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Relevance to citizens
Relevance to citizens
Prof. Subhash Bhatnagar of Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad pointed out that a project should be judged by its positive impact
upon citizens and not by the technology employed. By Nagesh M Joshi
Prof. Subhash Bhatnagar of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad |
The number of mature e-Governance projects is quite limited
in India, according to an Impact Assessment Study commissioned by the Department
of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India. The study observed that
state governments had a long way to go in terms of the number of services offered
to citizens. “Relevance to citizens should be given paramount importance,
and not the technology used,” said Prof. Subhash Bhatnagar of Indian Institute
of Management, Ahmedabad while presenting the findings of the study at the Technology
Sabha, Kovalam.
DIT had commissioned a nationwide survey covering 36 eGovernance
projects in 12 Indian states. It had appointed the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad as an advisor and empanelled 11 market research agencies to carry
out the research. The concerned agencies were IMRB International; ACNielsen
ORG MARG; TNS Mode; eValue Serve; Centre for Science, Development & Media
Studies; Development & Research Services; Infrastructure Professional Enterprise,
Research & Development Initiative; Development Management Trust; Administrative
Staff College of India; and Management Development Institute.
The Government of India is keen to understand the nature
and the kind of impact that eGovernance projects implemented by various states
are having upon the common citizen. Historically, a limited amount of credible
data has been available about the impact of e-Governance projects. Through this
exercise, DIT wants to ensure that the funds and the efforts deployed in e-Governance
projects provide commensurate value. The survey, therefore, can also help in
creating benchmarks for service delivery for future projects to achieve and
surpass, and to make informed course-corrections for projects under implementation.
Survey findings
For each of the 36 projects about 800 randomly selected respondents spread over
20 locations in a state were surveyed. The universe for the 36 projects was
said to be in the neighborhood of 20 million. The surveyed sample of 25,000
respondents was large enough to provide reasonably accurate generalizations
about the overall impact.
The study mainly covered three basic services—the computerization of land
records, registration of property and marriage deeds at the sub-registrar level,
and the issuance of vehicle registration and driving licenses. The states covered
were Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa,
Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
The survey found that for all the three services, during the pre-project implementation
phase, the manual service delivery was poor in almost all the states. The citizens
had to make two to eight trips to government offices for these services. The
waiting time in all those cases too was high, i.e. one to six hours. However,
after computerization, the number of trips to government offices reduced to
one to two trips. For example, in Orissa, a citizen had to make eight visits
for land records related services earlier. However, now the average number of
trips has come down to less than six. Similarly, in Haryana, citizens made more
than seven trips for transport-related services. e-Governance initiatives in
the state had effectively brought down the number of visits to less than five.
See graph: Impact on trips
Waiting time for citizens had reduced by 20 to 40% post-implementation.
For property-related issues, the wait time for the citizens in the offices of
the Tamil Nadu government was 3.75 hours. Post-implementation, this came down
to two hours. See graph: Impact on waiting time
The assessment study also revealed that there had been an improvement in the
quality of services offered by various departments across the country following
these implementations.
It found that there was an overwhelming preference by citizens for e-Governance
initiatives in their respective states. Only West Bengal and Delhi were exceptions
to this rule. Prof. Bhatnagar commented, “Further investigation revealed
that people who had the clout to manipulate a system, preferred the manual system.
Indirectly, their response further highlighted the need for computerization.”
Overall, the citizens who were interviewed reported direct cost savings in the
range of Rs 50 to 100 on the account of e-Governance. For example, in Uttarakhand,
the average amount spent by citizens for land records related matters was Rs
400. Post-computerization, it had dipped below Rs 200.
Advance warnings
Prof. Bhatnagar listed out some key lessons learnt from the study:
- Given the significant benefits that eGovernance
projects have derived, it is necessary for the central government to push
the nationwide eGovernance agenda.
- The variation in impact across states and projects
suggests that greater emphasis on design and reengineering is needed. There
also is a need to learn from the best practices in the eGovernance domain.
- Media must focus on benefits to citizens rather
than use of technology in its reporting about eGovernance.
nagesh.joshi@expressindia.com
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