What ails PPP in e-governance?

Today: TCS's Tanmoy Chakrabarty

GN Bureau | February 13, 2010


Tanmoy Chakrabarty, VP and Global Head - Government Industry Solutions, TCS
Tanmoy Chakrabarty, VP and Global Head - Government Industry Solutions, TCS

"The biggest challenge is institutionalising e-governance in the country, transforming of government through e-governance.

"To expect government servants to be change makers and bringers is too much. The main change should be to change the working environment. We still have a 200-year old environment in the country. We still have thanedar rules.

"The government needs to move out of the socialist mindset. And those beyond government are wherewithal to do anything. But the younger bureaucracy is realising that it is difficult to not follow the PPP model.

"The civic amenities that people want are being benchmarked as per the global level. Government should become real time. There should a change in the way they govern.

"MCA21 does way with corruption. Who will you ask bribe from if no one is coming to your office?  From proposal to implementation, the work is happening in pockets but there is sheer absence of holistic approach. The work is happening only in silos. The ministry and the departments are playing a turf war. IT leverage can bring dramatic transformation.

"Government is reticent to let go of control. People want local governance. CSCs dissipate power but the government has vested interest and doesn't want to let go of the power.

"95 percent of India can't be cajoled to use the internet. What the citizens want from CSCs are caste certificates, birth certificates, loans for next crops but they are missing in CSCs.

"The Indian bureaucracy has doggedly underestimated the Indian citizen's ability to absorb environment. Onus is on government and industry to create the environment.

"60 billion dollar worth IT industry in India is making people's lives better around the world, but not in India. Our own adoption of IT is very less. We don't need to go anywhere in the world to learn. We are teaching them.

"Do we have a India 2020 vision? We don't have a road, everyday we have new direction. But the problems and solutions lie within us.
Giver and taker should be like-minded. In Madhya Pradesh, the bureaucracy was very helpful. Every district in MP has gained from it. There are 2400 online kiosks running which are financially sustainable. We were able to do it in Andhra Pradesh because there was Chandrababu Naidu.

"There should be solutions to address the digital divide. Instead of measuring how many people have internet, we should be assessing how many of them have email ids and access internet through cyber cafés.

"Capacity, thinking and ability are the key. Governments should have their mindsets open to best practices. There is a conscious effort to move from IT to measure of IT. We need to deal with mindsets, it is not an issue of technology." 
 

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