Visiting the official website of Digital India (www.digitalindia.gov.in) is a lesson in patience. But, as the wise say, the fruit of patience is sweet. After about half a dozen ‘clicks’, one is likely to chance upon the Digital India eBook – with cool infographics and curious statistics.
Did you know that:
- India had 40 crore smart phone users in May 2017, as compared to 22 crore in June 2014?
- The number of internet users more than doubled from 24.3 crore to 50 crore in three years!
- The number of e-governance transactions per day grew from 96.9 lakh in 2014 to 3.5 crore in April 2017?
As a key component of the Government of India’s Digital India initiative, e-governance aims to “radically transform the quality of governance by the creative use of digital technology”. From Aadhaar (electronic identification of citizens) to UMANG (unified mobile application for new-age governance), there’s a lot of buzz around e-governance. But is it really working?
Breaking walls, building bridges
Traditionally, government services have been synonymous with dense bureaucratic red tape. Running from pillar to post, greasing palms of officials, waiting for the powers that be to oblige. Now, with digital governance, things are slowly changing at the ground level.
Rajasthan has been in the forefront of this digital revolution, with successful e-governance practices, such as Rajasthan Payment Platform, Raj Wi-Fi, eBazaar, eSanchar, and iFact, to name some. Launched in 2004, Rajasthan Government’s e-Mitra was among the first multi-modal platforms in the country (with a dedicated web portal, mobile app and kiosks across the state) to offer a single-window access to all government services. Its USP remains the sheer convenience of having integrated services, such as utility bill payment, banking, application and digitally-signed certificate services, tele-medicine, etc at your fingertips.
The Bhamashah Yojana is another fine example of an effective e-governance initiative. The first of its kind direct benefit transfer scheme in the country, it works on the simple premise that every woman should have a bank account and Bhamashah Card. The idea is to empower women to be decision-makers of the family, as beneficiaries (monetary and otherwise) under various government welfare schemes. And all this, through a single, hassle-free digital medium.
Read: Significance of Citizen Services Experience Management in Governments and Public Sector
Global technology, local focus
State governments are now collaborating with global tech innovators to boost digital infrastructure in the remotest corners of the country. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has formed a company named Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) with the sole aim of setting up and managing its ambitious transformative information highway for the state – AP Fiber Grid. In a landmark agreement signed recently with US-based X Development LLC that works on cutting-edge technologies, Andhra Pradesh is all set to bring high quality and affordable digital services (data, voice and video) to about 53 million people in the state by 2019.
With advanced technology, getting the benefits of e-governance to the hard-to-reach areas is becoming more feasible. In fact, the government of Karnataka is working on a project, whereby Wi-Fi will be installed in all gram panchayats across the state. Gujarat, on the other hand, has computerized record keeping of accounts and maintenance of tax registers at the village level, courtesy its e-GRAM project.
Even as state-level digital platforms are gaining steam, there’s an emergence of local apps focussing on micro issues. ‘We Are Kannur’, for instance, is an e-governance mobile app on the android platform – developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) – that brings all aspects of this district in Kerala onto one platform. From finding addresses and contact details of government departments or officials to rating and reviewing government services, the app seeks to become a one-stop-shop for all Kannur-related information.
Earlier this month, Rajasthan became the first state to adopt vernacular e-mail. Following the chief minister, all government officials in the state will soon have an email id in Hindi. How long before the others start aiming for the low-hanging fruits?
Two to tango – the challenges
Digital transformation, whether in the corporate setting or government environment, demands the right infrastructure and technology expertise. To truly empower citizens and improve administrative efficiency, governments at the Centre as well as State levels need to collaborate with trustworthy IT partners for digitally-powered solutions.
Digital India initiatives, like Aadhaar, have exposed us to concerns of data theft and cyberattacks. We need scrupulous moderators between the unsecured public domain and sensitive government data. To accelerate the deployment of digital services across the country, the government needs to join hands with industry experts, who can facilitate integrated and interoperable service delivery.
In the meantime, the Indian e-juggernaut continues its course.
