MagazineCoverage

E-Governance in Delhi assumes Greater Proportions

by VARINDIA 2010-04-14

Delhi is a cosmopolitan city. Its position as a centre for administration, economics, finance and services blends the modern infrastructure with a vibrant cultural and artistic heritage, the legacy of centuries of interesting history.

The strategic location of Delhi at the heart of Indian mainland has been attracting enterprising men for centuries. Its old town is exemplary and combines harmoniously with the most advanced and convenient urban infrastructure. Delhi offers a wide range of accommodation and services along with the most modern audio-visual and communication technology.

The rapid advancements in the fields of Information, Communication and Entertainment Technologies and the subsequent explosive growth of the information-intensive services sector have radically changed the world economic landscape. These changes have paved the way for a new society based on knowledge. This has further resulted in the new avenues of development, employment, productivity, efficiency and enhanced factors of economic growth. It is a well-known fact that information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a pivotal role for governments and public sector organizations to tackle the modern challenges of development and contribute towards advancing economic growth and improve the quality of life. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to drive good governance through effective e-Government initiatives with appropriate change management strategies, state-of-the-art technologies and sustainable public-private partnership models.

Governance and transparency in the government policies and processes are the main objectives within the e-Delhi initiative. The e-governance initiative of the Government of Delhi aims at ensuring transparency at all levels of government.

The Government of Delhi has recognized the huge potential of IT and decided to embark upon an ambitious journey to herald the benefits of IT to the people of the state. Delhi has realized this huge potential and, as a result, is on its way to emerge as a premier cyber state in the country with its citizens qualifying to be e-citizens.

The ICT initiatives started by the NCT of Delhi way back in 1999 have led to the introduction of computerized plastic driving licences.

The IT policy of the state of Delhi is characterized by Electronic Governance, Equality, Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Economy. The Government proposes to use e-governance as a tool and deliver a government that is more proactive and responsive to its citizens.

The state proposes to harness the power of IT to achieve the desired objectives of eradicating poverty, improving healthcare, empowering women and economically weaker sections of the society. The Right to Information Act that the government of Delhi proposes to enact will empower the people and ultimately deliver social and economic justice.

The use of IT in schools, colleges and educational institutions in the state of Delhi has been encouraged so as to enable the students to improve their skills, knowledge and job prospects and enable them to obtain employment in this sunrise industry.

IT has been recognized as a powerful tool for generating additional employment for the new digital economy. Taking a step in this direction, the Government has facilitated localization of software, so that the benefits of IT could be derived not only in the English language, but also in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.

The Government of NCT of Delhi had taken various steps to bring about transparency by providing citizen-friendly services. As a part of this endeavour, the Government of NCT of Delhi has initiated the following actions with emphasis on “preventive vigilance”. It is expected that the adoption of such measures would, in the long run, help the Government in curbing the menace of corruption and minimize it to a large extent.

Governance for the Citizens of Delhi

To achieve the objective of providing good governance to the citizens of Delhi, it was decided to -

® set up a dynamic website leading to e-governance for Departments/Agencies;

® provide online services, including services on e-applications;

® reduce citizens’ visit to offices and provide information electronically rather than over the counter; and make Delhi a cyber city. Action has already been initiated to achieve the above objectives by various departments/organizations under the Government of NCTD. B) “Bhagidari” – Citizen-Government Partnership Bhagidari, the citizen’s partnership in governance, –

® Is a means for facilitating citywide changes in Delhi.

® Utilizes processes and principles of multi-stakeholders (citizen groups, NGOs, the Government…) collaboration.

® Applies the method of Large Group Interactive Events.

® Aims to develop “joint ownership” by the citizens and government of the change process.

® Facilitates people’s participation in governance. The above initiatives, which were launched in January 2000, have become a movement and more than 1,100 citizen groups have become Bhagidars after having participated in various Bhagidari workshops. It has not only been successful in solving day-to-day problems of citizens, but has also been providing help to public utility departments in maintenance and updation of services.

Major initiatives taken under the Bhagidari Scheme during the year 2002 were:

® Water conservation and water harvesting by Delhi Jal Board and Urban Development Department

® Anti-plastic and anti-littering campaign by the Department of Environment and Forests

® Preferential treatment to senior citizens

® Reforms in hospital management and quality control by the Health and Family Welfare Department

® Students Welfare Committee for government schools

® Development of industries “Bhagidari” as a good governance initiative has attracted the attention of the Government of India, which has been documenting the movement right from its inception. The programme has also been circulated to other states for replication by the Government of India. The programme finds mention in the Annual Confidential Reports of all officers.

“Bhagidari” has received the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management International Award, 2002 for “Innovations in Governance”. It was also selected for entry to URBIS 2003 International Congress of Cities, Brazil as entry for”“Innovative Public Policy”. It was short-listed among the top forty Best Practices for UN-HABITAT Dubai International Award for Best Practices”– 2004.

“Bhagidari” has evolved as a platform available to the citizens to interact continuously with field-level officers and even with the Chief Minister directly. It has attempted to address issues arising from multiplicity of institutions and their overlapping functions. The programme has influenced the decision-making process and increased the accountability of the Government [Right to Information, Citizens’ Charters, Administrative Reforms]. Direct interface with citizen groups has helped to reduce corruption. In short, “Bhagidari” has redefined government f unctioning to make it more citizen-centric.

Right to Information Act The Delhi Government has enacted the Delhi Right to Information Act, 2001. It makes provision for securing information as a matter of right, barring some exemptions. The citizens can file an application with the competent authority of the concerned Department along with the fee and get information within 30 days. In case the information cannot be given, then a rejection letter with cogent reasons has to be issued.

Another citizen-centric initiative taken by the Government of Delhi has been an increase in the freedom of information. The government of NCT of Delhi has a law in place enabling the people to seek information from the Government. Many people are using the provisions of the Delhi Right to Information Act for getting information from government agencies. If government officers do not provide correct information, they run the risk of being penalized.

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started e-tendering from April 2005 with a vendor where MCD pays for each tender processed.

In order to improve the standard of primary education at MCD-run schools, MCD has started Sharda Project, under which students are given Computer Aided Learning. The project has been established in 1,000 Primary Schools by January 2005. Under this scheme, each school has been provided 5 computers and a faculty by MCD-selected vendors. Computer Aided Learning material for class III to V has been prepared on a set of 22 CDs.

The basic computer awareness training has been provided to 1,000 MCD employees. Training centres have been set up in 16 places, including in each of the six hospitals. These centres are also providing application- specific training. MCD assets like roads, buildings, schools, hospitals, etc. are being digitized. Efforts are also on to give Delhi properties a Unique property identification code. Arrangements are also being made to provide a computer each to the engineer and the inspector. The Delhi Government has also computerized the collection of property taxes.

The people can get birth and death certificates across the counter from any of the Citizen Service Centres run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as long as the birth or death occurred in hospital. These all bear testimony to the fact that the efforts of the Government of Delhi have started bearing fruit in terms of making the government more citizen-centric.

Collaborative efforts are a must for the delivery of quick and effective service. Taking a step in the direction, the Government of NCT of Delhi is working to improve the level of coordination within the administration, and these few examples demonstrate that IT has brought about a fundamental change in the way information is kept and shared amongst departments, and the way the public can interact with the Government.

The Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi is making use of IT for two purposes. It seeks to improve the internal efficiency of the departments and agencies and at the same time improves the Government-to-Citizen (G2C) interface. The endeavour of the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi is to have a system where the citizens can receive most of their services without visiting government offices. The Government is striving towards this direction.