Governance for UPSC, GS 2 Notes By UPSC Topper Ravisankar Sarma 

            DIGITAL INDIA

It is a flagship scheme of the Government of India under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology aiming to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy

The vision of the Programme

Digital Infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen -> Governance & Services on demand -> Digital Empowerment of citizens

Digital Infrastructure Pillar

• Rural Internet Infrastructure: Provision of high-speed internet services to citizens for delivery of services with particular impetus on enhancing rural connectivity to the internet.

Ensuring access to safe and secure cyberspace and to a Common service centre

• Digital Identity: Enabling a unique lifelong online digital identity authenticable to every citizen
• Digital-> Financial Inclusion: Mobile phone and bank account enabling citizen participation in digital and financial space

Governance and Services on Demand

• Synchronization of Departments: Integration of services across different jurisdictions or departments enabling efficient and fast movement between departmental services
• Real-time service delivery: Availability of services in real-time from online and mobile platforms
  • NTES train enquiry
• Cashless Transactions: Enabling financial transactions through the digital domain for increased transparency and reduced tax evasion
  • UPI: Real-time payment system to facilitate inter-banking transactions by NPCI
  • AEPS: Aadhar as an identity to access banking services of cash deposits, withdrawal, balance enquiry
• Ease of Doing Business: Digitally transformed services for improving ease of doing business. Through DIGITAL India, the government aims to improve transparency in industrial linkages and governance services for industries – clearances, permits, resource allocation
  • E-Biz: One-stop-shop for efficient online Government-Business (G2B) service that provides businesses details on starting and operating businesses

How a citizen becomes digitally empowered?

• Digital Literacy: All citizens have access to digital resources and are aware of how to make use of it
• Participatory Governance: Collaborative digital platforms for participatory governance of which ‘Mygov.in’ is an excellent example
• Ease of Accessibility to Services
  • No physical presence required
  • Online submission of documents
    • DigiLocker: A service of GoI for citizens to store important official documents on the cloud
  • Easy access to information
  • Tracking enabling greater responsiveness
• Linguistic Inclusivity: Digital resources and services are available in all languages

Pillars of Digital India

1. Broadband Highways: Connecting rural areas with National Optical Fibre Network
2. Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity: Network Penetration and filling gaps in connectivity
3. Public Internet Access programmes: Common Service Centres and POs are the multi-service centres under this programme
4. E-Governance: Governance leveraging ICT for better transparency, simplification and efficient service delivery
5. E-Kranti – Electronic delivery of government services
6. Information for All: Open data platform and online posting of information and documents
7. Electronics Manufacturing: It seeks to make India self-sufficient in electronic goods by 2022 (Zero imports) through government procurement, tax incentives, skill development and incubators
8. IT for jobs: Skill development with a focus on small towns and villages in accordance with the demand of the IT sector
9. Early Harvest Programmes – Projects to be implemented in a short period of time – Public Wi-Fi hotspots, Biometric Attendance, SMS based weather and disaster alerts, Tele-medicine, electronic education delivery

Prospective Challenges for Digital India

• Cost Burden: Rural-urban divide with regard to access to internet heavily compromises on the penetration of government services. The scale of the problem requires enormous funding.
• Technological Challenges
  • Low physical connectivity and access to electricity
  • Availability of Mobiles and Computers
• Behavioural Aversion: The elderly and rural population may be averse to embracing technology in accessing services preferring to stay on with the traditional mode of provision of services.
• Language Problems: Language barrier is another roadblock to aspiring citizens leveraging digital and on the go government services
• Cyber Insecurity: In lieu of increasing cyber-attacks, the citizens’ data with the government needs to be protected with adequate safeguards. Moreover, a concerted push towards using digital transactions heightens the importance to a secure cyberspace
• Automation: The skillset of the current IT employees is fast turning obsolete in the face of automation and artificial intelligence denting employment generation capability of IT sector
• Competition from Imports: The domestic electronics manufacturing industries may struggle to compete at the domestic level with cheaper imports from China and South-East Asian nations
• Not user-friendly: Absence of user-friendly government interfaces
• Newer technologies including IoT, Cloud Solutions are not being adopted

Way Forward

Private Participation: Huge digital infrastructure deficit and divide in the country necessitates the technological and financial support of private entities for the state. PPPs can also enhance the physical connectivity of the region

            Decentralized connectivity like the Project Loon of Google.

Raising Awareness: The behavioural aversion to adopting technology and digital illiteracy can be corrected by conducting IEC campaigns among the rural and elderly population. They need to be made aware of the benefits of technology adoption, its convenience thus making it aspirational for all sections of society

Data Protection Laws: A clear data protection legislation that puts an obligation on private and public holders of sensitive citizen data regarding its safety and security can address security and privacy concerns of citizens using government services online

Industry driven skilling: The rapid evolution of technologies necessitates that skilling in the IT sector needs to stay relevant with current paradigms in the IT industry- it being artificial intelligence and machine learning at present

Role of Civil Services in Democracy

Reforms in IAS

            Indian Administrative Service instituted right after independence worked admirably with positive results in departments of agriculture, irrigation, industry, providing health and education, social justice and upholding rule of law. But during later times, corruption, complacency and lethargy have crept into the system thus crippling its potential.

What Reform is Required?

• Confirming to conduct codes: All civil servants must confirm to Civil services conducts and rules in discharging their duties with at most passion for keeping public good at the forefront. They must observe discipline in time, willingness to learn, be approachable and kind in dealings with general public and communicating clearly in bureaucracy
  • Shunning of the old bureaucratic mindset can enable better functioning of the RTI
• Reviving Old spirit de corps: All officers must stand up for each other for the public good and the teamwork and synergy between them shall drive the institution to greater heights
• Greater Synergy with Political Executive: Bureaucracy is the executive arm of the political executive and its actions have to be in sync with decisions and policies of the government. Officers tasked with implementing government policies, schemes and programmes need to display greater synergy with the ideas of political executive remaining politically neutral

Local Self-Governments

            Local self-governments were provided with constitutional status through the 73^rd and 74^th amendment with the objective of deepening democratic decentralization in the country. LSGs transform citizens being passive participants in the election process to active decision-makers at ground level thus heralding participative democracy.

Why LSG?

Citizen participation: LSGs enable citizens to be direct participants in decision making at the grass-root level. This inculcates political consciousness within citizens making them an active part of democracy

Decentralization: LSGs are the lowest rung in the governance ladder that enables decentralized demand-driven service delivery to citizens. The citizens at the grass-root level are more aware of the needs of the society as compared to higher ladder governance institutions

Women Empowerment: By reservation of one-third of LSG seats, women are politically empowered being active decision-makers at the grass root level. This can drive them towards better social status and economic empowerment

Functions of a LSG

Planning and Implementation: The LSGs are hand-in-hand with state governments with regard to planning and implementation of schemes for socio-economic development and welfare of its population

Beneficiary Identification: The LSGs are identifiers of deserving beneficiaries for state entitlements and assistance. They are better aware of grass root level demography and hence better placed to make decisions with regard to beneficiary identification

Service Delivery: LSGs are responsible for service delivery of basic amenities to households- drinking water, electricity, sanitation and financial inclusion

Natural Resource Usage: The LSG institutions are responsible for expending natural resources – minerals, land, forests etc. The Gram Sabha has to be consulted if it is allotted to companies for raw material requirement

Infrastructure: LSGs play a pivotal role in infrastructural development in coordination with the state government on matters of road connectivity, telecom and electrification

Issues

Lack of 3Fs: The state governments have not devolved enough funds, functions and functionaries hindering democratic decentralization to the third tier of the government. Many states have not included voluntary provisions of the amendment that included devolution of resources and functions.

Lack of Financial Autonomy: LSGs are heavily dependent on state and central governments for capital as they are largely deprived of avenues of taxation that are seldom used. Hence they have limited revenue-generating capacity hindering self-sufficiency in finances

The Economic Survey of 2017-18 states that the direct tax collections by local and state governments in India are much lower compared to other federal countries.

Recentralization: The decentralization of governance has been partly negated by para-statal authorities and recentralization schemes that abridge the authority devolved to lower levels of government

Eg: MPLADS and GCDA

Patriarchal Challenge: The provision for reservation of seats for women have been greatly compromised by the ‘Sarpanch pati’ system that puts husbands as active decision-makers in place of their passive spouse representative.

Casteism: Panchayats have been formed along the lines of caste that have perpetuated caste divisions in villages and has assumed quasi-judicial functions that impose harsh punishments on lower caste sections on the basis of customary laws and practices.

Way Forward

Greater Devolution of 3Fs: Panchayats and ULBs need to be adequately equipped with funds, functions and functionaries from state governments. Performance grants can be provided as per the 14^th finance commission’s recommendations to incentivize planning and implementation of socio-economic developmental projects.

Financial Autonomy: The local bodies need to be empowered with wider avenues of taxation to ensure that they gain financial self-reliance. ULBs can seek private sector participation for capital generation through debt instruments.

Eg: Green and Blue bonds

Avoiding Recentralization: Recentralization schemes and para-statal authorities can be limited and their jurisdictions may be defined as such that they do not absolve the authority given to grass root level political institutions

Monitoring to tackle Socio-cultural challenges: Caste and patriarchal challenges have to be overcome through better monitoring at grass root levels to ensure that they function as institutions of democratic governance alone and not on tradition or socio-cultural lines.