India has become a global economic power house thanks not only to the government reforms of the early 1990s but also to the burgeoning IT industry. The only next logic step for a better India would then appear to be the merging of government and technology.
By launching an online helpline portal, President Pratibha Patil seeks to capitalise on these two factors that brought so much success to India. The portal — Helpline — aims to direct public grievances to the appropriate government department within seven business days.
Having previously received an average of 400 grievances a day, the President set up this portal to not only give the people a more direct line of access but also to increase transparency in processing claims. As Christy Fernandez, secretary to the President, said, “We have set up this portal so that people have a mechanism by which they know what is happening to their petition.”
In a country notorious for its bureaucratic red tape, such an effort is surely noteworthy although I can’t help but wonder just how much the public will be able to take advantage of this portal. While the internet is now accessible almost everywhere in India, those perhaps most in need of the government’s help—the poor and disenfranchised—probably don’t have the resources to take full advantage of the portal and track their petition online. So right now, it’s largely meant for netizens!
Contributed by Jenny Suzdak
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