E-Governance Update: 28/7/09

HCL INFOSYTEMS TAKES UP PROJECT TO DISPERSE NREGA WAGES IN UP
Mumbai
The Economic Times  The Hindu Business Line  

HCL Infosystems on Monday said it has undertaken a project with the Uttar Pradesh government to facilitate disbursement of wages to workers under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) project.

As per the project, HCL Infosystems would implement technology for issuing e-job cards to workers in Sitapur district of UP.

"We are sure that using technology will further facilitate on-ground implementation of NREGA and the benefits of this initiative will reach the right individuals and thereby multiply its impact on the society," HCL Infosystems Executive vice-president George Paul said in a release.

As part of the phase one of the project, 1,000 e-job cards would be issued, it said.

E-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES STAY ON RADAR
New Delhi
The Financial Express

In a seminar on “e-governance in India—the journey so far and the road ahead,” the role of key stakeholders in e-governance projects including the government, industry and civil society and progress made by them was discussed.

E-governance senior director SP Singh at the department of information technology (DIT) said, “The government has made progress on the infrastructure front in e-governance which can be seen through the state-wide area networks, state data centres and common service centres that have been developed. The next level would be required from service providers in terms of modules they will offer and also the service levels they will live up to.”

BUREAUCRACY TRIES TO STALL E-GOVERNANCE
New Delhi
The Asian Age

The bureaucracy, which was popularly called the "steel frame" of the governance system in India during British rule, has been showing its steely resolve to stall the government’s attempt to make their work process e-enabled, as it is wary of loosing the "aura" of being the ruler.

The government, however, on its part to enhance level of performance and accountability among otherwise immune "babus", through department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG), has recently circulated the first draft of the Central Secretariat manual of e-office procedure, a soft copy of which is with this newspaper.

The draft, prepared by National Institute of Smart Government (NISG), Hyderabad and PricewaterhouseCoopers, while improving upon the existing procedural manual, suggests that the procedures prescribed are intend to enable the office processes in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) enabled environment. "This manual takes care of the present scenario demanding simplified, responsive, effective and transparent working of government offices with the help of state of art cost effective technologies available in the market," it added.

The manual also emphasizes that the procedures have been improved keeping the core spirit of previous manual in consideration but incorporating procedures to support electronic environment and introducing transformational opportunities after due deliberations to give modern look to government offices.

Though the manual takes care of the issues relating to legality, privacy and official secrecy, bureaucrats expressed their reluctance to adopt the suggestions. "Improved security of e-files will be possible with the help of modern security services offered by specialised software packages. Further the digital signature technology will help in proper authentication and possible usage and legality of e-files on par with paper files/ documents," the manual asserts. However, most of the bureaucrats, who were contacted by this newspaper, showed reluctance to work in a paperless environment.

NILEKANI LOGS OUT OF TWITTER
Johnson TA, Bangalore
The Indian Express

Having become the chairman of the Unique Identity Development Authority of India with a Cabinet minister’s rank, Infosys co-founder and former CEO Nandan Nilekani has logged out of his blog and Twitter accounts.

Nilekani, who began his Imagining India blog and Twitter accounts in the run up to the release and subsequent promotion of his book Imagining India, signed off from his blog on July 23 and provided a last post on Twitter linking up to the final blog on July 24.

“In my new role, I can no longer comment on government policy. So this means the end of this blog. The blogging format was new to me, and I greatly enjoyed writing here and listening to your thoughts these past few months,” Nilekani who assumed office as the UIDAI chairman on July 23 said in the final blog.

Answering questions as to why he accepted the appointment of the UIDAI chairman, Nilekani says he saw the opportunity to head the authority as a chance to enable ideas he has supported for a long time.