Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - A Ram-Ban for Rural Development in Uttar Pradesh : An Overview

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1 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - A Ram-Ban for Rural Development in Uttar Pradesh : An Overview Harish Kumar Taluja 1, Anuradha Taluja 2 1. Asstt. Professor, Krishna Engineering College, Ghaziabad harishtaluja@gmail.com 2. M.Tech (I sem) CSE, CDAC-Noida anutaluja@gmail.com Abstract: E-governance is not really about technology. It is about people, processes, and results using Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to improve the transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness of public institutions. Information Technology is helping to meet daily challenges in the developing world. Just as the whole universe is contained in the Self, so is India contained in the villages This has been said by none other than Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our Nation and the visionary architect of India s Rural Development Programmes. Much before IT was recognized as the Sunrise Sector and the driving force behind the economy and the nation, the sun had already risen on it in India specially Uttar Pradesh. Known as the land of Unlimited Potential UP is still the prime destination for National and International IT companies due to its close proximity to the national capital, New Delhi, highly developed infrastructure and a rich source of disciplined labor and technical manpower Noida and Greater Noida are fast emerging as one of the largest IT hubs in the world for RIM, BPO, Call Centers and other related businesses. No wonder companies like Wipro, HCL, Adobe, Intel, and Microsoft have either setup their bases in Noida or Greater Noida, or are in process of doing so. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has the capability to provide developing nations with an unprecedented opportunity to meet vital development goals and thus empower them to leapfrog several stages of their development far more effectively than before. It is argued that those nations that succeed in harnessing the potential of ICT can look forward to greatly expand economic growth, dramatically improved human welfare, and stronger forms of democratic governance, thus playing a specific role in furthering and enhancing sustainable development. ICT offers government the opportunity to quickly change the way it functions so that citizens are provided with what they need speedily and conveniently. ICT provides the means to reach the masses with information and services in the fastest and most cost effective manner. For a densely populated state like U.P. with a large land area the rapid use of ICT is of greater urgency to enable it to raise the development level of the state as a whole. This paper presents a brief review of the technologies, the rural ICT projects and the issues associated with the use of ICT for rural e-governance applications. Introduction: E-governance is a way for governments to use the new technologies (ICT) to provide people with more convenient access to government information and services, to improve the quality of the services and to provide greater opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes. The adoption of e-government innovation and

2 strategic planning will have benefits for government in the delivery of more effective and efficient information and services to the citizens. The vision statement clearly articulates the key themes of the government s future E-Government direction, which are: Empowering the masses- The citizens should have ready access to the information on government processes and duties. This would make the government more accountable. Better Service Delivery- The citizens should have easier access to services, flexibility in the choice of the channel, with similar level of quality and security. Economic Development- The overall standard of the living of the citizens must improve and the state must become a favoured destination for the people and the businesses The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being increasingly used by the governments to deliver its services at the locations convenient to the citizens. The rural ICT applications attempt to offer the services of central agencies (like district administration, cooperative union, and state and central government departments) to the citizens at their village door steps. These applications utilize the ICT in offering improved and affordable connectivity and processing solutions. Some of the important observations based on its evaluations of some of the projects of e-governance i. Design of citizen-centric services and dependable service delivery mechanisms. ii. Selection of appropriate (dependable, maintainable and cost effective) technologies for rural connectivity and information processing solutions. iii. Design of cost-effective delivery stations (kiosks) to enable private entrepreneurs operate the services profitably and build new services for sustainability iv. Re-engineering of back-end processes and introduction of changes that take advantage of the storage, processing and distribution powers of the emerging ICTs v. Ensuring employee participation with well designed change management processes vi. Demonstration of transparency and efficiency to remove distrust and build confidence among the citizens on the functioning of service delivery mechanisms. vii. Inviting private participation to reduce the burden on the central servicing agency, bring in the expertise, enhance the speed of implementation, and offer better value proposition to the citizens. viii. Identifying and preparing project champions, ensuring appropriate tenures, facilitating smooth transition, and internalization of the changed procedures. ICT Infrastructure envisioned for RD Domain Based on an understanding of the information requirements (type of information, producers & consumers of information, periodicity of generation & consumption etc.) described above, a vision of the kind of ICT infrastructure that should be available in the entire RD domain is conceived below. It goes without saying that a wellplanned strategy would need to be adopted to realize the vision. ICT Component Desktop computers Intranet Description To made available in every official desk where information is generated or consumed. Every department/agency to have a secure intranet. Access to all Information Systems needed by employees to carry out the business mandate of the department will be accessed through the intranet. The Internet will also be

3 accessed only through the organization-wide Intranet. RDNET A secure extranet that connects intranets of all agencies so as to enable secure exchange of information and transactions (financial as well as nonfinancial). The RDNET will be a high-speed, broadband network with support for audio, video and data. level Policy Infrastructure Policy Infrastructure for the entire RD Domain level Security Infrastructure services Video Conferencing facility Digital Certificates Every department to have policies in place for smooth adoption of ICTs in the work environment. The policies may relate to various aspects such as process reengineering, change management, standards (data, metadata, information exchange, interoperability, technology, security) etc. Besides policy infrastructure for each department/agency, policies would also be required to ensure smooth sharing of information among departments. In particular, domain-wide policies would be required to establish domain ontology, domainspecific standards for data, metadata, information exchange, interoperability etc. This is important, mainly at points of information exchange. This is required to ensure infrastructure security, information security, application-level security etc. To all employees of the departments/agencies who either generate or consume information. To all departments/agencies. A least, the facility should be within easy reach of the department/agency. To all employees of the departments/agencies who either generate or consume information to enable them to undertake legal electronic exchange of information while interacting with people within the same and/or different departments/agencies as well as with citizens and businesses ICT Infrastructure for Rural e-governance Applications: The rural ICT solutions are normally offered through internet portals hosted on a delivery web server to provide access to the citizens through inexpensive internet medium. The information flow between the delivery server and the other departments is accomplished through Intranet / LAN connectivity with servers of those departments (if exist) [13]. Successful E-Governance Projects: UP has established leadership in many e-governance initiatives. However, the transformation from being an IT laggard state to becoming a front runner in the race for various National and International awards for excellence in e-governance applications has been made possible due to hard work, grit and determination of the State Government, IT Professionals involved in the projects and the people. UP is also one of the largest and the most populous state of the country. It requires huge efforts for implementing

4 projects/applications across the state, and supporting them. Here, I would like to applaud the services of NIC in UP, for their enthusiastic and untiring efforts, and active role in transforming the State Government s IT vision into reality. E-Governance projects in UP cover the entire spectrum of interfaces - G2G, G2C, G2B, G2E, and G2S. However, the major achievements of the e-governance initiatives of the state have been development of IT culture in government functioning, quicker and faster delivery of services to the people, change in mindset and attitude of government employees and transparency in government procedures. Some of the successful projects of the state include - Lokvani it is one of the pioneering initiatives of e- governance in the State. A recipient of the Golden Icon award at the 9th National Conference of e-governance in the service delivery category, the project is a unique model of Citizen Grievance Redressal System. Treasury Computerization - one of the few government sector projects to have been certified by ISO, the treasury computerization in the state is one fine example of G2G and G2C interfaces. Benefiting more than six lakh pensioners of the state the software has been implemented in all 73 treasuries of the state, and provides information over IVRS and web. Bhulekh the land records computerization in UP started as an application especially for farmers but with concepts such as Khatauni on Web, RoR Aapke Dwar the project has benefited government, banks, NGOs and all other stakeholders. Implemented in all the 305 tehsils of the state, the project has been instrumental in bridging the digital divide to a great extent. Vahan The state has already computerized the major activities (Registration, Tax Collection, Permits, etc) of 19 RTO and ARTO offices. The project will be extended to all the RTOs of the state in the next couple of years. Telemedicine UP was among the first in the country to have started the telemedicine project. Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences and IIT Kanpur have successfully implemented the project in rural areas of the state. There are numerous other projects like Property and Land Registry System, GIS based Planning Atlas, Online Counseling for UP Technical University, Results on Web, Nagar Nigam computerization, File Monitoring System and web based MPR, which are providing better services to the citizens and MIS for the administrators and policy makers. The IT roadmap for enhancing e-governance penetration in rural areas is ready with projects that will give a boost to the IT infrastructure in the state like State Wide Area Network, State Data Centre, Centre for Excellence, etc, and with projects that will extend the fruits of ITES to people of far-flung and remote areas of the state like Community Service Centers, Citizen Information Kiosks, Jan Mitra Ekal Seva Kendra, etc. Conclusion: ICT to improve governance are myriad. The most obvious is simply putting an end to the sea of paper documents that flood many government offices, and storing information in digital form where it can be easily accessed and transferred to wherever it s needed. Electronic platforms enable better accounting, statistics, and public sector planning and spending. Internet portals allow a huge savings in time and money for obtaining business permits, sometimes eliminating days of walking or waiting for an entrepreneur. Based on these observations and other experiences, we

5 consider the following as major factors responsible for successful implementation and sustenance of ICT projects for social development: Degree of efficiency and transparency demonstrated in citizen services Extent of reduction in cost and improvement of convenience for citizens Extent of reengineering and improvement of back-end services Extent of Integration of backend processes with frontend and web site Degree of employee involvement and change management Amenability for Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement Strength of PPP arrangement in the application development Strength of PPP arrangement in the service delivery Enhancement of Revenue for the government and the service provider Technological robustness of the project So we can conclude that It act as a Ram Ban for Rural Development In Uttar Pradesh. References: [1]CEG, IIMA, An Evaluation of Gyandoot, World Bank, 2002 [2]. CEG, IIMA, Computerized Interstate Check Posts of Gujarat State, India, A Cost Benefit Evaluation Study, DF, World Bank, 2002 [3]. CEG, IIMA, Dairy Information Services Kiosk and Dairy Portal, Proceedings of CEG Workshop at IIMA, [4]. CEG, IIMA, Citizen Services Portal, [5]. IT Action Plan Part III, Long Term National IT Plan, IT Policies of Indian States, [6]. n-logue Communications, [7]. PicoPeta Simputers Pvt.Ltd., [8]. MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, [9]. Public Affairs Center, Bangalore, Report Card on service of Bhoomi Kiosks, F, World Bank, 2002 [10]. APCIO Training Programme, [11]. Rama Rao, T.P., Venkata Rao, V., Bhatnagar S.C., and Satyanarayana J., E-Governance Assessment Frameworks, E-Governance Division, Department of Information Technology, May [12] Zohra Chatterji, IAS, Principal Secretary, IT and E, Government of Uttar [13] Rama Rao, T.P. ICT and e-governance for Rural Development.