EDS Bill 2011: More than Lokpal?

With the first-time tech-savvy bill-to be applied on all public services across the country-being experimented, those in the government galleries are pegging their hope upon the legislation being of great help in tackling corruption as never before. Even the experts in IT domain are taking the bill as a sturdy horse. The game begins to analyze whether the bill will do anything substantial or is it just a formality soon to be lost in the din, we'll have to wait and see.

Countering Team Anna?

While the government opposes Anna's Lokpal version, at the same time it also introduces the EDS Bill, to tackle corruption, claiming to bring transparency. It will be interesting to see whether the latter move is efficient enough to cut down people's demand for the Lokpal Bill or this experimentation proves to be an unworkable step.

As the bill is in a preliminary stage, its provisions make it quite hopeful to do substantially more than what the Jan Lokpal Bill could do, but the probability of the bill taking a U-turn is also a possibility.

All of us have witnessed the popularity of Team Anna, and the support bestowed on it, the first question that comes to mind is why Lokpal was preferred so much. The answer lies in the fact that it was not the support for Lokpal, but the public outcry-against corruption-that burst out against the government.

Although the concept of e-governance has been introduced, yet cases of corruption, bribery, and forgery are still becoming the latest headlines and those in power seem powerless. Despite introduction of many projects like filing of online income tax return, e-passports, and e-governance projects, corruption still enjoys its way. Hence huge public outcry against corruption still remains.

The question is why should people not resort to an authority which is above and separate from the government; why they should not come along in support of Anna, a Gandhian; and on the other side, why they should still look at e-governance to do wonders? The question also comes of how and why the agitated public could accept the so-called landmark piece of legislation in the form of Electronic Delivery of Service (EDS) bill-very much introduced on the same day when the Lokpal bill was proposed in the Lower House.

The EDS bill would bring in line the different e-governance initiatives and would establish a roadmap of public services that would be delivered electronically. It would also bring the much-needed efficiency in citizens' interaction with the government agencies. May be the Lokpal and EDS are having the same success probability as it is of heads and tails, however, the EDS takes the heads side as that side of the coin is actually said to be heavier.

Jan Lokpal: From Democracy to Anarchy?

Taking up a Jan Lokpal type bill to investigate corruption cases is not at all a bad idea. What is objectionable is its structure of being outside the government, taking judiciary into account and having a manual or say non-electronic form of working methodology.

The investigatory body outside the government structure would be a superpower; it can investigate the Prime minister and prosecute even the Chief Justice of India. The democratic structure almost transforms into the anarchy form, where the power stays among a handful of intellect class and the entire executive, legislative, and judiciary powers remain subordinate.

In the case of EDS, it is not that the government wants to bring a one-stop shop for all the public services, but it is the very nature of the bill that its electronic base will automatically tighten the noose by remaining within the system unlike the Jan Lokpal Bill. Whereas the latter has taken a political angle, the EDS remains aloof from any political controversy.

"The bill is much better than the Lokpal and it will definitely bring the corruption graph down to a large extent," says Rajkumar Prasad, CEO, Commonwealth Centre for e-Governance. He further adds, "EDS has the factor of transparency with a non-manual format, whereas Lokpal also talks about the transparency factor but it takes a political structure by bringing the Prime Minister into its ambit."

The bill would enable the authorities to consistently measure, report, and record their progress in delivering electronically the services such as registering a birth or getting a motor license and thus making their accountability possible. The bill provisions would enable a horizontal shift of power and non-centric form of system where opportunities and services will be provided equally and its access can be made easy for all.

Indian citizens have become used to e' form of governance and sooner or later they are most likely to dip themselves fully into the e-modification of the governance.

With an international experience, even New Zealand has a Lokpal bill at the central government level with the name of parliamentary commissioner, but that is not a separate body outside the government ambit and its jurisdiction does not extend to the judiciary.

With an Indian experience, the present version of Jan Lokpal is like another law, another independent committee, another 1,000s of crores of taxes going into the drain. The Team Anna is just pushing a nation to anarchy and a new type of self-made system which may even surpass even the constitution of the country.

The Jan Lokpal Bill has not clearly defined what its idea of corruption is? Anna Hazare wants an unelected, politically unaccountable ombudsman with powers of a Superman. But what will happen if the Superman were to turn into a rogue?

Reacting to whether EDS bill outweighs the much-debated Lokpal, Dr K Jayakumar, joint secretary, CSIR, ministry of science & technology, Government of India says, "The Lokpal bill is more of a deterrent and threat for an undesirable action and behavior, whereas the EDS bill has the capability of bringing about far-reaching successful changes that would benefit the nation."

"The bill would pave the way for systemic changes in the institutions of the government and its systems, in a fundamental way by leveraging technology," he added.

Where the latter is more of a deterrent and threat for undesirable action and behaviors leading to a more or less anarchy system, the EDS is a part of the government and transforms governance. It is important to nurture creativity, innovation, and productivity with a sound value based and moralistic pursuits in the public service, than push them to the wall with deterrents and threats that may quash their ability to perform and make a difference in the society.

Curbing Corruption

The National e-Governance Plan, which brings in the electronic delivery of services, is a move built upon the earlier initiatives like the Right to Information Act, the Judicial Accountability Bill, and the Whistleblowers Protection Bill, all of them were adopted to fall heavy on the corrupt practices.

Although the EDS bill aims to bring transparency into the system, corruption elimination is, of course, a by-product. By paving the way for systemic changes in the institutions by leveraging technology, the legislative move would routinely put off all those mediums which help corruption take place.

The bill would facilitate minimization of human interface and direct interaction between the customer and the government service provider, resulting a decrease in the exercise of discretionary powers of the government officials.

"There would be no option to ask for the bribe; therefore no corruption and hence that would be the biggest outcome of the bill," says Tanmoy Chakroborty, VP & global head, government industry solutions, Tata Consultancy Services. He went on to say that the bill is a very positive step in the right direction. The people would have an online access to the service.

The definite outcome of the bill will be seen in those departments which are into a direct face-to-face public dealing with people. This is same what Chakshy Roy of PRS Legislative Research feels, "Using technology to deliver public services has some advantages. Transparency in the government's functioning is one of them. More importantly, when human interaction is minimized in providing services to citizens it results in a decrease in the exercise of discretionary powers of the government officers. This could have some impact on the petty corruption that is currently there in the government departments, which interact directly with people."

Largely, practicing corruption under the prevalence of EDS bill is going to be unworkable. The technological part would disable direct interaction and with each communication being recorded and monitored, hence delaying a public service or expecting something against it will become almost impossible.

It may well be possible that the EDS can bring about a fundamental change and fulfill the expectation of curbing down corruption. "It is 100% that the bill will curb corruption and we welcome the government's move in streamlining the services in an electronic manner," says Nirmal Prakash, MD, Smart ID. Sustainable reforms does require a leapfrogging change and as they say a disruptive creation of a realm of possibilities through an innovative mechanism. However EDS has such a potential.

Benefits of the EDS Bill

Once everything becomes online, there will be little opportunity for corruption. A perfect example is that of the online reservation system of railway tickets.

All government projects will become time-bound. Fixed time for all projects, failing which, a strict penalty for those involved. So no opportunity to delay the work

Little or no manual work, hence no manual intervention

No running from pillar to post and no direct interface between the officials and citizens. Therefore one will not be able to ask for a bribe or a gift.

Strict monitoring of the workflow

Swift grievance redressal through a commission

Paperless administration

Engaging the Private Companies

The bill has an ambitious mandate. The bill also presents a unique opportunity to private companies to engage in the public service delivery model in partnership with the government. But it remains to be seen, whether the government authorities are ready both in terms of infrastructure and manpower to implement the provisions of the bill after it is passed in the parliament.

The formula for tackling corruption and minimizing the tendency to be corrupt lies in the institution of systems which can enforce accountability in a transparent manner. With this technology based mantra, the factor of transparency is going to be highlighted. The transparency would not need to be demanded, as in case of RTI Act, but it would be seen flowing into the system. Commenting on this, Sudheer Nanduri, AVP, 4G Identity Solutions says, "Transparency was there with the RTI, what was not happening was the delivery of public services that too in a transparent manner, which is going to happen now."

There's a need for policies and mechanisms that can support risk-taking and learning from failures, while at the same time enabling collaboration, sharing of effective practices, success stories, and initiatives that have worked. More significant, rigorous, and persistent efforts may need to replace the shallow commitments, lip services, and perfunctory incremental changes in the government that are more conveniently adopted.

Highlights of the Bill

All government services, under center, states, and all public authorities, will be delivered electronically. However such services which cannot be delivered electronically would not be covered under the bill

All the government departments will be required to publish a list of all the public services to be delivered via electronic mode within 180 days from the date of coming into force of the Act.

There will be a cut-off limit for implementation of the Act within five years from the date of coming into force of the Act.

All the government departments will notify Grievance Redressal Mechanisms relating to electronic delivery of services.

Each ministry will assess its readiness and accordingly fix the timelines for mandatory electronic service delivery. However no department will exceed a cut-off date fixed for the country.

There will be penalties of up to '5,000 for officials if they fail to adhere to the norms. However the penalty may also go as high as '20, 000 in case of persistent default.

Central Electronic Service Delivery Commission at the central level and the State Electronic Service Delivery Commission at the state level will be established.

Will it Work?

The need of the hour is to not just flag transparency and efficiency as the bill's objectives, but also implementing them at the ground level. With a weak IT infrastructure and an uncertain political one, its execution may turn vague, and many fear that the bill may fall short on implementation.

Availability of an IT infrastructure is very critical to a citizen-centric technological program, but the infrastructure is largely based on the political will. And, India lags behind in quality policy-making and implementation. Hence we need to address these issues to make EDS bill a success.

Now, the onus lies with the technology experts, how they keep the very essence of the bill intact with the common man; how they do away with the deficiency in the technology availability; how they strike the chord with the political unwillingness, if there seems to be any; and how they take the bill as a catalyst in bringing corruption down.

This is what even Chakrabarty says, that the implementation also depends on a holistic IT infrastructure which is now lacking. Infrastructure, network, capability, and training, which are required for a holistic development should be implemented.

Other than the political willingness, it is the spirit of bureaucracy also that helps in form a strong infrastructure set-up. The number of public servants who persevere in the pursuit of trailblazing changes in systems, processes, procedures, methods, and mechanisms in the government are far too less."The bill has all the potential to put a check on corruption, especially its penalizing part. However due to the ill availability of internet and broadband connectivity, it will be difficult to implement it successfully," says Prasad.

Successful changes that we witness in the government are still far too less and are not consistently demonstrated. They either burn out in the process of instituting changes or face such great constraints that they eventually lose their enthusiasm and resolve to accomplish the results that they had originally dreamt of demonstrating. "Our government systems are still sluggish and there are considerable inertial forces that act as an impediment for ushering in a performance culture, focused on results that we all wish to see," says Jayakumar.

The bill has definitely the potential to bring an environment of transparency in the country, but there are people in the government with vested interests, who do not want e-governance to happen and this is what the government needs to do away. The hope of transforming governance will come to reality only if infrastructural facilities are put along with the institutional set-up. Otherwise, the idea of a transparent, responsive, and an efficient regime will remain limited to papers.

Setting a Time Frame

The government has set the time frame of 5 years for the bill's implementation, but the key question still has to be answered: Will the attitude, activity, enthusiasm, government, political will, and people's knowledge remain the same even for the next five years?

Considering the political weaknesses, with the government day-to-day coming under the parliamentary pressure and with many expecting mid-term polls, the timeline may be too large or it may also die down in its due course. Denouncing the bill as a joke, Joginder Singh, former director, CBI totally rebutted the very idea of the bill-of bringing transparency-on the grounds that the timeline of 5 years is too much and the amount of penalty is too less.

"The penalty of '5,000 itself is a joke. It should be 20 months imprisonment or '20 lakh fine. The bill does not put any fear in the government servants," says Singh. The challenge of delivering the services in the e-mode will remain unaddressed without proper development of IT and allied services and public investment in the infrastructure, sanctioning, and subsidizing the projects that are directed towards internet connectivity. Moreover, in a larger spectrum, a more focused and unbiased political will is required for the smooth functioning of such policies. A lot of work will have to go into re-engineering government processes before the EDS Bill ( 2011) introduced in the Lok Sabha can start delivering results.

Purpose of the Bill

Claiming to be a game-changer in the domain of governance. Amidst unorganized official files piling up on one another, slothful clerks delaying work, and with many facilities yet to be upgraded, one of the most critical challenges in governance has been to speed up the delivery of public services to the citizens.

"The bill provides that all government services (departments under both central and state government) will be provided in an electronic mode, in the next five years, except for those services which cannot be delivered electronically," says Abhishek Singh, director, e-governance, Department of Technology.

To overcome this situation of delay and ineffectiveness in providing the public services, the EDS Act has been introduced..

There are several viewpoints on the bill. While many sound positive and have welcomed the bill, there are also many who-in an outcry of corruption and lack of good governance-take the bill and its provisions only as paperwork.

However today's environment calls for better implementation rather than better provisions in the bill. The bill is yet to be introduced in the Upper House of the Parliament, on show will be: What changes the opposition brings to it, how the government reacts, how the IT sector takes the bill, and ultimately how much benefit the common man actually reaps from the bill.