NASSCOM interacts with DeitY over challenges in e-Governance Projects

National Association of Software Services Companies (NASSCOM) has organized an interaction between DeitY and the industry on various challenges being faced by the sector, while participating in various e-governance projects. The meeting chaired by Shri R. S. Sharma, Secretary, DeitY, was attended by senior government officials from DeitY, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, and the Department of Commerce, and R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, led a large team of CEOs and e-governance business heads of the industry. The half-day interaction provided a platform for industry members to raise their concerns on a multitude of issues.

Of late, it may be noted that the industry’s participation in various e-governance projects has seen a steady decline with several large projects resulting in a NO-BID Situation. One of the top concerns of the industry was on outstanding payments, where the situation has taken a turn for the worse in the last 18 months. Issues pertaining to various clauses in RFPs and contracts were raised, particularly relating to unlimited liabilities, dispute resolution and arbitration, lack of counter guarantees, payments, etc, most of which were felt to be one-sided, with risk overload on the implementation partner. Non-adoption of standardized RFP and contracting terms by various State governments in particular, was cited as a major area of concern for the industry.

All the suggestions provided by both NASSCOM and the industry were well received by DeitY. The DeitY Secretary assured the participants that all their concerns have been taken note of and shall soon announce the steps towards resolving the challenges, while also agreeing that tendering and contracting process needs to be fair and a win-win situation.

R.Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “Given the focus of the government on ICT and the launch of initiatives like ‘Digital India’, the industry is keen to work with the government on strategic e-governance initiatives. We believe that addressing the short-term challenges would provide a much-needed fillip and encouragement to the Government-IT industry partnership. To ensure a sustainable approach, it is imperative that necessary time-bound steps are taken to implement the recommendations on short-term measures and consultations held to propose a detailed roadmap and measures to address the long-standing challenges for a win-win partnership.”

Given the tremendous sense of urgency being seen in all the spheres of government working in terms of technology adoption, NASSCOM suggested constitution of a Project Development Fund in line with the infrastructure sector.

The e-governance initiatives are now entering the next phase of ICT-led governance reforms and public-private partnerships is an important enabler for fast-tracking e-governance in India. All the suggestions provided by both NASSCOM and the industry were well received by DeitY.