2001 to be e-governance year 

Says Mahajan to mumbaibest

Union Minister for Information Technology Pramod Mahajan told mumbaibest.com that the union government would observe 2001 as the year of e-governance in India. The newly-created Information Technology ministry is celebrating its first anniversary on November 21, 2000.

"The IT ministry has undertaken the responsibility of connecting 484 talukas in 8 states in the country, at the cost of Rs 250 crore. Similar programmes will be implemented in other states in India, to facilitate the IT revolution in a very big way. IT has the ability to provide momentum to administration, and e-governance is the only future for India's economic development. However, people-oriented administration reforms need to be urgently implemented in the country. There should be greater usage of the language of the common man in the process of governance. If basic values are are not cherished and promoted, India is likely to face e-red tapism and e-corruption,'' said Mahajan.

Mahajan stressed computer literacy being made an essential pre-requisite to enter into administration service. He also stressed that it should be made mandatory for serving government employees to acquire computer knowledge within a stipulated time frame.

Mahajan clarified that he was not against the usage of English in government administration. However, Mahajan is of the opinion that when barely 5 percent of the country's population can write and undertand English, governance in English is not justified. "Hindi should be made the language of governance in India, as it is widely spoken and written in the country compared to other languages,'' opined Mahajan.

By : Mani D'Mello

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