The application of IT is fairly widespread by now in India in the private sector. However, when it comes to public governance, India has been a laggard in the utilisation of IT.

There are several reasons for this. One is the monopolistic nature of public governance. It is the customer, in this case the 'aam aadmi', who has to like or lump whatever is offered by the public institution. He has no alternative. A second important reason for the slow start off the block, particularly of e-governance, is that it enables transparency and cuts down avenues of corruption.

The common man has benefited from the e-governance measures implemented so far. Perhaps the best example in India of how e-governance can lead to order out of chaos and put paid to the machinations of the ungodly is the replacement of the old ballot system by electronic voting in elections.

Despite these advantages, e-governance has not yet made much headway in government in India. Government spending on IT accounts for only about 15 percent of India's $12 billion domestic IT market. Out of 30 'Mission Mode e-governance projects' totalling $6 billion in IT spends that were drawn up by the centre back in 2006, only three have been awarded so far.

Education as a sector has remained relatively untouched by e-governance. This is most distressing, considering that education is the cornerstone of our efforts to build up the future generation. Even in the Right to Education Act there is little mention of implementing e-governance in our education system.

As it stands today, our education system is chaotic, to say the least. It is characterised by a high dropout rate, teacher truancy, obsolete syllabi, inadequate infrastructure, unemployable graduates and the lot. The tiny proportion of quality output that emerges from it is more a case of serendipity and the determination of the students belonging to this micro-minority. This is because the present system lacks means of continuous monitoring, meaningful evaluation of the teacher and the taught, constant feedback to the players concerned (administrators, faculty, parents and students) and appropriate timely control and correction mechanisms.

If the quantity and quality of output from our education system have to be substantially improved, then there is no alternative to introducing e-governance in this sphere. However, to be really effective, the e-governance system deployed will have to go beyond mere computerisation of records or processes. It has to be able to provide the management of the educational institution information about the Why of a happening or a trend besides the What, When and Where, so that adequate prophylactic action can be taken. It should be able to provide answers to queries like: Why is the performance of a class dropping in a particular subject? Why is a particularly bright student lagging in performance in the last two terms? Which teacher has produced the best consistent results for her class?

Then again, considering the paucity of funds in our state-aided educational institutions, an e-governance system which is inexpensive to install, simple to use, easy to maintain and can be conveniently expanded will be much more acceptable.