Project Madhya Pradesh: Rueing its Empty Coffers

The ambitious program involving the exten sive use of IT in to make the

government ac countable to the people has run into difficult weather because of

the empty pockets of the state government. There are enough indicators pointing

to a less than satisfactory achievement of set targets in the field of IT in the

state for the period 2003-2008, though attempts are being made to inch up to

these targets within the limited budgetary support that the government can

muster. A reliable source in the IT department of the Government said that the

road to achieving a decentralized and IT-oriented information system is still

very long and fraught with problems, but even then, Madhya Pradesh has made

remarkable progress in implementing e-governance in the state. This is also

related to the rapid progress that the state is making in computerizing its

various departments. Sources say that efforts to make government offices

paperless are not due to the sole effort of the IT Department alone. The State

Treasury, the MP State Transport Corporation, Mandis, and various departments

like the Agriculture Department have per force had to move towards

computerization of their various functions. The path to e-governance will open

up only if all the oncerned departments at all levels are totally computerized.

Anurag Shrivastava, Deputy Secretary, IT at the Mantralaya said that

e-governance has a larger connotation and links government to government,

government to industry, government to employees and government to people

directly. Since it encompasses such a large canvass, its implementation and

meaning will have to be much debated and thought over, especially since

e-governance means a more transparent government and/or system of governance.

The Government of Madhya Pradesh came out with its IT policy on May 5, 1999.

The recommendations made by the State Task Force on IT under the leadership of

Professor Yashpal were adopted by the Government as its IT Policy. It was stated

that by the end of the financial year 2003, the state would become a power in

IT, and set up a far-sighted and effective policy framework that will lead

ultimately to a more transparent and responsive administrative system in the

state. IT was to become a tool to help every citizen in the state access

information according to his or her capabilities. To make this possible, steps

were to be initiated in high schools (by the year 2003) and in colleges (by the

year 2008) to implement teaching of IT-related subjects. It was also decided to

make available at least one Internet connection for every 100 people in the

state. The Madhya Pradesh Agency for Promotion of Information Technology

(MAP-IT) was also set up to promote Information Technology in the state.

Recently, MAP-IT has also entered into a collaboration with Microsoft. The

Gyandoot program being successfully implemented in the Dhar district of Madhya

Pradesh is an offshoot of MAP-IT, while the agency also has responsibility for

developing and implementing the software packages ‘Bhojpatra’ and ‘Nagarik’.

Since the IT department has recently come into being, the budget for the

department was not distributed for the year 2001-2002. Given that the budget for

the year 2002-2003 is so insignificant it is but natural that the implementation

of IT- based programs and initiatives in the state are taking a beating for lack

of financial support. And while the objectives of IT in the state are many and

varied, the lack of time and a rapidly closing deadline will in all eventuality

make it impossible for Madhya Pradesh to cover everything. And the progress made

by the state so far in IT- based programs does show that while the government

may not have the requisite funds to implement all its schemes, it does not lack

the will power to do so!

Aditya Malviya/CNS in Bhopal