National E-Governance Plan Of India Has Failed

E-governance in India is ailing despite all glorious and false media propaganda. The chief parameter of the success of any e-governance plan is to analyse its e-infrastructure achievements. In India, e-infrastructure is in real mess.

Despite so many years and crores of public money, India has still to enact a versatile and robust ICT policy. In the absence of an ICT policy of India, the e-governance initiatives of India have failed to materialise.

It is in this background we have to analyse the role played by the department of information technology (DIT), India. Although DIT has formulated the national e-governance plan yet it would be more prudent to call it no e-governance plan of India (NEGP). This is because the common man and grass root level consumers have not been benefited at all by the e-governance initiatives of India.

Of course, we have some good achievements like MCA 21 as well. But by and larger, e-governance in India has failed to materialise. Corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, lack of time bound results, lack of progress analysis and punishments for deviations, etc are some of the reasons why we have no e-governance success in India.

It is highly unfortunate that the prime minister’s office (PMO) has no control over DIT in general and minister A. Raja in particular. The PMO could have played a better role by keeping a close vigil at the initiatives of DIT but it preferred to keep a mum and turn a blind eye towards all sorts of incompetencies, corruption and scams.

Is India Serious About Cyber Law And Cyber Security?

Finally, IT Minister A Raja welcomed any suggestion that would strengthen cyber laws and enhance online information security. But a question comes to my mind what type of improvement Mr. A. Raja is talking about? Considering t 2000 (IT Act 2000) was made “impotent” by making almost all the cyber crimes “bailable” this assurance from the minister is really scary. Perhaps, he is looking forward for a legislation where cracking itself would be excluded from the ambit of cyber crimes and India would be at the mercy of crackers, cyber terrorists and rouge cyber war engaging nations.

It is difficult to understand what is going on in the mind of Indian government. Is this statement just an attempt of the government to divert the mind of Indians from recent Chinese hacking episode or is it a usual knee jerk reaction from it for the growing incidences of cyber crimes and cracking of important governmental computer installations. Interestingly, before Raja even law minister Molly had supported for the enactment of a strong cyber law in India.

First the government of India did not pay any heed to cyber security requirements of India. Then it merrily made India a “safe heaven” for cyber criminals due to “industrial lobbying”. The truth is that India is confused regarding its cyber law and this is resulting in gross cyber anarchy in India.

The one suggestion that Indian government in general and minister Raja in particular needs regarding cyber law and cyber security of India is to wake up and have an open mind. Further, it would be a good idea if the government stops being an instrumentality for industrial lobbying while formulating important laws regarding cyber law and cyber security. The industrial lobbying and a committed e-surveillance policy of Indian government have taken us to a situation where having no cyber law in India would be better than the present cyber law.

SOURCE: GROUND REPORT