"Please help me to get admission in Prakash Higher Secondary School (CBSE), Bodakdev, Ahmedabad. The Fees Structure of this school is nominal and I can afford also. I voted for Modi sir, now I want help from your side. Please try to get admission in Prakash school for my daughter (sic)."
"Dear PM Narendra Modi Jee Namaskar, With reference to attached advt in local newspaper, I would like to draw your kind attention that:-There be facility for finance (EMI) to buy cycle. waiting for this facility from the day I heard a news that Mr. Pawan Munjal (CEO, Hero) had appealed FM to provide finance facility for cycle buyers also as small durables are financed then why not cycle. I will be first buyer after this facility. waiting 4 positive action (sic)"
"Skill development needs to be managed at three levels: 1) Identification of skills that are in demand and that make our youth employable; 2) imparting of the skill training; 3) maintain a public/online registry or database of skilled force to enable people to search and locate person with desired skills (sic)."
Aimed at crowdsourcing of ideas, the platform, launched by the prime minister on July 26, 2014, already boasts of nearly 880,000 registered members. And they have already posted comments on as many as 177 themes; from skill development to 'Beti bachao beti padhao' (save girlchild, educate them); from Clean Ganga to new education policy and from providing e-services in rural areas to the proposed public procurement Bill.
While themes like youth power taking India ahead (24,376), skill development in 21st century India (17,595) and taking e-services to rural areas (11,994) have generated a lot of debate, the one on Adarsh Gram Yojana has failed to get any response.
Besides, the website runs several contests also. There is a contest for writing lyrics for the Digital India anthem, there is a contest for designing a logo for Skill India and suggestions have been asked to give a suitable name for "Housing for All by 2022";. People are asked to comment on the prime minister's "Mann ki Baat" also.
"It is a great platform for participative governance and ensuring that ideas from all Indians are part of the policy making," says Arvind Gupta, head of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s IT cell.
The website claims that many of the people's suggestions have been incorporated in the general and railway Budget. Budget proposals such as making Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for cash transactions above a specific limit, penalise non-disclosure of foreign assets and tax benefit for contributions to Swachh Bharat Fund were inspired by the people's comments.
Similarly, ideas like ordering food online, another enquiry number with regional language support and involvement of MPs and MLAs to develop modern railway stations came from the people through mygov.in and made their way to the railway Budget.
"Mygov.in is a path breaking initiative which moves governance closer to people and helps in crowd sourcing of ideas from a billion plus population. This will be particularly helpful to craft governance more suitable to those who have been ignored thus far," observes Jaijit Bhattacharya, partner, KPMG.
A good response to 'citizen engagement' through a digital platform notwithstanding, a range of themes for debate has elicited completely unrelated responses.
For instance, one of the responses, and there are not many on the issue, on the revised draft Internet of Things (IoT) Policy is that the government must do something to ensure that differently-abled people get meaningful employment. Many other comments are related to the ongoing debate on net neutrality. Similarly, one of the comments on draft public procurement Bill is: "Why don't you opposing the decision taken by several states regarding beef ban. Veda, Mahabharata are man made as the way Kuran n Bible. Veda, Mahabharata admit the fact of beef eating then I request you to oppose the beef ban (sic)."
It could be because some of the topics for discussion are vaguely framed with very little offered by way of explanation. One such topic reads: "Measures to improve allocative efficiencies in the expenditure classification system." And, the explanatory note says: "Suggest measures to improve allocative efficiencies in the existing expenditure classification system, including focus on capital expenditure (sic)."
No wonder the topic has received just 305 comments. And one comment is: "Govt. Deparments (departments) are eating money (sic).
FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE GOVT
"Dear PM Narendra Modi Jee Namaskar, With reference to attached advt in local newspaper, I would like to draw your kind attention that:-There be facility for finance (EMI) to buy cycle. waiting for this facility from the day I heard a news that Mr. Pawan Munjal (CEO, Hero) had appealed FM to provide finance facility for cycle buyers also as small durables are financed then why not cycle. I will be first buyer after this facility. waiting 4 positive action (sic)"
"Skill development needs to be managed at three levels: 1) Identification of skills that are in demand and that make our youth employable; 2) imparting of the skill training; 3) maintain a public/online registry or database of skilled force to enable people to search and locate person with desired skills (sic)."
More From This Section
These are three of nearly 500,000 comments - some personal request, some vague suggestions and many others full of constructive ideas - that have made their way to the government's citizen engagement digital platform mygov.in.
Aimed at crowdsourcing of ideas, the platform, launched by the prime minister on July 26, 2014, already boasts of nearly 880,000 registered members. And they have already posted comments on as many as 177 themes; from skill development to 'Beti bachao beti padhao' (save girlchild, educate them); from Clean Ganga to new education policy and from providing e-services in rural areas to the proposed public procurement Bill.
While themes like youth power taking India ahead (24,376), skill development in 21st century India (17,595) and taking e-services to rural areas (11,994) have generated a lot of debate, the one on Adarsh Gram Yojana has failed to get any response.
Besides, the website runs several contests also. There is a contest for writing lyrics for the Digital India anthem, there is a contest for designing a logo for Skill India and suggestions have been asked to give a suitable name for "Housing for All by 2022";. People are asked to comment on the prime minister's "Mann ki Baat" also.
"It is a great platform for participative governance and ensuring that ideas from all Indians are part of the policy making," says Arvind Gupta, head of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s IT cell.
The website claims that many of the people's suggestions have been incorporated in the general and railway Budget. Budget proposals such as making Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for cash transactions above a specific limit, penalise non-disclosure of foreign assets and tax benefit for contributions to Swachh Bharat Fund were inspired by the people's comments.
Similarly, ideas like ordering food online, another enquiry number with regional language support and involvement of MPs and MLAs to develop modern railway stations came from the people through mygov.in and made their way to the railway Budget.
"Mygov.in is a path breaking initiative which moves governance closer to people and helps in crowd sourcing of ideas from a billion plus population. This will be particularly helpful to craft governance more suitable to those who have been ignored thus far," observes Jaijit Bhattacharya, partner, KPMG.
A good response to 'citizen engagement' through a digital platform notwithstanding, a range of themes for debate has elicited completely unrelated responses.
For instance, one of the responses, and there are not many on the issue, on the revised draft Internet of Things (IoT) Policy is that the government must do something to ensure that differently-abled people get meaningful employment. Many other comments are related to the ongoing debate on net neutrality. Similarly, one of the comments on draft public procurement Bill is: "Why don't you opposing the decision taken by several states regarding beef ban. Veda, Mahabharata are man made as the way Kuran n Bible. Veda, Mahabharata admit the fact of beef eating then I request you to oppose the beef ban (sic)."
It could be because some of the topics for discussion are vaguely framed with very little offered by way of explanation. One such topic reads: "Measures to improve allocative efficiencies in the expenditure classification system." And, the explanatory note says: "Suggest measures to improve allocative efficiencies in the existing expenditure classification system, including focus on capital expenditure (sic)."
No wonder the topic has received just 305 comments. And one comment is: "Govt. Deparments (departments) are eating money (sic).
FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE GOVT
- Mygov.in has 881,000 registered members
- 489,000 comments received on 177 discussion themes
- Some suggestions got reflected in general and railway Budgets
- Comments sought on PM's "Mann ki Baat"
- Contests to name schemes, write lyrics for digital India anthem