very interesting model
Padmanabhan and a bunch of her students have compiled all data, perhaps for the very first time in India, on how to access essential e-governance services, which a woman would need during her lifetime, offered by the Kerala Government, online.
The data, arranged in a life cycle pattern from birth to death, has been published in the form of a 30-page handbook called e-Jaalakam. The book, which took six months to compile was released on September 10. It became a roaring success when it hit schools and households in the city and would soon be introduced across Kerala. “We just wanted to make people know, especially women, on how to access basic government services. How will you download birth, marriage and death certificates? How to track case status in Kerala High Court, files in the government offices, check status or make changes on Aaadhar or ration card? There are many such questions, the answers of which are available online but many of us are ignorant about them. So we made a databank which can guide people to access these services online,” explains the 48-year-old.
…
The handbook literally means handholding people, especially women, into participatory governance and increases their clout in decision making. Economically, once a significant user group starts accessing government schemes online, the project can become a major reason for more transparency and less corruption, which means more economic efficiency for the government.
…
Seeing the potential of the project, the Kerala State E-Governance Mission and the State IT Mission have already extended its support in training students of St Teresa’s and to publish copies of their handbook. The Federal Bank and Rainbow Publications has also come out to support the venture. The IT@School Project has agreed to arrange classes for school students, based on this handbook.
anantjani.com 