They are tech-savvy, active on blogosphere, and are often seen punching away at their blackberry during campaigns. These are todays young Indian MPs. They dress traditionally in white khadi, eat on mud floors and talk to the rural population in their own dialect during the day. While at the evening press conference, their charming, sophisticated, Oxbridge or Harvard-educated persona is in full throttle, as they tactfully take on questions laid out as baits. Strangely, for all the freshness and sparkle they bring to Parliament, most of them have made no significant headway that can be put in the category of e-governance in particular. Having said that, it is also true that there is no dearth of instances where they have put efforts to better their constituencies. e-Governance, as a concept synonymous with technology and youth, has been strongly followed up by older, seasoned politicians like Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Chandrababu Naidu, to name a few, and has almost been ignored by the younger lot. Interestingly, Supriya Sule, when questioned on what she thought of e-governance, said she found the topic boring. Apart from a few like Dayanidhi Maran, who has made commendable efforts in this field, Communications and IT remains relatively untouched by our younger leaders.

Dayanidhi Maran

Dayanidhi Maran, forty-three, who has been elected from Chennai Central constituency in the fifteenth Lok Sabha, was Union Minister for Communications and IT last term. The very concept of e-governance gained momentum under him. He unveiled the National e-Governance Plan in 2006 in order to make government services available to the common man. During his tenure, mobile and landline call rates were reduced, and the growth of Internet subscribers increased dramatically. He also brought in huge investments into the IT and telecom sectors. His agenda focused on increasing PC penetration in the country, providing broadband connectivity at reasonable rates, moving towards 3G in the telecom sector, promoting the use of digital signatures in all sectors and using ICT tools to improve the literacy rate through programs like distance learning. After his resignation in 2007, the pace of development in the IT sector slowed down significantly.

Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi, thirty-nine, from the Amethi constituency has recently been enjoying his share of the spotlight after being widely credited with the Congress win this year. Last year, it was proposed that broadband over powerline (BPL) technology would be used to provide broadband access to around ten villages in Amethi, though there are no records of Rahul Gandhis direct involvement in this. In 2006, Rae Bareilly and Amethi were added to the list of privileged cities connected to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) via satellite. Eight centers in both the districts were connected to ISRO, where village knowledge centers were established. This is particularly useful as through these centers the public can avail of useful information related to weather, farming techniques and telemedicine. The young Gandhi, however, has been putting his energies into grassroot development.

Omar Abdullah

Omar Abdullah, thirty-seven, became the eleventh Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in January this year. Abdullah was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, and managed to keep his seat for three consecutive elections. One of the most promising young ministers, he is best known for his speech in the 2008 Lok Sabha Vote of Confidence. He has stated in the past that corruption can be curbed through e-governance and transparency. Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir government set up the J&K e-Governance Agency (JaKeGA) to implement IT projects throughout the state. The agency is designed to be a single point mechanism for the development, procurement and training of all IT related activities, and will also provide employment opportunities to IT professionals. Abdullah believes that e-governance is essential in removing red tape and misappropriation, and in bringing about accountability in the system. According to him, IT is an important catalyst in accelerating growth in J&K.

Priya Dutt

A strong advocator of good governance, peace and communal harmony, her blog states that transparency and accountability in the system is the key to good governance. Priya Dutt, forty-three, managed to keep her Mumbai North-Central seat in the 2009 elections for the second consecutive time in a row. She launched the Nargis Dutt Mobile Hospital in a Mumbai slum, which is under the aegis of the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation. Dutt has also been associated with education support programs and has raised her voice against issues like substance abuse and environmental pollution. She was actively involved in project Mushkurahat and personally helped in the distribution of 14,000 notebooks to children as part of the project. She has also constantly been involved in programs centered on youth development, self-empowerment, infrastructure development, womens welfare, and sports. There are no reports of her being engaged with e-governance in particular.

Jyotiraditya Scindia

Jyotiraditya Scindia, thirty-seven, was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in February 2002 from his fathers constituency, Guna, in Madhya Pradesh. He managed to bring most central government funded development schemes to his constituency, as well as a number of power, education, telecom and roadway projects. Providing cheap communication services and pacing up the development of Indias IT services were Scindias aims when he was made MoS for Communications and IT during the cabinet reshuffle last year. Under Project Arrow, aimed at restructuring the Indian Postal System, 500 post offices were equipped with broadband connectivity to provide web-enabled services. Employees in postal organizations also went through intensive training programs to equip them with the technological changes. He, along with his senior A Raja, was instrumental in launching a Center of e-Governance in New Delhi, earlier this year, to broadcast initiatives about e-gov proposals in the country. Previously this year, while he was in the Communications and IT department, the government sanctioned around Rs 106 bn for e-gov projects, out of which Rs 57.4 bn was specifically set aside for the setting up of CSCs (Common Service Centers).

Milind Deora

Milind Deora, thirty-two, son of former Minister for Natural Gas and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, won from the South Mumbai constituency this Lok Sabha Election. The suave, US educated politician is known for his awareness in parliament (he reportedly raised 479 questions in the fourteenth Lok Sabha). Sparsh, his NGO, works to provide free services to over 100 needy schools in Mumbai, covering over 1 lakh students. Through Sparsh, he has successfully computerized 110 primary and secondary economically backward schools. He helped in the setting up of audio-visual (A/V) laboratories in several needy schools and colleges. He secured a Rs 100 crore grant for Mumbai University from the Union Government. The research-related grant is being used to create a Center for Nano-Science and Nanotechnology. Energetic and active, he is regularly spotted visiting the slums in his constituency. Deora claims that he doesnt believe in over-promising and under-delivering, but aims to do the opposite.

Sachin Pilot

Sachin Pilot, thirty-two, won from the Ajmer constituency after switching from Dausa, which was delimited and given reserved status. Apart from creating history by becoming the youngest member of Parliament in 2004, Pilot played an active role when his constituency came into the limelight demanding Scheduled Tribe status. Being the new minister of State for Communications and IT, the National e-Governance Plan is his top priority. According to him, the Indian IT industry should not be threatened by the stepping up of protectionism in the west and should respond to it positively by treating it as positive competition, and using it as an incentive to innovate aggressively. He acknowledges that the IT industry has the potential to provide employment opportunities to a large section of our population and should be encouraged. He also says that even though Internet penetration in India is only 6%, it shouldnt be a deterrent to e-governance. On the whole, he feels that the ever-expanding digital divide should be filled and technology should reach the sections of society that are at the lowest rung of the ladder.

Supriya Sule

Daughter of NCP President, Sharad Pawar, Sule contested from the Baramati constituency in Maharashtra, previously represented by her father. In the last term, she was an MP from the Rajya Sabha representing Maharashtra, and was highly involved in the youth wing and various self-help groups. She also manages schools for adivasi girls and children of nomadic tribes, apart from networking with about 700 organizations for the rights of the handicapped. Baramati is one of the most technologically advanced constituencies, she declares. We do have a lot of ongoing e-governance projects. However, since talks are still on, we cannot comment on them. We are working to help in the spread of computer literacy. For this we have fully-equipped mobile vans that move around the constituency, to teach computers to underprivileged children. This is part of the Vidya Pratisthan educational project started forty years ago by my father.

Agatha Sangma

This election, she represented the Tura Constituency of Meghalaya and has been appointed MoS for rural development. Sangma is a lawyer and an environmentalist, and defeated her Congress rival by nearly one lakh votes. Apart from the fact that at twenty-eight, she has created history by becoming the youngest member of Parliament, Sangma still has a long way to go. With her having entered the political arena only recently, the projects and issues she will take up in the future remain to be seen.

Vandana Sebastian
vandanase@cybermedia.co.in