Economist.com | Articles by Subject | India

The Economist has a brief article about the eSeva project in Andhra Pradesh, India. The potential of e-government projects in reducing corruption and increasing transparency is obvious to most. And the debate over priorities not withstanding, eSeva is an interesting implementation of this through a series of ‘telecenters’ with staff available to bridge the gap.

The eSeva centres typically consist of a dozen counters where clerks at computer terminals can complete, online and quickly, any of a menu of 32 transactions with the government. Customers, spared several visits to government offices, where queues grow like weeds, are enthusiastic. At present, about 600,000 households a month already use the service, launched 18 months ago, in a city of 6m people. The centres are partnerships between the government and private firms, which provide the hardware in return for transaction fees. The government supplies the staff.