E-Government: What next after the Unique Identification Number Project?

Institute Name: S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai

Team Name: White Knights

Team Members:

1. Kapil Kulkarni (kulkap_241@yahoo.co.in) +91-9096912680

2. Mohit Mahajan (mohit.mahajan@gmail.com) +91-9619409798

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 E-Government: What next after the Unique Identification Number Project?

Topic: “E-Government: What next after the Unique Identification Number Project?”

Abstract

India is the world‟s largest democracy and amongst the most influential countries in the
world. It is a huge country containing thousands of cities and villages. Most of our population
stays in the villages and earns its livelihood by engaging in various farming and non-farming
activities. The GDP growth of India has been approx 8% over past couple of years and there
has been rapid development in the country. However, this growth story has two faces- first,
the sparkling and shining cities which are competing to be the best in the world and second,
the vast number of villages spread across the hinterland where people struggle to make ends
meet. The benefits of development have not reached most of the Indian villagers. As such,
this development is not all-inclusive.

The villagers do not have access to various welfare policies and programs which government
has launched for them. Facilities like easy loans, insurance etc are still not accessible to most
of the Indian villagers. The awareness levels among villagers about various government
policies have also been very low. All these factors have driven the Indian villagers towards a
„debt trap‟ which has been fast turning into a „death trap‟. We frequently hear cases of
farmer suicides from various parts of country. A high percentage of children in the villages
are malnourished. Though government has created policies and programs to eradicate these
problems, it has miserably failed in implementing them.

Using the recent technological advancements, the government can launch an e-government
project to take the welfare policies to the doorsteps of people. It can increase the awareness
levels among villagers so that the benefits of such policies reach the needy. This will lead to
an all-round development of villages and also lead them to the path of prosperity.

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 E-Government: What next after the Unique Identification Number Project?

Introduction: As India prepares to identify itself uniquely, it is entering into a phase which
can kick-start a new revolution. A revolution in the way we move forward as a nation. Till
now, we have achieved industrial growth but it has not percolated to the bottom. We have
acquired, developed and possessed state-of-the-art warfare ammunition but failed to
proactively stop the border infiltration and terrorist attacks. As we leverage on our
technological capabilities to provide a unique identification number to each of our citizens,
we are looking up to a future where we will be more alert and equipped to respond to the
external threats and will be more informed to address the internal, social and security, issues.

Once the UID project achieves its objectives, we can take the benefits of the government
welfare and employment schemes right to the needy, no matter where she is located.
However, with all the know-how and the hitherto lacking political will in place, it is
extremely important that this time around we get the implementation right down to the last
detail. Otherwise posterity will not pardon us for repeating the mistakes of the past 62 years.
Let us explore some ideas and a special purpose "vehicle" which will drive us to our
destination.

Plight of Indian villagers: Over 60 years ago, Gandhiji said: “The soul of India lives in its
villages”. The statement holds true even today since over 72% of India‟s population lives in
rural areas. As per 2001 census, there are 638,596 villages in our country. Going by the sheer
number of rural people, it is quite clear that India‟s overall health depends a lot on the state of
its villages.

Our village economy is closely tied to agriculture which inturn is hugely dependent on
monsoons. The investment cost in agriculture is increasing year after year while land
productivity is decreasing. To keep up with the ever increasing input costs, farmers often
require loans. However, they don‟t have access to loans on easy credit. Hence they are forced
to take loans on high interest rates from local moneylenders. This leads them into a debt cycle
which often drives many farmers to suicides.

Another problem that the farmers face is that they do not know about the markets for their
crops and also are unaware about the Minimum Support Price (MSP) which government has
announced. The middlemen often use this situation to their advantage and buy crops at far
lower prices than what government has finalized. These middlemen then make huge profits
by selling the crops at higher prices. The real profits thus never reach farmers and their
situation never improves. Farmers are also often unaware about the latest techniques and the

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best practices to increase productivity of their fields. This makes them less competitive in this
era of globalisation.

A large number of villagers are living under extreme poverty conditions. Coupled with poor
economic conditions are the poor medical conditions which are prevalent in many villages.
Cases of polio, malnourishment and starvation among children are still not uncommon to hear
about. Though the government has taken a number of initiatives to alleviate above mentioned
problems, they are rendered ineffective due to abysmally low level of awareness among
villagers. This defeats the very purpose of such welfare policies and the situation never
improves.

Bringing on e-governance revolution -- Pragati Yaan: We cannot long ignore the issues
faced by rural population. The Government of India has to take steps to counter the various
problems prevalent in villages. The framework for this change is already in place in the form
of institutions like NABARD, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Food
Corporation of India (FCI), Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism etc. The government
just needs to extend the benefits of such institutions to needy people.

India has expanded its boundaries and reached moon. We are leading the world in current
economic recovery. However, sadly though, the administration model in India still has been
of „people reaching out to government‟. Now, the time has come for it to change to
„government reaching out to people‟. The whole administration should be taken out to the
doorsteps of the people so as to reap its benefits. The government can use the technological
advancements made by the country in achieving this initiative. This will ensure that we
achieve an all-inclusive growth rather than just numbers.

We propose to make this possible by launching mobile vans called „Pragati Yaan‟ across the
rural hinterland in India. These vans will be equipped with solar cell panels, audio-visual
system and VSAT link. They will also host couple of computers within them. The vans will
offer a variety of services as follows:

(a) Easy credit: Pragati Yaan will take government‟s easy credit policies to people. The
policies will be explained to people on the spot and loan applications can be submitted
instantaneously to banks like NABARD and SBI using VSAT link. This will slowly
help break the debt trap which has taken the lives of so many farmers in our country.
It will also bring people out of the grip of local moneylenders who exploit the

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villagers to fill their own coffers. On the same lines, insurance facilities for crop,
livestock etc can also be provided to villagers.
(b) Access to latest techniques: A key factor to increase the income of farmers is to
improve the efficiency and productivity of various farming methods. Most of the
farmers still use old and outdated techniques of cultivation. The e-government
initiative, Pragati Yaan will change all that by educating farmers about latest
technological innovations in the field of agriculture. Farming techniques &
innovations can be taught to a group of farmers by using a projector screen. The
Pragati Yaan can be used to connect farmers to various agriculture extension centres
(opened by ICAR) so as to clarify any doubts. All the above information can be
provided to farmers in the local language to allow correct and easy understanding.
This will help increase the productivity of farmers ultimately increasing their income
level and standard of living.
(c) Information dissemination: Pragati Yaan will help disseminate information about
upcoming weather conditions. Farmers can take their decisions based on the expected
weather conditions. Such information can be especially useful in coastal areas
wherein villagers can be warned not to venture into seas in the event of cyclone etc.
Pragati Yaan can also be used to teach farmers about the proper use of pesticides.
This will help prevent harmful environmental effects on the quality of soil and final
produce due to overuse of pesticides.
(d) Access to free markets: A key government responsibility is to provide free and fair
market to producers. This e-government initiative, Pragati Yaan, can be used to
connect villagers to potential markets where they can sell their products. The
government can collect data about the market requirement in urban areas and this data
can be sent to villages along with Pragati Yaan. Cottage industries like handicrafts etc
can use this data to connect to potential marketplaces in urban areas. They can also
book place in trade fairs to promote & sell their products. Similarly, farmers can meet
the procurement agencies online and make arrangements for selling their crops. They
can also make sure that the price they get for produce is atleast equal to MSP of crop.
Any opportunity to export products can also be informed to villagers via Pragati
Yaan. This will give more leverage to villagers to sell their products as per free
market dynamics. Also, since the middleman is removed in this model, the actual
craftsmen, potters, farmers etc will reap the reward of their hard work.

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(e) Increasing awareness: The awareness level about various government schemes is very
low in villages. Pragati Yaan can be used to educate the villagers and make them
aware about various government welfare schemes like NREGA, NSAP etc. The
biometric unique ID cards provided to villagers under Unique Identification Number
project can be used to ascertain that the benefits reach the deserving lot of people and
are not siphoned off. This will bring more people under the scope of government
policies and will ultimately result in upliftment of this section of society.
(f) Health: Pragati Yaan can have its influence in the medical sphere also. Often, villages
do not have proper medical facilities available and villagers need to travel long
distance to get treatment for diseases. Pragati Yaan can revolutionize the treatment
methodology by connecting villages directly to district health centre. Doctors can
diagnose patients instantly using an audio-video link over VSAT and treatment for
simple cases can be done online. This will lead to speedy diagnoses of issues and will
also save lot of hassle and time for villagers. The critical/serious cases can be referred
to the district centre quickly leading to saving of many precious lives.

Thus Pragati Yaan can revolutionize the village economy and lifestyle and can go a big
way in bringing administration closer to people.

The Future: As the reach of the e-government through the Pragati Yaan initiative increases,
it will help in making the rural regions of the country grow on their own. Initiatives to
improve the quality of agricultural produce, to provide a market for handicrafts and to
develop the non-farm activities like dairy (milk, meat and eggs) will eventually culminate
into making the villages self-sustainable. This will address issues like poverty,
unemployment, health, apathy towards education. Furthermore, this will also address the
problem of migration of population to the cities from villages. People migrate to cities in
search of employment when their traditional means of living fall short. With the emergence
of earning opportunities right around them, there won‟t be any incentive left for migrating.
This will relieve the cities from the burden of providing for people beyond their means and
capacity. Problems like over-crowded cities, mushrooming of slums (and in turn, inhuman
living conditions and the social problems arising out of poverty) will slowly disappear.

For the villages and the undeveloped regions, this shift will be even more beneficial. First of
all, it will drag them out of the vicious circle of poverty. This will reduce the cynicism that
generally accompanies poverty and deprivation. Since in this initiative, Government‟s role is

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quite visible and it addresses the root cause of the problems faced by these regions, it will
develop a sense of belonging and involvement in the people. This will encourage them to
participate in the democratic processes and make them aware of the government policies,
initiatives and schemes.

In the long run, this change will help in tackling the growing threat posed by the naxalite
movement in the country. Most of the times, it is extreme poverty, disillusionment and
disaffection rather than any “socialist ideal of a class-less society” that lure the poor and the
tribals into taking up arms. An effective social policy implemented by leveraging on our e-
governance capabilities can help in reducing this discontent and bring them into the
mainstream.

Thus an effective implementation of Pragati Yaan initiative will strengthen our villages and
will ultimately lead to a stronger and prosperous India.

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References:

Census of India: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/

Ministry of Rural Development: http://www.rural.nic.in/

Abbreviations:

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

UID: Unique Identification

MSP: Minimum Support Price

NABARD: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

ICAR: Indian Council of Agricultural Research

SBI: State Bank of India

FCI: Food Corporation of India

VSAT: Very Small Aperture Terminal

NREGA: National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

NSAP: National Social Assistance Programme