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.

E-Courts Project Of India

Electronic court in India (e-courts in India) is an attempt of Indian government to utilise information and communication technology (ICT) for effective justice administration in India. E-courts project of India is a part and parcel of the national e-governance plan of India (NEGP) and is implemented as a mission mode project of NEGP.

E-courts were first conceived in the year 2003 where it was declared that e-courts would be established in India till the end of year 2003. However, even after passing of 8 years of that deadline, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court in India. Till the writing of this article, India does not have even a single e-court.

An e-court is different from computerised court. In the case of e-court everything is done in an “online environment” through the use of Internet and other ICT technologies whereas a computerised court is nothing more than a court having computers and basic level hardware and software.

E-courts essentially involve use of ICT from the stage of dispute to its final adjudication. Everything pertaining to a dispute happens in cyberspace and the parties to the disputes, lawyers, judges, evidence production and analysis, etc all happens through use of ICT.

India has still not achieved this “capacity building” and all it has done in the name of e-courts is computerisation of some traditional clerical work. This is the reason why techno legal experts of India have expressed that we have no e-courts in India and this is also the truth.

India has to shift to the next stage of establishment of e-courts. The computerisation phase is long over and now we must concentrate upon “e-courts capacity development” aspect that is still missing. We have to ensure e-courts related skills development in India that is presently missing.

At Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) we are managing the exclusive techno legal e-courts research, education and training centre. It has been providing its suggestions for long and we hope these suggestions would help India in achieving the next stage of e-courts project of 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.