Acute, new-born baby was found on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore. People wondered about the identity of the father. One of the onlookers remarked, "It certainly cannot be a government official. They don't produce anything in such a short time." Jokes apart, there is certainly tremendous delay in state functioning. Delayed governance or bad governance can put a country back by a few hundred years.

India today is on the threshold of knowledge-based industrial revolution. It has emerged as an it superpower in the last ten years. We need effective governance to sustain this advantage. The primary reason for delayed decisions in government is age-old procedures, a legacy of the British. But the British themselves changed these procedures and brought about one of the most important and modern civil services reforms in their country. Yet we continue to follow the old procedures.

Consider how the files are handled in the Secretariat. Many files begin with the junior assistant and traverse all the way up to the cabinet ministers, passing through between nine and 12 layers. Even if each layer takes up two days, decisions are taken after 20 days. But actually, by the time a file goes through the chain of command, it takes around 36 days, far more if problems crop up. Information Technology can reduce these delays considerably.

Eric Brynjolfsson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, says that software and hardware account for only about a tenth of true corporate investment in it. A far larger investment goes into new business processes, new products and the training of employees, which does not show up as investment on corporate accounts. Instead, it generally appears as expenses. This investment is organisational capital, something we urgently need in government. However, most e-governance projects in government are hardware-purchasing programs. Once bought, they gather dust on the desks of senior officials. Not much time or money is spent in studying the systems, processes and development of software. So the computer becomes one more tool of delay.

Though we have talked of decentralisation for the last 50 years, a lot of centralisation has actually happened. In China, an official of the rank of Mayor can clear investments on the spot. Here, mayors go to the chief minister and present a memorandum for more funds. Our municipal and other local bodies should be strengthened. The Centre would do well to pack its entire bureaucracy in the North and South Blocks of Delhi and let power flow to states, cities and districts. The same applies to the states.

Earlier, the private sector used to participate in the municipal administration. The Mayor used to be a respected businessperson interested in the development of the city. Today these institutions have been taken over by career politicians. There is an absolute need to attract leading professionals and business people into the system. Karnataka has involved several private sector professionals and academicians in task forces that advise the government on policy as well as help in the implementation.

Information technology is advancing beyond expectations. In the 1860s a 20-word telegram cost Rs 64,600. Today a 20-page document can be e-mailed for less than 50 paise. Many old and new economy firms are taking advantage of it to improve their productivity. For instance, Dell reduced its inventory from 150 days to only 15 days using it.

India missed the manufacturing boom of the 20th century. But as an it super power, it can play a vital role in the knowledge-based global economy. This can transform an agriculture-based economy into a vibrant service-based one. Governments can take advantage of technology, but as I say, there are several governance issues that have to be addressed before we can capitalise on our core competency in it.

One Asian country, China, had a technological lead of 400 years but missed the first industrial revolution to a western country because bureaucratic controls did not allow the spread of technology. Another Asian country can lead the knowledge-based industrial revolution today. Can we prevent history from repeating itself?