Mandatory E-Governance Services In India Are Urgently Needed

This is the updated article of my previous post about the need to have a mandatory e-governance legal framework in India. There are many reasons why e-governance in India has miserably failed. According to legal experts, the “hands off model” regarding e-governance in India has proved to be a big failure. They believe that a mandatory e-governance legal framework alone can bring successful e-governance services in India in the absence of a transparent and accountable government system.

Legal framework for mandatory e-governance services in India is long due. If we make e-governance service optional or discretionary, the whole purpose would be defeated. This is the reason why we need time bound and accountable e-governance based public services in India. Keeping this objective in mind, the central government formulated the draft electronic delivery of services bill 2011 (EDS Bill 2011). The EDS Bill 2011 intends to provide delivery of government services to all citizens by electronic means by phasing out of manual delivery of services delivered by the government including matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Bill if made a law would require complete overhaul of the present e-governance infrastructure and services delivery mechanism of Indian government. However, the real problem with Indian e-governance initiative is that legal framework for mandatory electronic delivery of services in India is missing, says Praveen Dalal, Supreme Court lawyers and Managing Partner of India’s exclusive techno legal law firm Perry4Law.

Till now there was no provision under which citizens could ask for mandatory electronic delivery of services by the government. After the Bill becomes an enforceable law, the Indian Government may be under an obligation to mandatorily provide electronic services to its citizens, opines Dalal.

It is obvious that Indian e-governance services cannot be successful till there is a mandatory compliance requirement attached to them. Alternatively, the administrative system of Indian government must be streamlined so that they voluntarily adopt and implement e-governance projects that have been avoided so far.

Can Narendra Modi Government Ensure Privacy To Indians?

Privacy is a sacrosanct civil liberty that no nation can take it for granted. Yet most of the nations, including India, have been taking privacy for a ride. Till date we have no dedicated privacy law in India and this has made Indian citizens vulnerable to various forms of civil liberties violations in both online and offline worlds. To add further miseries to this situation we have draconian laws like telegraph and cyber law that deserve immediate repeal.

India’s love for e-surveillance is also well known. We have unconstitutional projects like central monitoring system and Netra that are operating in India without any procedural safeguards and parliamentary oversight. The latest to add to this list would be the national intelligence grid (Natgrid) project that has been taken up once again by Narendra Modi’s government. However, Natgrid project is a useful project as well provided it is made accountable to parliament of India.

Modi government needs to understand well the importance of civil liberties in cyberspace like privacy right, speech and expression right, etc. The government must also understand that privacy rights in the information era require a mature and well reasoned approach. It has to do what no other Indian government has done so far. Modi’s government would be required to formulate an e-surveillance policy of India that incorporate various issue in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

There is no doubt that big brother in India has been listening and watching for long but while doing so it must not exceed its limits. Unfortunately, the big brother has been transgressing upon all constitutional rights and procedural safeguards till now. Vodafone has also confirmed that governments across the world, including Indian government, have forced it and other telecom companies to install secret wires for e-surveillance purposes.

This is really unfortunate as our own government is violating our civil liberties that it was supposed to protect. According to privacy advocates, the digital life of Indian citizens is not at all safe and is open to various forms of e-surveillance and eavesdropping. In the absence of support form Indian Government, self defence is the only viable option left before Indian citizens to safeguard their digital lives. Let us hope that the Modi government would not force its citizens to adopt self defence measures.

Natgrid Must Be An Accountable Project Says Praveen Dalal

Even after more than 5 years of launch of the Natgrid project of India, the same has remained a non starter only. Despite spending many crore upon this crucial project, it has remained a failure only. There is no doubt that the successful implementation of Natgrid project depends upon numerous factors that are techno legal in nature. According to experts in this field, the Natgrid project of India needs techno legal implementation to be successful. Till now the Natgrid project has failed to address both technological and legal issues pertaining to the project.

Media reports have confirmed that Raghu Raman, the former CEO of Natgrid, would not be able to continue with the project as his contractual term has come to an end. Indian government is considering a new CEO for the Natgrid project. Obviously, the policies regarding Natgrid would also change and so would be its implementation strategy.

So what are the factors that have resulted in the failure of Natgrid project of India?  According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of Asia, NATGRID is an essential requirement for robust and effective intelligence agencies and law enforcement functions in India. The only requirement is to ensure that its abuses can be anticipated, prevented and remedied.

However, NATGRID cannot survive in the absence of “Political Will” to make it an effective and responsible tool. With the benefits of NATGRID come the issues of accountability and fairness in its operation. India must formulate adequate “Safeguards” before making NATGRID functional. The NATGRID project must not die like the other projects handled by India from time to time, opines Dalal. It seems the Natgrid project lacked all these attribute and this is the reason why it failed.

Lack of accountability and transparency are also responsible for poor intelligence related project implementations in India. According to Dalal “the Intelligence Agencies of India Need Parliamentary Oversight and the Intelligence Infrastructure of India needs Transparency and Strengthening. There should not be any “Legal Immunity” to Intelligence Agencies of India in the absence of Parliamentary Oversight and the system of “Using Executive Orders” to confer “Legitimacy” upon Intelligence Agencies must be abandoned as soon as possible by the Government.

There are crucial policy and legal issues of Natgrid project that previous government failed to notice. In fact, from the working of the previous government it is clear that it never wished to confer any legitimacy to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of India. This must be avoided by the BJP led government. 

As per the current home ministry’s  proposal, Natgrid will connect data providing organisations and users besides developing a legal structure through which information can be accessed by the law enforcement agencies. So there are some hints towards making Natgrid accountable towards Indian parliament. But only time will tell how Natgrid project would be handled by the new government.

Congress Unhappy Over Misra’s Ordinance But Would Not Challenge It In Parliament

The ordinance pertaining to appointment of Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) witnessed some heated debate between various politicians. However, the constitutionality of this ordinance has still not been discussed by media or any political party so far. So the natural question that arises is whether the appointment of Nripendra Misra by Narendra Modi government is constitutional or not?

There is little debate in the media circles and political parties regarding the constitutionality of the ordinance in question. However, according to Praveen Dalal, partner at New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law, “Prima facie this Ordinance has been promulgated in conformity with the Constitutional requirements and there are little reasons to agitate against the same. However, the allegations of “Political Impropriety” cannot be ignored in these circumstances”.

“The only thing that remains to be seen is what “Potential Benefits” the appointment of Mr. Misra would bring in these circumstances. Nevertheless, no “Constitutional Infirmity or Illegality” can be attributed to this Ordinance as on date”, opines Dalal.

This may also be the legal position as the Congress party is not challenging the legality or constitutionality of this ordinance. According to media reports, although the Congress party is “unhappy” with the ordinance to appoint Misra yet it is unlikely to vote against it in Parliament. This is also the most appropriate reaction and approach of Congress towards this issue as the capabilities of Misra is not in dispute.

The main contention of Congress is that the BJP, when in the opposition, had opposed several ordinances of the Congress-led government. Even so, it is not likely to oppose the ordinance when this comes for ratification before Parliament next week.

Union Home Ministry Officials Dropped NCTC From Project List Due To Fear Of Modi

Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi has asked bureaucrats in various government departments to apprise him of the status of various pending projects, their progress and problems and what projects are required to be taken forward for implementation. All bureaucrats are busy in making presentations to be made to Modi.

However, what is the use of such reporting if it is not based upon fair, fearless and honest grounds. For instance, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has listed the projects that were blatantly ignored by it in the past. Now home ministry officials have released a list of areas and projects that must be carried forward by the home ministry.

Surprisingly, the home ministry officials have dropped the reference of National Counter Terrorism Centre of India (NCTC) at all. It is learnt that they have done this because Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi had been at loggerheads with the UPA government when he was Gujarat chief minister. Is this a valid reason to drop a project in a democratic country like India?

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law “This is a highly unfortunate situation. No project should be dropped simply because Mr. Narendra Modi has disliked the same in the past. It is the constitutional duty of bureaucrats to suggest inclusion of projects of National Importance keeping aside their own biases, prejudices or fears. If they simply drop a worth project like NCTC on the basis that Mr. Modi disliked it in the past nothing is more embarrassing and unfortunate than such an approach”.

“Even if Mr. Modi is averse to NCTC as on date, the bureaucrats must suggest the same. Of course, if there are some other issues, besides personal preferences or dislikes of Mr. Modi, they must be openly and frankly communicated to Mr. Modi and let him decide ultimately”. The NCTC of India must be constituted on a priority basis as it is need of the hour, opines Dalal.

Fortunately, the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) has found a mention in the proposed list. However, Natgrid is also facing many problems and this has made it non operational. The fact is that intelligence infrastructure has been plagued by administrative lapses and legal irregularities. Modernisation of law enforcement and intelligence agencies is need of the hour.

The chief opposition of Modi against NCTC was that he considered it to be a poorly conceived idea that tinkers with age-old existing systems. He believed that rather than strengthening our anti terrorism fight it will do irreparable loss to our internal security apparatus. Although time has drastically changed since then but our bureaucrats have given preference to their Modi’s fear over national interest and anti terrorism fight.

Indian Department Of Telecom (DoT) Projects The Ignored Areas As Priorities Now

Facing tremendous pressure from the future Prime Minister of India, the Department of Telecom (DoT) of India has marked the priority areas. Surprisingly, these areas are the same that have been deliberately avoided and ignored by DoT for so many years.  Is this adoption of double standards on the part of DoT or a sincere effort to remove the inadequacies of Indian telecom sector is still to be seen.

The present working and policy decisions of the DoT have put the cyber security of India in a precarious situation. There are many cyber security challenges that the Narendra Modi government would be required to deal with simply because DoT and previous government failed to take effective steps in this direction.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of Asia, “Cyber Security of India needs a “Ground Level Overhaul” as it has been ignored in India for decades. Even on the legislation front, India has failed to do the needful. For instance, we need to repeal the laws like Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000), Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, etc but for some strange reasons our bureaucrats and Indian government kept them intact”.

“I have been suggesting these recourses for the past five years but till now nothing concrete has happened in this regard. Similarly, crucial laws are absent from Indian statute books. These include law regarding privacy, data protection (PDF), telecom security, encryption, cloud computing, etc, informs Dalal”.

Surprisingly, now DoT believes that introduction of new laws and norms, including the communication bill to replace century-old Indian Telegraph Act, security of networks, and infrastructure must be the priority areas for the new government. DoT has even listed top 10 priority areas for the sector with the Cabinet Secretary. The Cabinet Secretary has asked all the departments to keep a presentation ready for appraising the new Prime Minister of achievements as well as failures of the outgoing government and steps the departments would like to take in order to boost the growth.

The DoT’s list include introduction of Communication Bill that will replace over century old Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, as well as Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933, TRAI Act 1997, Cable TV Network (Regulation) Act 1995, IT Act 2000, official sources said. An internal committee of DoT has already recommended providing telecom, cable and broadcasting services by a single company and paying for the services though a common bill.

Apart from this, DoT has listed six major incomplete projects, including Rs 20,000-crore National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project aimed to provide high speed broadband services across all 2.5 lakh panchayats in the country along with Wi-Fi services that were started by the outgoing UPA government.

DoT has said that there is a need to further amend telecom licences for facilitating growth”. There is a need to separate network licensing from services licensing and ease barriers to entry and exit for telecom players. The new government should work on implementation of full Unified Licensing Regime”, an official source said.

Amid growing cyber espionage threat, DoT has listed security of communication network in the agenda. The department said there is a need for “comprehensive plan for telecom security, including creation of testing facilities for integrity of communications network”. At present, India does not have any security testing facility for telecom equipment to detect complex malware. DoT has also listed need to strengthen mobile services in border area, dedicated communication network for defence forces as part of communication security.

Ebay Plans To Boost Its Cyber Security Amid Threats Of Global Legal Actions

The computer systems of eBay were recently attacked and compromised by unknown hackers. Ebay initially downsized the incidence and its impact by stressing upon mere password change. However, things are not as casual and easy as Ebay has considered. Three U.S. States are investigating whether Ebay’s has committed any wrong by not reporting the matter in a timely manner.

In short, Ebay is under investigation to ascertain the effectiveness of its cyber security practices. This is not the first case of this type and this certainly would not be the last of its kind as well. For instance, Target Corporation was also cyber attacked in the past and as a result of that Target Corporation faced litigation threats around the world. Now EBay is also facing similar litigation threats.

There seems to some very serious policy level lapses in U.S. that is allowing the companies to go away with legal consequences. However, this would not help these U.S. companies in other jurisdictions and they are vulnerable to diverse forms of legal actions there.

According to New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law, “U.S. companies cannot hide behind the veil of conflict of laws in cyberspace anymore. No company can know this much better than Google who is facing online defamation case in India and has to comply with the right to be forgotten in Europe. Now the Luxembourg and U.K. data-protection authorities may probe EBay regarding the cyber-attack that exposed passwords and personal information of consumers around the world, including India. Even Indian regulatory authorities may initiative an investigation against EBay to ensure that privacy rights and data of Indian citizens may not have been violated during the cyber breach”.

Now Ebay has decided to streamline its cyber security. However, this would not be enough as the damage has already been done. U.S. needs to set an example by investigating and challenging the cyber security practices of U.S. companies. Till big corporations are forced to follow the norms there would not be any change.

Indian government must also introduce cyber security disclosure norms as soon as possible as Indian cyber security is in a bad shape. As the cyber security breaches are increasing world over, India cannot afford to keep its cyber security lax.