Government Sector Reforms in Tamilnadu

8/3/2019 Government Sector Reforms in Tamilnadu

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Government Sector Reforms and E-Governance In Tamilnadu

This document clearly explains the Government sector reforms (Legislature,

Executive and Judiciary and Fourth Estate (Print Media)) and why Information and

Communication Technologies should be given Importance for e-governance andGovernment Sector Reforms.

The following link provides the information about the meaning for e-governance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Governance

Several dimension and related factors influence the definition of e-Governance.

The word electronic in the term e-Governance implies technology driven

governance. E-Governance is the application of Information and Communication

Technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of information

communication transactions, integration various stand-one systems and services

between Government-to-Citizens (G2C),

Government-to-Business (G2B), Government-to-Government (G2G) as well as back

office processes and interactions within the entire government frame work.

Through the e-Governance, the government services will be made available to the

citizens in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner. The three main target

groups that can be distinguished in governance concepts are Government, citizensand businesses/interest groups. In E-Governance there are no distinct boundaries.

Generally four basic models are available-Government to Customer (Citizen),

Government to Employees, Government to Government and Government to Business.

Difference between e-governance and e-government both the terms are treated to

be the same, however, there is some difference between the two. "E-government"

is the use of the ICTs in public administrations- combined with organizational

change and new skills- to improve public services and democratic processes and to

strengthen support to public policies". The problem in this definition to be

congruent with the definition of e-governance is that there is no provision for

governance of ICTs. As a matter of fact, the governance of ICTs requires most

probably a substantial increase in regulation and policy- making capabilities, with all

the expertise and opinion-shaping processes among the various social stakeholders
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Governancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Governancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Governance


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of these concerns. So, the perspective of the e-governance is "the use of the

technologies that both help governing and have to be governed".

Here is a sample e-governance solution which will modernize the government

functions and simplify the process.


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The above pictures shares the information about the use of Information and

Communication Technologies in Public Administration. E-Governance can be used

effectively in all the departments of Legislature, Executive and Judicaiary. Evenlocal government agencies like Village Panchayats, Municipal Corporation and City

Corporation offices can be modernized.

The following link shares the use of Information and Communication Technologies

and the Service Oriented Architecture in the modernizing the Government

Machinery (Legislature, Executive and Judiciary) especially Integrated Grievance

Redressal Mechanism.


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Information Kiosks will help the common citizen to get the information about their

application or other details from the Kiosks without the interference from the

human intervention or bribe. It can help to establish the RTI (Right to Information

Act) effectively. Common Citizen will be enabled to communicate to all the

Departments and Local Government Bodies to get the details like Birth Certificate,

Death Certificate, Property Tax, Water Tax, Road Tax, and License renewal etc.

These Kiosks will act as a single point of contact instead of the citizens visit to

the respective departments. This solve the red tape and the un necessary wait tothe people.

This will even help in sending the messages like Climate, Weather and warning

during the natural calamities like Cyclone, Flood and Disasters like Earthquake and

Tsunamis and the precious lives of people will be protected.

http://www.mindlogicx.com/egovernance.html

The Role of ICT in Judicial Reform- An Exploration

A seminar held earlier by the Communications and Manufacturing Association of

India (CMAI) explored the role that information and communication technology can

assume in the process of India's judicial reform efforts. The broad consensus

among panelists was that law is not keeping pace with technology. However,

whether technology will be harnessed to actually facilitate much needed
http://www.mindlogicx.com/egovernance.htmlhttp://www.mindlogicx.com/egovernance.htmlhttp://www.mindlogicx.com/egovernance.html


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transparency and access to the justice system, or be simply used to improve

efficiency within the judicial branch still remains unclear.

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied-Please think

The Indian judiciary is facing mounting pressures to reform its apparatus. Even the

judiciary itself has come to recognize, on the books, that change is long overdue.

Some estimates have it that it would require almost three years to clear the

current backlog of cases in High Courts. While technocrats herald that the

enormous backlog of cases may eventually be the death knell for India's judicial

branch, reform efforts must go beyond achieving the speedier delivery of justice

and work towards tackling other inadequacies of the system if access to justice

for all(1) is to become a reality.

The rural penetration of courts in India is extremely low, which significantly limits

access to justice for the many citizens living far beyond the district courts of city

centers. An extremely low judge to population ratio in India only contributes

further to the already high incidence of pending cases, making delays in justice a

regular occurrence. Mr. P.K. Malhotra from the Department of Legal Affairs has

noted that increased litigation within the government has also caused a stark

increase in the number of pending cases. While the need for reform can be

demonstrated quite clearly on a practical level, the right to information (RTI)movement has also provided further impetus for reform on a more fundamental

level. Well organized citizens are now demanding the right to a more transparent

and accountable judiciary.

As e-government initiatives continue to transform the nature of India's

bureaucracy and enhance the quality of government services, there is a mood of

great optimism that ICT will also come to play a central role in judicial reform

efforts. Speakers at the seminar enthusiastically cited innovative practices such

as Singapore's paperless court which makes a compelling case for automation.

Notable success in implementing ICT in the judiciary have also been achieved in

Canada, Australia, and in several countries across Latin America. This is not to say,

however, that the appropriation of ICT is uniform in every case. Variables such as

political will and context, institutional capacity and reform goals all play a role in


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shaping the outcome. Plans could, for example, take more of an operational

approach by prioritizing the improved efficiency and the rationalization of

resources by implementing electronic case management systems. Other strategies

may be designed and implemented from an access perspective, seeking to restore

faith in the justice system by increasing transparency and accountability. This

could be done, for example, by installing Video Conferencing technology in court

rooms, or publishing legal information online.

At the seminar, India's consortium of well-organized and highly ambitious

technocrats were not shy in suggesting the many ways ICT may be used to

transform the judicial system, and, additionally, the many ways such an endeavor

provides the IT sector with new opportunities. Dr M. Veerappa Moily, Union

Minister for Law and Justice, has proposed for India a centrally funded andadministered National Judicial Technology Program. Such a program aims to use

ICT in the courtrooms to free the legal system of historical inefficiencies". It is

of no doubt that ICT can reduce the duplicity of the paper world and make courts

greener through electronic case filing and video conferencing. Online case filing

systems can increase speed in which citizens can have their cases heard, and real

time access to online repositories of legal information drastically expedites the

case cycle.

Mr. C P Gurnani, CEO of Tech Mahindra made the bold assertion that with ICT,

India's 300 year case backlog can be reduced to three years, in a span of only

three years (2). Features of this newly envisioned e-justice system include the use

of video hearings to reduce transportation costs, case filing operation systems,

RFID based file tracking, and the creation of a publicly accessible and easily

searchable e-library. While others were much less optimistic than Mr. Gurani and

recognize that the use of ICT in the reform process is no instant coffee, the

question of whether or not ICT can be a strategically appropriated in the Indian

context still remains.

Optimistic accounts of how ICT will increase access to justice incorporate the

marginalized into the law-making process, and increase judicial transparency and

accountability all sounds uncomfortably techno-utopian. While ICT should facilitate

the reform process, past experiences have shown that the overzealous use of


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technology has too-often resulted in less than impressive results (3). To ensure

that the reform process in India is not driven mainly by the IT sector, it is

important that the use of technology remains complimentary to a sound national

judicial reform strategy. An abundant supply of technical support with little

demand for the reform process from within the judicial branch may spell

disappointing results for all stakeholders. Seeing that India's first seminar

discussing the role of IT in the judiciary has been organized by the IT industry, it

is safe to assume that reform strategies are being crystallized through the gaze

of technocrats rather than the judiciary itself. Technology has an important role

to play, but India's technocrats may be jumping the gun.

Many deep-seated challenges must be overcome before the use of ICT can be truly

transformative. Often cited is the level of resistance judicial cultures expresstowards externally imposed change. Quite logically, those required to make change

are also those who may have the most to lose in the short-term by doing so.

Similarly, it is also difficult garnering the levels of political support judicial

reforms require being effective. Because the judiciary is such a highly politicized

apparatus, efforts to fundamentally transform the system will require the support

of a vast number of stakeholders. The low level of technological literacy which

exists among India's judges is also problematic. Not only will members of the

judiciary be open to new ways of doing business, they will also have to be diligent inadopting a new skill-set in which they may be more than a decade behind in

acquiring.

Other deep-rooted limitations of India's judicial system are becoming increasingly

apparent today. Questions surrounding access to justice remain deeply embedded

in the asymmetries of class power, which are often reinforced by the political

nature of the judiciary. Constitutional law in India also remains unstable; as the

principles informing judicial action have become increasingly less clear (5).

Furthermore, the courts have come to maintain a disproportionate share of power

and influence in the Indian political sphere (6). It is questionable if ICT can work

to ameliorate some of these malignancies, or if its use will only come to reinforce

them. If technology is appropriated in a way which serves to make the judicial

process more transparent and accountable, protect the rights of citizens, and


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provide greater and more equitable access to justice, it may be safe to assume

that a more tech-savvy judiciary is a positive development for citizens. Publishing

legal information online, for example, currently allows for greater transparency in

the law making process and allows dialogue on important issues of governance and

citizenship.

However, it is almost unnecessary to reiterate that such outcomes are not

guaranteed. Technology is often seen as neutral the evaluative outcome of its

application remains dependent on numerous variable factors. Most important is

whether or not the government provides a legal framework conducive to the

appropriation of ICT in ways which are considered to further the public interest.

It may be useful to view the successful appropriation of ICT to judicial reform as

a cumulative process, each step being a precondition to the other. It is clear to seehow basic infrastructure such as civil courts in rural areas must be in place before

the use of ICT can facilitate access to justice for individuals who remain

peripheral to the legal system. Similarly, one would assume that laws would have to

first be to be nondiscriminatory to all members of society before it could it can be

widely accepted that more technology will better safeguard our rights and

freedoms.

Without a legal framework which is considered to be socially just, greater speed of

the judicial process, aided by technology, may become a tool which enables the

judiciary to act more arbitrarily, more efficiency. This could be troubling for

individuals who are already marginalized by certain policies or legal practices.

Technology can also make it possible for judges to insulate themselves from the

necessary checks and balances required in the law-making process. While Mr

Gurani stated that ICT can help preserve judicial independence, it is questionable

if the use of technology is an appropriate strategy to mitigate politicization of the

judicial branch. Any frivolous efforts to spearhead the reform process through

the introduction of ICT without the required commitment of judges and policy

makers may be nave at best. At worst, it could serve to reinforce what judicial

bodies believe they do well without critically re-examining the fundamental roles,

norms and principles of the Indian judicial system itself.


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Online case-filing services may unintentionally, due to cost or lack of awareness,

erect further barriers to justice for individuals who traditionally remained outside

of the sphere of access. In the same vein, if ICT is favored for use in criminal

rather than civil courts, technology may simply become a tool used to sentence

people, more quickly. This scenario sits quite polemic to visions of technology

serving as a tool to empower individuals to better assert their rights and seek

justice. Foreshadowing the role ICT may play in the future of India's judicial

reform process; SPANCO Technologies is currently piloting the use of video

technology in criminal courts. Furthermore, India's judiciary has made several

attempts to insulate itself from the provisions of the RTI act, indicating that new

laws, and even new technologies, may not be able to change practice. There are

also strong doubts looming that the Gramin Nyayalayas Act will be successful in

leveraging the required financial support needed to construct civil courts in rural

areas. Without the basic building blocks, it is difficult to envision how a National

Judicial Technology Program will be successful in bringing "justice" to all who are

awaiting it. Such instances serve as a light warning that technology, even within a

favorable legal framework, may not necessarily spell a more accessible, transparent

and accountable justice system.

A well-functioning judicial system is required to keep up with the demands of

modern democratic society. It is unquestionable that technology can play aninfluential role in ensuring that the relationship between citizens and the

government is strong and communicative. However, it is important to ask under

what conditions it may be beneficial to implement technologys use. Inferring from

last weeks seminar, proposals and rationale behind potential reforms were made

from an economic perspective; how ICT can be used to see that cases are filed and

judgments are delivered more quickly to improve efficiency and rationalize

resources. Whether technology will be appropriated to facilitate a more equitable

justice system is unknown, but it is certain that such will require a coherentnational reform strategy with long-term political backing. Short-shorted

technological fixes may improve India's judicial efficiency in the short term, but

may, however, overshadow opportunities to bring about a more transparent and

accountable system in the long-term.


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The following article shares some information about the importance of e-courts in

Indian Judiciary System.

http://legalenablementofictinindia.blogspot.com/2009/11/e-courts-in-india-essenti

al-judicial.html

The following link provides the information about Tamilandu Government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Tamil_Nadu

The following document shares the best practices of e-governance in India.

http://www.india.gov.in/govt/studies/annex/6.3.1.pdf

So the conclusion is the Reforms in the Government Machinery (Legislature,

Executive and Judiciary) are need of the hour. Our Jayalalitha Amma Should take

serious steps to make reforms like what she has done for the modernization of

MLAs work.
http://legalenablementofictinindia.blogspot.com/2009/11/e-courts-in-india-essential-judicial.htmlhttp://legalenablementofictinindia.blogspot.com/2009/11/e-courts-in-india-essential-judicial.htmlhttp://legalenablementofictinindia.blogspot.com/2009/11/e-courts-in-india-essential-judicial.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Tamil_Naduhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Tamil_Naduhttp://www.india.gov.in/govt/studies/annex/6.3.1.pdfhttp://www.india.gov.in/govt/studies/annex/6.3.1.pdfhttp://www.india.gov.in/govt/studies/annex/6.3.1.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Tamil_Naduhttp://legalenablementofictinindia.blogspot.com/2009/11/e-courts-in-india-essential-judicial.htmlhttp://legalenablementofictinindia.blogspot.com/2009/11/e-courts-in-india-essential-judicial.html


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http://www.tn.gov.in/pressrelease/archives/pr2003/pr200303/pr200303.htm

http://news59.tv/chief-minister-reopened-tamil-nadu-co-operative-textile-proces

sing-mills-video-conferencing/

http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2002/08/16/stories/2002081600080700.htm

Rural Development with the help of ICT using Cloud Computing:

http://brajeshwar.com/2011/cloud-computing-will-develop-rural-anddeveloping-are

as/

http://www.informationweek.in/Cloud_Computing/11-09-09/Why_rural_India_nee

ds_a_national_cloud_computing_plan.aspx
http://www.tn.gov.in/pressrelease/archives/pr2003/pr200303/pr200303.htmhttp://www.tn.gov.in/pressrelease/archives/pr2003/pr200303/pr200303.htmhttp://news59.tv/chief-minister-reopened-tamil-nadu-co-operative-textile-processing-mills-video-conferencing/http://news59.tv/chief-minister-reopened-tamil-nadu-co-operative-textile-processing-mills-video-conferencing/http://news59.tv/chief-minister-reopened-tamil-nadu-co-operative-textile-processing-mills-video-conferencing/http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2002/08/16/stories/2002081600080700.htmhttp://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2002/08/16/stories/2002081600080700.htmhttp://brajeshwar.com/2011/cloud-computing-will-develop-rural-anddeveloping-areas/http://brajeshwar.com/2011/cloud-computing-will-develop-rural-anddeveloping-areas/http://brajeshwar.com/2011/cloud-computing-will-develop-rural-anddeveloping-areas/http://www.informationweek.in/Cloud_Computing/11-09-09/Why_rural_India_needs_a_national_cloud_computing_plan.aspxhttp://www.informationweek.in/Cloud_Computing/11-09-09/Why_rural_India_needs_a_national_cloud_computing_plan.aspxhttp://www.informationweek.in/Cloud_Computing/11-09-09/Why_rural_India_needs_a_national_cloud_computing_plan.aspxhttp://www.informationweek.in/Cloud_Computing/11-09-09/Why_rural_India_needs_a_national_cloud_computing_plan.aspxhttp://www.informationweek.in/Cloud_Computing/11-09-09/Why_rural_India_needs_a_national_cloud_computing_plan.aspxhttp://brajeshwar.com/2011/cloud-computing-will-develop-rural-anddeveloping-areas/http://brajeshwar.com/2011/cloud-computing-will-develop-rural-anddeveloping-areas/http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2002/08/16/stories/2002081600080700.htmhttp://news59.tv/chief-minister-reopened-tamil-nadu-co-operative-textile-processing-mills-video-conferencing/http://news59.tv/chief-minister-reopened-tamil-nadu-co-operative-textile-processing-mills-video-conferencing/http://www.tn.gov.in/pressrelease/archives/pr2003/pr200303/pr200303.htm


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Government Sector Reforms in Tamilnadu

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