The Youth Manifesto: 8 Reasons Why Good E-Governance & Progressive Communication Could Save India

“The internet is going to save India.”

 “Why do you say that?”

“Because we don’t have a language of instruction here. Even if you put a message out in one language, it doesn’t end up reaching everyone. There’s no other means of truly democratised information. Democratised and free to be precise. And the question of literacy doesn’t arise because you can always use video formats.”

Nothing like snippets from a personal conversation to open up an article on E-governance. By now, we hope you’re already acquainted with what Homegrown & Operation Black Dot have been up to with our Youth Manifesto (mostly because this is our final article before we compile the actual manifesto) and if you’ve read any of our previous stories, you’re also probably aware of just how all-pervasive the issue of E-governance really is. There’s room for technology to completely overhaul almost all major areas of concern with our governance and it’s time we started planning to incorporate it across all governmental bodies but as we also know, technology in a country like India can be a double-edged sword.

“Given our booming population, we don’t need the kind of technology that cuts down employment of people, but we do need the kind that enables them to communicate with the government better, and do their jobs more efficiently.”

While taking the validity of this claim into account, we also incorporated the angle of improving communication (mainly in design) in digital spaces by the government as we believe it is a seriously unharnessed power to create positive change. It might not be viewed by many as a key priority but we still discovered a reasonable number of young people who felt they would feel more interested in a government that appears to be making an effort to speak to them in an aesthetic language they understand more keenly.
Keeping all of this in mind, here are a few interesting spaces the countless young people we spoke to seemed to dwell on and come up with interesting solutions for, as far as the issue of the potential of e-governance in India is concerned.

I. Wee For Wifi (And Other Short Stories)

“How difficult is it to start working towards enabling Bombay with free wifi in public spaces? All it takes is getting routers and sticking them up at equal intervals. It might take very limited maintenance every now and again but it’s actually not a costly investment at all!”

At a time when major internet providers still cite ‘too much rain’ as a good excuse for 10 consecutive days of bad connectivity, the idea of free, government-provided wi-fi might seem like a slightly Utopian future but it’s actually one of the most attainable checkpoints on our wish list. Why is it important? Because it would actually be of far more use to the government than it would even be to the citizens. It’s the quickest way to get messages across, without issues of language barriers or literacy and given the shocking frequency at which urban Indians are equipping themselves with smart phones, we’re well on our way to.

Additionally, this ties into the larger issue of hardware penetration through the state whether it’s the development of solar power tabs or amplified wireless internet infrastructure. We won’t elaborate too much on the former, despite it being of utmost relevance for us to develop alternate energy sources, because it requires a lot of space but the latter can definitely be achieved.

The Solution

Like the quote says, it simply requires getting through some red tape and the government looking upon it as an important matter. Interestingly, given that our Prime Minister took it upon himself to make 8 localities of Ahmedabad city Wifi enabled as part of his ‘Digital Gujarat’ scheme in association with Pan India 4G operator, Reliance Jio, this is clearly something that is within our grasp. Incidentally, this project is to be gradually extended to 53 cities/ towns in Gujarat soon as well.

II. Big Brother Is Watching (When You Cut That Lane)

(Or offer that bribe)

(Or use ‘drive like a woman’ as an insult…ok now we’re pushing it. No audio please.)  

“I think people would be a lot more careful when they break every traffic rule there is, if they knew they were being watched by cctv cameras. Regardless of the useless policemen who may or may not be there to manage the situation!”
This might be a little far-reaching, and certainly not of utmost priority because it makes more sense for us to train and organise our police force better than it does to replace them with machines, but it would definitely help to install a sense of responsibility in citizens themselves and provide back-up support for the police force too.
Moreover, the idea of constant surveillance would play a huge role in reducing police bribery as well, which could in turn speed up our judicial proceedings with such infallible proof. Amputating this rung of corruption would also be likely to have a domino effect as it is one of the lowest levels of everyday corruption that we partake in.

The Solution

Similar to our WiFi dilemma, security cameras would definitely be a more costly investment but it could be started of slowly, installing them only in key traffic-choked areas and junctions initially and progressively widened across the cities networks post a period of test running these and seeing how much they can really benefit our traffic police.

III. Digitization Of..Well, Everything.

“I’ve really been pushing to make simple things like filing FIRs online a possibility.”

- Samyak Chakrabarty, Founder of Operation Black Dot.
There’s a huge, huge segment of the population that could benefit from this. Rather than making the entire process of an FIR frustrating enough to prevent people from doing so, digitizing certain such everyday occurrences that forces us through endless rungs of unnecessary bureaucracy would not only increase the number of people filing FIRs (which is important for both data collection and prevention of petty crimes) but the efficiency of the

IV. The People Want To Know (Within A Specified Time Frame Please)

“Have you seen Madhya Pradesh’s website for passport application? It’s super efficient. The app simply requires that you login, provide your UID and they promise a guaranteed reply within 7 days, something they have actually delivered on. It’s actually been a tremendous success.”
Idealistic as it sounds, a site for redressal being set up for individual or collective issues within specific areas would do wonders in organising public complaints and queries in a systematic format. People need to know that they will receive a response to their complaint or query within a certain time period from a government institution that they can have faith are at least trying to address their needs. However, this solution may not be half as interesting as the next.

The Solution 

Each major governmental body could have its own so as to separate matters in a more efficient manner and they would actually probably benefit from training an entirely separate group of civil servants, to field such requests. For e.g.: matters pertaining to civic issues could be directed to a BMC redressal site, while matters pertaining to security could be directed to a police website.
There could be a manual for certain issues that are repetitive and common, while more complicated issues could be directed at an advisory board within the department that’s been set up for the same who have to work towards responding to the issue within a specified deadline.

V. Press 1 If You Think This Is A Great Idea

“Imagine if the government had a customer care service like Vodafone does. I mean it’s not like Vodafone does an amazing job or anything but the amount of people whose concerns would at least be addressed is worth it in itself.”
Think of this as a state-run 911 option—a blanket solution for various problems. Similar to how consumer care works, the government could easily identify 25-30 common concerns that citizens from that area generally struggle with, and have pre thought-out responses for all these different problems. The operator in charge would be trained to handle all such situations and then connect people to the right government institution whether it’s the police for an accident, the BMC for flooding issues. Of course, there will still be many hiccups in such a plan because ultimately, unless the entire system is re-vamped digitally, it will be difficult to keep track of a lot of successes and failures, but this would definitely be a step in the right direction.

The Solution

Privatization & Outsourcing. Basically, this should be outsourced to call centres and be counted as part of companies’ CSR as it would certainly be for the greater good.

VI. ‘App’ly Yourself, Government Of India

“Remember that ‘enter a pin code and get the information about the candidate of your constituency,’ app? That was awesome, right? Why can’t we have more quick-fix, one-problem-solving apps like that?”
Why can’t we indeed? Many young people we spoke to voiced a need for more engaging communication by the government and easy-interface apps are a fantastic step in this direction for the smart phone using population in the city, which is probably the majority today.

The Solution

This wasn’t a rocket-science solution on offer, none of these are. It’s just the matter of someone paying attention to the details, employing the right agency for the job, and getting more inputs crowdsourced from the citizens themselves so that the problems they face most consistently might possibly be solved with simple apps. Here are some examples, largely crowd-sourced, of ideas for useful apps, many of which are actually referenced from foreign governments.
- An app to accept forms for the initial stage of voting registration. 
- Location-based suggestion app for all state government services. This means the app could, drawing from your activated GPS, have the nearest government institution’s location and map drawn out for you depending on whatever government service you required. For e.g.: if you witnessed an accident, one of the 10 common problems the app is equipped to handle, it would tell you where the nearest government hospital is.
- Weather Disaster Apps - Spotfire Metrics is a great example of how one can use apps to effectively manage natural disaster situations. You can see real-time visualizations and draw real insights from the data you collect. Let’s say our city is hit with a major flood like we’re prone to. This app would provide a citywide dashboard to show you where the most citizen requests and complaints are coming from, so you can then send emergency responders to the areas and civilians can get involved in rescue/ volunteer efforts as well. 
-

A crowd-sourcing app for the govt. to get invaluable suggestions from citizens as and when they’re facing an issue so they can collect data easily and efficiently as well.
- Housing/ Urban Planning Apps. These would be particularly useful in a place like Bombay where everyone is constantly hunting for places to stay and it could also be a way for the body in charge to have as much control as possible over the rents being quoted by wayward landlords etc.
- ISRO App. We’re only using ISRO as an example because of the beautiful NASA.gov app that’s been created in America, but it’s a great way to pique young people’s curiosity and make them interested in government institutions they may not have considered entertaining otherwise. It’s all about re-branding and something like this could go a long way in keeping talent right here, on home turf, rather than letting them believe that all the fun happens elsewhere. In fact, the recent success of the MARS mission is a great example because an app like this would have kept users engaged in the entire journey of the Indian scientists right from when the project was approved, up until they achieved their goal.

- JOBS App: As the number of individuals using smart phones consistently rises at a shocking rate, it would be hugely beneficial to both the government and its citizens if jobs available—both unskilled & skilled—in the government sector was made so easily accessible, at least in terms of nudging people towards such options. Obviously, this would go a long way in streamlining unemployment issues and the government could keep people informed about new job openings, immediately.
- In a similar vein, another interviewee suggested that we take a look at the Learning Annexe model in America. This model basically allows people to ‘sell’ their own expertise, whether it’s in teaching english or robotics and others can sign up to take such classes, free of cost. In India, it would make sense to set up a ‘skill-based’ learning institution like this through which the government is basically giving out free skills through volunteers. All these people are registered so in the event of the city being under-staffed with a particular project suddenly (Perhaps Chembur needs to be cleaned) then the BMC could simply ask The Learning Annex for people equipped to help out here and pay them a daily wage.
The app, over here, would be more about facilitating the easy functioning of this on ground and encourage people to volunteer and teach their own ’skills’ to others.
- A Court App. This particular state-sponsored app in Charleston, USA, is a great model for what might be just as useful in a Mumbai context. Basically, it is entirely free to use and allows user to sign up and then search for court records by case number, party name or the number of a South Carolina Bar member who is working on the trial. Scanned documents entered in as evidence are also available unless the evidence is sealed.

While this application would only really be useful to those in our city alone, it could serve as a perfect road map to bring this type of information to the public from other cities and states, or even as a way to navigate the labyrinth that is the federal court system currently. 
- Missing Children App & Other Such Social Issues. Specific NGOS working with each issue could be responsible for uploading relevant information & images to such apps and it could include a direct line of contact to helplines that could assist in situations should an app user actually be able to identify someone or something. This would be a great step towards getting civilians to be more conscious themselves. 
Others worth honourable mentions”
- FixMyStreet App

- Social Services App 

VII. …And Beautify Yourself Too

“The new makeinindia website is the perfect step in the right direction. If that doesn’t make you want to get involved, or at least take an interest in something you wouldn’t have, nothing will.”

A couple of weeks ago, the entire Homegrown office spent a good hour oohing and aching over this gorgeous Weiden & Kennedy creation, a government website, designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development and protect intellectual property, among other things. Their motto being, ‘there’s never been a better time to make in India.’ The question is, how interested or motivated would we have been by this massive national project if they hadn’t taken the time to make it stand out, both in terms of communication and design? All in all, though it might seem like a superficial approach to improving things, we cannot forget that over 50% of the people being targeted by the government happen to be young people who are quickly attracted to well, bright, shiny objects. Anything that gets more of their attention to spaces that require it, cannot be anything about a good thing.

The Solution

Time and investment in outsourcing basic communication and PR to different design agencies, both established and upcoming. This would be great for the latter as it would incentivise themselves to deliver themselves creatively for a project that would be widespread and provide utility all in one shot so a lot of them would be interested in pitching for such projects.

VIII. ‘Social’ Butterflies

“There’s already been a key improvement in government communication ever since Modi decided to become a social media ninja.”
While we do bear reservations about titling our current PM a ‘ninja,’ we can’t deny that Modi’s effective use of social media channels to communicate with people did his campaign more good than harm. And they have continued to make relatively decent use of it since, too. Even if we’re not in agreement with the opinions being spewed, social media usage is only rapidly growing in the country and it would be unwise not to tap into that kind of unharnessed power. Aside from being a great place to crowd-source public opinion on matters and keeping people in the loop and engaged in governmental activities, it would also be particularly useful in restoring dignity to communities as well, if they learn how to communicate more effectively.
Allow us to explain. Imagine if BMC’s sewage cleaners were to have an instagram account. Rather than jump to the conclusion that this is a trivialisation of the issue, understand the facts first. These are some of the most poorly treated community of workers in our city who work tirelessly to keep it running beneath our feet and for years, they have been fighting for their dignity to be restored. Yet, almost no one hears about them. It’s a sad thing, but in a world where everything including issues of true importance are fighting for their 15 minutes of cyber fame, good usage of social media can go a long way in both shedding spotlight and catalysing social change.

The Solution

Different bodies of our state government, similar to the sites of redressal we mentioned in point IV, could create pages, handles, profiles etc. to communicate their ideas, crowdsource opinions and keep people abreast with the activities they are up to.

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Conclusively, it would appear playing our e-governance cards right, though dynamic and challenging, has the power to seriously advance our state into a far more smoothly run system. Not to mention all the discrepancies we could eliminate along the way. In all honesty, we received many more incredibly valid, uplifting responses as well which we chose not  to include at this stage of the article but we hope these few areas and solutions encouraged you to think about more.
This is not the sound of self-satisfied teenagers living large without consequence. This is the sound of democratic participation, in the midst of a new awakening. We hope you feel inspired to join in the conversation too. Drop us a line with your thoughts in the comment section below or email us at contact@homegrown.co.in. If your suggestion is valid, we’ll be sure to include it in the final version of the manifesto too, and credit you for the same. 

Words: Mandovi Menon