Navigating Governance and Innovation

Navigating Governance and Innovation: India’s 2024 Vision for a Digitized and Just Society

The Indian governance system in 2024 is characterized by a high level of digitalization and openness, which indicates that any innovations, technologies, and legal initiatives are implemented in universities and other spheres of social life. Be it digital Judicial records and Aadhaar based payment system, such reforms to education programs, legal aid, and more are now integrated within India’s polity and governance to ensure strong policy infrastructure for a more inclusive, transparent, and efficient form of government.

Digitization and Judicial Accessibility:

What is the full form of e-SCR?

The full form of e-SCR is Electronic Supreme Court Reports.

Supreme Court has been perhaps one of the biggest accomplishments in the judiciary with e-SCR having over 31,000 cases by end of December 2023 while in January 2023 it had only 2238 cases. In addition to offering the specific functionality of searching for and reading landmark judgments, this project facilitates the ongoing noble effort of bringing the Indian judiciary online, thereby making it easier for lawyers and students as well as the general public to access the judgment.

Linking Aadhaar for Secure Transactions: Parallelly, the Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS) under the MGNREGS showcases an innovative use of technology to streamline financial transactions. By linking Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts, ABPS enhances the security and convenience of transactions, supporting the government’s drive towards a less-cash economy and ensuring that subsidies reach the intended beneficiaries without leakage.

How to Make Payment Through Aadhaar

1. Visit a Micro-ATM or a Banking Correspondent: You need to find a micro-ATM or visit a banking correspondent, often available at local bank branches or through agents in various locations, particularly in rural areas.
2. Provide Your Aadhaar Number: Provide your 12-digit Aadhaar number to the banking correspondent or enter it at the micro-ATM.
3. Select the Transaction Type: Choose the type of transaction you want to conduct. This could include cash withdrawal, balance inquiry, fund transfer, or making a payment.
4. Authenticate: Authenticate the transaction using your biometric data (fingerprint or iris scan) as a form of security check to confirm your identity.
5. Complete the Transaction: Once authenticated, the transaction will be processed. For payments, you will need to confirm the amount that will be debited from your linked bank account.

What is Aadhaar Card Payment?

Aadhaar Card Payment refers to a payment method that uses the Aadhaar system for transaction processing. It leverages the Aadhaar number linked to a bank account and biometric authentication to conduct financial transactions. This method eliminates the need for debit/credit cards, mobile phones, signatures, or PINs to authorize transactions, thus simplifying the process especially in rural or underserved areas.

How to Get Aadhaar Enabled Payment System

1. Bank Account Linking: Ensure that your Aadhaar number is linked to your bank account. This linkage is crucial as the transactions are processed through the bank account associated with your Aadhaar number.
2. Registration for Biometric Authentication: You may need to register your biometric details (fingerprint or iris scan) with your bank if not already done so. This is required for the biometric authentication process during transactions.
3. Accessing through Service Providers: Many banks, through their banking correspondents or own branches, provide access to AePS. You can visit these points to utilize the Aadhaar Payment System.
4. Using AePS at Merchant Locations: Some merchants may offer AePS as a payment method. Here, you can pay for goods or services by authenticating through your Aadhaar-linked biometric data.

Benefits of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System

• Financial Inclusion: Enables banking services for all sections of society, particularly beneficial in rural or underbanked areas.
• Ease of Use: Simplifies the process of conducting financial transactions by removing the need for physical banking tools or memorizing passwords.
• Security: Since transactions require biometric authentication, they are secure against fraud compared to traditional PIN-based methods.

AePS is a part of India’s broader digital payments initiative to enhance financial inclusion by making banking services accessible to every citizen across the country.

Electoral Integrity through VVPATs: The deployment of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) with EVMs ensures electoral integrity and builds voter confidence by providing a physical verification of the vote cast. This system is crucial for preserving trust in the electoral process, particularly against the backdrop of concerns over EVM tampering.

Supreme Court Verdict on VVPAT

The Supreme Court of India has played a significant role in the implementation and assurance of the VVPAT system to enhance transparency and trust in the electronic voting process. Key directives and decisions include:

1. Mandatory VVPAT Verification:
   • In April 2019, responding to a petition seeking greater transparency in the voting process, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to increase the random matching of VVPAT slips with EVM results. The court ordered that VVPAT slips of five EVMs per assembly segment in every Lok Sabha constituency must be randomly matched, instead of just one EVM per assembly segment as was the practice. This decision was aimed at ensuring the accuracy and reliability of electronic voting.
2. Validation of the Electoral Process:
   • The Supreme Court’s intervention was crucial in mandating the use of VVPATs across all polling stations in India. This move was intended to add an additional layer of verification to the electronic voting process and address concerns about EVM tampering.
3. Response to Discrepancies:
   • The Court has also clarified procedures to be followed in case of discrepancies between the EVM counts and VVPAT slips. The use of VVPATs is seen as a step towards resolving disputes in the electoral outcomes by providing a means to audit and verify votes cast electronically.

The introduction and mandated expansion of VVPAT use were significant steps endorsed by the Supreme Court to increase transparency, build voter confidence, and enhance the overall integrity of the electoral process in India. These measures reflect the judiciary’s proactive approach in upholding the democratic process and addressing concerns raised by political parties and civil society regarding the reliability of electronic voting.

Empowering Communities through Legal and Educational Initiatives: Justice BR Gavai’s appointment as the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) highlights efforts to provide free legal aid to economically disadvantaged groups, ensuring that justice is accessible to all. This initiative is supported by the Legal Services Authorities Act, which has established a robust framework for legal aid across India.

In education, the ‘Prerana’ program launched by the Ministry of Education is an innovative approach to nurturing young minds through experiential learning, blending cultural heritage with modern educational techniques. This program aims to instill leadership qualities and respect for diversity, preparing students to be future leaders under the ethos of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one family).

Technological Innovations in Land Management:

The SVAMITVA Scheme, or the Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas, is a central sector scheme launched by the Government of India. Here are the details about its purpose, launching ministry, aims, and awards:

Purpose of the SVAMITVA Scheme

The primary purpose of the SVAMITVA Scheme is to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India. The scheme aims to map land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology and to provide “Record of Rights” to village household owners with legal ownership cards, which are also known as property cards.

Launching Ministry

The SVAMITVA Scheme was launched by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on National Panchayati Raj Day, April 24, 2020.

Aim of the SVAMITVA Scheme

The aim of the SVAMITVA Scheme includes several key objectives:

• To provide the ‘record of rights’ to village household owners by issuing Property cards/Title deeds to the property owners.
• To facilitate monetization of properties and enable bank loans; it is expected to become a financial instrument for borrowing from financial institutions.
• To clear ownership of property in rural inhabited areas, which can result in reduced property-related disputes and legal cases.
• To assist in comprehensive village planning which is crucial for effective utilization of resources and overall development.
• To boost rural economy through enhanced land documentation and access to formal credit systems.

Award of SVAMITVA Scheme

The SVAMITVA Scheme won the Best Innovation Award for its innovative approach in public policy. This award was presented during the Public Policy Dialogues-2024 at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. The award highlights the scheme’s innovative use of technology in mapping and documenting land ownership, which sets a significant precedent for similar initiatives globally.

This comprehensive approach under the SVAMITVA Scheme not only aims to modernize the process of documenting land and property in rural areas but also seeks to empower millions of rural citizens with legal documentation of their properties, thereby reducing conflicts and facilitating economic development.

Conclusion: All these initiatives – from the digitization of judicial significance and protection of money transactions to introducing novelties in election-related procedures and educational applications – can be seen as contributing to a more extensive idea of creating a digital and fair society. They are each interwoven strands that are strands within the socio-economic governance of Indian development, each critical to expediting India’s progression towards increased efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness in the year 2024. These efforts put together can be said to be showcasing India’s determination in the pursuit of legal and technological advancement in respect to governance and ensuring that these advances are not only effective but also fair.