The Indian government must take tough actions against corrupt people and e-governance has a great potential to improve accountability. by making major public projects data available online, corruption can be curbed and accountability enhanced in the country.

India  needs  leadership who can take tough decisions and deal firmly with corrupt people.  E-governance can help reduce corruption and improve accountability by making budgets and progress reports of major public projects available.  Providing Free accessibility to any citizen and identifying people responsible for causing delay in decision making  will work wonders,”

India continues to struggle with corruption and “this image hurts India’s reputation abroad and negatively impacts its development.

But there is hope! The good thing is that our bureaucracy has already accepted IT for governance. Like in Karnataka, land records, property tax bills, water bills, the issuance of birth and death certificates, trade licenses, and filing of consumer complaints have been computerised.

The Unique Identity (UID) project, is aimed at establishing citizenship, reducing identity- related frauds and addressing security issues, “The project for providing unique identification to every Indian resident is perhaps the most important among such projects.”while computerising government and corporate functions, security can’t be compromised with. Our IT systems must be fully protected against unauthorized access and malicious attacks by terrorists and evil elements from abroad,.

The growth of the IT-BPO sector has highlighted India on the world map, as a destination of choice for global investors.

But concerned about India’s perennial problems like poverty and illiteracy   There is a dark side to this wonderful story. We have millions who remain poor, illiterate, and without access to decent health care facilities and shelter. Most importantly, we have not been able to create jobs but I believe that technology can help address some of these challenges .

If India has to succeed in the global, knowledge-based economy, literacy and decent higher education for all Indians become critical.

Source : Excerpts of the authors  lecture at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London on july 1st , 2010.