SENDING GOVERNMENTS TO CLOUD

Cloud based Governments for efficient Governance

Dear Reader,

As I write this blog post, the country is gearing up for a referendum on the Jan Lokpal Bill. Although, the Government had previously committed itself to getting the bill drafted by Team Anna introduced into the parliament, fresh signals coming from the New Delhi suggest that the Government is slowly but surely working towards dumping Team Anna’s version of the draft.  

This will not be the first time when a democratically elected Government has chosen to ignore popular public sentiment in order to safe guard its own interests. Emergency, Invasion of Iraq, civil uprising in Middle East, are all examples of incumbent Governments acting against the will and desires of the electorate. Consistently, our elected representatives have proven their ineptness in deliverance of good governance.

The fault for inefficiency and loopholes in the government machinery doesn’t lie solely with the Government. Electorate too has had a history of consistently making bad choices when it comes to choosing their representatives. One may be tempted to believe that such a problem is specific to poorer nations where lower literacy and education levels among the electorate may be affecting people’s choices. However, researches on the subject paint a completely different picture. Electorates in rich countries are no better than their poorer counterparts, when it comes to selecting a political candidate.

Despite being awfully bad in selecting political representatives, Electorates in the past had to rely on the system in absence of a better alternative. In fact Monarchy and Dictatorship were the only other forms conceivable then. However, with all the advancements in communication technology that has happened in the past 50-60 years, isn’t it time that we redesign our Governments making them more responsive, efficient and less corrupt. And do this, without losing it’s democratic character.

Here’s the Plan –

New generation IT companies like Facebook and Google have demonstrated capabilities in managing large volumes of data. These companies can leverage their competencies in the information management front to introduce a new cloud based product. The product can be in the shape of an online portal where there are different sections dealing in different aspects of Governance. The user may be given the freedom to select the sections of his choice after which he will be compulsorily required to attend to certain tasks pertaining to the section on a regular basis. Here’s how it will work –

Each citizen of a country is given a Username and Password with which he logs into a portal called www.governmentof”Countryname”.com. After login, each user selects his area of interest which could range from local issues like sewerage, city planning, revenue etc. to macro issues like foreign policy, defence, internal law and order etc. Post selection, within his chosen area, the candidate will have the option to propose new changes or vote on someone else’s proposal. Every day at a specific time or on specific days all users will vote on issues selected through the above process. Issues may be divided and grouped based on their importance and conditions with respect to minimum percentage of votes necessary for particular group of issues may be laid down.

Similarly, selection and removal of bureaucrats, judges etc may be also be carried out through the above process.

Critics of the above idea will not waste a second in pointing out that such a system will render a vast majority of the illiterate, tech challenged population etc out of the formal electoral process and therefore create a highly divided society where the well off class will suppress the voice of the poor. They will also say that minorities will be crushed, people will be thrown out of jobs, etc. and therefore the idea to put in place a virtual cloud based Government is a bad one.

I however differ from my prospective critics in believing that removal of illiterate and tech-challenged individuals from the pool of users is crucial to bettering their own lives. By taking away the right to participate in the political machinery, these individuals will be forced to align themselves with rest of the society. Thereby the rate of growth in literacy (both academic and technical) will climb exponentially.

I also don’t buy the argument that minorities will be crushed, anyone who feels that everyone in this country is just waiting to exterminate minorities of all sorts is suffering from advanced level of paranoia. In fact minority interests will be far more secured in the proposed system than in the present system where politicians ignite hatred among groups to get their own self interests fulfilled.

Similarly, fear of job losses etc. is also not as big a problem as it might seem at the onset. Let me explain it by asking this question –

·         Suppose you are being attacked by a robber, which one of these man is more likely to save you -

o   1) A 58 year old policeman weighing 100 kgs or

o   2) A 35 year old policeman weighing 65 kgs.

Chances are most people will choose option two, after all nobody wants to take chances when it’s a question of life. However, by guaranteeing lifetime employment in a variety of sectors like Health, Education, Administration, Policing etc. our Governments are unwittingly taking chances not only with our health, education and prospects but our lives as well.

Oh yes! I do realize that the idea is too raw, wild and unpalatable, even for the tastes of most liberal of political analysts. Frankly, I don’t think it will get implemented in my lifetime and I am not losing any sleep over it either. You see, I love to imagine a better world and think of new  possibilities that could make it a reality. Some people just get their daily high thinking about things – I am one such man.

YF - IThink