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Pillar to Post

Delivery of public services calls for servants of the government to do service to the various citizen centric programmes formulated for social emancipation. It should be understood that for active delivery of public services, they need the blessings of political and administrative pillars in any country. These deliveries require public servants, who assume humongous powers by tweaking the mechanism of delivering the goods to the public, realising less that somewhere in the chain, their own are affected too. It's a well coined term in English “running from pillar to post” to get a job accomplished in any sector.

Kudos to the makers of Kagaz starring the quintessential Pankaj Tripathi. Many wild cases as such, depicted in the film released on OTT platform, exist till this day. Movies and shows over such platforms have become bolder, encouraged their general acceptance by the grieving citizens who till this day in a digital India, have to face a burnout due to existing red tapeism from the colonial era. Digitisation has helped but then, with an unsupporting weak infrastructure mired by flawed policies, subdue the most ambitious of projects. It was the ushering in of the ambitious Services Delivery Guarantee (SDG) and Right to Information Act (RTI) that saw the dawn of information finally reaching out of the closets of the administration to the citizens; albeit in a trickle.

The ambition not to enforce public services public is a mindset that is somewhat archaic, feudalistic and, should have been done away with in this modern digital world. Social justice, empowerment, citizen centricity and the like, exist only in books that never get translated into actions on the ground. It's nice to hear about them on podiums of insouciance lectured with intricately crafted words and alluring sentences to please all. The journey becomes tough when pillars start acting as pliers when it comes to easing the pains of the citizens.

eGovernance in India began with National Informatics Centre (www.nic.in) taking up the cudgels as early in the 1980's. Setup in 1976 under Planning Commission and, now under Ministry of Electronics and Information technology, has seen many ups and downs in its momentous and monumental journey. The lows were attributes of super elated ego that broke into the cauldrons of all NICians engaged in fruitful selfless delivery of public service through effective digitalisation of government's business transaction processes. Digital India further increased the coverage area of computerisation and access of services. Governments worked toward bringing services closer to the doorsteps of citizens. This scenario has changed drastically post Wuhan Virus taking centrestage, killing millions. People were locked up in their home and the governments delivered the goods through maximising the use of information technology.

Fom eGovernance to now mGovernance, the country has seen a paradigm shift in implementation of the government business transaction process (GBTP). Egovernace is indeed a challenge where online submissions are relegated to the bins by those who still favour the task intensive manual system. The very doctrine of electronic governance takes a good thrashing. Though developments take place at a pace hurried slowly, the services that still have a penchant for manual touches, is what the end users get painstakingly with enthusiasm.

As a staunch proponent of eGovernance in the country, it's indeed fascinating to see the transformation of GBTP taking place at a fast pace with determination of all establishments of democracy getting out of their viels and wraps. Government services are now closer home. Can we say that online services have brought us closer to do-it-yourself (DIY) methods of applying for privileges of public services?

Credits:

  • IOSR Journal of Economics and Finance (IOSR-JEF) e-ISSN: 2321-5933, p-ISSN: 2321-5925.Volume 7, Issue 5 Ver. IV (Sep. - Oct. 2016), PP 50-54 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/5933-0705045054 www.iosrjournals.org 50 | Page E-Governance in India: Issues and Challenges Nagaraja K. Research Scholar, Dept. of Studies in Economics Davangere University, Shivagangothri – 577002

  • ISSN: 2278 – 1323 International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET) Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013

  • https://www.insightsonindia.com/2014/11/23/e-governance-india-concept-initiatives-issues/

  • Paper on Marriage Registration - for a better cause – Amit Mazumder. Paper 1570626557 2020 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC). The reviews are below or can be found at https://edas.info/showPaper.phpm=1570626557

  • ISSN: 2278 – 1323 International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET) Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013 1196 All Rights Reserved © 2013 IJARCET E-Governance - A challenge for India Dr. Pardeep Mittal, Amandeep Kaur

  • E-Governance – Trends, Scenario, Problems and Solutions - Vani Jain https://www.gyanvihar.org/journals/index.php/2020/03/14/e-governance-trends-scenario-problems-and-solutions/

  • https://www.insightsonindia.com/2014/11/23/e-governance-india-concept-initiatives-issues/


Comments

  1. Monirul IslamMarch 28, 2021 at 4:22 AM

    I read your blog and I try my best to understand it's inner and outer meaning. But my question to you, What we the generation of 20 centuries should do Sir?? Please write something about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amit MazumderMay 27, 2021 at 11:37 PM

      What we need to do is, inculcate the habit of just doing it. Humanity is a loss and gone for a toss where we are collectively responsible for letting our great heritage down by indulging in petty mindset being circulated throughout and, many are falling prey. In context of the article presented, it is the archaic system of management followed by contricted vision and mindset that made me pen down. Help humanity survive.

      Delete
  2. DSMay 28, 2021 at 2:03 AM

    Situation explained well.

    ReplyDelete

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