Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based Projects/Programmes usually suffers in terms of certain vital factors. Identify these factors, and suggest measures for their effective implementation.
Approach · directive: “identify / suggest”
What it asks · Two parts: identify the recurring weaknesses in ICT-based government projects and suggest measures for effective implementation.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Identify the vital factors on which ICT-based projects and programmes usually suffer
- Suggest measures for their effective implementation, matched to those factors
Open with · Government ICT projects often computerise old procedures without reforming them, so the bottlenecks merely move online; that is why e-Kranti made process re-engineering mandatory in every mission-mode project.
Cover
- Access: patchy power and connectivity, English-only interfaces and low digital literacy shut out rural and poor users.
- Design: processes are automated as they are, built around departments rather than citizens, and missing data standards create silos.
- Capacity and change management: too few trained staff, weak leadership, resistance to transparency and frequent transfers of project heads.
- Funding and procurement: poor planning, cost overruns, vendor lock-in and no maintenance budget leave systems abandoned after launch.
- Security and inclusion: data leaks and cyber threats erode trust; authentication failures exclude genuine beneficiaries.
- Measures on design: e-Kranti's mandatory process re-engineering (also urged by the 2nd ARC's 11th Report, 2008), 'integrated services, not individual services', open standards and outcome-based contracts with maintenance budgets.
- Measures on access and trust: BharatNet, Common Service Centres, PMGDISHA (2017), local-language and offline options, data-protection safeguards, third-party audits and grievance redress.
Close with · ICT advances SDG target 16.6, effective, accountable and transparent institutions, only when process reform, skills and citizen-centred design come before code.
Add value (verified)
- SDG target 16.6: develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.Goal 16 - United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development ↗“16.6 Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels”
- The report stresses re-engineering processes, not just computerising them, as the route to good governance.Second Administrative Reforms Commission, Eleventh Report: Promoting e-Governance, The SMART Way Forward (DARPG, archived copy) ↗“utilizing information effectively and re-engineering processes”
- The 11th Report, Promoting e-Governance: The SMART Way Forward, is dated December 2008.Second Administrative Reforms Commission, Eleventh Report: Promoting e-Governance, The SMART Way Forward (DARPG, archived copy) ↗“DECEMBER 2008 ELEVENTH report Second Administrative Reforms Commission Promoting e-Governance The SMART Way Forward”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 226words · Minimalist IAS
Government ICT projects often computerise old procedures without reforming them, so the bottlenecks simply move online. That is why e-Kranti made process re-engineering mandatory in every mission-mode project.
Vital factors on which ICT projects suffer
- Access: patchy power and connectivity, English-only interfaces and low digital literacy shut out rural and poor users.
- Design: systems mirror departments, not citizens; missing data standards create silos.
- Capacity and change management: too few trained staff, resistance to transparency and frequent transfers of project heads.
- Funding and procurement: cost overruns, vendor lock-in and no maintenance budget leave systems abandoned after launch.
- Security and inclusion: data leaks erode trust; authentication failures exclude genuine beneficiaries.
Measures for effective implementation
- Reform before automation: re-engineer every process first, as the 2nd ARC's 11th Report (2008) urged, and deliver 'integrated services, not individual services' on open standards.
- Reach: BharatNet for connectivity, Common Service Centres for assisted access and PMGDISHA (2017) for digital literacy, with local-language and offline options.
- Sustain: outcome-based contracts with maintenance budgets, stable, trained project teams.
- Trust: data-protection and cyber safeguards, third-party audits, and grievance redress with manual fallback when authentication fails.
- Re-engineer the process
- Build on open standards
- Train staff
- Launch with assisted access
- Audit and improve
ICT advances SDG target 16.6, to 'develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels', only when process reform, skills and citizen-centred design come before code.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
