TCS moots increased public spending on transparency in governance

India's largest software company, TCS has called for raising public spending on e-governance projects in the country to 3 per cent of the annual GDP. In a white paper released in New Delhi, Tata Consultancy Services has identified opportunities for improvement in e-governance in India and provided recommendations to help the Indian government can drive forward a programme for comprehensive and effective e-governance in the country.

S Ramadorai, CEO & MD, TCSIn this white paper TCS has used its experience in e-governance projects to define a road-map for India and highlight current impediments like a silo-based approach that is limiting the benefits of technology use. 

The paper also highlights India's low position in global e-governance rankings, and the need to catalyse policy decisions to improve the quality of e-governance in India.  The software giant points out, for instance, that India's per capita public sector IT spending is $1.29, compared to $199 in New Zealand and $153 in Singapore.

It has suggested a five-point plan towards building, what it calls, an ideal e-governance framework in India:

1. A nationwide mandate to allocate a fixed percentage (~3%) of the annual budget for e-governance projects
2. The need to adopt an integrated and holistic approach focused on services
3. National level oversight of any e-governance programme and thereby move from individualised e-governance to institutionalised e-governance
4. A fixed tenure concept where key government executives are appointed for the entire term of any e-governance initiative 
5.    A government standing committee to oversee national e-governance programmes
 
''If implemented properly, e-governance can be an asset for the un-served and under-served areas in India and drive new efficiency gains nationwide," said S Ramadorai, CEO and MD, in a statement. "While Indian IT is the envy of the world and is associated with some of the most advanced and complex IT projects globally, India has not fully leveraged its potential of IT and the expertise of Indian IT industry.''  

Ramadorai added, ''According to the WEF Global Information Technology Report, India ranks 44 out of 122 countries analysed and ahead of us are countries like Barbados, Latvia, Tunisia, Thailand and the Slovak Republic. Therefore, there is tremendous potential for e-governance to benefit citizens exponentially and maximise return on government investments."