The other day my eyes were glued to a computer screen in the ministry of information technology that showed a real-time chart of the new central government employee attendance system. The moment an employee signed out of office, it flashed on the screen; the employee could easily be identified immediately as the whole system is based on Aadhaar-based biometric data. Imagine the scale and potential of this online attendance management system if it covers all the government offices across the country?how many employees are in office at a given time will be just a mouse-click away once the coverage is 100%, a complete transformation of the government?s employee management.
But the more interesting thing is, this is just a minuscule part of the grand plan, named ?Digital India?, to revamp the way the government functions today?for the citizens and also for the business community; from taxation to government clearances and public services, everything will be covered on this integrated platform. It has been conceived as ?a programme to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy??a dream which always seemed achievable. But the hard fact is the country has failed to get there.
High-speed internet, which is not available even in urban areas today, has been placed as the core utility which will make public services, say, mobile-banking, available to the people throughout the country 24×7. By the end of 2016, broadband coverage will be extended to 2.5 lakh gram panchayats at a capital expenditure of R32,000 crore. Then, a national information infrastructure will be created by March 2017, costing R15,686 crore. Alongside, the mobile network will also be extended to the 42,300 uncovered villages by FY18?this will cost R16,000 crore. Public Internet Access will expand to 2.5 lakh villages from the current 1.3 lakh by March 2017 at a cost of R4,750 crore, and 1.5 lakh post offices will become multi-service centres in two years? time.
But why do we need a new plan when different schemes are already being run to attain these objectives? The answer to this question, for the record, is: It is an umbrella programme which will integrate all the schemes without diluting their individuality.
The second question follows from the first. If these schemes have failed to take off or work in the past, why continue with them? So, the schemes are being restructured and refocused and will be implemented in a synchronised manner?easier said that done, but this is what is being targeted and the design of the programme clearly shows that.
Now, the most critical question. What is the business model for those who are putting up the infrastructure to service Digital India? The public sector companies are creating the broadband network. Once broadband infrastructure is made to reach the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, how will it be used?
If it is used only for public services, the infrastructure will remain grossly under-utilised. There has to be a plan to ensure monetisation of services. This is not in place as yet. The job of preparing a business plan for this has been left to the Department of Telecommunications. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is overseeing the preparation and implementation of Digital India, has had several rounds of meetings, and it has been proposed to offer the broadband infrastructure available under Digital India to the entertainment industry and public facilities like hospitals for use. This will help optimise and monetise the usage and carve out a workable business model. The government needs to understand that going ahead with Digital India without a revenue model to service it is a recipe for failure.
What happened with the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, touted as a game-changer by the UPA, is a big lesson for all the
future governments. It was launched for political gains without taking the banks or the state governments, which had a major role to play in the scheme, on board. There were not enough incentives for the banks to open accounts and get Aadhaar numbers of the beneficiaries seeded. The state governments thought the scheme would cut into their domain in delivery of social sector schemes. The end-result is the DBT, launched on January 1, 2013, is still languishing.
The only way to revive it is by putting a profitable business model in place and this is exactly what is being done through the financial inclusion plan Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana?all the DBT money ultimately will go to these accounts to make a sustainable business for banks. Again, this will happen only when all
the accounts are seeded with
Aadhaar and the government starts disbursing all the entitlements and subsidies, amounting to over R5 lakh crore yearly, through these accounts and the beneficiaries have the wherewithal to spend them through internet-based banking channels. Even by the most optimistic estimates, this will take at least two years.
The DBT experience drives home two important points that should be remembered while implementing Digital India. First, putting in place a robust business model fast is as important as the development of the required infrastructure. Second, states have to be completely attuned to the need for Digital India-like plans which will help them, too, and will not be an intrusion into their work by the Centre.
States like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have already embarked upon their own digital plan and they can be the role models here. Though the Digital India monitoring committee will have representatives of states and Union Territories, going beyond the meetings, each state will have to be made an integral part of the implementation on the ground. Announcing the scheme was the easy part, the government now needs to remove the weaknesses in the model fast.
santosh.tiwari@expressindia.com
