Computers and the Raj

Everytime I see someone whip out their cell phone, I am reminded of the role I play in the incredible change sweeping over this country. When I hear talk of a INR 1lakh car, I know that the work I am doing is making a difference.

But I know that I am really really pushing my luck when I hear a government official talk about computerizing every single tax office in every single district, in every single state in the country.

Yes indeed - the government has embarked upon an ambitious plan to electronize (is that a word) the country's tax system. And they have awarded the contract to the best in the business, the only people who can do it.

The taxnet project is sponsored by the Finance Minister. It is executed by the senior most bureaucrat in the Ministry - the Secretary of the Revenue department. Governments come and go. The project outlasts all administrations.


Recently I had the opportunity to interact with the senior bureaucrat that was an integral part of designing and developing this project. He sits in the North Block - the set of offices located right outside the gates of the Presidential Palace - and across from the Lok Sabha. The entire complex was constructed by the British, the Presidential Palace having once served as the official residence of Lord Mountbatten. The external structure is quite impressive. Inside it is dark and cavernous. The furniture, aside from the computer, looks like it has been there since Independence.

After getting past the technical challenges, we started to talk about the challenges ahead. The member (as the Revenue Sec'y is often referred to) talked about the atmosphere when he first joined the administration 40 years ago...... within a few decades of the departure of the colonial masters.

"We had fewer people, and are hand written ledgers were more meticulous. .. The supervisor sat on a raised dais in the middle of the room keeping a watch on all the clerks much like an exam proctor. Clerks could not talk to each other without being noticed by the supervisor. If they needed a new pencil, theyhad to bring the old one in. Things have become much less disciplined them, and the quantity of work has increased."

Transforming this population to use computers with the ease of a pencil and register will be a very big challenge - and a very rewarding one indeed.