Dr.-Ramesh-Narasimhan-Case-study-on-ICT-Adoption - NMIMS

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Nemmadi: bytes and bites of ICT implementation M Das Aundhe and R <strong>Narasimhan</strong>
It fit in neatly with the National e-governance Plan.
In fact, it had been a forerunner of Common Service
Centres under the National e-governance Plan.
The e-Governance Department’s view was that, gradually,
Nemmadi would cleanse the system of corruption. The
government, thus, claimed that while the role of the village
accountants could not be completely done away with, as
they had been a part of the system for more than 150 years,
their efforts would be used in the creation and validation
of the citizen database. The tahsildars of various taluks
also felt that Nemmadi was still in its infancy. Mahesh, the
tahsildar of Ramanagara taluk, said,
Nemmadi is in its infancy. It is an important project – a
system we evolved to reduce human interference. We were
successful in bringing in technology for delivery of government
services. There were a lot of hurdles here and
there. They were sorted out at various levels. Technology
level issues were attended to first. End delivery system
issues like infrastructure, skill development, people, understanding
of Nemmadi process etc. continued for a while.
The National Informatics Centre, as the technology provider,
had mixed feelings too. It appreciated the technological
challenge in a project of this size, and that eventually it
would help citizens. However, it was not very happy with the
government’s lack of attention to the in-built inefficiencies in
the processes, and the lack of decision making when the
matter was raised. Hence, the National Informatics Centre
had its own misgivings as to whether Nemmadi could ever be
successful if the process issues were not addressed.
The private partners of Nemmadi had mixed opinions
too. They felt that the government made undue demands,
and was rigid in its stand on the project. While in the long
run they felt they might benefit from the project, at that
point they were not very sure about any meaningful
business outcome for themselves. The lukewarm response
to the subsequent tender for Common Service Centres by
the government also reflected the misgivings of the private
sector in getting involved in PPP projects.
The activities at the village administration level did not
undergo much change despite Nemmadi. The village accountants
and revenue inspectors continued to play a key role.
They continued to be the primary record keepers of rural
citizens and their land data. Certificates were issued or
refused based on the village accountant’s recommendations;
hence, he played a very important role in the lives of people.
Bhoomi helped to organize the queue of applications and thus
the village accountant could not exploit the villagers for outof-turn
provision of service. Therefore, corruption with
respect to RTCs was reduced. In Nemmadi, village accountants
lost all control of power in the case of issue of additional
copies of the same certificate, as the data were stored at the
SDC and could be accessed from the telecentre. Instances
of bogus documents issued also decreased, as data were
maintained in the database. However, the queue of applications
in case of Nemmadi had not yet been organized, and
rent seeking due to this still took place. The illiterate among
the villagers continued to depend on the village accountants
for other favours/services, after obtaining the certificates.
Way forward
Naveen Iyer, when he took charge as the new Principal
Secretary for e-governance, was mandated to restore the
state back to its No. 1 position in e-governance. Nemmadi
was his debut project. He mentally went over some key
points before meeting his team. In Project Nemmadi, while
the infrastructure had come into place quickly, the process
of change within the village administration had not been as
quick. The citizens were gradually becoming familiar with
the system. Despite Project Nemmadi, the village accountants
remained powerful. They were still the primary record
keepers and the citizens could not obtain any certificate
without their approval. Once Nemmadi gradually populated
the citizen database at the SDC, the roles of village accountants
and revenue inspectors would be curtailed. The
technological hurdles of interface software had been overcome,
but the basic process had remained unchanged. The
relationship with the private partner was shaping up and
the monitoring mechanism was in place, but the SLA issues
definitely needed more attention. With these thoughts
running through his mind, Naveen Iyer entered the meeting
room, where his team had already assembledy.
Questions for discussion
(i) Analyse the Nemmadi adoption process across stages
such as motivation, decision making and implementation.
(ii) How did the context of the developing and democratic
country shape adoption across the various stages?
(iii) Comment on the use of the PPP model in the
Nemmadi project. Do you think it should continue?
With or without changes? What changes and why?
(iv) Discuss Project Nemmadi with regard to the alignment
between the People, Process and Technology.
(v) Evaluate the success of Project Nemmadi.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Senior Editor, <strong>Dr</strong>. Julia Kotlarsky, and
an anonymous reviewer for their very helpful comments and
suggestions on drafts of this work. We would also like to thank
the concerned agencies of the Government of Karnataka, India
(e-Governance Department, National Informatics Centre, Centre
for E-governance) and the private partner organization for their
support on this case.
Notes
1 As reported in the daily newspaper Deccan Herald, Bangalore,
30 August 2009.
2 Details of the e-governance strategy for Karnataka can be
accessed at http://www.bangaloreit.com/, accessed 15 December
2009.
3 See note 2.
4 Public–Private Partnerships today – The draft infrastructure
policy of Karnataka for public–private partnership; http://
www.iitk.ac.in/3inetwork/html/reports/IIR-2004/Chap%205
%202003.pdf.
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India.
6 Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India (website: lawmin
.nic.in/legislative/Art1-242%20(1-88).doc, accessed 4 April 2012.