
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egov / www.egovonline.net / June 2011