The Narendra Modi government, to be sworn in on Monday, is set to bring back the focus on information technology in government with an aim towards making the process of governance transparent and more accountable.
A senior BJP leader told The Indian Express that the new government will aim to make the system ?more accountable in a very transparent manner?.
?The new government will be more accountable and transparent. The executives ? both ministers and the bureaucracy ? would not be able to shirk their responsibilities. The new style of functioning would be to own up the mistakes rather than blaming others for failure. This will be achieved by greater use of information technology,? the leader said.
There are indications that the Modi government would merge existing ministries in complementary areas to remove anomalies and to deliver effective governance.
The mergers being talked about are the ministries of road transport and shipping; coal, mines, and steel; power, petroleum and natural gas, atomic energy, and new and renewable energy.
?After mergers, there is a thinking that the senior-most secretary should be made accountable for performance of all other departments. This would ensure that there is more accountability and better coordination among the departments. Single window clearance for sectors like coal is also being looked at,? he said.
The backbone of this governance delivery and mechanisms such as single-window clearance is a thrust on bringing in information technology.
?Earlier NDA government had made IT one of the major thrust areas. The new government will ensure that the benefits of IT percolate downwards. Good governance and e-governance go hand in hand. Digitisation of all government work would be done to cut down delays while there would be use of social media for redressing public grievance and engaging the public in governance,? the leader said adding that Gujarat?s ?e-gram? and ?vishwa gram? schemes may be replicated nationwide to cover every government office from the Centre to the panchayats.
As such, key economic and infrastructure ministries have already prepared blueprint for the new government along with the unfinished agenda. Small presentations are likely to be made by the key departments to Narendra Modi after he assumes the office of the Prime Minister.
