'Governance is set for a great transformation'

The launch of the countrywide Common Service Centers (CSC) by
the central government is all set to give a new meaning and edge to the entire
concept of governance, especially rural governance in India. This ICT enabled
service delivery mechanism is set to provide a platform in rural India for
delivery of both G2C and B2C services at the doorsteps of rural households. The
project holds enough promises for the various stakeholders involved in this
exercise aimed at rural development, empowerment and enablement. In an interview
with Osama Manzar and SS Kazi for Dataquest, Sanjeev
Chopra, secretary, Industries & Information Technology,
government of Uttaranchal shares his views and plans in this space. Excerpts:

How do you see the entire Common Service Center Scheme proposed
to be rolled out by mid 2008? Do you think governance shall have a new meaning
with this macroscopic technology based development intervention?

In one phrase "great expectations" is what I can say on the
proposed ambitious project. From this ICT4D intervention, I can visualize a
governance structure at the grassroots that shall have tremendous impact and
transformation on the way a citizen interacts and communicates with his
government. Together with the RTI, this will create an empowerment beyond
everyone's expectations. Governance is all set for a great transformation for
the common man in partnership with private stakeholders.

What is your perception on the success-failure ratio out of
Internet based kiosk centers?

The response throughout the country may not be uniform. In some states where
the governments are serious, this will be very effective. But in many others, it
will take some time. But then pressures from successful states will be such that
over the next few years, every nook and corner of the country will be covered.
We can't expect immediate huge success from the project.

How serious is this approach for a countrywide ICT enabled
kiosks platforms for rural development and growth?

I can't speak for every state government, but yes the government of India
is very serious. Uttaranchal is very serious about implementation of the CSC
project. Many departments in the State are very eager to ensure that all their
services, and all the information about their department is put up through the
CSCs. And, as I said earlier, if it succeeds in say five, six or seven states by
the end of 2007, the pressure and the public demand for its success in other
states will ensure that the project gets a life of its own.

Do you think this project will meet a similar fate like some of
the other government initiatives, starting with a bang but ending with a
whimper?

The reason I expect it to succeed is that meticulous project planning has
gone into this project. Many other projects were simply fund-driven projects or
completely driven from the top in the blueprint mode. The service delivery was
entirely within the domain of the government. Revenue models had not been built
in. There were no stakeholders in the financial sense, ie no one was making
money on success, or losing money (and reputation) in the case of failure. Under
the CSC scheme, it is different. Every state will have at least two service
providers who in turn will have hundreds of associates who will be operating
their kiosks. Their revenue model depends on the number of transactions that a
citizen will wish to pay for. This will mean that in every state, there will be
people who will ensure that the government services are delivered online for it
gives them revenue.

Do you think some major component is missing from the project?

I think the focus has been primarily on CSCs in the rural areas. The urban
poor and the JJ clusters as well need to be covered very intensively. We could
also network with the petrol pumps and ration shops across the country as these
institutions have a widest spread and almost everyone visits these locations.

Do you think this is the right approach to improve grassroots
level governance?

I would give this project 9.5/10 grade in terms of project concept; 8/10 on
the involvement of stakeholders. The major challenge however is the backend
computerization, which many departments in many state governments are still
behind the schedule.

How is the scheme going to benefit and uplift the rural people
in various aspects?

This is again a very state specific issue. Of course, in Uttaranchal-where,
thanks to the World Bank e- Governance project which we had started even prior
to the NeGP and the UNDP's Pro-Poor initiative in which we have already set up
CSCs in Nainital-there is no reason why this will not do well. In fact, we
already have over 200 CSCs running and our state portal Uttara is already in
place. We are now looking at various options as to how to scale up our work,
thanks to the financial support that the central government is now extending to
us.

What is unique about this project?

I think it is one of the finest projects that have been conceived since our
independence. In due course, more sectors and areas will automatically get
covered. We need to do something about improving transparency in property
transactions. I would suggest that in the next phase all property transactions
above an amount, say Rs 10 lakh should be possible only when the offer-to-sell
has been placed on the district website, so that the revenues from registration
will be closer to the property transaction. CSCs will then be in the forefront
of the national campaign towards a cleaner life. We also need to link it to the
Right to Information (RTI), so that each kiosk in the country will be able to
forward queries, complaints and references to the RTI. The CSCs will literally
add a hundred thousand opportunities with a force multiplier effect!