Use of ICTs for Encouraging Participative Development: A Critique of the Indian Experiment

Abstract

The present fascination of governments with use of ICTs for propelling development has not led to an improvement in the quality of life of a significant number of people. It becomes important to understand the conception of development that gets invoked in the design of such interventions. In this paper, we look at historical trajectories guiding the policy space to gain insights into the current imperatives motivating ICT usage. Justification for using ICTs has often been attributed to its inherent potential for enabling beneficiary participation. However, not many project designs, especially those in India, reflect such a motivation. We try to investigate whether the ICT policy of the Indian government attempts to encourage participatory development with specific reference to the relations between the governments at the centre and the provinces.