Chandigharh: Narendra Modi-Manohar Lal Khattar and computers, Tech an enabler of good governance

Chandigharh : How is technology an enabling force in good governance? Here is what the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar recalled- how Prime Minister Narendra Modi triggered his interest. “In 1996, he (Modi) was the in-charge for Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. And, I was the state executive office bearer.” By then Modi was tech-savvy and was working with computers. But, Khattar never worked on it. On one occasion, Modi brought three boxes in which one looked like a small TV screen (monitor) and said it was of great use. “I called an employee from a college and got the computer installed. Unlike today, the computer worked on DOS operating system to work with, and I had to work for two to three hours every day to learn and operate it. Once got acquainted I bought a laptop,” he adds.

It helped to store data related to the party and its activities.

Sharing his experiences using a laptop, way back in the 2000s, Khattar said that he had to get the list of party candidates contesting in local civic body elections. He asked to furnish the candidates’ list. The leader concerned handed over a written list of 21 candidates. “After a gap of two months again I had to call a meeting and once again asked for the list of probable contestants. After dodging for a while the same leader had given the list of 21 candidates. But, there were six to seven changes from the first to the second list. “When it was broached the party leader wore a blank face, asking “Is everything recorded in it (laptop)?”

In another incident, in 2003, he had to go to Himachal Pradesh to oversee the party activity. An MLA suggested the laptop is something better left for children to play. “I wanted to show him how it works. The movement his name was fed to the system, on-screen it appeared, “Rebel MLA”, giving a shock to him and he was brought back into the party fold,” he said.

There was some anxiety in some of the party that the party is being run from the computer, everything was locked up in it and “I won’t share the password of it with others.” That’s how he held confidence in the technology helps in ‘ease of functioning and finding solutions”. Technology comes closer to delivering good governance by weeding out corruption in the administration, he opines.

Against this backdrop, the Haryana government decided to host the Haryana Engineering Works portal. Making it mandatory for all government departments to float only e-tenders of their works. Initially, there was resistance. People went on strike, demanding to scrap the e-tendering system. “We may think people don’t bother about such development. But, people do understand when the government’s intentions are clear.” As it was pretty clear that the popular opinion of people was supporting the state’s initiative of e-tendering to cut corruption, all the resistance had died down,” the chief minister said.