India And E-Delivery of Public Services Development Policy Loan

This is the updated version of my previous article on similar topic. E-delivery of services has been seen as an essential part of e-governance in India. However, e-governance itself is based upon good governance that also in a corruption free manner.

E-governance has the potential to eliminate corruption but in the Indian context e-governance itself has become a source of corruption. What is surprising is the fact that this is happening right in front of and under the nose of World Bank. The bigger question is whether the World Bank or Indian government is accountable for loans and grants that are never utilised for the benefit of common man in India?

Recently the World Bank and Indian government signed a loan agreement of $150 million for the e-delivery of public services in India. The loan has been granted as the e-delivery of public services development policy loan to be utilised under the national e-governance plan of India (NEGP).

Although the intentions are good yet the final outcome is not difficult to predict. India has a very poor track record of policy formulation and its implementation. For instance, policies pertaining to cyber law, cyber security, encryption, telecom, telecom security, mobile security, etc are still missing.

Further, India also has a poor track record of e-governance utilisation and providing of electronic delivery of services in India. We have no legal enablement of ICT systems in India and legal framework for e-delivery of services in India is also missing. In fact, as per e-governance experts of India, e-governance in India is dying. Without a mandatory e-governance services in India, e-delivery of services in India cannot be achieved.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India, “The Government and Indian Bureaucrats need to change their mindset and stress more upon outcomes and services rather than mere ICT procurement. India needs a services-based approach that is not only transparent but also backed by a more efficient and willing Government. Presently the Bureaucrats and Government of India are in a “resistance mode” towards novel and effective e-governance policies and strategies and they are merely computerising traditional official functions only. This is benefiting neither the Government nor the citizens and is resulting in wastage of thousands of crores of public money and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank Grants amount”.

“The Governmental will and leadership is missing in India. To worsen the situation the Government of India is concentrating more upon the image rather than upon the end results. The grassroots level action is missing and the benefits of ICT are not reaching to the under privileged and deserving masses due to defective ICT strategies and policies of Indian Government. India is suffering from the “vicious circle” of defective e-governance, as the basic input .i.e. governance itself is poor. India needs a “virtuous circle” of e-governance through good governance that would have multiplication and amplification effect upon e-governance efforts of Indian Government, says Praveen Dalal.

E-delivery of public services in India is missing and World Bank is not at all interested in establishing transparency and accountability in Indian NEGP. World Bank must ensure accountability of Indian NEGP in order to show that its loans are actually meant for growth and development of Indian masses rather than benefiting few politicians and bureaucrats as is happening right now.

In these circumstance, the e-delivery of public services development policy loan would just add to the woes of Indians as this type of e-governance would be a source of corruption itself rather than removing the mass corruption existing in India. No time in the past the need for a strong and effective Jan Lokpal Act is felt more than the present circumstances where neither India nor International organisations like United Nations, World Bank, UNDP, etc are questioning the acts and omissions of Indian government.

Training of Judicial Officers Of India

Judges training in India is a very important aspect of a sound judicial system. If judges are not properly trained and skilled, it may adversely affect the justice delivery system of a nation. In fact, a trained and sensitive judiciary can greatly expand the reach of access to justice to needy population.

Judges in India need to upgrade their skill from time to time. Special skill development initiatives must be undertaken in India for Indian judiciary. This is more so regarding e-courts skill development that is almost missing in India.

E-courts in India can make Indian judicial system more transparent and user friendly. Although e-courts project of India has been launched as a mission mode project under the national e-governance plan (NEGP) of India, it has failed to materialise so far. Despite spending crores of money, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court of India. Due to absence of e-courts skill the e-court project has still not been materialised.

Legal and Judicial Fraternity of India must be well aware of Scientific Concepts like Cyber Law, Cyber Forensics, Digital Evidencing, E-Discovery, E-Courts, Online Dispute Resolution, etc, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and CEO of Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB). This requires good and qualitative Training and Skill Development Courses, suggests Dalal.

PTLB is providing various techno legal trainings and skill development courses to lawyers, judges, police officers, corporate executives, etc. PTLB is also providing techno legal training and education to judges in India and worldwide. PTLB is also providing techno legal trainings in India to lawyers. Even online training of judges in India is also provided by PTLB. Law ministry of India must take active help of institutions like PTLB for its various projects.

Online Courts In India

Information and communication technology (ICT) has changed the way legal and judicial systems are operating world wide. Even law firms are adopting technology for better and efficient legal functions. Legal management system in India is developing along with use of ICT for judicial purposes in India.

Online courts in India are part and parcel of the e-courts project of India. E-courts project of India is again a part of the national e-governance plan (NEGP) of India. Under the NEGP scheme, courts of India are required to be upgraded and made compatible with the use of ICT.

So what is the status of online courts in India? According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi base techno legal ICT law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India, Online Courts in India have still to see the light of the day. India is still at the first stage of Computerisation of some of the aspects of Courts. Full fledged E-Filling, Submission of Plaints and Documents Online, Online Evidence Producing, etc are still missing, informs Dalal.

Online courts in India could not be established as there is lack of planning and foresight. The present e-court infrastructure of India is not in good shape and it urgently requires rejuvenation. Another factor going against the establishment of online courts in India is the fact that we do not have a legal enablement of ICT systems in India. Till a legal framework conducive for techno legal development of Indian judiciary is not established, legal and judicial systems of India have little incentives to adopt technology.

Further, online courts in India cannot be established till we have techno legal expertise to establish, maintain and upgrade court’s infrastructure. We have a single and exclusive techno legal online courts training and consultancy centre of India. The centre provides techno legal assistance for establishment, maintenance and upgradation of e-courts infrastructure all over the world.

The essential parameters for the establishment of online courts in India have not yet been met. The moment e-filing, presentation, contest and adjudication of the cases in an online environment would start, India would surely be capable of establishing online courts. In the absence of these capabilities, we have to wait for few more years to get speedier justice in India.

E-Courts In India

An electronic court (e-courts) is the process where the traditional courts are made more effective and speedier through the use of information and communication technology (ICT). From filing of the case to its final adjudication, all is done in an online environment.

E-courts are different from computerised courts that merely computerise few traditional litigation systems, says Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India. For instance, if cases are filed on compact disks (CDs) instead of in paper based file format, it does not make it a part of e-courts process. It is merely a computerisation process as one has to still approach the court premises in order to deliver the CDs or other electronic media, explains Dalal.

Till the month of April 2011, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court of India. Although some computerisation initiatives have been undertaken in India yet none of them either independently or collectively are sufficient to establish even a single e-court in India. The truth is that e-courts in India are still an unfulfilled dream.

E-courts project of India has not been able to be successfully transformed into a judicial reform initiative. At the institutional level, e-court project is bound to fails as there is no techno legal expertise present there. This is the reason why despite the national e-governance plan (NEGP) of India being launched, it has largely remained a failure to bring legal enablement of ICT systems in India.

For instance, India has a single techno legal e-courts research, training and consultancy centre that is managed by Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB). India needs more such techno legal e-courts centers so that e-court project of India may be successful.

Till now the e-court centre of PTLB is not extending its expertise to the e-courts project of India.Hopefully, Supreme Court of India and Ministry of Law and Justice would consider taking techno legal services of PTLB and similar institutions so that e-courts may see the light of the day.