Orissa fares worse than many African countries in terms of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). {Refer TNIE 20 July 2010; Tuesday} According to this report, 64% of the state’s population has been categorized as poor. Yet another report in the same newspaper tries to extol the attempts made under the national ICT program in association with UNDP for bridging the digital divide and expanding livelihood options. It highlights the establishment of Rural Knowledge Centers (Gyan O’ Soochana Kendras) in the most backward and remote pockets of the State.
With reference to the above, there are several similar e-Governance initiatives undertaken by various departments of the State with the support of the National Informatics Center (NIC). All such initiatives are meant to bridge the digital divide for empowering the citizen. However, here are some of my views and suggestions:
- Despite several initiatives undertaken by NIC, Orissa has a long way to go in terms of true Citizen Empowerment. Till unbiased citizen satisfaction surveys are undertaken, most e-initiatives will be perceived as being merely ornamental.
- Good governance is a necessary pre-requisite for efficient “e-Governments”. It is often cited that decades of welfare governance has not helped us in alleviating poverty. In my opinion, more than welfare governance, Orissa needs clean and transparent Governance in delivering public service [thereby boosting e-Governance initiatives in HEALTH, EDUCATION, INFRASTRUCTURE & ROUTINE ADMINISTRATION]
- A good governance track record will help the State in attracting greater support from the center [despite political differences as can be seen in case of Bihar]. Instead of linking all our failures to the lack of support from the center, the State Government needs to ensure clean governance for empowering the citizens.
- There seems to be a lack of sincere intent to bridge the digital divide. Even if the intent is good, many programs have failed to deliver the desired end results. Sincere intent expects us to embrace technology wholeheartedly for delivering effective and efficient people-centric services. Quick ramp-ups of people-centric projects from concept-to-delivery are urgent necessities if Orissa has to counter the negative advances of exploitative influences.
Thus, e-Governance initiatives launched by NIC (and allied departments) need to be supported throughout the “program’s lifecycle” (PLM with a different connotation). There is a serious bottleneck here, which is perhaps being addressed by the Bihar government for alleviating its “multidimensional poverty”. Resurgent Bihar wants to spring back.
Can we not do something similar in our state?
