The Union Cabinet has cleared the Electronic delivery of Service bill that will deliver all public services, from state and central government, electronically within a maximum period of eight years, reports PTI (via The Hindu Businessline). The bill will allow Indian citizens to gain access to services such as passport, ration card and driving licences electronically. It should be noted that this service will not be available in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Every public authority will publish a list of service that it will deliver electronically within 180 days of clearance of the bill. However, the bill notes that it won't cover services that cannot be delivered electronically and services that public authorities decide not to deliver electronically. It's not clear which services fall under the services that cannot be delivered electronically. The Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011 (download) was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 27, 2011. Other points to note from the bill: - Deadlines: The bill states that every competent authority shall after the publication of the list shall review and notify on the 1st day of January of every year. It should notify about the date by which each service shall be made available through electronic mode and the manner and quality of delivery of these services. Apart from that it also states that the central government shall notify from time to time about any inconsistent electronic governance standards, as they may be necessary for ensuring inter-operability, integration,harmonisation and security of electronic services. - Grievance Redressal: Every…
