On 07-Mar-08, at 8:25 AM, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh wrote:
Sensible as these changes may be, however, reforms written by civil
servants are unlikely to provide the necessary transformation in
India's
civil service. Nor is technology the instant elixir it is sometimes
considered to be. Inspired by a crusading IAS officer, in the past two
years Karnataka state has built 800 privately managed “telecentres”
where citizens can access land records, birth and death certificates
and
driving licences online. Following its lead, the central government is
rolling out 100,000 similar terminals, with additional services in
education and health care. The benefits of skipping a rung or two of
rent-seeking officialdom are manifest.
Umm, that would be the project I'm overseeing technology development
for. Access to driving licenses is not among the services offered.
The Karnataka RTO has just accepted bids for a project to computerise
the driving license system and the contract is yet to be awarded.
