What ails India is not e-governance deficit but governance-deficit. It is good governance that will propel and sustain economic growth in India, and reduce poverty and income inequality levels. It is good governance that will open up new employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, and channelize productive capacities of the population to build competitive edge in global markets. And, it is good governance which can singularly restore trust of citizens in governments and make governments accountable to them.
If we are serious about e-governance, the questions we need to pose when discussing e-governance should be different. Not how long it would take for a particular service to become online but how long would it take for a slum dweller or a farmer to break the cycle of poverty? Instead of when will all the villages be connected to, when will voices of the poor be heard and start to matter. And, instead of ability to vote online and elect representatives, to ability to recall or reject representatives who do not perform.
The biggest contribution of e-governance would be if it channelizes all energies, debates, partnerships and resources into a singular mission of improving governance in India not just for service delivery but also in policy settings, resources allocation, implementation and monitoring.
Interestingly, this was also the conclusion emerging at the end of the e-governance forum to make good governance technology-independent so that the focus is on providing good governance to everyone and at all times.