TCS suggests 5-point e-Gov agenda for India

India needs a comprehensive IT policy to improve e-Governance and compete with the world leaders in the segment, a white paper released today by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said.

Addressing media persons here on Monday, TCS CEO and Managing Director S Ramadorai said that e-Governance can be an asset for the un-served and under-served areas in India and drive new efficiency gains nationwide if implemented properly.

“While Indian IT is the envy of the world and is associated with some of the most advanced and complex IT projects globally, India has not fully leveraged its potential of IT and the expertise of Indian IT industry,” the TCS chief said.

The TCS white paper identifies opportunities for use of technology for enabling good governance in India and has come with a five-point recommendation to help the implement a comprehensive and effective e-Governance programme in the country.

“The white paper is an attempt by TCS to use its experience in e-Governance projects to define a road-map for India and highlight current impediments—the silo-based approach—which is limiting the benefits of technology use,” Ramadorai said.

The paper also highlights India’s low position in global e-Governance rankings, and the ways to improve it.

India’s per capita public sector IT spends is US $1.29, compared to US $199 in New Zealand and US $153 in Singapore.

While the TCS white paper recommends a nationwide mandate to allocate a fixed three per cent of the annual state and department budget for e-Governance projects. It also says that the country needs to adopt an integrated and holistic approach for implementing any e-Governance programme.

It also suggests that there is a need to move from individualised e-Governance initiatives to an institutionalised initiative.

The white paper also suggests a fixed tenure concept where key government executives are appointed for the entire term of any e-Governance initiative and a government standing committee to oversee national e-Governance programs.

“It is due to the digitisation and total electronic filing system in MCA 21 that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has been able to handle such increase in volumes of registration of new companies as well as filing of annual returns seamlessly in the last two years,” TCS Vice President and Head, Global Government Industry Solutions Unit Tanmoy Chakrabarty said.

The newly constituted Government business unit in TCS will focus on city, state and national programmes to help governments become more efficient, drive down costs and increase transparency.