Why Maharashtra BJP's e-governance plans have flopped

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ emphasis on online administration is yet to make an impact on the system. Three of his schemes have failed the state government due to miscommunication, though its usefulness has been proved.

Fadnavis’s ambitious scheme for water conservation, Jal Yukt Shivar (JYS), has been effectively derailed after norms were changed in the selection of project site and restrictions in use of machinery. The norms were changed after some NGOs working in the field of water conservation raised an objection that digging and widening of water resources was not being done in a scientific way. As a result, the number of works and subsequently the expenditure under the JYS has drastically come down.

Public participation is a unique identity of JYS. However, official records show that the number of villages selected for the scheme came down from 6,202 in 2015-16 to 5,291 in 2016-17. The spending on the scheme in 2015-16 was Rs 3,845.01 crore. It came down to Rs 2,363.76 crore the next year. The JYS had created water storage of 10.92 lakh TMC (thousand million cubic feet) in 2015-16. It is down to 5.89 lakh TMC in 2016-17.

Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse says the scheme has slowed down after changing the work norms. A former member of state planning board HM Desarada had challenged the scheme in the Bombay High Court in 2015 seeking change in the guidelines. The government has appointed a committee under former chief secretary Johny Joseph after High Court’s directions.

Fadnavis had launched a portal, Mahadbt in August last year, to facilitate online reimbursement of fees in the bank accounts of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students. The portal has developed several technical errors making the state government force the students fill out forms manually to get the fees amount. Aniket Jadhav, a first year science student, says he paid the college fees hoping early reimbursement from the government. “Now, the college says the fees won’t be reimbursed if the form is not filled manually.”

An official from the higher and technical education department admits that there are several flaws in the portal developed by the information and technology department. It does not recognise a student’s college name and does not allow amendments and correction of mistakes in the form. “We have allowed the manual filing of the form so that students get their fees reimbursed. The errors are being rectified,” he said.

The government apathy in publicising a welfare scheme, Nanaji Deshmukh Krishi Sanjeevani Yojana, has resulted in its failure in containing the unrest among the farmers. The scheme applicable in 15 districts where the number of farmer suicides is higher than other districts has a provision of 100 percent subsidy for creating water resources, buying tractors and cattle.

It also makes farming equipment available on minimum rent. A BJP leader recently complained that the farmers are always in a mood of confrontation whenever he visits them. The scheme could reduce the farmers’ angst but the administration does not seem to be interested in it.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

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