SMS Wrks

You can take a horse to the pond but you can't make him drink,
goes a common saying and when the issue at hand is about making the entire
country adopt to new processes and technology, the analogy holds more valid than
ever. If it is essential that India adapts to the 'e' way of governance, it's
imperative that 'thirst' for the new technology and approach be generated
first.

With paper-based business transactions gradually being replaced
throughout the world by its electronic variants and processes, e-Governance or
citizens' interaction with government using the electronic medium too has been
gaining ground for most governments. The result, as has been shown through many
a pilots and some full scale rollouts is 'good governance'. What this means
is that e-Governance enables the citizen to independently interact with
government agencies without the paraphernalia of middlemen, commission agents
and touts.

Infrastructure, the impediment

While the Government of India initiated an ambitious Rs 12,000 crore
National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) about two years back with the ultimate aim of
making all government services accessible to the common man through a one-stop
shop mechanism, shifting to this convenient transparent system will, however,
require computers, Internet connections, computer literacy, and a change of
mindset.

Though one of the biggest barriers-the lack of PC penetration
in the country-is expected to be taken care of in days to come with the entry
level computers now being marketed for as little as Rs 10,000 and Internet is
also spreading, the availability of computers and Internet connection in India
is poor, far behind Korea, Malaysia and China (see: The Indian Reality).

With only 3.9 fixedline phones, 2.6 mobile phones, 0.4 Internet
connections and 0.19 broadband connections available per 100 persons, providing
a computer with Internet connection to a sufficient number of citizens to make
e-Governance meaningful would be a formidable task, and it may take years before
the country could actually realize its dream. However, the fact is that India
cannot wait any longer for the infrastructure to come up before realising its
e-Governance dream.

Interestingly, while several initiatives have been taken to
bridge the digital divide in India and policies are underway to make sure every
village has a knowledge centre as well as every state has 2 mbps bandwidth till
the block level through SWAN, an entire generation of technology-the mobile
phone-has not been used to its full potential as the vehicle for delivering
e-Governance services.

The Mobile Facts

Latest figures issued by the Telcom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
show that the rate of growth of cell phones has increased dramatically and has
far outstripped fixed line and broadband growth, with the total number of cell
phones overtaking the fixed line phones in the H2 2004. During the month of July
2005, increase in number of cell phones was almost 10 times the increase in
fixed line phones-2.45 mn-as compared a meagre 0.27 mn, new fixedline
connections. Besides, a large number of these fixed lines were wireless local
loop (WLL) connections, clearly indicating a marked preference for wireless
technology for providing last mile connectivity.

These figures only highlight what any keen observer can see for
himself in the streets and markets of urban India-that the cell phones have
been fully embraced by the Indian public. Today cell phones are no longer
luxuries for the rich but a cheap and cost effective communications tool for the
working class.

While someone playing the devil's advocate may point out that
the growth in cell phones has largely been confined to urban areas, it's
important to note that the DoT and the Union Communication Minister Dayanidhi
Maran have already set up a target of 250 mn phones in the country by December
2007 (see: Teledensity Roadmap). Besides, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI) too has been pushing the cause of increasing cell phones in rural
areas.

The New Alternative

The rapid growth of cell phones offers immediate and low-cost alternative to
the conventional computer-Internet road to e-Governance.

Use of SMS in e-Governance has just begun. Information on
Railway bookings and flights can be obtained through SMS. Private operators are
bringing out new schemes every day for getting information through SMS on
diverse subjects ranging from share prices and availability of cinema tickets to
cricket scores and popularity ratings.

That SMS is ideal for communicating small amounts of precise
information which can be illustrated through a simple example of a person who
wants to know the status of his stolen car.

Instead of making innumerable rounds or calling to the
respective police station only to be told that the investigating officer is gone
out for some inquiry, the person just needs to actuate a program resident on his
cell phone, which will in turn prompt him to key in the registration number of
the car. This menu driven service would then display the frequently asked
questions, of which the person would select the two to inquire about the status
of the case and whether the car has been recovered.

The cell phone will then send a coded SMS to the service
provider who will interact with the police database and send the reply through
SMS itself.

Looking at the kind of information available on the West Bengal
Police Wide Area Network (WAN) today, this would be just a step further in the
country's e-governance goal. The State police WAN today connects all the
police stations in the state. Criminal cases and missing person information is
recorded electronically at all the police stations and kept in a central
database. Much of this information is in the public domain and is not sensitive
or confidential in nature. Making this available to the public would definitely
be a big step forward for e-Governance. A private service provider can be asked
to develop and service an SMS-based program to provide this information to the
public. Revenue raised through the large number of SMSs generated by the scheme,
will finance the project at no cost to government.

Similar applications can be developed for providing relevant
information on the entire gamut of government activities, starting with:

• Missing person information

• Missing vehicle information

• Law and legal procedures

• Property rules and regulations

• Vehicle registration and tax

• Traffic violation fines

• Status of land records

The SMS Advantage

Cell phones using SMS will immediately give e-Governance to the public.
Sufficient infrastructure already exists in urban areas to provide this service.
With the TRAI plan of 250 mn phone lines by 2007, giving a teledensity of one
phone for six persons in rural areas, it should be possible to extend
e-Governance to cover the most rural areas within two years.

SMS is a low cost option. Entry-level cell phones costing
approximately Rs 2,000 are already much cheaper than computers and the
possibility of a Rs 1,000 cell phone is also being discussed. Besides, cell
phones send a coded SMS, which is very short and cheap, and do not clog
communication channels.

Moreover, SMS will complement and extend the reach of broadband.
While it can be used to get answers to some FAQs, detailed interaction can
always follow using conventional computers and Internet. For instance, a person
filing his IT returns will use his cell phone to ascertain details of documents
to be filed. He will then go to a computer, Internet cafe or kiosk to download
and fill in the Saral forms and attach scanned documents. Similarily, if his
landlord is troubling him, he can get answers to FAQs and names of concerned
police officers through SMS and can follow up with an email or phone call.

Besides, SMS will also help create the demand for full
e-Governance in the country. While getting people to adopt a new technology is
always a challenge, for man is a creature of habit and unless compelled by
incentives (or disincentives) avoids change. This reluctance to change has to be
factored in while introducing new technology, especially where the technology is
for the masses.

SMS will accustom the public to using digital devices. Once they
start using SMS, they will want to graduate to the computer-Internet environment
too. This will encourage them to acquire computers and become computer literate
and will motivate them to change their work habits and working culture to
progress to full-fledged e-Governance.

What this means is that the government will no longer have to
persuade the public to use e-Governance facilities. Public demand for
e-Governance will precede and even finance the growth of these expensive
facilities, much in the manner of cell phones, which have grown because the
common man wanted them.

Peoples' Choice

The astounding success of reality shows on TV and the number of SMS sent
from across the India to these contests and game shows clearly indicate people's
verdict-that they have chosen the cell phone as their gadget of choice for
entering the digital world. The government must respect this choice and set up a
mechanism for motivating and coordinating all efforts in the government and
private sectors for making programs for enriching e-Government content on cell
phones.

The remarkable growth of TV and cell phones has been largely
public demand driven and has depended a lot on private enterprise. e-Governance
will also be a resounding success if it is demand driven and Government
leverages the tremendous enthusiasm and innovativeness of private enterprise to
develop cell phone-based programs to spread e-Governance.

Ajay Prasad The author is the former Director General of
Police, West Bengal