CHAPTER IV

IT- e-GOVERNANCE IN ANDHRA PRADESH

219

General Theory of e-Governance

Meaning

E-govemance means the application of information and communication

technologies in the government business and transactions to deliver better

government services, to provide free information to the citizens and to make

government most efficient in its functioning by using electronic means. 1 People

are able to get better services and access to government information which would

lead to a better interaction between the government and citizens. Therefore,

e-govemance facilitates better interface between government and citizens.

Information Technology (IT) is the lifeline of e-govemance. There is an

interconnection between e-govemance, good governance, economic development

and democracy. E-govemance can improve the governance· and the improved

governance in tum, can facilitate economic development (due 'to better services,

better evaluation, monitoririg, better implementation and easy access to

information) and democracy (due ·to accountability transparency, efficiency,

responsiveness etc.,).2 E-govemance is an instrument of good governance because

it facilitates efficiency, accountability, transparency, reliability and responsiveness

in governance through interfal!e.

It would be useful to define clearly governance and good governance to

have a better understanding of e-govemance. Generally governance includes the

management of public affairs (resolving conflicts, providing services, maintaining

law and order etc.) according to established rules and procedures by exercising

power. 3 The World Bank by keeping in mind economic liberalisation has defined

1 P.K. Mehrotra and Alok Ranjan, E-Governance: Options and Opportunities, pp. 1-3, (paper presented at 5th Annual Conference ofNEPASI on "Governance for Development" Issues and Strategies, 24-25 August 2001, New Delhi- Unpublished). ·

2 Mohd. Muzammil, IT, "Governance and Economic Development", The Indian Journal of Public Administration, XL VI (3), July-September 2000, pp. 353-355.

3 Ngaire Woods, "The Challenge of Good Governance for the IMF and the World Bank Themselves", World Development, 28 (5), 2000, p. 823.

220

governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of

·country's economic and social resources for development.

Good governance should ideally have following features: government

should be democratic to have legitimacy; political exec~tives should be

accountable for their actions; bureaucracy should be efficient and capable of

adjusting to changing social needs; policy making should be open and transparent;

rule of law should be maintained, protection of basic rights and property rights

should be upheld, there should be special protection for women, minorities and

deprived sections of society, etc.4 Good governance emerged as a powerful idea

when multilateral and bilateral aid agencies like the World Bank, UNDP, OECD,

ADB, etc. blessed it after the realisation that success of economic reforms and

projects depend on conditions ofgovernance in the aid-receiving countries.5 This

was relevant in the context of unsuccessful economic reforms in the Latin

American countries and in the African countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

That is why good governance is very importartt in the Third World countries like

India where economic reforms are being implemented.

General Features

The year 2001 had been declared by the Government of India as the year of

e-governance.6 Information Technology (I'f) has revolutionised human life across

the globe. The telecommunication network has provided the base for the IT

revolution. The explosive entry of technology into every aspect of life has

changed how people live, how they work, how companies do business, how the

entire economy functions and the means through which governments serve their

people. IT is changing the way people communicate and interact with each other.

4 Nauro F. Campos and Jeffrey B. Nugent, "Development Performance and the Institutions of Governance: Evidence from East Asia and Latin America", World Development, 27(3), 1999, pp. 439-444.

5 Mohit Bhattacharya, "Conceptualising Good Governance", Indian Journal of Public Administration, XLVI (3), 1998, pp. 289-294.

6 V .S. Prasad, Governance for Development: Issues and Strategies (paper presented at 5th Annual National Conference ofNEPASI on "Governance for Development: Issues and Strategies", 24-25 August, 2001, New Delhi -Unpublished).

221

Some of the changes taking place are direct; others are indirect consequences of

the new technology. IT has particularly revolutionised the transport,

communication, trade, banking, education and medical sectors of the economy.

According to P.K. Mehrotra and Alok Ranjan, Information Technology may be

defined as the electronic means of capturing, processing, storing and

communicating information.7 IT is based on the concept of digitisation of

information. Digitisation converts information of any form and nature into digital

form in which all information is held as 1 'sand O's. It is basically a combination

of computer hardware and software and communication networks, the most

popular of which are telecommunication' networks. Development in the field of

computers and innovations in telecommunications have made information

technology very user friendly and cost effective and has opened many exciting

opportunities for the application of computer and telecommunication technology

in many of the problems faced by the government on a regular basis.

IT is very useful to the gove~ent simply because throughout the world,

government remains the single largest repository of information. 8 At present,

availability of the information stored by the government to the general populace as

well as the use of this information in government business and transactions is very

limited. IT has the potential of improving the access of the people to information

stored and reserved by the government and use of the information in

administrative processes and development and welfare activities.9 IT provides the

cheapest, quickest and easiest way of accessing government information.

Moreover, IT helps in using the information maintained by the government again

and again in different application settings without any substantial additional cost.

7 P.K. Mehrotra and Alok Ranjan, £-Governance: Options qnd Opportunities (paper presented at 5th annual conference ofNEPASI on Governance for Development: Issues and Strategies, 24-25 August, 2001, New Delhi- unpublished).

8 Ibid, p. 2. 9 Ibid, p. 2.

222

Therefore, e-governance is the name given to· information technology­

driven public development administration system, which essentially means

delivery of government services and information to the people using electronic

means. iO E-governmP.nt also implies the ability of the people at large to obtain

government services through non-traditional, electronic means, enabling access to

government information and for the completion of government transactions on an

anywhere and any time basis and in conformance with equal access

requirements. 11 Information Technology has been found to be very useful tool for

reinvigorating the government by enhancing its administrative capacity and

organisational efficiency.

General Objectives of e-Governance

a) Improvements in dP-livery of essential services to the citizens;

b) Empowerment of people through the dissemination of information;

c) Ensuring transparency in government business and transactions and

right to information in governmental activities;

d) Elimination of undesirable practices such as touts, speed money,

deliberate delays, harassment, bogus document and corruption;

e) Encouraging broad based public awareness and participation in key

areas of developmental efforts;

f) Maintaining due control over assets, revenues and expenditures;

g) Establishing better information base for decision making process

including forecasting critical phenomenon;

h) Enhancing productivity and efficiency of the administrative functions

through the promotion of knowledge network;

i) Making administration responsive, citizen friendly and ensuring

accountability;

j) Establishing legitimacy and credibility of institutions;

10 Ibid, p. I. II Ibid, p.l.

223

k) Interests of citizens in general and specific beneficiaries in particular

should be safe guarded;

I) Improvement in critical, contem!Jorary measures of performance such as

cost, quality, service, and speed ofan institution. 12

Advantages of E-Governance

a) The democratic system functions better because e-governance

facilitates direct means of interface between citizens and government;

b) Government routinely collects and stores a huge amount of information

related to the people it serves as well as related to the services it

provides to the people. In addition, government also sponsors a number

of dependent studies and evaluations about the performance of the

government and the efficiency of public services, which generate a

good deal of information. Government maintains records of its

functioning, public policies, programmes etc. Genenilly access to such

information had been limited. Now, e-governance provides the

cheapest, quickest and the easiest means of accessing government

information. Government can use this information for itself in

administrative processes and development and welfare activities.

Moreover, Information Technology helps in using the information

maintained by the government again and again in different application

settings without any substantial additional cost.

c) Information Technology provides some unique opportunities and scope

for the innovative use of information stored by the government in

planning and implementation of welfare activities and programmes. It

offers government opportunities to enhance educational systems,

12 For more details, see Jagadish C. Kapur, "IT and Good Governance", Indian Journal of Public Administration, XL VI (3), 2000); Anand Krishnan, £-Governance for Improved Services: Choices of Tamil Naidu and P.K. Mehrotra and Alok Ranjan, £-Governance Options and Opportunities (papers presented at 5th Annual National Conference ofNEDASI on Governance for Development: Issues and Strategies, 24-25 August 2001, New Delhi).

224

improve policy formulation and execution. It has the potential of

enhancing system capacity, improving the processes of policy

formulation and its execution, widening opportunities, and

institutionalising innovations.

d) E-govemance has been found to facilitate informed decision-making in

the public and development administration system thereby improving

its effic!ency and effectiveness in delivering services to the people. It

enhances the analytical capacity of the public and development

administration system thereby promoting comprehensive monitoring

and assessment of the perforinance of development and welfare

activities It also facilitates innovative use of information collected and

maintained by the government in the form of innovative and

imaginative information linkages and information sharing at all levels

of the government.

e) E-govemance straight away offers a package of efficiency, time­

boundness and cost-effectivity; i11fact, much more, transparency,

demolition of discretion and arbitrariness, and above all, clientele­

. orientation, and citizen savvyness;

f) It helps development and maintenance of transparent and stable

economic and regulatory environment, conducive to efficient private

sector initiatives (for example; price system, exchange and trade

regimes and banking systems and their related regulations). It also

helps in institutional reforms of treasury, budget preparation and

approval procedures, · tax administration, accounting and audit

mechanisms, central banking operations and official statistical function;

g) It improves the management of public resources, provides different

services at one window often called single window clearance, flattens

organisational structure, reduces paper-work, improves team

performance, responds more efficiently to the needs of people .

. 225

h) Office automation is possible through Information Technology. Office

automation is the use of information processing technology in an office

environment to crP-ate, process, store, retrieve, use and communicate

information to improve the performance of managerial professional,

technical, administrative and clerical tasks.

i) A high degree of alienation between the citizens and administrators can

be considerably reduced. Needless harassment of citizens can be

substantially eliminated;

j) E-governance provides low cost, high quality and speedy services to the

citizens;

k) Government's business and transactions are transparent, accountable,

efficient, responsive and result-oriented;

1) E-governance establishes legitimacy and credibility of institutions,

improves the quality of life of citizens, empowers citizens by allowing

the right to information, improves the productivity of employees and

assists in reducing corruption.

m) Citizen-centric governance is good governance. Every government is

supposed to provide good governance to its citizens who are entitled to

it. It is possible to deliver through effective e-governance. 13

Models of e-Governance.

A number of e-government models have been evolved and applied

throughout the world due to unlimited potential and scope of the application of

information technology in various roles and functions of the government. These

13 For details, see P.K. Mehrotra and Alok Ranjan, "E-governance: Options and Opportunities", op.cit.; Batak Dev, "E-governance in India: Problems, Challenges and Opportunities- A Futures Vision",op.cit.; Jagadish C. Kapur, "IT and Good Governance", Indian Journal of Public Administration, Mohd. Muzammil, "IT, Governance and Economic Development", op.cit.; R.G. Gupta and Rita Gupta, "Optimum Utilisation ofiT in Public Administration",op.cit., and Satapathi, "Role of the State in theE­World", Economic and Political Weekly, 35 (39), 2000.

226

along with· the details of procedures for taking benefits of these schemes

and activities. 17

2) The critical information dissemination model: It is restricted to the

dissemination of information of critical value to a targeted audience. The

appljcation of this model requires an understanding of the use value of the

information set that is being made available and the identification of

potential users of the critical information to whom availability of the

information set will make a s~gnificant difference. 18 By providing a critical

set of information to a group of persons who value the importance of the

information, this model promotes an information based decision-making

either by a specific group of population or by the people at large. 19 It

focuses on weak aspects of government administration and decision­

making. It fosters public debate, opinion and often censures the

administration on all issues related to development and welfare of the

people. Some of the examples of this model are: publishing corruption . related information on the Internet; publishing research studies, enquiry

reports, impact and evaluation studies on the Internet; publishing human

rights violations by the government and its agencies; publishing

information related to environment and climate on the Internet that it can

used by the farmers and citizens.20

3) The Advocacy Model: It may be viewed as an aid to the civil society to

influence the government decision-making process by forming virtual

communities or groups for specific areas of concern within as well as

outside the government.21 At the same time, this model may also be an aid

to the government to promote positive public debate on issues related to

17 Ibid, p. 5. 18 Rachel Sileock, "What is e-Govemament?", Parliamentary Affairs, 54 {1), January, 2001, pp. 89,90. I$· Ibid, p. 91. . 20 P.K. Mehrotra and Alok Ranjan, "E-Govemance: Options and Opportunities", op.cit., p. 5. 21 Ibid, p. 6.

228

public welfare. This model helps in enhancing the scope and participation

of individuals and communities in open debates and discussions on

governance, welfare and development related issues which affect them and

their fellow citizens. 22 Some of the examples of this model are: fostering

public debate and discussions on issues of larger concerns; building up a

pressure group in the society to pursue a specific cause of concern;

. publishing the opinion and views of the oppressed and deprived sections of

the community on the Internet so that those views and opinions can be

incorporated in government business and transactions; catalysing wider

participation of the people in the government decision-making processes;

building up global expertise for decision-making in situations where local

capacity and expertise for an information-based decision-making is

lacking.23

4) The Interactive Service Model: This model is a consolidation of the three

models of e-govemance described above. 24 It opens up possibilities for the

participation of the people in the government business and transactions. It

is a two-way information flow model in which the potential of Information

Technology is fully utilised. It ensures direct connectivity and linkages of

the people with government representatives and officials. As a result, the

basic forms of functioning of the government are changed from a

representative based functioning to an individual-based functioning and

from the passive, reactive nature of actions to pro-active ones. 25 In this

way, this model helps the people in exercising greater access and control

over the public and development administrative system. This access and

control, in tum, makes the public. and development administration system

more responsible and accountable to people's needs and expectations.

22 Ibid, p. 6. 23 Ibid, p. 7. 24 Ibid, p. 8. 25 Ibid, p. 8.

229

Because of its intera-ctive nature of operation, this model leads to greater

participation, efficiency and transparency in government business and

transactions.26 It also results in substantial reduction in time and costs in

the decision-making process within the government. Some of the areas of

government business and transactions where the Interactive Service Model

has been applied are: election of government officials and representatives;

grievances redressal, feedback and reporting system; sharing of common

interests between the people and the government; organisation of opinion

polls on policies of the government and other government decisions;

decentralised forms of governance; government operation online;

interactive channel of communication between key policy makers and

members of Planning Commission, etc.27

IT Policy of the Government of Andhra Pradesh

The Andhra Pradesh government articulated its IT policy encompassing its

objectives, strategies, initiatives, achievements and incentives for promoting the IT

industry and IT enabled services in the state in 1999.28 The government of Andhra

Pradesh planned to leverage Information Technology to attain a position of

leadership and excellence in the information age and to transform· itself into a . knowledge society.29 The state attempted to use Information Technology to

improve the quality of life of its residents and help them achieve higher incomes

and employment. It also aggressively promoted the pervasive use of IT to achieve

higher levels of efficiency and competitiveness in both publiG and private

enterprises.30 According to Naidu's vision, by 2020, Andhra Pradesh will have

achieved one of the highest levels of IT literacy in the world.31 IT applications

26 Ibid, p. 8. 27 Ibid, p. 9. 28 IT Policy of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Finance and Planning Department (1999), Hyderabad,

AP Government Policy Document. p. 1. 29 Ibid, p. 2. 30 Ibid, p. 2. 31 Ibid, p. 3.

230

Objectives of the IT Policy~ The IT policy aims to create a knowledge society in

which all the people have access to, and contribute to the body of knowledge. 37

The creation of a robust knowledge society requires active participation

from the government, the private sector and the people. Andhra Pradesh's IT

policy addresses the requirements of each of these stakeholders. The main

objectives of the policy are stated below.

Economic de:velopment of the State: AP is using IT as an effective instrument to

foster the economic development of the state. The positive impact of the IT sector

on the economy is to be seen in the following indicators: growth of the IT industry

in the state; growth of software exports; creation of more employment avenues and

potential; attracting investments from outside the state; providing high quality

services in all spheres; promoting knowledge as a key resource for economic

progress of individuals and institutions. 38

Reaching the Underprivileged: The Andhra Pradesh government is making

conscious efforts to ensure that the benefits of all IT initiatives percolate to the

middle and lower clasRes, and particularly to those below the poverty line. 39 This

vision translates into specific goals like taking Internet to village, promoting IT­

enabled education, promoting local language interface and taking up socially

relevant extension and outreach programs.

Human Resource Development: The Government of Andhra Pradesh recognises

ti:le importance of intellectual capital for economic development and has taken

initiatives for using IT in the development education, providing quality healthcare

for all, availability of nutritious food for all, development of centers of excellence

in knowledge. 40

37 IT Policy 2001: Opportunities Unlimited, Department of Information Technology. & Communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh, l'ldia (2001), p. 1.

38 IT Policy 2001 Opportunities Unlimited, op.cit, p. I. 39 Ibid, p. 2. 40 Ibid, p. 3.

232

Good Governance: Good governance is a sine qua non for the orderly functioning

of society. The government seeks to further improve its citizen and business

interfaces and intra-governmental processes with a better use ofiT.41

e-Governance, while using IT as a strategic tool to simplify procedures and

revamp processes, will bring about several benefits including anytime, anywhere

services to citizens. It will establish a non-stop shop for all transactions in the G-C

interface, and bring about better accountability, responsiveness and transparency

of all systems. It will bring in a highly efficient government machinery and

systems and reduce discretio!l and arbitrariness.

The Strategies of IT Policies: Andhra Pradesh was very quick to realise that IT

was strategic to the state's future. Accordingly, the first Department of IT in the

country was formally established in Andhra Pradesh in 1998 to exclusively focus

upon IT and give the s~ctor the impetus that it deserved.42 The Government of

Andhra Pradesh also prepared a submission paper for the national IT task force,

spelling out policies and initiatives that were essential for the country to a position

of leadership and excellence in the information age. 43 Andhra Pradesh is one of the

first state to introduce e-governance to provide services and information to the

citizens. 44

The strategies adopted for encouraging the pervasive use of IT in the state

has focussed on following key elements.

First, developing world class IT infrastructure, including broadband digital

connectivity.45 The state wants to develop an advanced communications network

in the targeted IT areas and major business centres. It wishes to facilitate and

promote the establishment of broadband digital network in the state. In addition, it

41 Ibid, p. 4. 42 Randeep Sudan, "Towards SMART Government: The Andhra Pradesh Experience", Indian Journal of

Public Administration, XL VI (3), 2000, p. 402. 43 Ibid, p. 403. 44 Robe1t Sch·.vare, "IT and Public Sector Management in Developing Countries: Present status and Future

Prospects", Indian Journal of Public Administration, XL VI (3), 2000, p. 412. 45 Randeep Sudan, "Towards SMART Government", op.cit., p. 404.

233

seeks to promote the use of satellite communication systems to provide

connectivity, especially to remote locations in the state. The state further

promotes the use of wireless communication systems to provide connectivity,

especially to remote locations in the state. The state also promotes the use of

wireless communication services to state residents.

Second, focusing on education and research initiations to ensure a pool of

highly skilled and qualified personnel for the IT industry while improving the

overall quality of human resources.46 To this end, the state explores innovative

models of working with the private sector to fund IT projects and delivers IT

services in a cost and time effective way, ensuring that everyone involved - the

government, the private sector, and the people- are net gainers.

Third, making Andhra Pradesh the centre for SMART [simple, moral,

accountable, responsive and transparent] government applications. The state

government is committed to lever~ging IT to achieve greater accountability,

responsiveness and transparency in its business and transactions.47 IT will be used

not merely to automate processes but as a strategic tool to simplify procedures and

revamp processes. To enable this initiative, the government is setting up

infrastructure, putting in place a large number of services for the people, and

reviewing regulation, as required.

Fourth, promoting Andhra Pradesh as a premier location for world class IT

companies.48 To become a premier location and sustain this position, the state

wishes to act on two fronts. First, it provides companies and professionals with

infrastructure and living conditions comparable to any other location in the world.

Second, it develops and implements a compelling promotional programme to

attract enough IT companies to create a critical mass in Hyderabad within the next

five years.

46 Andhra Pradesh: IT Opportunity for the World, Department oflnfonnation Technology and Communications, Hyderabad (2001), p. 4.

47 Vision 2020: Swarnandhrapradesh (1999), p. 250. 48 Vision 2020: Swarnandhrapradesh (1999), op.cit., p. 282.

234

Fifth, bringing IT into the service of the people in all parts of the state. 49

The primary focus of the state is to use IT to improve the quality of life of the

state's residents. These will comprise the efforts in ensuring better information

access and enabling e-commerce. To achieve this, the state will strive to achieve

the highest penetration ofcomputers and information appliances in the country.

'THE ROAD TO BECOMING THE PREMIER IT CENTRE OF INDIA

From • _An emerging IT

centre: fast catching up with Bangalore

select global To players like

Promoting Andhra • A premier centre for IT Oracle, Baan, •

Pradesh as the software and services in India Microsoft,

premier location for and the world Integraph

world-class IT Large and thriving IT operating in

companies mega-hub in and around Hyderabad Hyderabad (over 50 km); Early • Developing world-

supplementary location investment in class

in Visakhapatnam Hi-Tee City: I communicatiO!JS

Significant number of sq.km infrastructure

the Top 500 global IT Attractive place • Making Andhra

companies have centres to work for IT Pradesh the hub for

professionals developing in Hyderabad

Electronic • Preferred destination for IT • first steps towards professionals

creating centres of Governmental applications • An information-based society

educational in which IT is a way of life excellence in IT: • Developing

Indian Institution of educational and • Pioneer in Electronic

Information research institutions Government applications

Technology set up • The IT education centre of India; leader in distance and • Initial moves distributed learning model-

towards making IT a based education

way of life

Source: Vision 2020 - Swarnandhrapradesh, 1999, op.cit., p. 277.

49 Ibid, p. 285.

235

E-governance Programme in AP, 1995-2001

One of the major objectives of IT policy of Government of Andhra Pradesh is

using IT applications in the governance, that is e-govemance.50 ·So, e-govemance is a

significant part of the IT policy of the Andhra Pradesh Government. Moreover, e­

govemance forms the backbone of the ongoing administrative reforms process in

Andhra Pradesh to achieve good governance. 51 Now, the aim of e-govemance is to

establish SMART government in Andhra Pradesh.52 Therefore, to achieve good

governance Andhra Pradesh government is committed to leverage modem

information and communication technologies for providing more convenient,

accessible, transparent, accountable services to citizens, for giving easy, reliable

information to citizens and for improving efficiency quality and accountability in the

govemment.53 The state aims at good governance through e-govemance (IT

application) as a part of administrative reform process because good governance

facilitates economic reforms and economic development, and helps democratic

process. 54

In fact, Andhra Pradesh is the first state in India to design a state-wide

computerisation programme covering all levels of the administrative spectrum.55

Moreover, government has defined an overall IT architecture for the state that will

ensure consistency and inter-operability of the databases of different government

agencies and ·departments.

T!1e sate government plans to implement a comprehensive plan to utilise IT for

better services and information to citizens. 56 According to Naidu, today, access to the

50 IT Policy of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, , Finance and Planning Department, Hyderabad (1999), (Document) p. 2.

51 Vision 2020: Swarnandhrapradesh, Government of Andhra Pradesh State Secretariat, Hyderabad (1999), (Document), p. ·

52 Ibid, p. 281. 53 iT Policy of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1999, op.cit., p. 3. 54 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanti Ninan, Plain Speaking, Delhi: Viking, 2000, p. 79. 55 Robert Schware, "IT and Public Sector Management in Developing Countries: Pr~ent Status and Future

Prospects", Indian Journal of Public Administration, XLVI (3), 2000, p. 414. 56 Randeep Sudan, "Towards 'SMART' Government: The Andhra Pradesh Experience", Indian Journal of

Public Administration, XL (3), 2000, p. 402.

236

government is generally slow, cumbersome, uncoordinated, and confusing. 57

Procedures are mystifying and obscure, giving the bureaucracy immense discretion

and, therefore, power. As a result, most transactions with the government are time­

consuming and frustrating. The N aidu government is committed to correcting this

situation by introducing thee-governance because e-governance brings transparency,

accountability, efficiency and removal of discretion. 58 Corruption will be eliminated.

Quick and easy transactions would be made possible.

The Andhra Pradesh government is using IT applications in four or five

dimensions for its practical and governance purposes to establish SMART

Government. They are: (1) IT applications for the CM to supervise and to control

entire development in AP; (2) providing services to citizens; (3) using IT within the

government to improve efficiency and quality in government; ( 4) using IT for

planning, creating a citizen data base and monitoring land use in conjunction with

remvte sensing; and (5) providing information to citizens. 59

For this purpose, the state has been taking initiatives like defining IT

architecture, creating infrastructure, reviewing regulation, etc. to establish electronic

government. 60 Moreover, it has been implementing IT projects like CARD, TWINS,

APSWAN etc. Some are pilot projects and some other fully pledged projects.61

IT Applications in AP -Dimensions

The Andhra Pradesh . government is using information and communication

technologies in government in four dimensions for its practical purposes to achieve

the aim of good governance. 62 In other words there are four practical applications of

e-governance in Andhra Pradesh.

The first application is for the direct use of head of the executive. It concerns

how a chief minister uses information and communication technologies in

57 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanti Ninan, Plain Speaking, 1999, op.cit., p.80. 58 Ibid, p. 81. 59 Ibid, pp. 78, 105. 60 Vision 2020:Swarnandhrapradesh, (1999), op.cit., p. 280. 61 Ibid, p. 281. 62 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanti Ninan, Plain Speaking, op.cit., p. 78.

237

governance. It is an invaluable tool for a head of government. It enables the head of

government to keep track of different sectors of the economy, get feedback and

suggestions from people who have no dir~ct access to him generally, and to seek

relevant information on the Internet.63 He can monitor the entire range of progress of

development in Andhra Pradesh by simply sitting at his office in Hyderabad. His

interaction with citizens, officials. and representatives is transparent, inexpensive,

responsive, accountable and relatively less time consuming.64• Naidu claims that he is

supervising schemes personally in the districts by interacting with collectors on a

daily basis through the video-conference facility. The chief minister is setting targets

personally for revenue earning departments such as common tax, excise, transport and

motor vehicles tax and pressurising the officials concerned for the targets to be

achieveci because he has the performance data at his fingertips. The chief minister

says that he has on his personal monitoring system 132 categories under which

information is continually updated. 65 Eleven of these pertain to the state electricity

board. By personally tracking every aspect of generation and distribution he has been

able to ensure better avaiHtbility of power to farmers during the sowing season, and to

students at examination time. Tracking water levels in the state reservoirs is another

sector of information which has served a crucial function during past monsoons. The

state is actually able to determine the optimum of trade off between generating hydro­

power and meeting irrigation needs. To ensure availability of food to the poorest and

to keep track of food prices so that they do not spiral out of control, Naidu has tracked

eight categories of information under civil supplies. 66 He also receives incoming

revenue information under six categories from finance and planning. Naidu proudly

claims that covering up poor performance is more difficult when the chief minister

has an efficient data retrieval system at hand. 67 In addition to the items on the chief

63 Cyber ChiefMinsiter On Line, Khaleej Times, 26-1-99, p. 43. 64 Man of the Masses- Technology for the Common Man, The Times of India, 29-3-2002, p. 9. 65 Ibid, p. 80. 66 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanti Ninan, Plain Speaking, op.cit., p. 80. 67 Ibid, p. 81.

238

minister's information system, important issues that appear in the print and electronic

media each day are computerised by the information and public relations department

every morning for chief minister's use.68 He treats the press as an important avenue

of receiving feedback on the performance of his administration. The chief minister's

secretariat is also working to put in place a system which will enable him to use e­

mail to communicate instructions to departments on action to be taken regarding news

items appearing in the media. 69

The state has set up a web-site, which invites people to e-mail the chief

minister. The government uses the Internet in a down-to-earth and practical way.

Apart from the official state government web-site www.andhrapradesh.com, different

departments have their individual web-sites. The government uses the web to post

tender notices, pro-forms, departmental news, information about water levels in

reservoirs, and circulars and government orders. 70 The AP Pollution Control Board

posts industry standards and guidelines on its web-sites. It gives information about

pollution control technologies, uses the web to register public complaints against

polluting units and post the status of complaints received. 71

Regarding e-mail, chief minister receives a vast member of messages each day.

He contends that it transcends the security barrier between a leader and his people. 72

People in the districts are sending e-mail to the chief minister with their complaints as

well as feedback. Industrialists in the state and elsewhere in the country who want to

draw chief minister's (Cl'vi) attention to certain issues also use e-mail. The secretariat

·also uses the Internet to equip the CM with information relevant to meetings with

diplomats or representatives of companies interested in doing business in Andhra

68 Naidu: A Cyber CM of AP, Blitz, I- I 1-97, p. 4. 69 Ibid, p. 5. 70 Good Governance Exercise on: CM, The Hindu, 2-2-200I, p. 5. 71 Ibid, p. 9. 72 The CEO of Andhra Pradesh, Times of India, 16- I -99, p. 9.

239

Pradesh.73 Naidu says that the Internet has also been an invaluable resource in the

entire exercise of undertaking administrative reforms in Andhra Pradesh. 74

The second application is for citizen-related services, saving people a good

deal of harassment in their day-to-day dealings with the government. 75 Naidu says

that, access to the government is generally slow, cumbersome, uncoordinated and

confusing.76• The government is committed to correcting this situation by introducing

the electronic government, a process of administrative reforms integrated with the use

of Information Technology.77 The government has decided that the citizen should be

made the focus of Informatbn Technology applications in the government. IT can

provide what good governance needs: speed, efficiency, transparency, consistency

and reliability. It can smoothen the interface citizens and business with the

government, by making the latter more responsive. With Information Technology it

becomes possible to improve internal efficiencies, integrate services, and to introduce

new services. Naidu says that information and communication technologies (ICT)

bring transparency, accountabi!ity, and removal of desecration,~8 misuse and wastage

will be minimised, corruption will be eliminated. 79

One of the first citizen oriented applications is the computerisation of the

registration and stamps department. 80 In August 1996 the government decided to

computerise the entire process, throughout the state, at some 387 sub-registrar's

offices. 81 In the first phase 249 out of 387 offices have been computerised. The

government is implementing the CARD (Computerised Administration in

Registration Department) project for property sale registration as a part of

computerised registration. 82

73 Interface- e-govemance for the Head of Government, The Hindu (Hyderabad), 21-7-2001, p. I. 74 Ibid, p. II. 75 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanti Ninan, Plain Speaking, op.cit., p. 78. 76 Ibid, p. 79. 77 Ibid, p. 80. 78 Tony Blair to See e-governance in AP, The Hindu, 6-1-2002, p. 5. 79 Ibid, p. 5. 80 Randeep Sudan,' "Towards SMART Government", op.cit., p. 404. 81 Ibid, p. 405. 82 Man of the Masses- Technology for the Common Man, The Times of India, 29-3-2002, p. 9.

240

The state launched CARD in 1998 to computerise registration department. 83 It

is a simple, transparent and convenient system.The documents are digitised thus

ensuring that the registration of deeds could be completed in the shortest possible

time.

CARD provides a transparent method of valuation of properties and the

calculation of stamp duties. 84 It simplifies registration proced~res. It enhances the

speed, reliability and consistency of the system. Scanning of documents has replaced

copying. The manual systems of copying, indexing and accounting have given way to

the state-of-the-art document management system.85 And there has been a sea change

in the ease with which documents can be retrieved and copies made available. The

service is invaluable because of its reliability. This project does electronic

verification of transactions in order to issue the non-encumbrance certificate,

effortlessly, for everybody, all the time.

There has been a measurable change in the time taken to deliver similiar

services in CARD offices compared to non-CARD offices. 86 According to

government, registering deeds used to take three days, now it takes sixty minutes.

Encumbrance certificates that used to take from one to five days to prepare now take

ten minutes. Certified copies of documents ,which used to take three days to issue

can be done in fifteen minutes. A market value check slip used to take an hour to

issue. Now it takes ten minutes. The sale of stamp paper used to take thirty to sixty

minutes. This has come down to fifteen to thirty minutes. The system provides

several layers of security and back-up.

Apart from executing the transformation of registration services described

above, the Government of Andhra Pradesh together with a consortium of public sector

IT companies from Singapore decided to set up an Andhra Pradesh Value-added

83 Ibid, p. 9. 84 Naidu Paradigm, The Hindustan Times, 28-11-99, p. 11. 85 Ibid, p. 11. 86 Robert Schware, IT and Public: Sector Management, op.cit., p. 412.

241

Network (APV AN) in 1998.87 APVAN was positioned as India's first value-added

network for delivery of on-line services. 88 It proposed a major innovation: the

concept of anytime, anywhere government services. It would allow citizen­

government transactions at a conveni'!nt time or place throughout the day and year, as

opposed to the existing system of transacting business with government departments

only during office hours. 89 It would usher in non-stop 24-hour government. Through

Apvan.com, the state envisioned cross-departmental integration of information, which

would provide a one-stop interface for all transactions between the citizen and the

government. 90

However, APV AN quickly ran into a serious controversy with the employees

associations. The employees' apprehensions about the project snowballed into a major

agitation. The project consequently had to be temporarily shelved.91

A pilot project TWINS (Twin Cities Integrated Network Services) was

launched at the end of December 1999 in Hyderabad, the state capital.92 It is designed

to provide the citizens of Hyderabad and Secunderabad computerised one-stop

services. It integrates nineteen services pertaining to six departments for delivery on a

one-stop mode. It is called an integrated citizen service centre. The services would

include payment of utility bills and property taxes, issuing certificates (birth, death,

caste and income); issuing permits and licences; providing information (building

permits, transport procedures, property registration); and facilitating common

transactions, such as change of address, transfer of vehicle ownership, etc.93 services

may be added later on. This services centre works on two shi~s and is open from 7

a.m. to 9 p.m. Naidu claims demanding a bribe for a service done becomes virtually

87 India's First Cyber-government, The Hindu, 22-11-98, p. B. 88 Ibid, p. C. · 89 D. Bandyo Padhyay, "Andhra Pradesh: Looking Beyond Vision 2020", Economic and Political Weekly, 36

(11), March 17,2001, p. 900. 90 Ibid, p. 90 I. · 91 Randeep Sudan, "Towards SMART Government"op.cit., p. 405. · 92 Robert Schware, "IT and Public Sector Management in Developing Countries: Present Status and Future

Prospects", Indian Journal of Public Administration, XL VI (3), 2000, p. 416. 93 Ibid, p. 417. ·

242

headquarters towns and in Tirupati and Vijayawada is being computerised. 100

Computers with their memory devices are interconnected in an office called a Local

Area Network (LAN). The LAN3 of individual offices (for example, sales tax,

revenue, treasury, public distribution system and electricity) within a city are all

interconnected with the collectorate as the district node (DN). 101 This constitutes a

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network). Every district node is connected to the state

capital, Hyderabad, over an optic fibre communications circuit, to constitute the State

Wide Area Network (SWAN). 102 All the twenty-five nodes are equipped for video

conferencing. At a short notice the chief minister, ministers, commissioners and

directors in Hyderabad can hold state conferences, thereby avoiding travel, time and

related expenses; group of Collectors, Inspectors General of Police; education or

electricity or treasury officers can hold discussions by e-mail, or voice telephony, and

access vast quantities of information, all simultaneously on the information

highway. 103 The major advantage of. this APSWAN that it enables the government to

transfer files between districts and the state government headquarters for video­

conferencing by minister and bureaucrats at all levels, and for the use of public sector

organisations providing citizen services, such as the state road transport corporation,

which can provide return booking of journeys. 104 APSW AN is invaluable for the

government for in-house administration. Progress reports from every district to head

quarters can reach Hyderabad much faster. The government is able to know its

financial position faster: how much is the outflow, and how much revenue is coming

to the government. It helps to manage resources better.

Naidu says that as far as its applications for ordinary people is concerned, one

example is the computerisation of Tirupati darshans and the booking of these from

100 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanti Ninan, Plain Speaking, p. 95. 101 Ibid, p. 95. 102 Ibid, p. 96. 103 India's First Cyber-government, The Hindu, 22-11-98, p. B. 104 Karry Sriram, Cyber CaJjital of a Silicon State, The Hindu, 1-11-2000, p. E-3.

244

other parts of the state via APSWAN. 105 Another is for people travelling on the buses

of the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation to book their return journey at the

same time as the outward journey. 106 Therefore it conquers time and distance. Apart

from the kind of networking applications that APSW AN represents, district rural

development agencies have been discovering that they are able to efficiently track

their performance under dozens of central and state government programmes since

their own operations have been computerised.

The fourth application is the use of information and communication

technologies for planning, for creating a citizen database and for monitoring land use

in conjunction with remote sensing. 107 Andhra Pradesh has two kinds of IT-enabled

databases with considerable significance for planning applications. One is the

Geographic Information System which has been created by digitizing maps of

revenue villages and mandals, and also constituencies. 108 Maps dating back to 1939

have been digitized since they are the only ones available, and revenue village

demarcations have not changed. The other database which can be used in conjunction

with this is a citizen database. 109 In a wired society citizen databases are created to

make it possible to generate data on demand. This could be for planning purposes, or

for individual certification needs. The latter becomes very simple once the data is

available. Andhra Pradesh has built up in the past few years a multi-purpose

household survey database (MPHS), which contains information on each citizen such

as age, sex, educational qualifications, household income, nature of occupation, the

nature of shelter each household has, and so on. 110 The government says that once

such a database is in place, issuing date of birth, caste, income and nativity certificates

105 Kalyani Shankar, Gods of Power: Personality Cultand Indian Democracy, New Delhi: Macmillan, 2002, p. 161.

106 Most Happening State in the Country, The Hindu, 1-11-2000, p. AE-1. 107 Vision 2020: Swarnandhrapradesh, (1999), op.cit., p. 277. 108 Ibid, p. 278. 109 Ibid, p. 278. 110 IT Policy 2001: Opportunities Unlimited, op.cit., p. I I.

245

becomes quite painless. It will form the core around which a large number of citizen­

related applications will be developed.

In December 1999 the Government of Andhra Pradesh unveiled the State

Planning and Development Monitoring System which has been developed through the

convergence of two technologies, the Geographic Information System and Remote

Sensing. 111 The entire state has been digitised all 23 districts, 1125 mandals, 294

assembly constituencies, 28245 revenue villages and 67505 habitations. 112 The

imaging for this system was obtained from IRS 1 C and IRS lD in March 1999 with a

23 metre resolution. 113 Naidu says that if one combines the capabilities of this system

with the data from the multipurpose household survey it gives the administration

details not only about every habitation, but also about the socio-economic conditions

of each family. 114

The state's entire road network has been digitised, and concerned officials have . '

on their computers a roads database which is useful for planning new roads and

monitoring their quality. 115 It has been claimed that the effort is to make all kinds of

data web-enabled so that not only the district collector, but also citizens can access it.

Mandals already have online access to the multipurpose household data.

Andhra Pradesh has its own remote sensing applications centre, which enables

regular watershed monitoring and applies remote sensing to the monitoring of

cropped area. 116 It also reveals the real state of forest area vegetation, and provides

one with information as to whether the groundwater levels in a particular watershed is

improving. The Andhra Pradesh State Remote Sensing Application Centre has

developed a way to apply geographical information systems to assembly

111 Year Book 2000- Vudyaga Sopanam, p. Andhra Pradesn-5. 112 Ibid, p. AP-6. 113 Ibid, p. AP-7. 114 Ibid, p. AP-10. 115 Ibid, p. AP-12. 116 IT Application in Andhra Pradesh, Vaartha (Telugu Daily), 5-4-2001, p. 6.

246

people in rural areas are being developed. 123 The communications networks are going

to be expanded to provide affordable communications to the people. The global

expansion of e-'commerce can enable the effective use of electronic networks to

market the products and services of artisans and small-scale industries. 124 Internet

services are set up to improve both the quality and the marketing of the products of

cottage and small-scale industries in Andhra Pradesh. 125

The state has set up its value added network services. The scope of this project

will be expanded to provide a wide ran~e of services to citizens. Currently about

nineteen services in six broad categories have been identified. 126 They include public

utilities, registration and stamps, commercial taxes, transport services, employment

exchanges, and procurement by the government. To guarantee high quality services,

the state government is currently defining a number of citizen's charters spelling out

the standards of service that government departments/agencies are to maintain. 127 All

the charters are available electronically. Mechanisms for redress of grievances are

provided- for example, citizens can complain directly to the CM through e-mail about

their local problems. The value added network services provide the state's people

with easy access to data and the means to quickly conduct transactions with

government departments. 128 It also established a user friendly interface between the

government state residents and business .. 129 Citizens are able to obtain and submit

electronically all forms for any service or clearance from the government. Their

information needs are met through a system of one-stop, non-stop electronic

networks. To ensure that IT based services are available to all Andhra Pradesh's

people, the government proposes to provide free network access through electronic

123 A Man of the Masses- Technology f~r the Common Man, The Times of India, 29-3-2002, p. 9. 124 Ibid, p. 10. 125 Interface- Development Through Technology Up-gradation, The Hindu, 22-11-98,p. P. 126 IT Policy of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1999), op.cit., p. 4. 127 Cyber Chief Minister Online, Kha/eej Times, 26-1-99, p. 43. 128 Well-Equipped IT Centre, TheHindu, 22-11-98, p. C. 129 The Naidu Paradigm, The Hindustan Times, 2~-11-1999, p. 11.

248

ongoing training programmes relating to government employees. The government

claims that awareness and training programmes have been organised for Ministers,

Secretaries and Head of Departments. 138 All MLA's were provided with training on

computers.

Some Advantages of e-Governance

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has described some of the major benefits

of e-governance in Andhra Pradesh. First, it allows citizen-government transactions

at any convenient time or place throughout the day or year. 139 At present, citizens can

usually transact business with government departments only during office hours. With

Electronic Government initiative, however, most government services will be

available 24 hours ofthe day.

Second, cross-departmental integration of information provides a one-stop

interface for all transactions between citizens and the government. 140 This will

increase the convenience of citizens in more ways than one. For instance, a change of

address provided to one government department will be incorporated in the databases

of other departments without the need for multiple correspondence. IT will, therefore,

make it possible for the government to deliver one stop, non-stop services to its

citizens.

Third, the use of IT and the integration of databases and services remove the

element of monopoly in the dispensation of government services to citizens. 141 Many

of the maladies of government currently arise from its monopoly of information. The

Electronic Government initiative, therefore, will also reduce the scope for corrupt

practices. 142 Fourth, the government functions most efficiently due to IT applications.

The government provides fast, less expensive, reliable service to the citizens and

gives transparent, open information to the citizens. E-governance facilitates improved

138 Ibid, p. 404. 139 Vision 2020: Swarnandhrapradesh {1999), op.~it., p. 280. 140 Ibid, p. 281. 141 Ibid, p. 281. 142 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanthi Ninan, op.cit., pp. 85-91.

250

interface between citizen and government. Th~refore, government's transactions and

business are open, transparent, responsive, efficient and accountable. 143 Finally, e­

governance facilitates economic development on the one hand and democracy on the

other hand. 144• Some of the major e-governance projects are given below.

IT Projects in Andhra Pradesh

• APSWAN (Andhra Pradesh State Wide Area Network): The APSWAN connects

the Secretariat, Hyderabad with all the 23 district headquarters and two other

important towns, Vijayawada and Tirupati through a 2 Mbps dedicated network

meeting the data, voice and video communication needs of the government.

• Video-conferencing facility: The government used the video-conferencing facility

to discuss t~pics ranging from the state's environment program, the farmer's

bazaar (Rythu Bazaar) scheme, price monitoring and implementation of road

works to sanitation and pubic health schemes apart from the power generation and

water levels with field functionaries from across the state.

• CARD (Computer-aided Administration of Registration Department): This

project was introduced to quicken the process registration of deeds. Under this

system, citizens can complete the process of registering their deeds within an hour.

Acclaimed as the best example of e-Governance in India, the CARD project has

registered around 1.4 million documents in 25 months (till January 2001) at the

computerised centres in Andhra Pradesh.

• TWINS (Twin Cities Network Services): The objective of the TWINS project is to

provide integrated citizen services in a single window mode. It provides the

citizens of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Sectinderabad . selected services and

information of departments and agencies of the state and central government,

including the payment of utility bills, issues of certificates and provision of

information useful to the citizens. Currently in its pilot mode at one service

143 Ibid, p. 92. 144 Ibid, p. 93.

251

• APDMS (Andhra Pradesh Development Monitoring System): The APDMS is a

GIS-based system, which has created base maps of all the 1,125 mandals and

constituent revenue villages and habitations. Apart from basic data, a suite of

applications, which superimpose thematic data on the road network, community

infrastructure, basic demographic data, soil and geomorphological data, etc, is also

a part of the project. The information is available on the Intranet and provides a

good support to research, analysis, project design and monitoring in the area of

development planning.

Computerisation of departments

The state government has prioritised departments and agencies on a rational

criterion for computerisation to successfully meet the objectives of its e­

governance project like:

Improve quality of citizen services.

Improve internal efficiencies of a government department or agency.

Better enforcement of law.

Promotion and outreach activities.

Education and information.

• Local Language Initiative: A committee (headed by the chairman of the Official

Language Commission) tc design and develop standards for the sue of Telugu (our

local language) font on computers, has made a number of recommendations as the

standards for using Telugu in computers. The government will implement the

same to promote use of computers in rural areas.

• Collectorate 2000: The government is computerising all the 23 collectorates of the

state by developing common software with the following objectives:

- Provide a computerised interface to citizen for all needs.

-Work flow automation of all standard licensing and permit procedures.

-: Dissemination of Information useful to citizens.

- Monitoring of all developmental activities.

253

• Internet Policy: The entire secretariat workplace comprising of 2,000 nodes has

been brought into a LAN with a bandwidth of 10 Mbps to 622 Mbps over optic

fibre cable.

• E-mail Policy: Presently, all employees of the secretariat have access to e-mail

facility and the same would soon be available to all the offices at district level.

• Data Warehousin_g:_ The data warehousing project being jointly implemented by

the AP state government and C-DAC, Pune, has two core objects:

Person object and

Land object.

The main source of data for these core objects is the MPHS data and land records

data. The data has been loaded into P ARAM, the Indian super computer. The

Web-enabled data will be made available to all government agencies for planing

and analysis. The person object has ·information like name, father's name, sex

religion, caste, occupation, while the land object contains name of owner, extent of

land, nature of la.TJ.d, nature of crops raised, type of irrigation source etc. Different

types of analysis can be made on both the objects with different permutations and

combinations.

• Electronic Kiosks: The government will encourage the setting up of a large

number of kiosks on lines of public telephone booths for two purposes:

(i) To serve the information needs of citizens

(ii) To provide employment to large number of educated youth.

The demand for such kiosks is assessed to 50,000 in AP.

Reliance will soon commission 7,500 such kiosks.

• Chief Information Officer programme: The government of Andhra Pradesh in

association with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and the Satyam

School of Applied Information Systems, lilT Hyderabad, has designed a unique

Advanced Management Programme in Information Technology and Electronic

Governance. The programme is unique, not just for its first-class pedigree, but

also because it envisages a direct linkage with a live e-Governance project

254

implementation in the state. The programme juxtaposes theory and practice,

academic rigour and pragmatic realism.

• Centre for Good Governance: The government has initiated a centre for Good

Governance to be a focal point for the HRD required for good e-Governance

projects and conducting research and training on methodologies and technologies

appropriate for these projects. This project will be useful to other governments

too.

• IT Architecture, security policy and PKI: To meet the multiple objectives of

evolving a common IT architecture for an integrated approach in IT

implementation, defining a comprehensive security policy and· catalysing the

establishment of public key infrastructure (PKI) within the state, the government

has awarded Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) with a consultancy contract to

implement a firewall around all major databases. Basing on their

recommendations government is proceeding ahead.

• Andhra Pradesh Portal: The Government of Andhra Pradesh is developing a

comprehensive and web-enabled service portal with the assistance of Gartner

Group, that would act as an electronic gateway into the government's portfolio of

services.

The _portal would provide a host of features, which include:

Information services .

Interactive services

Payments

Extension services

Links to other governments web sites.

The portal is scheduled to be launched shortly. 145

145 For more details, see IT Policy 2001; Opportunities Unlimited, Department oflnformation Technology and Communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, pp. 8-16.

255

E-GOVERNANCE- GROUND REALITIES

The first dimension of IT application in government is about Chief Minister N.

Chandrababu Naidu is able to govern the state through IT application. Firstly, Naidu

believes that he can govern the state most efficiently if he has information or data at

his fingertips. That is why he keeps up to date information of Andhra Pradesh

regarding financial position, projects, programmes, etc. in his laptop to govern the

state efficiently and effectieiy. Secondly, Naidu cl8ims that he will be able to

monitor, supervise and controi the entire financial position of and performance levels

of different programmes, schemes projects and law and order situation through the

video-conferencing facility with district collectors on a daily basis. Thirdly, he will

be able to get the feedback, suggestions, representations and complaints from the

general public ranging from industrialists to common man through e-mail and 'Dial

your CM' programme. Lastly, Naidu is planning to use the Internet extensively to

improve the condition of Andhra Pradesh. It goes without saying that this capability

would keep his bureaucrats always on their toes since the CM can at anytime question

and crosscheck their statements and factual presentation and pull up the incorrect, the

negligent, the non-performers among them.

Regarding the information he stores in his laptop, it is found that he keeps a

whole range of information in his laptop and that information is always updated. We

can observe this fact when the CM is answering general public who raises different

issues in 'Dial your CM' programme. If you ask any question, the CM opens his

laptop and he answers the public on the basis of the information available in it. He

does the same with officials. It is observed that the officials cannot cover up anything

or cannot manipulate him, since he has up to date information on any issue. That is

why officials are forced to maintain performance data regularly on any issue. That is

why we find a lot of data on any programme at district level. However, the limitation

of this strategy of the CM is that the information and data he has, comes through his

secretaries. The secretaries get this data from the district collectors. The district

256

collectors get this from Mandai level officials. And the fact of the matter is that the

officials do not like to give poor performance data to higher officials. Besides, they

may also manipulate the data.

It means that the officials might convert bad performance data into good

performance data. They may say that they have implemented a particular programme

without implementing properly. Therefore, the CM will come to know the reality

only when he visits the field regarding any programme. We know that money always

has been spent, but proper results have never appeared. That is why Andhra Pradesh

has not developed as expected. Unless and until he makes the officials implement any

programme properly, simple data cannot describe the reality. Finally the CM can

govern efficiently only if he has actual performance data. He has to make officials

work honestly towards this end.

Regarding the video-conferencing facility through which the CM can monitor,

s1.1pervise and control any developmental programme by interacting with the district

collectors on a daily basis, the researcher has personally participated in the video­

conferencing programme; the CM informs district collectors on which issue he is

going to discuss with collectors. On 21st June 2001 at 6 o'clock Chandrababu Naidu

discussed the Janmabhoomi programme with Nellore district collector and other

district heads. The district collector~ chief planning officer and other district heads

were present in that Video-conferencing programme. First, the CM enquired about

the performance of the Janmabhoomi programme. The district collector informed the

CM how much he has been able to implement the programme, the problems he has

faced, and the money he has spent on the programme. After the district collector, the

chief planning officer showed some data regarding the same programme. Finally, the

CM ordered the collector to do some other thing and he gave suggestions regarding

the Janmabhoomi progr~mme. It is true thai whole interface between the CM and

district officials is open and transparent, if not for the public. The CM is able to find

out what is going on in a particular district without travelling to that district. It saves

time and money. It is an efficient interface between the CM and officials. It is

257

hour programme every week. People can call their CM on phone at the prescribed

time regarding their problem. Therefore the CM is able to solve people's problems

through the TV programme on the basis of the calls he gets through phones.

Theresearcher has participated in five 'Dial your CM' programmes. The CM

gets calls from with:in the sate· and outside, from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,

Maharashtra, Orissa, Delhi and also abroad. Generally, Naidu gets calls from NRis

(Non-Resident Indians), professionals, business people, students, urban middle class

and upper middle class, rural educated people, rich farmers, academicians, software

professionals, etc. The calls from the masses, poor, ordinary farmers, rural people,

and SCs and STs are very few (2 to 5 percent). The issues people address to the CM

are scams, corruption, non-functioning bureaucratic officials, inefficient bureaucrats

results of different exams, educated unemployment and even some extent police

harassment, Naxalite problem, etc. Issues like reservations for SC/ST's, poverty,

farmer's problems, women issues, rural masses problems, caste; gender and religious

discrimination and exploitation etc., do not appear in the 'Dial your CM' programme.

The Dial your CM has supposedly given the opportunity to the people to

express their opinion on any issues, to inform their problems and to give suggestions

on any issue to the CM. Moreover, people can influence the government on any

decision and issue. The CM responds to the pe0ple very firmly by taking action itself.

It is true that it stops barriers between the CM and the people. It is also true that

people are able to interact with the CM without travelling to the CM. It is transparent,

efficient and saves money and time. The CM and his government is accountable to

the people for their action through this programme. It is also true that it is an example

of e-democracy. But the problem is that the poor, rural farmers, illiterate, marginal

sections are not able to inform their problems and they are not able to influence the

government according to their own interests. Urban middle and upper middle class,

business, educated people are able to get what they want. Therefore, the 'Dial your

CM' programme cannot serve the poor marginal people so much because they are not

properly educated, conscious of. their position and are not able to pay for the STD

259

phones. They do not really bother calling. Another issue is that most of the issues or

complaints coming to the CM through this programme are personal issues rather than

common concerns or issues related to any programme. It is also found that people are

not well aware of the government programmes and schemes. They are not able to tell

why a particular programme has been launched. They mix the Janmabhoomi

programme with other central government programmes. It shows that the government

has not educated the people properly on government programmes.

The second method of contact between the people and the CM is through e­

mail. The government of Andhra Pradesh has set up a website which invites people to

e-mail the CM at any time. This is to get feedback, reactions on any issue, complaints

from the people, suggestions from the people, etc. People are given an opportunity to

draw the CM's attention on any issue.

The CM is getting e-mails from the NRis, from other states, and from the state

itself. In Andhra Pradesh, urban and upper middle classes and rural educated people

are able to send e-mails to the CM. The issues raised are: APPSC's exam, exam's

results, complaints against bureaucratic inefficiency, services related issues, praises

for Chandrababu Naidu for his effort to develop IT in Andhra Pradesh, business

related issues, etc. 146 A majority of the e-mails are related to personal rather than

common issues. 147 These e-mails are not at all related to government's programmes

and schemes except the IT programme. This is because the people who are using the

Internet do not know or are not bothered to know the government schemes and

programmes. They know the IT sector only. ·

It is true that the government has given an opportunity to the people to express

their opinion on any issue. It is also true that the people can influence the

government's decisions. His also an instrument of democracy. The problem is that

only rural educated and educated middle anrl upper middle class people are able to

utilise this facility but not the majority of the poor and marginal section due to their

146 This Information is based on interview taken from Government Secretary. 147 Ibid.

260

illiteracy, ignorance, etc. The people who are utilising this facility are not expressing

their opinion on government's programmes or policies because they are not seeing the

programmes or policies on the Internet. They are only concerned with their own

personal issues. It is also true that people can send e-mail to the CM directly if the

officials are not doing their duties properly.

Therefore, although the government is using the 'Dial your CM' and e-mail to v

know feedback from the people, only the rural and urban educated middle and upper

middle class people are able to utilise this facility and not majority comprising of the

poor and marginal people. Majority of people who are using this facility are actually

doing so to express their opinion on government policies and programme.

Dial Your CM Progmnune .-------- ----·-· II Related to non functioning

of bureaucratic officials 400/o ·

0 Issues Related to Students (exunemployun1t) 20%

• Issues Related to Police and Naxalites 5%

0 Setvices Related Issues 10%

1m Trade and Commerce 15%

m Poor farmers Issues 5%

L§l Govemment Programes 5%

The above diagram shows that poverty, caste discrimination, rural

unemployment, wage rates, drinking water, shelter do not appear in the dial your CM

programme.

Regarding the Internet, first, Naidu uses the Intemet to send any urgent

message to top to bottom officials or to particular

261

departments. It is a paperless execrcise it saves time and money. Second, to

govern better he uses the Internet to see the successful international experiences

regarding development, which he tries to implement in Andhra Pradesh. Third, to

improve his understanding on any issue he uses the Internet. Finally, he uses the

Internet for policy formulation, planning, and programme preparations.

The second application is the citizen-related services. The government has

decided that the citizen should be made the focus of the information technology

applications of the government. Therefore, the government is using IT applications to

provide efficient, transparent, reliable and accountable service to its citizens. It wants

to improve the interaction between the government and the citizens. The citizens

should be free from harassment, the queues a<!d corruption. They should be provided

better services. To achieve this, the govemment has launched both pilot and full­

fledged projects like CARD, TWINS, e-Seva etc. to provide better services to the

citizens through the networking mechanism. It has built up the necessary

infrastructure for this. This is how Naidu explains the problems with the earlier

service system: 148 "Access to the government is generally slow, cumbersome,

uncoordinated and confusing. Procedures are mystifying and obscure, giving the

bureaucracy immense desecration and, therefore, power. As a result, most

transactions with the government are time-consuming and frustrating."

To correct this situation, th~ government has introduced the e-services. The

researcher has done his field-work in Hyderabad to examine the implementation

process to e-services as a part of e-governance. He has observed the way e-. '

governance projects work, has participated in the projects, and has taken interview of

the people. Some e-governance projects like CARD, TWINS, and e-Seva have been

examined in the field.

148 SMART Government, The Hindu (Hyderabad), 21-7-2000.

262

and power at the Mandai levels, unlike Hyderabad where the officials are more

restrained. It simplifies registration procedure because the~e is no need of searching

for files and other things. It enhances the speed, reliability and consistency of the

system because both the parties are present at the registration office. It is not true that

the registration process will be finished within an hour. It takes between three hours

to three days on the basis of the region.

People feel that the present system is good, efficient, and quick but corruption

continues and the bureaucratic procedure still has to be followed despite some relief.

It is found that the people have to offer a particular percent of the total value of the

. property to the officials as a bribe. Otherwise officials delay the registration by

giving some excuse or the other. This bribe varies between 1% to 5% and also from

place to place. Registration does not take place without paying this amount to the

officials. People also have to pay more than the actual value of stamp duty. CARD is

not able to stop corruption despite its transparency. In fact, officials are demanding

more money in some places due to the fast services provided. Another problem is that

CARD is not able to say anything regarding the actual value of the property and the

recorded or registered value of the property. People have complained that the

government has fixed high prices for the property or land to get more money on the

stamp duty. It is true that the government is getting more money on stamp duty now.

People say that the officials are coming to the offices regularly and working better

than earlier. Officials are working more efficiently now due to the pressure put by the

CM and the e-mail complaints to the CM by some people. But they are working

under force and not voluntarily.

It is found that the offic!als are deliberately spoiling the computer systems

since they are not happy with the computerisation. If any 0ne spoils the systems, the

entire operation will collapse leading to delays. Officiais expect that people will then

oppose this computerisation. CARD is working better in the cities because it deals

with real estates or housing flats. In ordinary towns and in rural areas, CARD is not

working as expected because here it deals with agricultural land. Agricultural land is

264

linked with social forces and conflict. Moreover, clients in the urban area are

educated whereas in rural areas clients are uneducated. This is why corruption is

more in the Mandals, Revenue, Divisions and District headquarters than in

Hyderabad. But even in Hyderabad CARD is not able to do anything about the issue

land grabbing by the powerful.

TWINS (Twin Cities Integrated Network Services) which is a pilot project,

was initiated at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad in December 1999. The objective of the

TWINS project is to provide integrated citizen services in a single window mode. It

provides the citizens of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad the selected

services and information of deparfments and agencies of the state and central

governments including the payment of utility bills, issue of certificates and provision

of information useful to citizens. At present, 19 services of seven departments are

offered in its pilot mode at one service centre. It is located in Road No. 7 in Banjara

Hills. It is also called an integrated citizen service centre. It is also called an

integrated citizen service centre. It is very clean, fully air-conditioned and there are

long queues (actually there are no queues but one's number would be around 50 to

100 which takes 90 minutes. to 120 minutes). One can get certificates of birth and

others, one can pay number of bills and can get information, all at one place. TWINS

gives this facility only. The following applications are operational now: bill-payment

of electricity, water, property tax etc. bills; issuance of birth, death, caste and vehicle

registration certificates; and range of information and facilitation services. This

service centre works on two shifts and is open form 7a.m.- 8p.m.

Let us take one example to understand how it works .. If one wants to pay

electricity bill and wants to get caste certificate, one has to pick up an electronically

generated token number first and sit down in the waiting area or some where else.

Generally people stand at the counter. One has to wait for 90 minutes to 120 minutes

to get one's turn. When the token display flashes one's number, one can go to the

, counter it indicates. Finally one can get all work done at one counter only. But it

takes some time depending upon the nature of the work. Each of the counters handle

265

all the services offered. It operates on a web server-based technology with a central

hub and a web server linking it to as many departments as the applications covered

require. It is true that it offers efficient and transparent services of different varieties

at one place. That is why people are happy with TWINS. But they are not happy

with time it takes which is not less than earlier. Secondly, people are unhappy with

the service charges imposed by the government to get the computerised services.

They thus protested against these service charges in large numbers. The government

has realised people's anger and has stopped the service charges for the time being.

One has to pay Rs. 25/- toRs. 501- for each service. That is why TWINS was faced

with initial opposition. Now people are happy with TWINS. In fact, people are not

against TWINS as such except for the service charges.

However, the bureaucratic staff was unhappy with the TWINS programme and

launched a protest against it because they felt that they would loose their jobs. The

government assurance has stopped the protests but the bureaucratic staff remains

unhappy with computerisation in general and TWINS in particular. The reasons for

this dissatisfaction are: they have to be in the office on time; they have to work more

(they have to work for whole 0f eight hours); they are loosing their power and

influence; they are also loosing money due to corruption in Hyderabad; their work is

very transparent and they are more accountable to both their higher officials and

people; they have fear of complaints send to the CM directly by e-mail and through

the 'Dial your CM' programme etc. That is why now and then they create problems

with computer or network working systems. Moreover they damage the systems

leading to the collapse of the entire system which takes two to three days to be

repaired. Whenever they want to avoid work they simply say that the computers are

not working.

It is found that 98 percent of the people who are using TWINS services, are

going to TWINS only to get services provided by the goveriunent but not to get

information provided by the same government. Only 2 percent of the people who are

utilising TWINS services are using TWINS for getting information. It shows that

266

people usee-governance to get services rather than to get information provided by the

government.

' E-Seva' is a rollout of the TWINS pilot project launched at Banjara Hills in

Hyderabad in December 1999. It is an important project in delivering government

information and online services to citizens. It provides improved services to the

people through a networking mechanism. It acts as a one-stop-shop for nearly 30

governmental and private services provided to the citizens of Hyderabad. It is being

implemented on !public-private partnership model. e-seva provides a wide spectrum

of citizen friendly services that will save citizens the bother of running around various

departments. It provides a host of services under one roof which include payment of

electricity, telephone and water bills, property taxes, reservation of RTC tickets, issue

of birth and death certificates, receipt of passport applications, collection of cell phone

bills and online filing of complaints.

Launched on 251h August 2001, e-seva is essentially same as the TWINS.

There was no protest from bureaucratic staff when it was launched. It is true that it

provides a range of services at one place and these services are transparent and

efficient. That is why people are happy with e-seva but has protested against service

charged imposed by government. There are big queues at e-seva centre and therefore

the time taken is not less than earlier. But, one can get different services at one time.

To see how efficient or fast these TWINS and e-seva services are, the issue of

caste certificate has been examined in Kavali revenue division and in Hyderabad. If

any one wants ::aste certificate to get issued, -one has to do the following things.

Firstly, the concerned person has to go to his/her birthplace. Secondly, he/she has to

get a letter that he/she belongs to a particular caste from the Village Administrative

Officer. Thirdly, he has to submit this letter to the RI (Revenue Inspector) for enquiry

purpose. Fourthly, after enquiry the RI sends it to the concerned clerk. Fifthly, the

clerk clears the letter for the final MRQ (Mandai Revenue Officer) signature. Finally

one can get the computerised caste certificate from the service centre. One cannot get

the caste certificate without following these rules and procedures. That is why it is

267

faster than earlier but not as the government claims. But the government is able to

implement these services to st:~me extent if not fully.

The government of Andhra Pradesh has been implementing CARD, TWINS, e­

Seva etc., to provide efficient, transparent and accountable services, which are free

from harassment, bribes and queues, to the. citizen of Andhra Pradesh. In reality, the

government is able to provide effictent, transparent and accountable services, which

are better than earlier to the citizens. The corruption is still there but there is one relief

that the corruption has come down some extent in Hyderabad than other areas (district

headquarters, revenue divisions and mandals) where corruption is going on as usual,

only in a new form. The government is able to implement these projects somewhat

successfully because there is support from the citizens and there is no big

dissatisfaction or opposition for these services.

At present, the urban middle and upper middle class, rural educated and very

few uneducated people are able to benefit from these services. The poor, illiterate and

rural mass is left out of these services.

It is true that these services are :tot as efficient as the government claims

because there are only very few service centres and these have long queues.

Moreover, one has to follow all the rules and procedures to get these services. The

other hindrance towards its proper application is the · bureaucratic resistance to

computerisation.

Third, the application is applying information and communication technologies

within the government to improve the efficiency of its functioning. Not only to

improve efficiency but also maintaining administrative accountability, transparency,

and controlling corruption, the government wants to use IT application in its

functioning. Therefore, the · government can function well, can implement

government programmes successfully, can act very fast on any crisis and maintain

law and order well. To achieve this, government wants to computerise the entire

administration from top to bottom through computer networking (using IT

application). There are called APSWAN (Andhra Pradesh State Wide Area

268

Network), MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), LAN (Local Area Network), etc.

Moreover, the government wants to give computer training to its staff from top to

bottom.

Regarding computerisation, this researcher has done his field work in the

districts of Andhra Pradesh and Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh to

examine e-governance. Hyderabad is the capital city of Andhra Pradesh.

Secunderabad is another major city but it is a part ofHyderabad. Every e-governance

project is launched first in Hyderabad only. It is also called Cyberabad because IT

industry has developed well there. Major IT projects are in Hyderabad only like Hi­

Tee city, lilT, etc., one of the highest computer literate in India. In every street, you

will find one or two ISD/STD!Local telephone booths and one cyber cafe. One will

find a lot of software institutes. One will also find every temh or eleventh person

having a cellular phone in Hyderabad due to the liberal policy of the government. A

large number of middle and upper middle class people are have personal computers.

A large number of IT educational institutions are in the city.

Hyderabad is connected with all district headquarters and with Tirupathi and

Vijayawada through computer networking called APSWAN. In Hyderabad,

computers are interconnected in an office called Local Area Network (LAN). Several

offices in the city are interconnected called Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). In

the same process, the entire secretariat of Hyderabad has been computerised through

computer networking. In' the beginning there was a strong resistance and protest

against computerisation from the staff unions because the staff was wary of

retrenchment. In fact, APVAN (Andhra Pradesh Value Added Network) has been

stopped due to this reason only. Because of APSWAN, at a short notice, the chief

minister, ministers, commissioners and directors in Hyderabad are able to hold state­

wise conferences. It is true that a gro~p of collectors, inspectors general of police and

education or electricity or treasury officers can hold discussions by e-mail, or voice

telephony, and access vast quantifies of information, all simultaneously on the

269

information highway.\152. Since Tirupati is connected with Hyderabad and other

district head quarters, the government has computerised Tirupati darshans and

therefore one can book Tirupathi darshan from other parts of the state via APSWAN.

Now people can go to Tirupati and book darshan timing, and then be free to look

around the town until their turn comes. Visitors go to a counter and get a bar-coded

wristband which tells them what their time slot is and puts in identification details.

They can go around the place and come back just in time for the darshan. Now

people can book their darshan even from different districts.

·The advantage with APSWAN for government operation can be explained by

one example. The Andhra Pradesh State Financial Corporation is basically a bank

which provides credit for industries. Now, industries may be located at Adilabad or

Nellore or Vijayawada, and the APSFC would service them through branches in these

towns. When an industry submits an application at a branch office, the latter has to

submit a proposal to the head office at Hyderabad. Disbursement is not done at

Hyd~rabad, it is done at the branch, which has to disburse the amount and keep track

of the repayment. The approval therefore goes back to the branch and it disburses the

amount. A lot of manual intervention is involved in this process; such as physically

tracking the application form the district to Hyderabad, as well as its return journey to

the district. This back and forth operation takes up a lot of time.

With the APSFC having connected its branches to Hyderabad through

APS WAN, an application filed at a branch at the district headquarters can at the same

time be forwarded to Hyderabad. The Hyderabad office can take a decision on

whether the proposal is all right or not and the amount of loan can be sanctioned. As

soon as it is sanc~ioned it goes to the branch, which means there is a possibility of

reducing the actual travel time of the application by fifteen to twenty days.

Therefore, due to APSWAN, chief minister, ministers, commissioners,

directors can have conferences with district level officers without travelling form one

place another place saving time and money. These officials can monitor, supervise

152 Ibid, p. 83.

270

and control district level administration very fast. It is also transparent and the district

officials are accountable to the higher officials. They can handle any crisis

immediately. So, government can function efficiently.

Government has launched e-governance projects, both pilot and full fledged

projects like CARD, TWINS, e-Seva, APSWAN, etc., first in Hyderabad only. 153 Ali

these projects are functioning now. It is conspicuous that all these projected are

located in Bhanjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Ameer Pet, etc. locations which are posh, and

not in the old city where poor and Muslim communities live.

Regarding computer training for officials, the Dr. Marri Chenna Reddy Human

Resources Development Institute of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad has been equipped

with computer training facilities to cater to the ongoing training programmes relating

to government employees. 154 The institute has been strengthened and has been made

the nodal point for all training programmes in the government. Recently, a centre for

electronic government has also been set up to provide training to government staff. 155

There are number of research projects on good governance and e-governance which

are part of this institute. Specialised academic staff has been recruited for the training.

The institute has been giving training to officials in Hyderabad and to other officials

in all over Andhra Pradesh gradually. Firstly, awareness and training programmes

have been organised for ministers, secretaries and heads of departments. 156 All

MLA's pave been 'provided with training on computers for the same reason.

Secondly, an attempt has been made to build up a team of officers with a knowledge

and understanding of IT and its attendant change management issues. Chief

Information Officer has been identified for each department and trained at the Indian

Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and at the Indian Institute of Information

Technology at Hyderabad. 157 Centre for Electronic Government will showcase

153 Ibid, pp. 88-90. 154 Randeep Sudan, "Towards SMART Government", op.cit., p. 407. 155 Electronic Government, The Hindu, 7-9-2001, p. 5.

156 N. Chandrababu Naidu and Sevanti Ninan, Plain Speaking, op.cit., p. 78. 157 Vision 2020: Swarnandhrapradesh (B99), op.cit., p. 282.

271

technologies and ~pplications, and pr~vide research and consulting support for the use

of IT in government. 158 The training institute is able to provide computer training to a

large number of officials in Hyderabad. Training programme is not yet completed for

Hyderabad officials because it has to give a quite number of officials. Now it has

concentrated on group IV official for computer training. The government is also

utilising IIIT and Hi-Tee City for getting software for IT application in governance.

The fact that there is a problem is apparent from the sev,eral protests,

oppositions, resistance and non-co-operation from the officials, especially from those

in the lower grade because of loss of jobs, power and money. Majority of officials

are not happy with e-governance and its projects because the~ have to work more,

their work is transparent and they are accountable to their higher officials. That is

why officials try to damage computer system or networking deliberately and whole

system will be collapsed for few days and therefore, they can avoid work. It

happened two or three times in Hyderabad secretariat and in TWINS services.

It is also found that the bureaucratic officials are not free from party loyalties

and caste favouritism. Officials from Reddy Community who are generally associated

with Congress Party and are not happy with Khamma caste people who are associated

with Telugu Desam Party, and officials from lower castes (SCs, STs, etc.) who are

generally unhappy with ongoing economic reforms because they think they are not

going to benefit out of reforms are generally unwilling to accept e-governance and are

unwilling to implement e-governance and its projects. It is also true that officials

from Khamma community who are generally associated with Telugu Desam Party

and official from some other communities (OBCs, etc.) are very happy to implement

e-governance. 159

In Hyderabad, the state is able to build minimum basic infrastructure in terms

of computerisation, networking, etc., and to provide computer training to its staff

through the Dr. Marri Chenoa Reddy institute to achieve efficiency in its functioning.

158 Randeep Sudan, "Towards SMART Government", op.cit., p. 403. 159 This Information is based on informal discussion with oft!cials from both Congress and Telugu Desam Party.

272

It is able to achieve some efficiency in its functioning in terms of time, speed and

money but not as expected due to unwillingness of bureaucratic staff. Official

participation in e-govemance is not voluntarily, but forcefully. That is why we will

find some problems in e-govemance like strikes, system collapse, etc.

The state is able to implement e-govemance programme somewhat in the

administration forcibly because the Chief Minister is able to control administration

through his effective leadership and through IT application.

This researcher has done his field work in parts of Karim Nagar District, like

Karim Nagar (district headquarter), Sirsilla (a Revenue Division), and Konarao Peta

(a Mandai). In the villages of Konarao Peta Madal, there is nothing called e­

govemance or computerisation, phone facilities, networking, etc. Neither people nor

village officials are aware of anything called e-govemance. In Konaroa Peta (a

Mandai headquarter), there is not a single phone whether in the Mandai office or in

the police station. One cannot think of computers and its networking and trained

computer officials in that Mandai headquarter. There is a complete communication

cut-off from that Mandai to any place. In fact, there are not even proper roads to that

Mandai from Sirsilla Revenue Division. The official version is that they do not have

phones, computers etc., because Naxalites do not allow these facilities. With Kanarao

Peta Mandai had communication facilities, police could easily catch the Naxalites. In

Sirsilla, the registration department is computerised but not linked with APSWAN.

Computers are given to the Revenue divisional office but officials do not know how

to use them because they are not trained accordingly. This revenue division is not

connected either with the district head quarter or with the state headquarter.

In Karilnnagar, the collectorate is computerised and few officials are trained to

use the computers. Karimnagar is directly connected with State headquarter

(Hyderabad) through APSWAN and therefore, video-confer.encing facility is in

operation. The chief minister maintains video-conference links with collector and

with other district heads on a daily basis. That is why officials have maintained

performance data of different programmes and schemes. The district officials

273

performance is transparent and they are accountable to their higher officials. The

registration department is computerised and it connected with state head quarter. The

registration is now transparent, fast, and reliable but corruption is going on as usual.

Most of the registrations are housing flats rather than agricultural land. In Karim

Nagar collectorate, only a few officials are given training in computers. In general, as

mentioned earlier the officials are against this computerisation and they often say that

computers are not working or there is no electricity when general public has

approached them. The researcher has personally observed this example. Whatever

may be the reasons, majority of officials are not happy with computerisation except

some officials. They are openly saying that they are not having any value these days

due to Naidu's reforms. It is also true that some officials are really happy with

computerisation. In Karim Nagar, there are a large number of STDIISD/Local

Telephone Booths and there are very few cyber cafes.

Regarding the Ananthapur district of Rayala Seema region which is

economically poor region, researcher has done his field-work in Ananthpur (district

headquarter), Kadiri (Mandai headquarter) and some village. In the villages which

have one or two telephone connections and there are some other. villages which do not

have phone connections at all. People in the villages can not even think of computers,

Internet, e-governance, etc. in Kadiri (Mandai headquarter), Mandai Revenue office

has not been comput~rised and it has not got yet even computers. Therefore, there is

no question of computer trained professionals. But the registration department is

computerised ~d is working very efficiently. The problem is that very few housing

flats are registered· and land registration is almost negligible. This is because

agricultural land does not have much value here. The land is not well cultivat~ble

because land is unfertile and it does not have water facility. Therefore,

computerisation of registration of department does not make any difference. In

Kadiri, there is good number of ISD/STD/Local telephone booths and there is a cyber

face.

274

In Ananthapur (district headquarter) the district collectorate is computerised

and it is connected with the state headquarter (Hyderabad) through APSWAN.

Therefore, the chief minister is enjoying video-conference with the district collector

and other district heads on daily basis. That is why they are having computerised data

regarding performance of different programmes and schemes. Here also, very few

officials are given computer training. Here officials are neither against the e­

governance nor in favour of e-governance. That is why they are not able to comment

on e-gove:nance. This is because though collectorate is computerised through

networking, the actual computer services are not yet started. The whole process of

computerisation is going on quietly. Since officials are maintaining performance

data, their functioning is transparent and they are accountable to higher officials.

Registration department is computerised and it is connected with state headquarter. It

is working efficiently and corruption is going on as usual. Most of the registrations

are housing flats and others but not agricultt.Iral land. Here registration officials are

not happy with computerisation because they f~el that they are loosing their power.

Some general public is also not happy with computerised registration (CARD)

because government has overvalued the property and therefore people has to pay

more on stamp duty.

In Nellore district of coastal Andhra Pr.adesh, which is economically more

prosperous than Ananthapur and Karim Nagar districts, this researcher has done his

field work in Nellore (district headquarter), Kavali (a revenue division) and

Vinjamuru (a Mandai). In the villages of Vinjamuru m3lldal, there are two to four

telephone connections in some villages and one to two telephone connections in some

other villages. One cannot think of Internet, e-governance, IT, etc. in these villages

but even very few educated people are aware of these issues. In Vinjamuru (mandai

headquarter) the mandai office is not computerised but two computers are given to

this office. Officials don't know how to use them because they are not trained to use

them. Registration department is also not computerised in Vinjamuru. Neither

officials nor general public are able to comment on e-governance. In Kavali

275

(headquarter of revenue division), revenue Department is computerised and few

officials are trained to use computers. They are in the process of computerising the

performance of different programmes and schemes of government. This does not

mean that every thing is computtrised and there is no paper work.

Both computerisation and file/paper works are going on simultaneously in

Kavali. At present they are using computers more as an alternative to the typewriter

than feeding performance data into them. Kavali is not connected either with district

head quarter or with state headquarter. Dissatisfaction or protest is not yet started

from the staff of revenue department against computerisation in Kavali. This is

because actual computerisation is not yet started. Moreover, e-governance services

are not yet started. Registration department of Kavali is computerised and is working

efficiently. Officials in this department are not happy with computerisation because

they are loosing importance and they have to work regularly now. Corruption is

going on as usual. General public is not happy with computerisation (CARD)

because, officials have overvalued some properties (land) and have devalued some

other properties (land). In general, people are happy with computerised registration.

In Nell ore· (district' headquarter), the collectorate is computerised and it is

connected with s~ate headquarter. Computers are inter-connected in the collectorate

through LAN. That is why the chief minister is able to have video-conference with

district collector and other district heads. District has maintained district level

developmental performance data. Not only collectorate but also other departments are

computerised. The administration is transparent, efficient and accountable to higher

official. Here very few officials are trained to use computers. Infact, collectorate has

to take ad-hoc people who know computer operation for compl.lter work. It does not ·,

mean that there is no file/paper work in the office because whole department is not

fully computerised. That is why both computerisation of work and file work are

going on simultaneously. Officials are generally unhappy with computerisation

because they have to work more. They have to be accountable to higher officials .and

they have to come to the office on time. Moreover, they are loosing their influence

276

and power. Registration department ·is computerised and connected with state

headquarter and therefore it is functioning efficiently than earlier. Officials are not

happy with th~ computerisation because they have to come to the office on time.

They have a fear of e-mail complaints by general public to the CM and they have to

work more (they have to stay in the office eight hours). They are loosing some money

on corruption and power. Registration department's officials are unhappy with

computerisation then collectorate officials because ·registration officials on the one

hand have to be accountable to higher officials and on the other hand they have to

provide service to the people who involve money, power, more work, facing public

etc.

Therefore, if one studies the overall picture of the three districts, e-govemance

has not yet reached villages and mandals. So one cannot expect any opinion or

comment on e-governance either from the bureaucratic officials or from the general

public. Even reve?ue divisions are not fully computerised (they are in the process of

computerisation) and are not yet connected either with district headquarter or with

state head quarter through state wide area network. Their computerisation is in the

process of improving their efficiency in their functioning than providing regular

computerised services to the public. Moreover, government is functioning more on

the basis of files and papers than on the basis of computers and its networking at the

revenue divisional level. That is why the staffs dissatisfaction with computerisation

is much lower than the district officials or state-headquarter officials.

The district headquarters are computerised and are connected with the state

headquarter through APSWAN. The computers are interconnected within the

department but different departments are yet to be interconnected in the district

headquarters. Majority of the officials are not yet given computerised training. Since

the chief minister is having video-conference with district officials to know

developmental performance on daily basis, the district officials are maintaining

computerised data on the performance of developmental programmes and schemes.

So, interface between the CM and district officials are transparent and district officials

277

are accountable to the CM for their action. There is an improved efficiency in the

general functioning of government. At present, computerisation is more of improving

efficiency of government than providing general public services at the district level.

The general efficiency in the government functioning is not as much as the chief

minister Naidu expected because government has not yet provided IT infrastructure

like computerisation of all offices, computer training to · the staff, computer

networking etc., fully. That is why the government is functioning more on papers and

files than on computers. Moreover, the staff is not happy with computerisation. The

main reasons for uilhappiness are: they have to work more to maintain data regularly;

they are now accountable to the CM directly; they have to be in the office on time;

they are loosing their power and influence, their work is more transparent now; and

they cannot avoid their work. That is why officials are not changing their work

culture according to changing technology.

Regarding the registration department, the district headquarters, Revenue

Divisions and some Mandai are computerised and the district head quarter is

connected with the state headquarter. The registration department is working more

efficiently than earlier in spite of dissatisfaction of the staff with computerisation.

Now registration is more transparent, efficient and accountable .. But the efficiency is

not as much as the government claims because the officials are not happy with

computerisation. The corruption in the registration department is going on as usual. If

any one wants to register property, he has to .give particular percentage of total

property as a bribe to the officials. Otherwise, officials will delay the work. One

important point is that registration department officials are more unhappy with

computerisation than general or revenue officials because registration department has

to improve its efficiency in its functioning which is accountable to higher officials and

has provide efficient' services to the general public. It also involves money, power,

more work etc.

In Hyderabad, computers are interconnected in an office or department thro~gh

LAN, different departments are interconnected through MAN, and Hyderabad is

278

connected with all district headquarters through APSWAN. The government is able

to provide computer tn~ining to a large number of officials. Therefore, government is

able to provide basic infrastructure for IT application in the governance to improve its

efficiency in its functioning. In Hyderabad, the government is able to provide

computerised services like CARD, TWINS, e-Seva, etc., to the public through IT

applications. The government is able to improve its efficiency in its functioning and

able to provide efficient services to the public through e-governance. So, there is

efficiency, transparency and accountability within the government and in the public

services. But the efficiency is not as much as claimed by the government because

officials are not cooperative and they are showing protest through strikes and breaking

down the computer system. This is because they are not happy with computerisation.

The reasons for being unhappy are: they are loosing power, jobs and money on

corruption; they have to be in the office on time; they have to work more now; their

work is transparent, and accountable. Officials dissatisfaction is more in Hyderabad

than in district headquarters because of more computerisation ( computerisation within

the government and in providing services to the public). More computerisation means

that officials are accountable to their higher officials within the administration and

accountable to the general public because they are providing services to the public.

Moreover, they are loosing money on corruption and power.. The corruption is more

in the district head quarters and revenue divisions than in Hyderabad because clients

in Hyderabad are educated people and officials are less powerful in Hyderal?ad.

People's Participation in e-Governance

People's participation in e-governance refers to the way people are involved in

e-governance, the way they are responding to the e-governance facilities, the way

people are able to receive computerised services and tbe way people are able to access

government information. The success of e-governance depends on people's

participation in that process. Without people's participation government cannot carry

on e-governance programme.

279

Since e-governance has not yet reached the villages and even the Mandals,

people's involvement in e-governance is nominal. Most of the people are not even

aware of the e-governance programme because the government has not taken any

steps to educate the rural people about the importance of e-governance. People may

be able to get services if government extends the services to the villages but they may

not be able to access to in,formation because a lot of people are illiterate and ignorant

on the one hand, and literate people are not using already the existing TV s, Radios for

information purposes on the other hand.

People are not even reading the widely distributed government wall posters

which contains government's programmes, farmers schemes etc., and are not even

listening to radio for information purposes and they are not even watching TV for

information purposes. They use TV's and radios only for the entertainment purposes.

One cannot expect from this people to get information about the government

programmes and functioning through the Internet. So one cannot get extensive

feedback regarding government policies and functioning. Finally, they may not play a

better democratic role through the Internet or networking. Very few educated people

in the villages and in the Mandai headquarters are aware of t~e e-governance

programme but they are not able to comment anything one-governance because they

have not seen e-governance facilities. These people too are also using TV and radio

·for entertainment purpose and for general news but not for information purposes. In

these villages and Mandai headquarters, only 0.25% of the population is responding to

the Dial your CM and e-mailing to the CM.

Since e-governa.t'lce has reached to revenue divisional headquarters, abo.ut 8%

of the population is aware of e-governance e~pecially of the registration department.

Only 1% of the population is able to comment on e-governance and its projects.

People who are aware of e-governance, are happy with computerisation because they

ate getting done thei(work very fast and officials are working in the offices regularly.

People are hardly using the Internet to knmv about government functioning ~d

programmes but they are. able to get services provided by the government like

280

registration of deeds, caste, income certificates from officials. 0.5% of the population

is responding to the Dial your CM and e-mailing complaint to the CM. People are

able to comment on the implementation process of a particular programme but hey are

not able to respond on 'what', 'how' and 'why' of a particuiar programme. This

shows that the people are hardly using any medium to know government policies,

programmes and schemes. Very few professionals are using the Internet for

professional purposes.

Since e-governance has reached the district headquarters very well, 10% of the

population is aware of the e-governance and its projects. Only 2% of the population

is able to comment one-governance because e-governance has not yet reached people

well. People are not against thee-governance because they are going to be benefited

out of it. People are praising the e-governance because services are faster than earlier

and officials are forced to work in the offices. People argue that e-governance is not

able to control corruption. So, e-governance can provide fast services but it· cannot

control corruption at district, divisional and mandallevel. 0. 75% of the population is

responding to the CM's programmes because it involves cost. People are able to

con::tment or argue on implementation process of a particular programme which is

already implemented but not on 'what', 'hew' and 'why' of a particular programme.

In general people are not really interested to know government's schemes and

programmes because they do not have awareness about the importance of such

. information. If one sees e-governance from bottom village to top district head quarter,

only literate people are able to understand e-governance and it is a more of a urban

middle class affair. It is also found that the SC/ST population is completely unaware

of e-governance and its projects because of their illiteracy, ignorance and socio­

economic factors.

People's Participation

Not able to Population Aware of Not aware of Able to comment comment on

e-govemance e-govemance on e-govemance e-govemance Villages 1% 99% 0% 100%

281

Mandai 5% 95% 0.25% 99.75% headquarter Revenue division 8% 92% 1% 99% headquarter District 10% 90% 2% 98% headquarter Hyderabad 35% 65% 9% 91%

Source: Fieldwork.

Regarding people of Hyderabad, there is no opposition or protest against e­

govemance as such except one protest against services charges imposed by

government on consumers who uses this computerised services. In general, majority

of the city population (60% to 70%) are not aware of this e-govemance projects. In

particular, 80% to 90% of the old city population are not aware of these projects

because these projects are to located here. In posh areas like Bhanjara Hills, Jubliee

Hills etc., 90% of the people are aware of this projects but they are not able to

comment on these projects except 20% of them. Among university teachers, 95% of

them are aware· of e-govemance projects but only 30% of them are able to comment

on these projects. In general 80% of the city population are aware of IT or Hi-Tech

City but very few of them are able to differentiate between IT industry, e-govemance,

computerisation, software etc. While posh area people and middle class people are

appreciating Naidu's effort for IT, old city people are not bothering about IT. lnfact,

old city people want basic minimum services like water, electricity, etc., rather than

computerisation. Some people in the old city argue that Naidu should supply

electricity properly rather than computerising payment of electricity bills.

Population Aware ofe- Unaware of these Abel to comment Notable to governance projects on projects out of comment on projects, CAR, awareness projects out of TWINS, e-Seva awareness

1) General 35% 65% 20% 80% Population

2) Old City 20% 80% 5% 95% 3) Posh localities 90% 10% 20% 80% 4) University 95% 5% 30% 70%

Teachers . Source: 200 people randomly mterviewed m the City ofHyderabad .

282

Diagram I

Diagram 2

Internet Users Age Wise

• 12-30 Age People 15%

0 31-50 Age People 35%

• 51-70 Age People 15%

12-30 Age group people who use Internet for 10 Hours

283

• Pornography 4 Hours

0 Chatting 3 Hours

• Others: exam results, jobs, news, etc. 1 Hour

8 Academic 1 Hour

fila e-mail 1 Hour

Diagram 3

Diagram 4

31-50 Age Group People Who Use Internet for 10 Yours

II Professional/Academic Purpose 4.5 Hours

D Chatting 1.5 Hours

Ill Pornography 1.5 Hours

!ill Government Policies and Programmes 0.5 Hours

5 e-mail1.5 Hours

51-7 0 Age Group People who use Internet for I 0 Hours

284

a Professional/ Academic Purpose 3. 5 Hours

0 Government Policies and Programmes 1 Hour

Ill Chatting 0. 5 Hours

Eil Pornography 0.5 Hours

Ill Others 1 Hour

li1 e-mail 3. 5 Hours

Diagram 5

People who uses Internet, access to information provided by Government regarding its Policies and Programmes

• Business People 10%

0 Press/Journalists 40%

II Govenment officials 25%

8 Politicians 5%

m Academicians/Researchers 20%

Diagram I shows that youngsters (12-30) are the most users of Internet. Old

people ( 51-70) are the less users of Internet. Diagrams 2,3 and 4 shows that majority

of the people use Internet for pornography, chatting and professional purposes. Very

few people are using Internet for knowing government policies and programmes.

Diagram 5 shows that press people, government officials and researchers use Internet

to know government policies and programmes in Hyderabad.

Therefore, in Hyderabad, the government has been able to provide some basic

infrastructure in terms of computerisation, networking and training facilities to

establish SMART government but has failed to educate people about the importance

of e-govemance and its projects people's participation in e-govemance.

E-govemance means application of information and communication

technologies in governance to deliver efficient, accountable and transparent services

and to provide information to citizens. It is found that most of the people who are able

to patticipate in e-governance are urban educated middle class, upper middle class

'and very few rural educated. These people are able to get computerised services

provided by government and they are happy ·with computerisation because they are

getting efficient, transparent and accountable. services some to extent which are better

285

than earlier. They are not against computerisation as such but they are angry for

improper services provided by bureaucrats. These people feel that they are able to get

better services than earlier but not without corruption. Corruption is going on as

usual.

But, majority of these people are not utilising information provided by the

government through Internet, to know programmes, schemes and functioning of

government, for playing better democratic role in the state. In fact, they are using

Internet for other purposes like entertainment than to know about government. That is

why they are not able to comment on e-governance despite of their awareness of e­

governance. These are the people who can influence the gov~rnment through Dial

Your CM , e-mailing , but very few people are able to do that. It shows that people

may not play better democratic role now than earlier by using Internet because

government may' not get better feedback than earlier. So e-governance cannot change

people's attitude from less democratic to more democratic. It cannot make people

publicly conscious through Internet. It gives better democratic opportunity to those

people who are already better off and are already having opportunity. But, to those

who are not having opportunity, the case is different. So very few people among these

people are able to utilise government information to play democratic role than earlier.

Poor and illiterate people from urban and rural areas and rural mass are not

able to get benefit from computerised services and information due to their poverty,

illiteracy and ignorance. E-governance is not able to provide services to these people

and is not able to provide information to play better democratic role. These people

may utilise these services if government provides, but they may not be able to get

access to information because they are not utilising already existing means like radio,

TV and wall-posters to know about the government. Therefore, only the urban

educated middle and upper middle class and rural educated people are able to

participate in e~services but very few of them are able to participate in e-information.

Urban and rural poor and illiterate and rural mass are not able to participate in e­

governance at all.

286

Conclusion

Janmabhoomi ts a decentralised, people-centered, participatory

development process aimed at establishing an ideal society which embodies

and cherishes the principles of participation, equity, equality, transparency,

accountability, innovation and sustainability leading to sustained economic

development and excellence in all walks of life. The goal is an enhanced

quality of life for every man, woman and child in the state, imbibing the time­

tasted values of sacrifice, diligence, honesty, self help, self respect, sense of

fulfilment and quest for excellence.

Janmabhoomi programme has not been implemented .properly as

expected and it has not achieved its objectives successfully as claimed by the

Government. Firstly, because bureaucratic officials are not really committed to

implement it properly; secondly, people have not been prepared properly by the

grassroots institutions, local bodies and officials, to involve in the

developmental process. Thirdly, the dominant social forces. and the cadre of

Telugu Desam Party (ruling party) have manipulated the programme for their

own interests with the help of officials and political representatives. However,

the whole process of Janmabhoomi has increased the expectations of the people

many fold but the government has neither been able to respond to nor satisfy

the expectations of the people. So, people have lost faith in the Janmabhoomi

programme in general and official's credibility in particular. That is why

people's participation in Janmabhoomi has come down from 75% to I 0% ( 5-

10%) gradually.

It is found that there are three major reasons why officials especially

ground level officials are not committed to implement Janmabhoomi

programme properly. Firstly, officials feel that they are over-burdened and they

287

are victimised by the Government (higher officials) and people at the local

level. On one hand, people are expecting a lot from the officials due to Naidu's

developmental propaganda, officials visit to the villages, over publicity, media

coverage etc., and on the other hand, ground level officials are not given

sufficient financial resources and infrastructure to respond to the expectations

of the people. That is why officials are facing a lot of criticism from the people.

Again they are forced to visit the village with empty hands. Therefore, they are

unable to adjust with this situation and they are not able to balance it.

Moreover, they argue that they have to spend more than a month for the

preparation of Janmabhoomi programme like preparing Action Taken Report

for previous round Janmabhoomi for each and every habitation, preparing for

the next round Janmabhoomi according to a new theme, etc., arid again they

have to spend more than a month for the post-Janmabhoomi activities. Infact,

the Government has been introducing so many new developmental

programmes like Deepam"{'light' free gas connection to women), Rytu Bazaar

(market for farmers' products), etc., every time, and therefore, officials are not

even able to remember all these schemes properly. That is why officials are not

happy with the Naidu Government and they are not committed to do their duty.

Secondly, officials with old attitudes, perceptions and work culture are

not able to adjust to the Janmabhoomi programme which demands different

work culture, perceptions, and behavioUr which are parts of good governance.

It is found that majority of the people want to join government services for

having a secure life, getting more dowry, ·earning money, enjoying power,

prestige and status; doing favours to their own family members and to their

caste groups, getting money and materiel whenever possible. These constitute a

primary goal of the people. The same people are also interested to serve the

people of the state as a secondary goal. After joining government service, the

288

have attended the Gram Sabha to express their felt needs, local bodies have not

mobilised people to participate in the Gram Sabha. Grassroots institutions have

not been able to organise themselves to participate at the Gram Sabha for

expressing their felt needs. On the one hand, people are not prepared for this

programme and on the other hand people are not at all bothered to know about

the importance of people's participation, values and principles of

J anmabhoomi. In fact, the1r main concern has been immediate material

benefits.

Janmabhoomi is n:ot able. to democratise the developmental process at

the grassroots level. It is not able to replace dominant social force (which

controls and manages developmental activities in the villages because of their

political, social and economic power) with other force like the marginal force.

But it has brought a new force (Telugu Desam Party cadre) into the village

affairs ·in addition to the existing dominant social force. Both dominant social

force and the party cadre ate dominating the Gram Sabha to influence the

officials in deciding the developmental works for the village and they are able

to get all benefits like getting contract for. community works, getting loans for

self-help groups under Janmabhoomi because they are well connected to the

bureaucratic officials and political representatives. They are able to do this by

preventing or discouraging people from participating in developmental process

and marginalising all the institutions at the grassroots levels.

Decentralised, people-centred, participatory developmental process

means democratisation (direct) of development process at the grassroots level.

It means that people from all·sections participate in decision making planning,

implementation and monitoring of developmental programmes. By its very

definition it focuses on increasing the participation of those who do not

290

normally participate, either because they do not have the capacity or resources

to do so or because they are excluded from the developmental process. It also

means representation to all, empowerment of marginal sections, and benefits

for all (because every one participates in development).

It is found that democratisation of developmental process has remained

a rhetoric rather than reality in the field. People are not participating in the

developmental process in the above-mentioned sense but people are attended

the Gram Sabha in large numbers (75%) in the beginning. This attendance has

also come down to 10 per cent because people feel that they are not getting any

benefits out of it. Marginal groups like women, SC's, ST's and minorities are

attending the Gram Sabha merely to watch it because there is no space for them

and they are too weak to participate in the Gram Sabha. The official body, led

by the Nodal Officer, which is influenced and is dominated (in some places) by

dominant social force, party cadre and some members of habitation level

committees (to some extent), decides developmental works for a habitation.

The reasons for these developments are: people have not been prepared for

people-centered development process by officials, local bodies, grassroots

institutions, etc. and majority of the people have not showed much interest in it,

except a few, because of their illiteracy and ignorance; people have not been

given opportunity to participate in the development process by local bodies,

officials, dominant social force, Telugu Desam Party cadre, etc. Finally, there

is no in built mechanism to involve people in the development process.

It is the Chief Minister who decides the dates of Janmabhoomi round

(consisting of seven days) a~d the social theme of this round at the state level.

At the habitation level, it is the official body led by the Nodal Officer which

decides the date, time and venue of Gram Sabha (Janmabhoomi Sabha) of a

291

particular habitaticn but not people of that habitation. The state government has

already decided the core area of Janmabhoomi within which people at

grassroots level have to decide the developmental .activities. Gram Sabha at the

habitation level consists of Mandai Revenue Officer, Mandai Development

Officer, Nodal Officer, representatives of different departments, serpent of

Gram Panchayat, and occasionally some members of habitation level

committee. Nodal Officer presides ove!" the Gram Sabha. The Gram Sabha does

to allow any discussion on development in general, officials read out Action

Taken Report but, majority of the people do not listen to it. Nodal officer does

not allow any discuss,on on Action Taken Report. At the end, Nodal Officer

entertains people's felt needs and representations on paper only. People are not

participating in planning because they are not even aware of it. Planning does

take place at the Gram Sabha. People are not involving in monitoring and

evaluation of programmes. The sarpanch of Gram Panchayat is nominal at the

Gram Sabha and he does not interfere in the Sabha. The party cadre people

help officials in conducting the Gram Sabha a!ld they don't allow any one to

interact with officials or to express their voice to the Gram Sabha. Some

members of dominant social force maintain friendly relations with the core

officials to get some benefits frqm the officials and some other members of

dominant social force express their voice forcefully to the officials. Majority of

. people attend the Gram Sabha to watch it and widows and old people attend the

Gram Sabha · to get their pensions. However, people participate in

implementation of developmental works by contributing free labour, money

and materials. Social animators do not exist at all. All grassroots institutions

and local bodies are not mobilising and organising people to participate in

development process. Officials hardly bother about educating the people,

therefore, people have not been participating in the developmental programmes

292

because people have not been prepared to control dominant social force and

other force and they have not been able to demand officials to work for them.

Moreover, officials have nexus with those forces instead of controlling them

and they consider themselves masters who can not entertain demands and

commands from the people. Again, dominant social force cannot tolerate

peoples' participation.

The main objective of Janmabhoomi Programme is to achieve economic

development, social development (human development) and democratisation at

the grassroots level through good governance. The good governance (here)

means that government facilitates and enables cecentralised, people-centered,

participatory development process because the values, principles and

philosophy of Janmabhoomi are part of good governance only. According to

this theory, the government is the facilitator of self-governance which, means

that government has to reduce its role gradualJy in grassroots level

development and has to encourage private sector. From the people's side,

people should participate in their own development process and contribute to it

in terms of money, material and labour. It means that people should stop their

dependence on government, gradually, which means that pepple should reduce

their expectation from the government. To achieve this, institutions which are

involved in Janmabhoomi have to be imbibed by the principles of

Janmabhoomi (principles-peoples-participation, equity and equality,

transparency, accountability, innovation and sustainability), and these

principles-based institutions are supposed to internalise the values of

Janmabhoomi (values - self-help, self-respect, spirit of sacrifice, diligence,

honesty, quest for excellence, etc.) among people. Janmabhoomi will be

successful in this manner.

293

In reality, it is found that Government is over involved in Janmabhoomi

programme and it is controlling and dominating Janmabhoomi especially

Gram Sabha. It has marginalised local bodies (Panchayat Raj Institutions) and

it has recognised grassroots institutions but not encouraged them to play an

active role in the Gram Sabha. Major reasons for over involvement of

government in Janmabhoomi are as follows. Firstly, on one hand, grassroots

institutions and local bodies at the village level consider the officials as masters

who are above people and powerful and therefore, they are unable to dictate

terms to the officials, and on the other hand, officials consider themselves as

masters and look down upon village people. Secondly, local bodies were not

working effectively before Janmabhoomi and therefore, they are not having

people's support to play active role at the Gram Sabha now. Since local bodies

are not working properly, grassroots institutions and officials are able to take

over their functions and roles in the village development. At present they are

not powerful enough to control bureaucratic domination at the Gram Sabha.

Thirdly, grassroots institutions like self-help groups, NGO's, etc. are formed

only recently and they have not developed fully !o play active role at the Gram

Sabha. Moreover, they are depending upon officials for their survival and

therefore they can not control bureaucratic domin~tion. Fourthly, Telugu

Desam Party cadre and some dominant social force are having good relations

with officials for getting benefits from them. Fifthly, people are not prepared

for this and they are not powerful enough to replace bureaucratic domination

with their domination because they are ignorant and illiterate. Moreover,

people consider officials as masters and village people are depending on them

for a number of purposes. Finally, Janmabhoomi has given opportunity to the

officials to dominate the Gram Sabha in conducting the Gram Sabha,

sanctioning loans etc. Moreover, officials are not really committed to

294

implement Janmabhoo~i strictly. Again, since officials feel that they are

loosing their power, money and status due to Janmabhoomi Programme, they

have started to control Gram S&bha.

Janmabhoomi has increased people's expectations as well as their

dependence on government instead of developing self-help among people.

People have started to expect more from the government. This is the result of

officials visiting the villages, entertaining people's felt needs at the Gram

Sabha, Naidu's developmental speeches, media coverage, over-publicity etc.

Improved political awareness has also contributtd to this that is why, people's

contribution in terms of money, material and labour, to developmental works at

habitation has not worked out in many places. Moreover people are not in a

position to contribute to developmental works in Telangana and Rayalaseema

areas.

Regarding principles and values of Janmabhoomi, institutions which are

involve in Janmabhoomi, are not imbibed by principles properly and therefore,

these institutions are not able to internalise values among people that is why

90% of the people are not even aware of values and principles of

Janmabhoomi. These values and principles are more of academic rhetoric

rather than field realities because people feel that it is not easy to materialise

them or practice them. This is because, there is no official .commitment and

peoples involvement. Moreover both, officials and people are not prepared for

this. Since, officials and different dominant social force are going to loose

influence and benefits due to principles and values, they don't want to

implement them.

Regarding principles, they are more rhetoric than reality. For example,

accountability cannot be materialised so easily. Firstly, accountability works

295

only if government's acHons and transactions are transparent. Officials don't

want their actions to be transparent and therefore, majority of the government

actions are not transparent. It is found that people are not even responding or

reacting to transparent government actions, because, they are not prepared for

this and they· are least bothered about it. If any one dares to <;lo that, he will be

victimised by officials. Officials are not entertaining any reaction from the

people. Only dominant social force is using this opportunity to get benefits

from the officials by questioning them or black mailing the officials. Moreover,

is it possible for lower caste people like SC's and ST's to ask for accountability

from upper cast people or upper caste serpanch of Gram Sabha Panchayat or

officials in the Villages? Is it possible for women to ask for accountability from

the same people? Therefore, there are limitations on principles of

J anmabhoomi.

Regarding, values, people have failed to internalise values of

Janmabhoomi. Instead, new values have entered the village people's mind

very strongly due to Janmubhoomi and reforms. First one is earning money

through contract work. People have developed a feeling that one can become

rich easily through getting government contracts for developmental works.

Contract means corruption and manipulation. Second, one is that if you have

connections or links with politicians or officials, you will get done any work

easily. The third one is that powerful people (politically, economically and

socially) can do anything and can easily escape from the courts and police.

Fourth one is that upper caste people feel that government is there only for the

poor, SC's, ST's, etc., but not for upper caste people. That is why they are in

favour of privatisation because there will not be any reservations. Lower cast

people feel that they can not survive without government and therefore, they

are against privatisation. Fifth one is that people have started to think positively

296

.about politics due to N Chandrababu Naidu. The feeling is that a good

political leadership can change Andhra from a backward state to a developed

or~ e.

Good governance was· believed to create a positive environment for

economic reforms due to improvement in social, economic and political

development Janmabhoomi was ~xpected to do this only. But in reality, it has

it's own limitations. Firstly, Janmabhoomi has created a few common assets

like construction of school buildings, roads, hospital buildings, compound

walls to schools, hostels and offices drainage, etc in each and every habitation

but not in every village because Janmabhoomi has not reached small villages

~hich are associated with big villages which has Gram Panchayats[habitation].

All these come under community works. Secondary, it has not only improved

political awareness among people to a considerable extent but also, empowered

people to a smaller extent through grassroots level institutions. It has also

developed some of grassroots level institutions like self-help groups,

educational committees, water users associations etc (ranging from 2 tolO) but

they have not developed well to play democratic role in developmental

process. Both people and grassroots level institutions are not able to participate

in the developmental process and therefore development is not democratised.

Thirdly Janmabhoomi pro~am.rne has marginalised local bodies through its

officials and grassroots level institutions but people have made local bodies to

work better to some extent through their political awareness. Officials have

undermined local bodies by controlling Gram Sabha. Grassroots level

institutions have deprived local bodies to some extent by involving in

developmental activities, which are supposed to be done by local bodies.

Grassroot level institutions are acting like parallel bodies because of these

developments local bodies by taking over their roles and functions have

297

become assertive to some extent by raising their voice against Naidu's

government. People have started to question the importance of local bodies and

its inactiveness in village development. Because of this local bodies have

started to work smaller extent but, local bodies are not able to mobilise people

tc participate in the Gram Sabha and they are not able to play an effective role

at the Gram Sabha.

Fourthly, Janmabhcomi has been able to develop savings habits among

women if not among all women through women self-help groups, and

DWCRA. A large number of women self-help groups and DWCRA have got

matching grant (Rs 10,000 toRs 25,000) to their savings and some groups have

got long-term loan. But women have been unable to utilise the facility for good

purpose. These groups are not even participating in the Gram Sabha. Women

from these groups are not well aware of their role in the village development

and in their own development. . However, women self-help groups have

developed some awareness among women and therefore women are conscious

of their rights to certain extent. Infact, these groups have not developed

considerably to utilise the opportunity given by the government and have not

been able to play any substantial !'Ole in developmental activities. Fifthly,

Janmabhoomi has improved education facilities in the villages to some extent

forming Village Educ;ation Committees which look after primary schools in

the village by appointing adhoc teachers, constructing school buildings etc.,

and has helped to improve literacy rate in the village to some extent but not

to considerable extent. It has not been able to improve health facilities in the

villages because doctors visit the habitation to serve the people during

Janmabhoomi programme only. These health officials are not given sufficient

medicine and infrastructure to serve the people. During the Janmabhoomi day,

298

some people participate in cleaning the village and planting the trees. After

the Janmabhoomi programme over no one bothers about them.

The above analysis shows that Janmabhoomi has not been able to

achieve its objectives properly economic_ and social development and

democratisation at grassroot level due to its failure to improve the standard of

living in the villages any considerable extent. Income of the people especially

poor has not been improved any extent after introducing J anmabhoomi. It has

not been able to provide employment opportunities to any considerable extent.

J anmabhoomi is not at all related to poverty in the villages. However, it has

been able to improve educational facilities in the villages to a considerable

extent but it has failed to provide health and welfare facilities to the people in

the villages. Finally, it has failed to democratise development process at the

grassroot level to any considerable extent.

However, Janmabhoomi .has helped Naidu to continue his economic

reforms. Though majority of the people are completely unhappy with

J anmabhoomi, somehow people feel that J anmabhoomi is a better programme

than earlier programmes. This feeling has give boost to Naidu to survive

politically.. There is another feeling among people that Janmabhoomi

programme is good but it is badly implemented by officials because they are

corrupt. It means that Naidu's leadership is good but officials are to committed.

There is. also another observation that majority of the people criticise Naidu and

his policies, if questions are asked relating to Naidu. However, some people at

the end accept that he is better than any one else. These feelings and voices are

the sources of Naidu's political survival, which helps him to continue his

reforMs. It is also found through formal and informal interaction with people,

that officials are implementing Janmabhoomi programme to a small extent

299

because of Naidu's leadership only but not of good governance. Therefore,

Janmabhoomi is not implemented properly to achieve its objectives of social

development, economic development and demorcratisation - which would

create a positive environment for economic reforms. However, Janmabhoomi

has provided support base to Naidu's political survival to some extent, which

helps him to continue reforms.

E-governance means the application of information and communication

technologies in the government business and !ransactions to deliver better

government services, to provide information to the citizens and to make

government more efficient in its functioning by using electronic means. E­

governance facilitates better interface between the citizens and government. E­

governance can improve the governance and the improved governance (good

governance), in turn, can facilitate development and democracy.

E-governance is one of the major objectives of t~e IT policy of

Government of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the ongoing administrative

reform process to achieve good governance. The government has aimed at

establishing SMART (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and

Transparent) government through e-governance. In order to establish SMART

Government of Andhra Pradesh, has been using IT applications in the

governance of state in different dimensions for its practical purposes to deliver

efficient, transparent and accountable services to the people, to provide easy

and credible information to the people, to make government more efficient,

transparent and accountable in its functioning, to help the CM for governing

the state more efficiently and for getting feedback from the people, and to

provide an opportunity to the people for practising e-democracy.

~00

Government of Andhra Prades~ has bet!n able to implement e­

governance projects to some extent successfully. The main reason for this

success are; e-governance is only to access services and information but not to

access resources which can be manipulated and subverted by different social

forces for their cwn interests; generally people have supported this programme

because they are happy to get efficient, transparent and accountable services,

no section of the society is going to loose anything because of it or atleast its

negative impact on any section has not yet come out; the clients of e-services

are urban educated middle and upper middle class who can demand better

services from the bureaucrats who cannot show much power with these

people; Naidu's leadership and his personal interest in terms of vision,

designing, planning, implementation and selection of his team for this purpose

have contributed a lot to this success; no social force has not yet emerged

strongly to subvert or manipulate the programme and the officials are forced to

perform their duties by political leadership by using different tactics.

The state has been able to implement programme to some extent only

but not fully, because bureaucratic officials have been unhappy with

computerisation programme and the government has not been able to provide

sufficient infrastructure and other facilities fore-governance. The main reasons

for officials unhappiness are: now officials are not only accountable to their

higher officials but ruso_ to the peoJ?le, they have to be in the office on time;

their work is transparent; they have to work more than in the past; they feel that

they are going to loose their jobs due to retrenchment; they are gradually

loosing their power, prestige and money through corrupt means; on the one

hand they are loosing their importance and on the other hand, people have

started to question them. Regarding infrastructure and other facilities, the

Government is in the process of providing these facilities.

301

The main limitation of e-governance is that it has not yet reached

villages, Mandals and even sub-divisional areas also. It is just confined only to

Capital City of the state, district headquarters and other big towns like

Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam etc. Moreover, only urban educated middle class,

upper middle class and some rural educated upper class have been able to

utilise e-governance facilities but not poor and rural masses due to poverty,

illiteracy, ignorance and unavailability of these facilities. Therefore, e­

governance may increase the disparities between rich and poor, and rural and

urban areas. This phenomenon is commonly known as digital divide.

The e-governance is successful only if government's effort is matched

by people's involvement. Therefore, people's participation in e-governance is

necessary for its success. It is found that people's participation has been very

less in e-governance because government has not taken any concrete steps to

involve the people in e-governance. The government's efforts have been

confined to using IT applications in the governance, providing infrastructure,

and providing training to the officials. That is why government has not been

able to get proper feedback from the people. Moreover, people are not playing

any democratic role by properly using e-governance facilities. People are able

to get services provided by government. But they are not using information

provided by government to play democratic role in the state by responding to

government policies because on the one hand people are not publicly conscious

and on the other hand people are not prepared for this role by the government.

The first dimension of IT (Information technology) application in

Government is that the chief minister can govern the state efficiently through

IT applications. This governance is not only efficient but also transparent,

accountable and responsive. Firstly, N Chandrababu Naidu has been able to

302

Thirdly, in order to be accountable and responsive, the CM has been

using 'Dial Your CM' and e-mail programmes to get feedback from the people

on different policies. He gets to know the people's problem through this

programme. Dial your CM means that you can call your CM directly to tell

your problem. E-mail means that you can send a mail to the CM through

Internet regarding your problem. The CM has been giving an opportunity to the

people to interact with him directly through these programmes. It is found that

people's response to these programmes is enthusiastic but limited to a

particular section. It may also be called as e-democracy. It is observed that only

rural educated and urban educated middle and upper middle class people have

been able to utilise this facility but not poor from urban and rural areas and

other marginalized sections because of their poverty, illiteracy and ignorance.

Majority of the people who are using this facility, are utilising this facility to

inform their personal issues rather than to express their opinion on government

policies because they are not well aware of programmes and policies. Very few

people among them have been able to react to the policies and able to influence

the governmental decisions. It is also observtd that the problems of poor,

farmers, SCs, STs and women are not coming to the discussion in this

programme.

Regarding the second dimension of IT application, the Government of

Andhra Pradesh has been implementing CARD (Computerised Administration

of Registration Department), TWINS (Twin Cities Network Services), e-Seva,

etc., to provide efficient, transparent and accountable services which are free

from harassment, bribes and queues, to people of Andhra Pradesh. In reality,

Government is able to provide efficient, transparent and accountable services

which are better than earlier, to citizens. That is why people are happy with

these services but they are unhappy with service charges imposed by the

304

Government for using th~se computerised services. The corruption is going on

as usual but there is some relief that the corruption has come down to some

extent in Hyderabad regarding these services. But in other areas (district

headquarters, revenue divisions and Mandals) corruption is going on as usual in

a riew form. The Government is able to implement these projects somewhat

successfully because' there is a support from the people and there is not much

dissatisfaction or opposition to these services.

At present, urban middle and upper middle class, rural educated and

very few uneducated people are able to benefit from these services. Poor,

illiterate and rural masses are left out of these services. Most of the people who

are benefiting from these services, are using e-governance projects to get

services rather than to get information to know about government.

It is true that these services are not as efficient as the government claims

because there are very few service centres where there are long queues.

Moreover you have to follow all the rules and procedures to get these services

for example, to get final caste certificate, ycu have to get clearance from 2 to 3

officials who take usual time.

It is also true that Government is not able to implement these services as

efficiently as it claims because bureaucratic staff who are responsible for

implementing these projects, are not happy with computerisation through

networking in general and with these projects in particular.

That is why these bureaucratic staff deliberately disrupt the functioning

of the computer in one counter now and then leading to the break down of the

entire computer networking system and therefore, it takes two to three days to

305

set right the whole system again. Some bureaucrats do damage to the system or

avoid the work because of party loyalties.

Therefore, if you see the overall picture of three districts, e-govemance

has not yet reached villages or Mandals. So, you can not expect any opinion or

comment on e-govemance either from bureaucratic officials or from the

general public. Even revenue divisions are not fully computerised {They are in

the process of computerisation) ar.d are not yet connected either with district

headquarter or with state headquarter through state wide area network. Their

computerisation is in the process of improving their efficiency in their

functioning rather than providing regular computerised services to the public.

Moreover government is functioning more on the basis of files and papers than

on the basis of computers and its networking at the revenue divisional level.

That. is why staffs dissatisfaction with computerisation is much lower than

district or state headquarters officials.

The district headquarters are computerised and are connected with state

headquarters thiough APSW AN. The computers are interconnected within the

department but different departments are not yet interconnected in the district

headquarters. Majority of the officials are not yet given computerised training.

Since the Chief Minister is having video-conference with district officials to

know developmental activities on daily basis, the district officials are

maintaining computerised data on the performance of developmental

progarmmes. So, interface between the CM and district officials is transparent

and district officials are accountable to the CM for their actions. There has been

an improvement in the efficiency of the general functioning of government. At

present, computerisation is more of improving efficiency of the government

than providing general public services at the district level. The general

306

efficiency in the govern~ent functioning is not as much as the Chief Minster

expected because the government ·has not yet provided IT infrastructure the

computerisation of all offices, computer training to the staff, computer

networking etc., completely. That is why the government is functioning more

on papers and files than on computers. Moreover, the staff is not happy with

computerisation. That is why officials are not changing their work culture

according to the changing technology.

Regarding registration departments, district headquarters, revenue

division and some mandals are computerised and district headquarters are

connected with the state headquarters. Registration depa1tment is working more

efficiently than earlier inspite of staffs dissatisfaction with computerisation.

Now registration is more transparent, efficient and accountable. But the

efficiency is not as much as the Government claims because officials are not

happy with computerisation.

The corruption in the registration department is going on as usual. If

anyone wants to register deeds, he has to give certain percentage of worth of

total property as bribe to the officials. Otherwise officials will delay it. Another

important point is that registration department offici.als are more unhappy with

computerisation than general and revenue officials because registration

department has to improve its efficiency in its functioning which is accountable

to higher officials and has to provide efficient services to the general public. It

also involves money, power, more work etc.

In Hyderabad, computers are interconnected in an office or department

through LAN (Local Area Network), different departments are interconnected

through MAN (Metropolitan Area N~twork), and Hyderabad is connected with

all district headquarters through APSWAN (Andhra Pradesh State Wide Area

307

These people feel that ~hey are able to get better service than earlier but not

without corruption. Corruption is going on as usual.

But, majority of these people are not utilising information provided by

the Government through Internet, to know programmes, schemes and

functioning of government for playing more democratic role by responding to

the policies and giving feedback to the Government in the state. lnfact they are

using Internet for other purposes like entertainment etc., than to know about the

government. That is why they are n0t able to comment on e-governance despite

their awareness of e-governance. These are the people who can influence the

government through Dial you CM, e-mailing etc but very few of them are able

to do that. It shows that people may not play more democratic role now than in

the past by using Internet because the people are not using it for this purpose.

And government may not get better feedback. So e-governance cannot change,

peoples attitude from less democratic to more democratic. It cannot make

people publicly conscious through Internet. It gives better democratic

opportunity to those people who are already better off and are already having

opportunity but not to those who are not, having opportunity .. So very few

among these people are able to utilise government · information to play

democratic role than earlier.

Poor and illiterate people from urban and rural areas, and rural mass are

not able to get benefit from computerised services and information due to their

poverty, illiteracy and ignorance. E-governance is not able to provide services

to these people and is not able to provide information to play better democratic

role. These people may utilise services if government provides, but, they may

not be able to get access to information because they are not utilising the

already existing means like radio, TV and wall-posters to know about

309

government programmes, people who are not even reading freely available

wall posters and are not listening to radio cannot be expected to know about

government through Internet. They cannot comment on e-governance and

cannot influence government through e-governance opportunities. So their

participation in e-governance is nominal. Urban educated middle and upper

middle class and rural educated people are able to participate in e-services but

very few of them are able to participate in ~-information. Urban and rural poor

·and illiterate and rural masses are not able to participate in e-governance at all.

Therefore, on the one hand Janmabhoomi programme which is rural

oriented and is about access to resources, has not been implemented properly

despite e-governance (improved govern~mce) at higher level and on the other

hand e-governance which is urban oriented and is about access to services, has

been implemented to some extent inspite of officials' unhappiness. However,

economic reforms are still in progress. So, economic . reforms can be

implemented wit~10ut proper good governance, and without adequate socio­

economic and political development in the state. Economic reforms can also

be implemented through other means such as committed political leadership

and satisfaction ofupper strata.

310