Author: Kiran Bedi
Parminder Jeet Singh/Sandeep Srivastava
Publisher: Sage Publications
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 374
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0761995692
Description
This path-breaking book by three people who bring together their experiences as administrators, trainers and professionals demystifies the most remarkable technology of our times - the Internet. It is ideal to broaden the reach of governmental activities and services, and in a manner customized to the local context.
In the Warna Wired Village Project, computers placed in public booths in 70 villages in two districts of Maharashtra are the link between the farmers and the outside world. Every day about 25 farmers visit each booth to access information on crop cultivation practices and schedules, quantities harvested and sold, net income due, pest and disease control, marketing, etc. And all this in the local language! Is it any wonder then that these farmers consider wired computers to be the best source of information –more so than field officers, television, radio, and the print media? And this is only the tip of the iceberg. India could well be on the way to becoming an information and knowledge society and, contrary to popular perception, its impact will be far-reaching, down to our villages, and will bridge traditional divides. The Internet, the authors demonstrate, goes far beyond e-mail, information gathering, and dotcoms.
A new governance and a new politics is set to emerge. The current political system of favour-based structures is coming under strain, and already some chief ministers have adopted the plank of good governance. E-governance is about re-defining the vision and the scope of the entire gamut of relationships between citizens and government. In doing so, it promises to re-work the socio-political setting of our civilization. It ensures that people will have far greater say in their governance, and the G word will no longer be a dirty one. E-governance is going to be more and shared governance, not less governance.
Probably the first of its kind to be published in the world, Government@net provides a holistic and effective framework for e-governance, keeping in mind the issues of political, technological and financial viability to arm people, politicians and administrators to harness the Internet in the best possible way.
This is an unprecedented opportunity for India to take the fast lane to its place among developed nations. It is now our readiness for change that counts. But for that we must first change our mindset-not longer does it hold that what happen in the west today is only possible in India in a decade or two. Today we have the same technologies as the developed west. The question is, how soon can we take advantage of the immense opportunities they offer?
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Governance Matters
Net Set, Go!
What’s the E About?
Local Knowledge Communities
Addressing the Basics
Citizen-centric Governance
Private and Public-The Twain Shall Meet
The Business in Governance
The Sovereign Stays
A District Online
The Torch-bearers
Your Technology Backpack
Negotiating the Roadblocks
Tide of Good Fortune
About the Authors