Information technology plays a central role in government reform projects in India. In recent years, these projects have been launched under the label of ‘e-government’. The state of Gujarat is one of the first in the country to have achieved wide access to its e-government services, but are these services working effectively?

A report from the London School of Economics looks at a number of information technology-based e-government reform initiatives in the state of Gujarat in western India. As elsewhere in India, governance reforms in Gujarat have increasingly focused on more participatory forms of delivering public services. E-government projects have provided opportunities to improve service delivery and the relationship between government and citizens.

Computers were first introduced to the government sector in Gujarat in the late 1970s. While early information technology (IT) applications focused on internal government (‘back-end’) systems, from the late 1990s projects focused on improving the delivery of citizen-focused (‘front-end’) government services.

A nationwide ‘back-end’ project to introduce decentralised information systems was introduced to Gujarat’s 19 District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) in 1988, but has had little effect. A more popular ‘front-end’ application has been the providing of computerised certificates to citizens for land, income, caste, and ration entitlements. Another ‘front-end’ application, the Mahiti Shakti project, has established village information kiosks providing government information and services to citizens.

The state now has a mix of ‘front-end’ and ‘back-end’ systems, and the relationship between them for delivering public services is unclear. The author notes that:

• The provision of online government application forms has triggered a demand for the improved processing of these applications.
• The government has introduced a state-wide training programme aimed at improving overall performance amongst government officers.
• Improvements in ‘back-end’ processing act as an anti-corruption mechanism by enabling people to obtain registration certificates without paying bribes to local revenue officers.

The delivery of government services through IT projects has become popular, but their success depends on the improvement of back-end applications. Since 2003, the momentum for new projects and learning within government administration has been lost due to ambiguity about the role of the bureaucracy with the increased popularity of e-services delivered through front-end applications.  Government departments involved in these projects must promote experimentation and adaptation, and recognise the importance of the relationship between bureaucracy and service delivery. In particular, there is a need to improve the understanding of the kinds of institutions and activities needed to support service delivery reform. The state government should:

• divert attention from e-government back to improving planning and administration
• develop plans with loosely-defined targets, where learning can come through action
• encourage decentralisation through alternative means of government reform, particularly by giving contracts to private businesses and entrepreneurs to run information kiosks
• act as a coordinating agency for improving links between the DRDA, non-governmental organisations, self-help groups and entrepreneurs running information kiosks
• build tighter links between the groups involved in IT-based government reform
• encourage change by developing staff capacity to work creatively.

Source(s):
‘IT-Based Government Reform Initiatives in the Indian State of Gujarat’, Journal of International Development, Vol.18, No.6, pages 877-888, by Shirin Madon, 2006

Funded by: London School of Economics

id21 Research Highlight: 8 March 2007

Further Information:
Shirin Madon
Information Systems Group, Dept. of Management
London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 7955 7627
Fax: +44 (0)20 7852 3658
Contact the contributor: S.Madon@lse.ac.uk

London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Other related links:
'e-Governance: can it lead to better government?

'e-Governance: time to get practical?'

'Silicon idols: Problems of harnessing IT in government'

Digital Governance.org - identifies and propagates innovative e-governance models in developing countries

UNDP HDR 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development

ELDIS Resource Guide - ICTs for Development