'e-gov should be made commercial'

NEW DELHI: Cultural congruence between IT and government is necessary for successful implementation of e-governance in India. This was the common thought that ran through the Dataquest eGovernance Summit 2005 held on March 3, 2005 in Chennai. The speakers also stressed that IT should always act as a driving force behind e-governance initiatives in India.






Speaking at the inaugurating of the summit, former chief vigilance commissioner N Vittal said, "e-governance is a concept driven by champions in the government and should be made commercial or bankable so that the running of the project is not affected even after the removal of the champions from that particular e-governance project."





Delivering the keynote address, Tamil Nadu IT secretary Vivek Harinarain said that Tamil Nadu today stands at the third position in terms of e-gov, which speaks a lot about the e-application and approval procedures on the e-governance front.





Speaking on the e-initiatives in the state departments, he said, "e-governance should be driven by the line department and not by the IT department". Sharing his experience during the Tsunami relief operations, he said that the support from the IT industry immediately after Tsunami is commendable and the maximum use of technology to trace the identity of the dead was in Nagapattinam district.





Collector and District Magistrate of Eluru, West Godavari District Sanjay Jaju stressed on the need for having a citizen centric approach and involvement of the student community for effective continuation of the e-governance strategy for years in rural areas.





Speaking about the 'e-seva' initiative, he said that the villages are connected with the district administration through kiosks present in the villages, which are run by the women self-help groups. "Around 200 villages, 50 government departments and district administrated are connected through a single dial-up, where the citizens can directly contact the district administration officials through kiosks," he added.





"However, it is a myth that for e-governance projects, funding and training government staffs, is a tough task ahead. In reality, with the contribution of the local bodies and other groups, an e-governance initiative can be made a success," Jaju further observed.





Speaking about the e-initiative of the Andhra Pradesh government state IT secretary Ajay Sawhney said that under the CIO Program senior government officials were given training on handling IT projects efficiently.





Explaining the e-gov initiatives in India since 1999, IBM government (SWG) country manager Satish Kaushal said that innumerable pilots have been conducted on the e-governance front and so far no formal implementation has taken place in India.





"Any e-governance project should ensure that it reaches millions of people and should be based on people's expectations. And before any pilot project, a clear timeline should be marked for its successful implementation after its pilot stage," he added.





The E-Gov summit 'Making E-governance Happen — beyond the pilot stage', in Chennai on the whole stressed on cultural congruence and the political will, which would be the key drive factor for any e-governance initiative in India.