event
egov india 2010
Thought Leaders Conclave
Three ‘C’s to cheer e-Governance Connectivity to the network, capacity building for govt employees and change in peoples’ mindset—these are the big factors
(L-R) CD Arha, Former CIC, Andhra Pradesh; Commdr Shyam Kaushal, Regional Director India, WiMax Forum; Suresh Chanda, Commissioner Commercial Taxes, Andhra Pradesh; Ashank Desai, Founder, Mastek (Chair); K Ratna Prabha, Principal Secretary–IT, Andhra Pradesh; S N Tripathi Commissioner-cum-Secretary Information & Public Relations, Orissa; Rajiv Aggarwal CEO, e-Governance Spanco; Dr Ajay Kumar, Principal Secretary, IT, Kerala; Susanta Mazumdar, Joint Secretary, IT, West Bengal; Rajesh Verma Principal Director, IT, Sikkim
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shank Desai, Founder, Mastek, discussed India’s standing in e-Governance compared to other countries in the world. He spoke about the e-Gov development index comparing the performance of India with the developed countries of the world. He further discussed about the Indian government’s online participation, which is way behind various other countries. Commdr Shyam Kaushal, designation, WiMax Forum, emphasised that it was important to have the will of the government to make changes in the system to meet the set targets. It was equally important to make the masses literate to ensure the required services reached the right individuals at the right time, he added. Suresh Chanda, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said that to bring changes in the system, a political demand and awareness among the government officials needs to be created. It’s also important to
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Government of Orissa, said it was important to have good governance before having e-Governance. To improve the scenario in India, it was very important to create transparency among government officials at all levels, he added. Rajiv Aggarwal, CEO e-Governance, Spanco, opined that to improve e-Governance in India it was important to create awareness both at the public and the citizen levels so that the right services reached the right people at the right time. Capacity building was equally important to make sure the right methods were used to deliver the services. He also discussed the need for change management at all levels among government officials. Dr Ajay Kumar, Principal Secretary, IT, Government of Kerala, advocated for the need of political commitment along with the capacity building to make e-Governance a bigger success. Susanta Mazumdar, Joint Secretary, IT, Government of West Bengal, discussed factors such as poverty, education and peoples’ mindset in rural areas. To improve the state of e-Governance improve in our country, he emphasised that that there was a need to work upon these factors. Rajesh Verma, Principal Director, IT, Government of Sikkim, pointed out that lack of computerisation in the backend in govern-
it is important to create awareness at the public and the citizen levels so that right services reach the right people at the right time have pro-IT leaders in the system. To make e-Governance a success, awareness among citizens is equally important, Chanda noted. K Ratna Prabha, Principal Secretary, IT, Government of Andhra Pradesh pointed out that there was a huge digital divide in the country between the rich and the poor. A major lacuna in the system was the nonavailability of services for the common man in regional languages. The government is working towards providing citizen-centric services for the common man but illiteracy comes as a hindrance. SN Tripathi, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Information & Public Relations Department,
ment departments was one of the main reasons for insufficient success of e-Governance in the country. He further pointed out that to bring improvement, Internet connectivity in all places at all times was needed and the mindsets in rural areas had to be changed. CD Arha, Former CIC, Government of Andhra Pradesh, pointed out that the pressure from Right to Information (RTI) will enforce better e-Governance. NK Pradhan (not in the photograph), Minister—IT, Government of Sikkim, spoke on the need for transformation in the overall administration to keep pace with changes happening in the rest of the world.