Words like e-governance, m-governance, cloud computing, etc are glamorous enough to draw attention of any person or institution. However, their true meaning and actual applicability is an altogether different ball game. In India although much has been talked about e-governance, m-governance and cloud computing yet when it comes to their actual implementation India stands nowhere.India does not have any infrastructure, legal framework, policies and strategies and most importantly expertise to implement these ambitious projects. The talks of using m-governance and cloud computing by Indian government are nothing but a big joke.
For instance we have no legal framework for mandatory electronic services and m-governance in India. Still Indian government is over enthusiastic about using m-governance. Similarly, we do not have any legal framework for privacy protection, data protection and data security in India. This makes the use of software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing highly vulnerable, unsafe and unreliable.
The real problem is that India does not have any dedicated Privacy Law, Data Protection Law and Legal Enablement of M-Governance in India informs Praveen Dalal, a Supreme Court Lawyer and leading Techno Legal expert of India. With the proposed use of Cloud Computing, Software as a Service (SaaS) and M-Governance by Indian Government, more “Privacy Violations”, “Cyber Security” and many more “Regulatory Issues” would arise in future. These “Initiatives” cannot succeed in India in the absence of adequate and strong Laws in this regard, informs Dalal.
It is obvious that the present legal and regulatory regime of India is not compatible and conducive for cloud computing services, e-governance and m-governance in India and India is still not ready for these initiatives. If India still believes in self regulation in these crucial fields, nothing can be more suitable as a corruption breeding ground than these initiatives.
