With more than 800 million mobile subscribers in India, the mobile platform is apt for India, where infrastructure problems are common, and where the PC penetration ratio is low. State governments have been quick to spot this opportunity, as mobile phones provide a low-cost alternative to the traditional mode of computers. This mode of governance, also called m-governance, refers to the usage of the mobile platform to deliver government services to the citizens.

“By using mobile telephones, we can deliver a huge number of public services in electronic mode. A major advantage of mobile phones is that people can use their voices. So they don’t have to understand or know English. Also mobile devices are available with almost every person, or every household. Hence, citizens don’t have to go to some common service center or kiosk to seek public services,” states Shankar Aggarwal, Additional Secretary, E-Governance Group (overall head), Department of Information Technology (DIT).

Major advantage of mobile phones is that people can use their voices. So they don’t have to know English

Shankar Aggarwal Additional Secretary, E-Governance Group (Overall Head), DIT

As mobile phones are already being used by a large part of the rural population, governments can reach out to a much larger set of the population. “M-governance has huge potential in India due to three key reasons. The first reason is reach; almost every home today has a mobile phone. The second reason is the quick learning curve. Unlike PC, there is no need for anyone to teach anyone on how to use a mobile phone. The third important reason is support for multiple languages, and the ability to interact in voice, which opens up the service for a wider range of people,” says Sanjay Vijayakumar, Co-founder & CEO, MobMe Wireless Solutions. Hence, m-governance, if implemented effectively, can help citizens quickly access government-related information, with no or minimum human involvement.

In India, states such as Kerala have taken the lead, with the state providing more than 25 services across six departments. The state of Kerala has also set up a unique short code 537252, which is reserved exclusively for the government. Citizens get automatic SMS alerts related to the status of applications submitted. For example, in Kerala, individuals can get detailed information on a vehicle or know the application status, by sending a text message. This information is extremely useful for a person who wants to buy a second hand car.

This service has proved to be extremely popular in Kerala, proving that mobile is the most suitable medium for delivering e-governance services. “Today, the service gets more than 40,000 hits every month from mobile devices compared to 1,000 hits from PCs. The potential can clearly be seen in this example,” says Vijayakumar of MobMe.

M-governance has huge potential in India due to three key reasons — reach, quick learning curve and support for multiple languages”

Sanjay Vijayakumar Co-founder & CEO, MobMe Wireless Solutions

Bihar is another brilliant example of how a state can leverage cheap mobile-based technologies to monitor progress of development programs related to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), pension scheme, scholarship and health. The system facilitates daily monitoring of ten development programs in Bihar’s 500 plus blocks. The report is generated on a daily basis, and is available for public scrutiny at a website. This gives individuals the opportunity to see and monitor the progress and development of various projects.

In the case of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, the m-governance project has drastically improved citizen service and also boosted collections for the corporation. Earlier citizens needed to stand in a long queue to know their dues to the corporation. Today, this information can be obtained on a mobile phone with just one SMS. Moreover, SMS alerts are sent to parents/relatives for birth or death registration. Other transaction alerts related to property tax/water charges and professional tax are also sent to citizens via SMS. If a cheque is returned or if a transaction is cancelled, an SMS alert is immediately sent to the concerned citizen. Higher officials receive SMS alerts daily with information about income/expenditure. This has introduced transparency and responsiveness in the corporation.