A revolution whose time has come

E-Governance – Case Studies
Edited by Ashok Agarwal
Published by Universities Press

THE Information Technology (IT) revolution is sweeping every corner of the globe and every facet of our life. Such is the impact of the revolutionary change that whether one is plugged in or not, most of the people have in some way or the other already been touched by the Internet. Today more and more of the transactions involve the exchange and movement of data, images and sounds, rather than physical goods. Travelling at the speed of light, these data streams ensure that at least in theory we are no more than a second away from anyone anywhere on earth. Information has already become the new determinant of power.

The strength of the book is its sweep of issues covering major ongoing e-governance projects in one volume as well as its various applications. It provides interesting appraisal of major projects like e-Sagu, the next generation cost-effective and personalized agro-advisory system, land records-related projects of various governments like Bhoomi, Dev-bhoomi and Dharitree. Two projects—Khajane of the Karnataka Government and e-Kosh of the Chhattisgarh government deal with treasury computerisation. It also discusses issues like ICT solution for NREGA, national identity scheme, postal life insurance, instant money order etc.

Ash Narain Roy