E-Governance and Change Management in India

Asoke K. Laha,
President & MD,
Interra IT

Anybody aware of e-governance would agree that this is more a tool of empowerment, an agent of change management than scaling up of information and computer industry (ICT) accessories and resources. There would be a number of challenges of making it happen and the most redoubtable of them is the resistance from inside the concerned department or ministry. The important areas of problems do not seem to be technology or skill but rescheduling of processes and policies, clarity and transparency of data, legal issues, infrastructure and awareness, availability of correct information, coordination between concerned agencies and departments, human or attitudinal resistance towards change, etc.

Of course, there are other challenges like necessary infrastructure and helplines for e-governance like availability of power, connectivity, etc.  The twin factors of falling prices of bandwidth and increased and widened reach of service providers have considerably reduced the quantum of these challenges in India over the last decade. Major VSAT providers have helped change ICT management in a big way aided by major telecom providers offering leased lines in the previously inaccessible regions.  A number of state governments have implemented state wide area networks (SWANs), customized applications and specialized data banks. NIC, the agency responsible for promoting e-governance in the country, has provided VSAT countries at the district level across the country. There are, however, some issues, such as standardization, interoperability, security and propriety vs open source.

The other challenges lie in the areas like awareness of local needs and plugging into them, connectivity, content, building human team and skills, e-commerce and sustainability. Some of the challenges for growth of e-governance in India are the need of integrated services, more coordination and interchange of data and ideas between different departments, human leadership to drive campaigns and projects, population factor (which is both a strength and challenge), variety of languages, etc.

The most key challenge, however, remains to be a human one. The people-in-power know that digital empowerment imparts education to people and some of the powerful people are opposed to this. The policy of colonial British Government to divide and rule still persists in our minds and hidden strategy. On the other hand, uneducated people mostly believe that computers would deprive them of their bread and butter. We need massive self-motivation and very proactive awareness campaigns to make people of different categories and economic classes to buy in e-governance in spirit and not merely in letters.

The computer and digital training is, therefore, a basic necessity like physical or maths or music something children should know from the beginning how to use and leverage. The other challenges will fall in their own place only after that and we will be able to achieve success in e-governance by understanding and participation across geographic, economic, age and gender differences.