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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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