Policy on Mobile Governance and E-authentication Soon

The department of information technology (DIT) is formulating a policy that will enable citizens to authenticate their identities online to access various government services electronically, including through mobile phones.

The policy will usher in an ecosystem of establishing one's identity online, be it for accessing information such as land records and bank account details or national security information such as cases under federal investigation at the highest level.

The department has also finalized the policy document on mo- bile governance, which will facilitate accessing some of these services including payments through mobile phones.

The policy on m-governance, under which the department will develop a mobile service delivery gateway that can be adopted by other departments or states for delivery for their respective applications, has been sent for inter-ministerial consultation.

DIT had come out with frame- work documents on mobile governance and e-authentication earlier this year.

The authentication will be done on various layers.

While the Unique Identification Authority of India is building an online authentication regime based on a person's Aadhaar or unique identity number and biometrics, certain services do not require such high levels of authentication, said a DIT official who did not want to be identified.

“There could be some services such as mark sheets, etc., which could be accessed using a mix of login id and password and others such as financial services or de- fence-related information which would require the highest level of authentication,“ this person said. Another official, who too didn't want to be named, said for services that fall in the middle, a person's ration card number or voter identification can be used.
“But for the highest level, we could use a mix of both biometrics and other information.“

The second official added that the National Population Register, which too will collect information such as ration card, voter identification or passport details, can also be tapped for verification purposes. “Once ready, e- authentication will ensure that people don't have to visit government departments to get themselves verified; they can just do it online before accessing various services,“ this official said.

A proof of concept is being planned to test the systems and the Center for Development of Advance Computing is overseeing the technical aspects of the project.

As for the policy on mobile governance, the second official said that apart from building a mobile service delivery gateway, DIT plans to build infrastructure for 25 services such as information on birth and death certificates, healthcare and education- related services by the end of March as a model for states to adopt.

“The idea behind building this gateway is to avoid duplication of such efforts by various departments and state governments as such efforts can prove to be quite expensive,“ the official said.

Osama Manzar, founder director of non-profit Digital Empowerment Foundation and a Mint columnist, said one of the biggest challenges before the government is that it has not been able to figure out how to exploit the reach of mobile phones.

“Currently, whatever mobile- based applications are there are being used for delivering information and not procuring it.
That is where the authentication needs, privacy concerns and lack of infrastructure comes into play,“ he said. The m-governance policy, he said, is more of a project document. “What is needed is a clear plan on how they will handle the delivery through mobile as once millions of citizens are capable of sending information to the government, they will need very robust systems to manage all of it.“ 

Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 03-01-2012