M-Governance Policy Of India

Mobile governance (m-governance) is an innovative method of using mobile technologies for effective governance and public services delivery. M-governance facilitates many public services in almost real time and without hassles. However, along with the benefits of m-governance it has many drawbacks as well.

Firstly, we have no implementable m-governance policy in India. In the absence of proper planning and a sound m-governance policy it is not a wise option to utilise m-governance services in India.

Secondly, we have no dedicated legal framework for m-governance in India. This may create problems in cases of mobile banking, m-governance, m-commerce, etc. Of course, we have information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) as the cyber law of India yet it is far from perfect for even e-governance purposes and it is not at all applicable to m-governance environment.

Another issue pertains to the exercises of e-surveillance and phone tapping by Indian government and its agencies. Till now we have no lawful interception law in India. Phone tapping is done under the colonial and outdated Indian telegraph act 1885 and e-surveillance is done under the IT Act 2000. Both these acts are violating the letter and spirit of Indian constitution and have incorporated many unconstitutional provisions that are well beyond the parliamentary and judicial scrutiny.

Recently, the ministry of communication and information technology (MCIT) has launched the central monitoring system project of India. It has the capabilities to monitor all sorts of telecommunication and electronic communications. However, it is a pure executive exercise with no legal framework, civil liberty safeguards and parliamentary and judicial scrutiny.

At the international level some development for safeguarding the human rights in cyberspace has been taking place. United Nations has declared that access to Internet is a human right. This shows that human rights protection in cyberspace cannot be ignored by nations in future.

Finally, m-governance cannot succeed till we ensure cyber security for m-governance in India. Till now even the basic level cyber security is missing in India and we have no cyber security policy in India. Further, the IT Act 2000 need to be suitably amended or a dedicated legislation for m-governance must be enacted in India.

All these issues are integral part of the m-governance policy of India. Before jumping upon the fancy idea of m-governance we must ensure that it can operate and flourish in India.

Legal Framework For E-Governance In India

Electronic governance in India (e-governance in India) is still at its infancy stage. Most of the e-governance projects of India under the national e-governance plan (NEGP) are still in the pipeline despite the deadline being passed long before. This is despite the fact that thousand of crores of public money has already been utilised for e-governance projects of India but without any constructive and practical results.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has once again issued $ 150 million loan to India. It has been issued under the category of e-delivery of public services development policy loan of India. The purpose of the loan is to ensure e-services delivery policy in India that is presently missing.

However, what is more alarming is the fact that in India we have no legal framework for e-governance that can ensure mandatory e-governance services in India. Although the information technology act 2000 carries provisions pertaining to e-governance services in India yet they are “non mandatory” in nature. This has resulted in a poor e-governance services delivery in India. Till now we have no legal framework that mandates that citizens and organisations can claim e-governance as a matter of right.

Further, the scope of NEGP is very wide covering almost all aspects of governance - right from delivery of services and provision of information to business process re-engineering within the different levels of government and its institutions. It is essential that NGP is implemented, monitored and regulated through a legal framework so that it is no more just a plan but reality.

In fact, while implementing the NEGP, various structural and institutional issues have already arisen which clearly call for a statutory mandate for their resolution. The purpose would be to give statutory mandate to the institutional entities, setting up of a separate fund, defining responsibilities and providing for time frames and oversight mechanisms. Thus, this legislation may, inter alia, contain provisions regarding the following:

(a) Definition of e-governance in the Indian context, its objectives and role,

(b) Coordination and oversight mechanisms, support structures at various levels, their functions and responsibilities,

(c) Role, functions and responsibilities of government organisations at various levels,

(d) Mechanism for financial arrangements including public-private partnership,

(e) Specifying the requirements of a strategic control framework for e-government projects dealing with statutory and sovereign functions of the government,

(f) Responsibility for selection and adoption of standards and inter-operability framework,

(g) Framework for cyber security, privacy protection, data security and data protection etc,

(h) Parliamentary oversight mechanism, and

(i) Mechanism for co-ordination between government organisations at Union and State levels.

E-Delivery Of Public Services Development Policy Loan Of India

E-Delivery of Public Services is the testing bed for any successful E-Governance Project. If essential Public Services cannot be delivered through use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), there is no successful E-Governance implementation.

In India as well essential Public Services are still not successfully integrated with ICT and E-Governance has to cover a long distance before it becomes successful in India. India’s ranking in E-Readiness and E-Governance is declining year after year and India is still not bothered about this fact.

This situation does not “Justify” the usage of crores of public money on E-Governance Projects in India when there are no “Results” of such huge spending. The Government of India (GOI) and the World Bank recently signed another Loan Agreement of $150 million for the E-Delivery of Public Services Development Policy Loan under the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) of India.

However, even this loan would not change the position in India till we have a “Mandatory E-Governance Legal Framework” in India. The Information Technology Act 2000 is the sole Cyber Law of India that carries few provisions pertaining to E-Governance as well. However, The IT Act 2000 has made E-Governance in India “Non Mandatory” and here lies the whole problem.

If we do not make E-Governance Mandatory and we do not lay down “Deadlines” till which E-Governance Infrastructure must be established in India, public money would be wasted for ever. It is high time for India to ensure Mandatory E-Governance Services in India through a Legal Framework.

The Government and Indian Bureaucrats need to change their mindset and stress more upon “Outcomes and Services” rather than mere ICT procurement. India needs a “Services-Based Approach” that is not only Transparent, Accountable and Legal but also backed by a more efficient and willing Government. Presently the Bureaucrats and Government of India are in a “Resistance Mode” towards novel and effective E-Governance Policies and Strategies and they are merely “Computerising” traditional official functions only. This is benefiting neither the Government nor the citizens and is resulting in wastage of thousands of crores of public money and loans amount of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank.

The Governmental will and leadership is missing in India. To worsen the situation the Government of India is concentrating more upon the image rather than upon the end results. The grassroots level action is missing and the benefits of ICT are not reaching to the under privileged and deserving masses due to defective ICT Strategies and Policies of Indian Government. India is suffering from the “Vicious Circle” of defective E-Governance, as the basic input .i.e. governance itself is poor. India needs a “Virtuous Circle” of E-Governance through “Good Governance” that would have multiplication and amplification effect upon E-Governance efforts of Indian Government.

Some have even alleged that E-Delivery of Public Services in India is missing and World Bank is not at all interested in establishing Transparency and Accountability in Indian NEGP. World Bank must ensure accountability of Indian NEGP in order to show that its Loans are actually meant for growth and development of Indian masses rather than benefiting few Politicians and Bureaucrats as is happening right now.

Meanwhile, India must seriously consider formulating a Mandatory E-Governance Legal Framework that is not only Transparent but also Accountable. Further, if time limits are not set to achieve Mandatory E-Governance Services in India, all other efforts would fail. Let us see how “Serious” our Indian Government is regarding providing Mandatory E-Governance Services in India.

Online Police Verification Of Passport Applications In Bangalore

If you make an application to passport office for a passport the same is transferred to local police station for verification of the antecedents of the applicant. The entire procedure takes lots of time. Bangalore has shown a novel method of reducing this time to a great extent.

In Bangalore the physical transfer of passport applications to the police has been eliminated with the setting up of a direct online link with the passport office. This would reduce the time taken for processing applications. Commissioner of Police Seemant Kumar Singh has informed that the computer terminal had already been set up in this regard.

This would eliminate the process of physically transferring the applications from the passport office to the police stations concerned for verification and back. Applications would be sent to the commissioner's office from where it would be directed to the station concerned. After verification, the digital signature of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) would clear the application on behalf of the Police Commissioner. After that applications would be returned to the passport office online.

Since it was a new unit, the passport office in Bangalore had to assign a new digital signature for the office. Because of the delay in setting up the computer terminal, 1,000 applications were pending with the Police Commissioner for verification.

This is an ambitious initiative and if managed properly can be a good example of use of e-governance for better delivery of public services in India.

Electronic Service Delivery In India Proposed

One of the main problems with Indian e-governance initiatives is that mandatory electronic delivery of services is missing in India. We have no mandatory e-governance services framework in India. Till now there is no provision under which citizens could ask for mandatory electronic delivery of services from the Indian government.

However, with the proposed draft Electronic Delivery of Services Bill 2011 (EDS Bill 2011) Indian government has for the first time shown its willingness to provide e-governance services in India. However, the real problem with Indian e-governance initiatives in general and proposed ESD Bill 2011 in particular is that legal framework for mandatory electronic services delivery in India is still missing from it.

The Department of Information Technology (DIT) of the Central Government has, through a written communication, sought suggestions of the State Government on the draft Electronic Service Delivery Bill-2011.
The proposed ESD Bill 2011 would make it mandatory for all government departments to deliver public services in electronic mode within a stipulated period of time.

As per the ESD Bill 2011, it would be required by all government departments to identify the basket of citizen centric services to be delivered through electronic means alongwith the stipulated timelines and service levels for each service. Each department would have to fix the timelines for mandatory electronic service delivery. However, no department would exceed a cutoff date fixed for the country. Its benefits would include efficient, transparent and reliable delivery of web enabled public services in a definite and time bound manner to citizens, thereby transforming Governance.

The implementation of the Act would be monitored by Electronic Services Delivery Commissions to be constituted at both Central and State levels. The ESD Bill 2011 has been proposed as a direct consequence of the e-delivery of public services development policy loan by the World Bank.

Recently the World Bank and Indian government signed a loan agreement of $150 million for the e-delivery of public services in India. The loan has been granted as the e-delivery of public services development policy loan to be utilised under the national e-governance plan of India (NEGP). However, till now neither a policy nor a legal framework has been established by India in this regard.

Open Source Policy Of India Needed

Although we have an open standards policy in India yet there is no clear cut and dedicated open source policy of India. Open source policy essential requires use of open source software and hardware for governmental project and governmental services.

A major portion of funds in India are utilised for procuring closed source and proprietary software and hardware. This is despite the fact that free and open source hardware and software are available.

For instance, although open source operating system Ubuntu is freely available yet Indian government and its departments force use of proprietary Microsoft Windows operating systems. Even websites of government departments have been created in such a manner that they require proprietary web browsers to use them effectively.

Recently, the World Bank and Indian government signed a loan agreement of $150 million for the e-delivery of public services in India. The loan has been granted as the e-delivery of public services development policy loan to be utilised under the national e-governance plan of India (NEGP). We must urgently formulate an effective open source policy of India so that electronic delivery of services in India can be ensured at the minimum cost.

India must also formulate a mandatory e-governance services framework. Presently, we have no such legal framework and in the absence of the same e-governance cannot be effective and successful in India. India has proposed electronic delivery of services bill 2011 but it has still to be made an enforceable law. Even the proposed e-delivery of service bill is silent on open source usage in India.

India must urgently formulate effective and robust open source usage policy. The sooner it is formulated the better it would be for the larger interest of India.