"Mirror, mirror on the wall/ who is the best e-governed of us all?" If States in India are sized up for their e-readiness, coupled with levels of satisfaction among citizens and industry, the results could turn up a few surprises — as a recent study by technology consultant IDC and Dataquest magazine has shown.
One of the smallest States, Goa, is also the best e-governed, the study found, followed by Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. If the leaders in each of the four regions are reckoned, Assam in the East, Goa (West), Karnataka (South) and Delhi (North) are at the top.
The survey covered 20 States and 3033 citizens and business users equally divided between urban and rural areas.
Criteria
Ranking was done based on perception — as well as actual state of readiness for e-governance.
`Bottom of the class' — according to the survey — is Uttar Pradesh, preceded by Rajasthan, Punjab, Orissa and Himachal Pradesh.
This too is somewhat surprising — since Orissa and Rajasthan have been in the news for their e-governance achievements. The "aam janatha" does not always give a thumbs-up for high profile schemes that may capture headlines in an uncritical media.
The study finds that the corporate world was least happy with Northern States such as Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, while Assam scored high for its passport services and Gujarat for power initiatives.
The full report is featured in the current (March 15) issue of Dataquest. It says Goa, the champion State, "has a clear and comprehensive IT vision in place... based on using IT to improve productivity in government and to provide efficient services to their citizens."
It highlights initiatives for improved tax collection, speedy tax assessments, increasing employment in the IT sector and export earnings from IT-related products and services.
Karnataka second
In the case of the no. 2-ranked State, Karnataka — the pioneers of e-governance — the report suggests that "changing political dispensations have led to the impression that the current government is not IT-savvy" but admits that "most of these apprehensions were misplaced."
The recent budget made an enhanced central provision for e-governance amounting to Rs. 719 crore, while the support for State-level initiatives was increased from Rs. 300 crore to Rs. 500 crore. But while this is good news, money has not been the reason why e-governance has not taken off in many States, feels Prasanto K. Roy, Chief Editor of the Dataquest.
In a special interaction with The Hindu on Saturday, Mr. Roy said: "A lot of funds earmarked for e-governance remains unused every year. E-governance goes hand in hand with good basic governance — which is why the southern States and Maharashtra have fared better than many others."
If however, States such as Kerala (overall rank 11) and Tamil Nadu (rank 8) do not come up higher in the list, the reason lay in the priority of these States which went after foreign and institutional investments in the IT sector, quite successfully — particularly in Tamil Nadu — without an equal emphasis on better governance.
"Defining year"
Nevertheless Mr. Roy predicted that 2007-08 would be a "defining year for e-governance in India," with many pilot projects being converted into permanent initiatives for better citizen services and governance.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Anand Parthasarathy
Quelle/Source: The Hindu, 18.03.2007
