[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-27

[Taha Mehmood]

http://pib.nic.in/release/rel_print_page.asp?relid=9387

THE WAY TO EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION

Abhishek Dayal
GOVERNANCE One Year of UPA Government
Thursday, May 19, 2005**
*Citizen-Centric Reforms*

The IT revolution has begun to influence the governments' functioning. This
tool can be used effectively to rid the system of some of its endemic
problems. A number of successful initiatives have been taken by the Centre
and  State governments recently. The proposed Multi-purpose National
Identity Cards to be issued by the Home Ministry, BHOOMI in Karnataka, eSEVA
in Andhra Pradesh, and Rural Access to Services Through Internet (RASI) in
Tamil Nadu - all these projects aim at cutting red-tapism, bringing
the  Government
closer to the people, speeding up decision-making, reducing chances of
corruption and taking the benefits of technology to the weakest sections of
the  society.

            But these initiatives cannot be effective if they work in
isolation. The UPA Government feels that for effectively using the
technology for transforming governance, a more focussed approach is
necessary.  The Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council has suggested
several policy initiatives to modernise the government.

These include overall vision, mission, strategy and approach e-governance as
a reform process, e-readines in terms of government's willingness to share
information with public and across government agencies and issuance of a
multi-purpose national identity cards.
India is on the verge of transformation from a developing country to a
developed economy. Much needs to be done, and quickly. The initiative to
identify the policy interventions necessary to reform the system is a
welcome step in this direction.