Activists welcome proposed law on e-services

CHENNAI: The proposed law to make the delivery of public services online mandatory has evoked a welcome response from activists campaigning for transparency in governance and against corruption in public life.
The provisions in the draft Electronic Service Delivery Bill, 2011, they say, could help in the fight against corruption but point out that more efforts should be taken to promote computer literacy and Internet outreach in rural areas and complete computerisation of government offices.
"The RTI Act has emboldened the general public to claim access to information as a matter of right, though it has not brought succees in all cases. Likewise, the proposed law on e-services could help streamline the system in many areas," said P Balasubramanian, an RTI activist in Cuddalore. He also said documents like community certificates should be issued online.
R Balakrishnan, an anti-corruption campaigner in Tiruvannamalai, said: "It is a good move and the Bill should be placed before Parliament at the earliest. We hope the Bill can prevent chances of irregularities at least to some extent. People will also be happy if they get the services without going to government offices. But the government should take measures on public awareness on the use of e-services and ensure that grievances relating to online services are dealt with due attention."
State information technology secretary PWC Davidar said Tamil Nadu was at an advanced stage in implementing e-governance in core areas. "All departments are providing e-services. Many services are fully available online while others are available partially or in process. The draft Bill aims to bring an uniformity in e-governance," Davidar said.
A few activists wonder why a new law is needed to ensure implementation of e-services.
"Decision on implementation of e-services can be taken at the administrative level. Migrating from manual services to e-services needs no law but more funds and promotion of public awareness and computer literacy. Further, the draft Bill is vaguely worded and doesn't give any specific right to the people, except a provision to impose penalty against officials failing to comply with the law," said Venkatesh Nayak, coordinator of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi.
The Union information technology ministry recently released the draft bill on its website inviting public opinion on it by May 4. People can mail their views to abhishek@gov.in with Draft ESD Bill mentioned in the subject line.