• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

D. Murali

Dr N. Vijayaditya

Dr N. Vijayaditya has a Masters degree in Computer Science and a Ph.D in Information Systems from the University of North Carolina. He has done research in Pattern Recognition, Graph Theory, Information Systems and Networks. He has been a member of several Technical Advisory Groups and also of committees constituted by the Central and State Governments. He was Director-General, National Informatics Centre, Government of India.

He is presently Controller of Certifying Authority in the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

eWorld sounded him out on action in the e-Governance space and other issues. Excerpts:

On NIC over the decades...

NIC was set up about three decades ago to facilitate e-Governance at Central and State level. NIC Offices have been established right up to district-level administrations. In the early eighties, there was no real IT infrastructure to cater to e-Governance solutions. NIC was entrusted with the task of setting up the IT infrastructure, which includes Computer Communication Systems, up to District Level. To facilitate these activities, NIC had to create necessary awareness among Government officials.

Today, it has a very sophisticated IT infrastructure with satellite as well as fibre optic/wireless based-communication equipment and data centres at each of the State Capitals to host the data of the State Government and also at the National Level.

On the current challenges faced by NIC...

While creating such infrastructure and solutions, NIC has faced many challenges. While ensuring efficient and reliable services, it also has had to take care of the security aspects of a vast database for each sector.

Security has to be embedded not only at the Centre but also at the State level.

Also, the user community needs to develop awareness about security.

NIC has had to provide facilities for updating from any part of the country. The provision of examination results of CBSE for Std 10 and 12 is an instance. Network at the Data Centre has to cater to more than 30 million hits, not only from within India but also from the rest of the world.

It has had to create a cluster of systems and a highly reliable network to achieve this.

It has provided solutions that are multi-lingual and user-friendly across a variety of applications in order to reach the targeted population.

On e-Governance...

Over the last decade, e-Governance has made tremendous progress. It is visible not only in urban areas but also in rural areas. Some of the major applications of e-Governance are: Land Records System; Registration; Rural Development; Municipalities; Commercial Taxes/VAT; Driving Licence/Vehicle Registration; Passports; Immigration; Visa and Judiciary.

Each of these applications, over the last three decades, has really made tremendous impact on the citizen and has created transparency in Governance.

In the initial stages, the use of IT for Governance did differentiate between the English-educated and the non-English educated. This is mainly because the old application systems were developed in English.

But we were able to create a user-friendly access by which even people who do not know English could access the system from any kiosk.

I would say, in fact, during the last four years, IT solutions have been able to bridge the gap between the rural and urban population because they can be applied using the local language. Such technology will cater to multi language and multi-culture citizens.

On Public-Private sector participation...

India is a vast country. To implement e-Governance solutions, participation of both public and private organisations is essential. It is easier to develop systems compared to implementing them. Implementation raises its own issues.

These, I strongly feel, can be solved through Public and Private participation. Public Sector is good in some aspects and Private Sector organisations are good in some other aspects. The Public Sector organisations have domain knowledge of how the Government works. The Private Sector can effectively implement solutions and operate them in a much shorter time.

On Open Source and Proprietary solutions...

I would not like to debate on Open Source and Proprietary solutions. Both have their own advantages. As far as India is concerned, we shall have to choose solutions that can be implemented in a simple and efficient manner. Initial cost should not be the only criterion.

The solutions' efficiency, simplicity in implementation and maintainability should also be looked into. We also need to recognise that in our country we use the systems for much longer periods. Hence we need to ensure the systems and devices continue to be supported. India has gained a lot of experience in e-Governance solutions in the last decade. This knowledge and experience could be shared with other countries facing similar problems. NIC has provided expertise and guidance to Laos, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Mongolia.

More Stories on : Interview | E-Governance

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
`Get used to the pain'

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line