E-Governance: 16/7/09

NILEKANI & EGOV: A 7-YEAR TRYST
Pankaj Mishra, Bangalore
The Economic Times

For Nandan Nilekani, eGovernance has been a labour of love. For seven years he has been quietly pursuing his passion with a not-for-profit trust that he founded before he was plucked out of India’s second largest software exporter by the prime minister to lead the country’s most ambitious eGovernance project.

eGovernments Foundation, into which he has poured Rs 15 crore from his personal wealth, is an example and a pointer to the way Nilekani will manage the Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI) - the world’s biggest citizen database project.

The foundation, which he set up with former Silicon Valley engineer Srikanth Nadhamuni, has equipped Nilekani with expertise in implementing eGovernance projects and provided him with a ready pool resources should he decide to tap into it. eGovernments Foundation is a window into the thinking of the man who will shepherd the effort to give every Indian citizen a unique identity card.

What started as a not-for-profit venture to help the cause of eGovernance in India is now evolving into a serious, commercial business. eGovernments now plans to become a ‘for profit’ venture to fund its growth and ensure that at least the costs are covered. Today, software from eGovernments helps around 250 municipal bodies in towns and cities across India to manage their inventory, property tax collection and public grievance redressal. The solutions automate these processes and allow users and officials get a bird’s eye view of what’s happening. Customers such as the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) are now allowing online payment of property tax by citizens using software from eGovernments. The corporation is also able to track all projects being executed across each and every street in their municipal limits using a sophisticated Geographical Information System (GIS).

“We are running Oracle at the back end, but eGovernments has provided us software for property tax and finance,” said an NDMC official.

“It’s not pricey to begin with. Moreover, the software is a very comfortable experience, both for our officials and the citizens who can now avoid long queues,” he added.

Officials at municipal corporations such as Bangalore’s BBMP are seeing the benefit of using a software that addresses their specific needs.

“We have been using their property tax solution, and now have a much better visibility on receipts and dues - almost on an hourly basis,” a Karnataka government official said.

In Ramanagaram near Bangalore, citizens are now able to get birth certificates within hours of birth because of a module that is integrated with a government hospital. Hundreds of towns in Karnataka now use the birth registration software developed by eGovernments.

“Our software competes with the best; we have put ourselves on the line, we have to get into the trenches now,” says Nadhamuni.

As India seeks to modernise its complex government systems and processes with the help of technology, there is an opportunity for many emerging ventures to evolve as country’s next Infosys or a Wipro in the eGovernance market.

The decision to become a for-profit venture came about after the foundation realised that giving away things free has its drawbacks. Commitment by users is not guaranteed and in any case eGovernments had to compete with the biggest and the best in the software business just to make its solutions available. Also, having achieved a substantial customer base, there was a compelling need for eGovernments to start operating like a more serious venture and generate enough cash to support salary and other costs.

“If we don’t charge anything, people can just unplug the software any day. Buying commercial software also makes the government more accountable,” says Nadhamuni.

Around the time that eGovernments was looking for somebody with sufficient zeal and business expertise to help it transform into a commercial venture without overlooking the foundation’s original cause of improving governance standards, Arun Ramu, who was heading Infosys’ $500 million product engineering and validation business, was also looking for a change. After leaving Infosys in August last year, he decided to meet the company’s founders S D Shibulal and Nilekani to find out if there are any opportunities to work in the social sector. “Nandan said that eGovernments wanted somebody to scale up the operation and take charge,” recalls Ramu, who joined eGovernments Foundation as its chief executive in November last year.

NILEKANI, PLAN PANEL DISCUSS PROGRESS MADE IN UID PROJECT
New Delhi
The Indian Express

Keen to settle down in his new assignment as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, Nandan Nilekani today began formal deliberations with the Planning Commission on the contours of the authority.

Nilekani, the corporate face of the commission, held a comprehensive meeting with the top brass of the plan panel, including its deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, to ascertain the progress made so far and the way forward on the crucial task entrusted to him by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“Today, we gave a formal presentation to him (Nilekani) on the progress so far in the UID project. He had queries to which we gave our replies,” plan panel secretary Subas Pani said. The former Infosys co-chairman “was quite inquisitive” during the course of the meeting, trying to ascertain dry details on ways to collate and utilise the available official database — BPL card, EC identity card — and utilise them under a single platform.

“This is the first of the series of meetings to be held in coming days. He said the project has made progress and the process would be taken forward in due course,” Pani added.

The top officials of the commission are understood to favour establishing linkages between the UID project and the National Population Registry (NPR) databases, gathering photographs and fingerprints biometrics with NPR schedule and thereafter incorporating them to make an integrated UID database for various user organisations.

A source in the plan panel said Nilekani was confident of practically implementing the project within the timeframe. Under media glare ever since the announcement of his new assignment, the UID chief refused to comment on what transpired in the meeting. “I will not talk to media at least for a month,” was all he said. But the source said that he would likely take formal charge next week and would have his office in the commission.

HIMACHAL TO SET UP 3,366 LOK MITRA KENDRAS
PC Lohumi, Shimla
The Pioneer

Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to set up 3,366 Lok Mitra Kendras in the State to provide Information Technology (IT) services to the people at their “door-step” to take e-governance to Panchayati level.

The Government had launched the “paperless” governance programme on World Environment Day on June 5 and the process of computerisation was in full swing in most of the departments.

The computerisation of revenue records had almost been completed and the process of computerisation of records of courts and Public distribution system was almost complete. The ambitious HIMSWAN programme was being extended to sub-tehsil level and computer education was being imparted in all senior secondary schools in a phased manner.

STUDENTS GOING ABROAD TO BE REGISTERED, GOVT TO ENACT NEW LAW
Anirban Bhaumik, New Delhi
Deccan Herald

The Union government has embarked on a project to register the details of students going abroad for higher education.

The recent attacks on Indian students in Australia also prompted the government to ponder over deputing a counsellor exclusively for students in certain diplomatic missions abroad. The Centre is also contemplating a legislation to register and govern all agents and counsellors involved in the business of sending Indian students to study in foreign institutions.

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that the Ministry of External Affairs was expected to depute one officer in some diplomatic missions specifically for the purpose of looking after the welfare of students. He said the government had embarked upon the E-Governance in Emigration project to make the process of mobility of both students and workers from India to foreign countries simple, orderly and transparent with the help of information technology.

“As part of the project, the details of Indian students going overseas for education will also be registered. This will help establish a database of Indian students going abroad,” said the minister. He said the project was targeted for completion by the end of 2011.