Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday held a meeting with senior cabinet ministers and representatives from IT industry to review the progress made in e-governance programmes.

According to sources, the prime minister is learnt to have praised the progress made and has given his consent to various proposals made by the department of information technology under e-governance projects.

The meeting is being seen as a precursor to the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) Bill, which the government is trying to table during ongoing session of Parliament.

The Bill is expected to enhance transparency in delivering government services to the citizen and address the problem of corruption.

The ESD Bill 2011, once enacted, will legally mandate every government department to offer all services that can be delivered online or electronically within five years of its enactment.

The Bill includes all kinds of forms and applications, delivery of licences or permits, and receipt or payment of money and reduce discretion on the part of government employees, making governance rule-based and bringing in more transparency in dealing with citizens.

The meeting was attended by Law Minister Salman Khurshid, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal and his colleague Sachin Pilot, minister of state for personnel V Narayanasamy and deputy chairman of planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.