Everyday, when I see many faceless citizens approaching me for many of our acts and non-acts, I can’t help asking myself a question whether it is possible for me to live up to their expectations. The expectations that are huge while the resources I have at my disposal are thin. To make matters worse, the systems to administer these resources are primitive and inefficient. Nonetheless, I would also be unsure as to how many of them are in a position to approach me and how many would feel positively about the prospects of their case if they could do so.

I know my own constraints; sometimes I have lack of resources while sometimes the manpower, sometimes there are vested interests not allowing it to be done in a particular way while on few occasions the general lethargy and casualness that has crept into our system is the major impediment.

The vast apparatus of governance that we have, has come to a state where it does not move without getting a push. The unfortunate thing is that many of us don’t have the capacity or the wherewithal to give that push. The systems of governance are controlled by the powerful and influential; this needs to be transformed to serve the requirements of all, whoever they may be.

This rhetoric might sound a bit clichéd, after all there are so many who have been talking of this. What remains unaddressed however, is that many of these issues have been getting swept below the carpet without any visible change. Nobody is able to tell us where the real action and the solution is. One thing is certain; the solution does not lie in the talk and cannot be in pronouncements. If we have to improve the administration of governments anywhere, we would have to do some serious introspection, do a system analysis and figure out where the rub lies.

Every government department has two lives. One that it lives internally and the other that it lives with its clients, the citizens. Internally, the organizations suffer from problems of malfunctioning due to lack of proper and smooth systems while externally it makes its clients suffer. There are many in the government who are extremely overworked while there are many more who are woefully underworked or do not want to work. Due to this, it is very difficult to distinguish where the disease is and who the diseased is.

A thorough system analysis would however confirm that nine out of ten times, both the prevention and cure of this disease is possible only if we allow technology to take precedence over the norm. Internally, technology solutions would ensure that the non-performers can’t hide themselves and the decision support systems are on a stronger wicket with properly processed information base. Externally, technology would ensure that the discretionary advantages and favors possible in the tech-less system are eliminated allowing level playing field to everybody, which in the essence, is the purpose of governments.

This however does not mean that technology by itself can make governments transparent, smart and responsive as there are host of other factors that influence governance. But, it is also true that technology is a sine qua non, an indispensable condition for achieving that.

To any casual observer, a government office is a place where papers move or get stalled, affecting people. This information moves through a huge hierarchy, giving scope to maneuverability at all levels. This leads to imperfections in its processing