National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) of India is one of the most important projects. However, by and large e-governance in India has failed. Further, even plans to use m-governance in India are in the pipeline. However, there is no regulatory framework for m-governance in India.In the absence of proper policies and guidelines, e-governance, m-governance and cloud computing are not going to be successful in India at all and all projects of Indian government are bound to fail.
For instance, e-courts project of India has failed to materialise despite spending huge money. We are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court of India. Further, there is no legal framework for mandatory e-governance services in India. The proposed draft electronic services delivery bill 2011 of India is mere eyewash and nothing more. Even legal enablement of ICT systems in India is missing.
These failures are attributable to the fact that grassroots level stakeholders are not consulted while formulating and implementation of e-governance and m-governance related projects in India. Public private partnership (PPP) has been used for long in India. However, it always remained ineffective. It is only now that crucial fields like internal security and defence sector have been opened up for PPP purposes.
Of course, the department of information technology (DIT) has recently released a concept note on framework for citizen engagement in NEGP. Although the framework is promising yet there is lack of legal enablement of ICT systems in India. Further, by its very nature it is knowledge driven and cannot be undertaken by government itself.
A model that can help in meeting the techno legal requirements of NEGP and framework for citizens’ engagement in NEGP has been suggested by India’s exclusive techno legal ICT law firm Perry4Law. It has launched the exclusive citizen to government (C2G) LPO and KPO services in India. This unique C2G LPO and KPO services by Perry4Law would not only help Indian government in enacting suitable techno legal policies but would also help in meeting the objectives of mandatory e-governance services in India as well as effective PPP in India on a C2G model.
Let us hope experts and stakeholders would be included in the fold this time by Indian government in general and DIT in particular. After all for how long can we tolerate corruption and failures in India? Let us hope that the proposed Jan Lokpal bill 2011 of India would also bring some respite in this regard.
