E-governance for efficiency and corruption reduction
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Ferdous Ahmed
COMPUTERISATION made government administration more efficient in the developed countries. A poor and developing country like Bangladesh can also start making good use of the computers to achieve efficacy and transparency in its governmental functions. There are many areas here where the use of the computer can revolutionise the state.
For example, computerisation of the courts and land administration can help to overcome the existing ossified and corrupt systems of work. Whoever has been inside a court house knows how outdated is its working system. Record rooms are dens of corruption. Work is done manually. Getting the copy of a record can take a very long time if the palms are not greased. Then again, the records can be manipulated through bribing. Record keeping by traditional document writers takes time and leaves open the scope for manipulation. Such practices can be brought to an end probably through computerisation of the court houses. If this is done, the functioning of the courts will be speedier and record keeping can become foolproof. People are harassed at land offices at every step. Unscrupulous personnel there tamper with ownership and other documents of land for underhand payments. Computerisation can help end of tampering of records and the consequent harassment of peoples. It is welcome that some ships have already been taken up by the government for introduce on of e-governance for land registration and related purposes. Such measures should implemented at an accelerated pace.
The police now spend much of their time in writing by hand the diaries of cases and investigations. The system has hardly changed since the colonial era. Keeping records of crimes and criminals lacks speed. The soaring number of crimes dictates much speedier handling. In some police stations old files became unreadable from disuse and careless or unsafe filing system.
Computers can come to the rescue in such a situation. A single computer in a police station can make files redundant, release space and save extra time of policemen for field work. Furthermore, computerisation can tremendously aid detection of criminals as their pictures can be preserved in computers.
How computerisation can speed up functioning of an organisation is evident from the working of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). In the eighties, the BRTA did its work manually. Heaps of paper were a common scene at each BRTA office. It caused delays and corruption for the registration of a new car or when it changed hands. Things began to change from the early nineties when the BRTA offices were computerised. Now documents can be obtained, after registration, in one working day. But touts can delay the process. Computerisation has definitely increased the efficiency of the BRTA offices.
Similar efficiency, speed of working, transparency and reduction of corruption can be achieved by the government administration by computerisation. The customs department, once considered as very corrupt, has reportedly improved following computerisation. Greater computerisation can perhaps further reduce corruption in this department.
Greater application of computers can speed up the functioning of the government departments and help the fight against corruption.
COMPUTERISATION made government administration more efficient in the developed countries. A poor and developing country like Bangladesh can also start making good use of the computers to achieve efficacy and transparency in its governmental functions. There are many areas here where the use of the computer can revolutionise the state.
For example, computerisation of the courts and land administration can help to overcome the existing ossified and corrupt systems of work. Whoever has been inside a court house knows how outdated is its working system. Record rooms are dens of corruption. Work is done manually. Getting the copy of a record can take a very long time if the palms are not greased. Then again, the records can be manipulated through bribing. Record keeping by traditional document writers takes time and leaves open the scope for manipulation. Such practices can be brought to an end probably through computerisation of the court houses. If this is done, the functioning of the courts will be speedier and record keeping can become foolproof. People are harassed at land offices at every step. Unscrupulous personnel there tamper with ownership and other documents of land for underhand payments. Computerisation can help end of tampering of records and the consequent harassment of peoples. It is welcome that some ships have already been taken up by the government for introduce on of e-governance for land registration and related purposes. Such measures should implemented at an accelerated pace.
The police now spend much of their time in writing by hand the diaries of cases and investigations. The system has hardly changed since the colonial era. Keeping records of crimes and criminals lacks speed. The soaring number of crimes dictates much speedier handling. In some police stations old files became unreadable from disuse and careless or unsafe filing system.
Computers can come to the rescue in such a situation. A single computer in a police station can make files redundant, release space and save extra time of policemen for field work. Furthermore, computerisation can tremendously aid detection of criminals as their pictures can be preserved in computers.
How computerisation can speed up functioning of an organisation is evident from the working of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). In the eighties, the BRTA did its work manually. Heaps of paper were a common scene at each BRTA office. It caused delays and corruption for the registration of a new car or when it changed hands. Things began to change from the early nineties when the BRTA offices were computerised. Now documents can be obtained, after registration, in one working day. But touts can delay the process. Computerisation has definitely increased the efficiency of the BRTA offices.
Similar efficiency, speed of working, transparency and reduction of corruption can be achieved by the government administration by computerisation. The customs department, once considered as very corrupt, has reportedly improved following computerisation. Greater computerisation can perhaps further reduce corruption in this department.
Greater application of computers can speed up the functioning of the government departments and help the fight against corruption.