:-
(a) whether the Government is aware that as per the e-governance index of UN, India is lagging behind at 87th rank wh
(b) if so, the facts thereof;
(c) whether the Govenment has devised a national e-governance scheme;
(d) if so, the details thereof including the physical and financial largets fixed thereof;
(e) whether the Government propose to seek assistance from multinational IT companies to improve its level of e-governance; and
(f) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY(DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a): As per the UN Global EGovernment Readiness Report 2005: From E-government to E-Inclusion, presents an assessment of countries according to their state of e-government readiness and the extent of e-participation worldwide. India is ranked at 87th position out of 191 Member countries.
(b): The E-government Readiness Index is a composite index comprising the Web measure index, the Telecommunication Infrastructure index and the Human Capital index:
India - E-government Readiness Index - 0.4001Web measure index - 0.5827 (33rd rank)Telecom. Infrastructure index - 0.0277Human Capital index - 0.5900.
China - E-government Readiness Index - 0.5078 (57th position)Web measure index - 0.5692 (34th rank)Telecom. Infrastructure index - 0.1241Human Capital index - 0.8300.
Brazil - E-government Readiness Index - 0.5981 (33rd Position)Web measure index - 0.7500 (16th rank)Telecom. Infrastructure index - 0.1644Human Capital index - 0.8800.
(c) and (d): A National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) has been drawn which seeks to implement 26 Mission Mode Projects for the present. This covers 9 mission-mode projects in the category of Central Government, 10 projects in the State Sector and 7 projects in the Integrated Services category. The NeGP also includes establishment of Common Core Infrastructure comprising State Wide Area Networks (SWANs), State Data Centres (SDCs) and Common Service Centres (CSCs). There is no specific allocation of funds for the entire programme; individual projects are considered for approval and allocation of funds based on proposals submitted to the relevant authority.Brief details of core infrastructure projects aimed at improving the e-Readiness index, is given below:
(i) Department of Information Technology (DIT) through its National Informatics Centre (NIC) is providing backbone e- governance network and technical support to the Central Government Departments,States, UTs and District Administrations in the country. In line with this, NIC is also providing e-Governance support to the State/UT Governments. Video Conferencing facility has also been provided in many of the District headquarters.
(ii) A Scheme for establishment of State Wide Area Networks (SWANs) for providing minimum data connectivity of 2 Mbps up to the block level, has been approved by the Government in March, 2005 with a total outlay of Rs.3,334 crores with Central Assistance component of Rs.2005 crores covering capital and operating expenditure over a period of 5 years.
(iii) All the states/UTs have also been provided funds for Capacity Building under the special scheme of Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to States for National e-Governance Plan (NeGP).
(iv) Government has formulated a proposal for establishing 100,000+ Information & Communication Technology (ICT) enabled Common Services Centres (CSCs) predominantly in the rural areas across the country. These CSCs would have the flexibility to offer a mix of services (both Government and non-Government, including localized services) that may be needed by the local community.
(v) As part of the core infrastructure under NeGP, it is planned to create Central Repositories of Data, at National and State Level. DIT shall be providing technical and financial assistance to the States/UTs for creating common technology infrastructure.
(e) and (f): Technical inputs and suggestions from the IT industry, including multinational IT Companies are obtained and incorporated into the various e-governance initiatives as appropriate.