The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology houses three departments: The Department of Telecommunications, Department of Information Technology, and Department of Posts. Together, these departments are responsible for developing the country’s e-infrastructure, email and conventional mail services.
As India becomes increasingly prominent in software programming and engineering, the government looks to this ministry to keep India's technologically current. This goal is balanced with providing snail mail service to the world's second largest population, which remains largely rural, agrarian and mostly offline.
The East India Company first connected the presidency towns of Fort William (Kolkata), Fort St. George (Chennai) and Bombay through courier services. The service was mostly for the bureaucrats. The couriers seldom delivered private packages and when they did, it was generally too expensive for average folks to use.
The Indian Post Office was formally established in 1837. It remained elitist, with VIPs like the Governor-General of India in Council using the facility without charge. Average people paid for mail. In 1850, with the enactment of the Postal Act, provincial supervision duties were allotted to British officials. Subsequently, the introduction of postage stamps allowed changes in postal rates, which were previously fixed by distance traveled for delivery. By 1861, India had 889 post offices nationwide to meet the growing demand for communication.
During this time, an Irish physician, William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, successfully experimented with telegraph technology in Calcutta. By 1855, telegraph lines connected Calcutta, Agra, Bombay, Peshawar, and Madras. Two years later, with the development of Morse code, telegraph lines expanded and connected more Indian cities. The same year, public telegram service was established. By 1870, underwater telegraph lines connected Britain and India.
The Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, established under the British Raj, still governs the use of telecommunications today. Subsequently, major cities and towns across the country were connected by telephones during the British Raj. According to the act, a “telegraph means any appliance, instrument, material or apparatus used or capable of use for transmission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, visual or other electro-magnetic emissions, Radio waves or Hertzian waves, galvanic, electric or magnetic means.” Amendments to this Act have since been made to include newer technologies like email and cell phones.
At the time of Independence, India had more than 1,200 post offices nationwide. But India's first governing body for communications came in 1972 with the Indian Post & Telecommunications Accounts and Finance Service, which oversaw telecommunication services. By 1975, it was separated into the Department of Posts and Department of Telecommunication.
In the early 1990s, the telecommunications sector liberalized, separating the government’s policy wing from its operations. Consequently, the Indian government opened the telecom sector to private investment, effectively corporatizing most of it. By 2000, Reliance Communications, Tata Indicom, Vodafone, Airtel, and plenty of other private operators successfully entered the market, quickly making India one of the most competitive and fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Today, India enjoys some of the world's most affordable mobile rates, a consequence of the major carriers sharing cell-phone towers.
The ministry creates policies regarding various forms of communications, develops initiatives, promotes usage and accessibility, lends assistance to other departments, promotes IT education and administers cyber laws, amongst other functions. More recently, the ministry faced criticism for censoring the Internet, especially popular social networking sites. The ministry also oversees many others functions through its subordinate departments
Attached Bodies or Autonomous Bodies
Department of Telecommunications
The DOT formulates telecommunication policies. This includes granting licenses for telecom services and monitoring wireless transmissions. Until the early 1990s, the department also monopolized Indian through telecom through the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or BSNL, which served most of the country and the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), which covered Mumbai and New Delhi. Both companies reputedly offered abysmal service since they faced competition. Both BSNL and MTNL's service has remained poor. The department has expressed interest in merging the two failing companies.
Department of Information Technology
The Department of Information Technology (DeitY) captains the ministry’s promotion of IT education, interfaces with international IT agencies and creates initiatives to develop hardware and software industries to boost India's IT sector.
The department's not-for-profit company, Media Lab Asia, carries the official motto: “Innovating for Digital Inclusion.”
The department also administers the Information Technology Act of 2000, effectively policing India's cyberspace. It also runs the National informatics Centre, which provides infrastructure and e-governance support to the Indian government.
Deity's most interesting sub-division might be the Centre of Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). C-DAC’s achievements include PARAM – India’s series of supercomputers, which were designed by Vijay P. Bhatkar. C-DAC was established in 1988, the result of a joint effort between India and Russia. With the Cold War just beginning to thaw, India was denied America’s Cray supercomputer due to a technology embargo. At the time, supercomputers were considered capable of assisting in the development of nuclear weapons.
Operating under its brand name, “India Post” is the world’s most extensive post office system. First established under the East India Company, it is governed by the Indian Post Office Act of 1898. This department is responsible for traditional postal services as well as the Army Postal Services, e-Post and e-BillPost. It is also the authority for international financial remittances and other financial services.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology divides funds among its three departments.
Department of Telecommunications
Operations within the Wireless Planning and Co-ordination Wing – which deals with policy implementation and administration of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Indian Wireless Act, 1933; Controller of Communication Accounts – deals with the management of retirement and other benefits of DoT, BSNL and MTNL employees; Telecom Enforcement, Resources and Monitoring cells – performs vigilance and monitoring functions; and the Telecommunications Engineering Centre – deals with technical requirements, formulating fundamental national telecom plans, utilization of scarce resources, testing and certification, monitoring networks for compliance, and functioning as Designating Authority of India.
Much of the budget is consumed by capital outlay on other communication services. The financial review for 2011-12 shows the total telecommunication service budget estimates (BE) is Rs. 97738 crore ($17.83 billion USD), which is Rs. 1629 crore ($297.21 million USD) more than the previous financial year. The revised estimates for 2010-11 were Rs.108001.7 crore ($19.70 billion USD). The outlay for the department is Rs. 198810.9 billion ($36.27 billion USD) for 2011-2012 according to the expenditure budget.
Department of IT
The operations of the DIT are divided amongst a myriad of offices, statutory organizations, autonomous societies and non-profit companies. Much of the budget is utilized by R&D programs and infrastructure development programs. The total budgeted estimates for 2011-12 are Rs. 30486.1 crore ($5.56 billion USD). The outlay for DIT is Rs. 36190.7 crore ($6.60 billion USD).
India Post
The outlay for postal services for the 2011-12 financial year is Rs. 80000 crore ($14.60 billion USD). The focus is on development and repositioning India Post.
The Indian Watergate - 2GSCAM
The 2G spectrum scandal involves the illegal sale of telecom licenses in January 2008. Then telecommunications minister A Raja, in conjunction with close associates in the telecommunications ministry and corporate executives, awarded 122 telecom licenses in one day based on 2001 prices (as opposed to the more expensive 2008 prices). It is further alleged that Raja arbitrarily added, changed, and ignored procedures in order to benefit telecommunications companies he favored, even those that were ineligible for the frequency allotment. An actual auction of the licenses was therefore not possible. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department believe that Raja probably received around Rs. 3,000 crore ($533 million USD) in bribes for his actions.
CAG investigated the license issuance process and submitted a strongly critical report in November 2010. The report concluded that “the entire process of allocation of licenses lacked transparency and was undertaken in an arbitrary, unfair and inequitable manner.” CAG alleged that, among other things, Raja deliberately ignored the advice of the Ministry of Law and Justice; refused to adhere to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recommendations; made arbitrary changes to the application process; and issued licenses to ineligible applicants (85 out 122 were deemed ineligible). Perhaps most importantly the report alleged that Raja’s actions cost the government Rs. 1.76 lakh crore (~$31.3 billion USD) in lost revenues. This created a major political backlash. Because of the potential loss, the 2G scam is considered to be one of the worst corruption cases in Indian history. The figure, now disputed, has ignited a political debate.
In February 2011, the government established the Joint Parliamentary Committee to Examine Matters Relating to Allocation and Pricing of Telecom Licenses and Spectrum (JPC) to investigate the scandal in detail. The committee invited Vinod Rai, CAG, to testify. In particular the committee wanted to know how CAG quantified the loss to reach the Rs. 1.76 lakh crore (~$31.3 billion USD) figure. Rai has held on to the Rs. 1.76 lakh crore (~$31.3 billion USD) figure whereas JPC members as well as outsiders have disputed its accuracy.
What is 2G Spectrum Scam? (NDTV)
Performance Audit Report on the Issue of Licenses and Allocation of 2G Spectrum (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) (pdf)
'A Raja Made Rs 3,000 cr in Bribes' (by Dhananjay Mahapatra, Times of India)
Background
Should India Monitor the Internet for National Security?
As Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Kapil Sibal has taken Internet regulation to the next level. In TK, he requested that Google, Facebook and Twitter monitor posts about Indian politicians. In February 2012, Google and Facebook blocked content deemed “religiously offensive” after an Indian court warned them that they would opt for a Chinese style crackdown on these popular sites. The Indian government also expressed concern over the encrypted format of RIM BlackBerry’s messenger and email services. The government asked the Canadian company to allow access to Blackberry messages that are being sent around the country. RIM denied the request. But the growing incursions into the online lives of many Indians, raised concerns about privacy. Especially as the government revealed it taps up to 300 new phones every day.
Pro-India Monitoring the Internet for National Security
The government stands firm on its stance by stating that anything “grossly harmful,” “harassing,” or “ethnically objectionable” are disallowed in its jurisdiction. The statement released by the India government also says, “These due diligence practices are the best practices followed internationally by well-known mega corporations operating on the internet.”
The vaguely worded statement, which restricts a wide range of web content, has the opposition referring to right to freedom of speech and expression as mentioned in the Indian constitution, and brings democracy to question. However, the Indian government’s statement mentions that “the Government remains fully committed to freedom of speech and expression and the citizen’s rights in this regard.”
The widely deliberated case of cyber restrictions have questions about freedom of speech and right to information in other democracies as well. According to Google’s Transparency report, other democracies like the US, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and the UK have made even more onerous requests than the Indian government.
India Asks Google, Facebook to Screen User Content (by Heather Timmons, New York Times)
Blackberry Security Stance Sows Anxiety (by Miguel Helft and Vikas Bajaj, New York Times)
Privacy Concerns Grow in India (by Rama Lakshmi, The Washington Post)
India Censors Google, Facebook – But Other Democracies are Even Worse (by Elizabeth Flock, Washington Post)
Why India Needs Natgrid (Livemint)
Govt Gives Go-ahead for NATGRID (by Vishwa Mohan, Times of India)
Anti-India Monitoring The Internet For National Security
The widely contested and controversial ban on content has raised the ire of India’s already rebellious youth. Indian Internet users believe the country enforce the goals of the new cyber rules without violating the liberties guaranteed by the constitution. These opponents of increased monitoring are further disturbed by India's plan to set up a National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), which screens Internet data and stores users personal (and bank) information. In this case, NATGRID will be installed for counter terrorism purposes, by monitoring online interactions, even with the privacy of users at stake.
Death of Democracy in India, Birth of censorship (by Wendy Papakostandini, Alternatives International)
Google Issues Statement on New Indian Web Rules (by Amol Sharma, Wall Street Journal)
India Clarifies Controversial Web Rules (by Amol Sharma, Wall Street Journal)
India Asks Facebook and Friends to Screen Content (by Brid-Aine Parnell, A Register)
Fix Outdated Indian Government Websites
Many Indian governmental websites feel like a journey back to the dawn of the Internet. There are spinning gifs, dead links and crowded, confusing navigation. In comparison to Canadian or U.S. government websites, many Indian government websites seem inefficient and dated. There are, however, more pressing concerns. In August 2011, the ministry admitted that a Pakistani hacker comprised 117 government websites. Since the Ministry of Communications and IT is in charge of maintaining these websites, many observers think they need better sites with both design and security for this millennia.
Pakistani Hacks Indian Websites (by K. Srinivas Reddy, The Hindu)
- Table of Contents
- Overview
- History
- What it Does
- Where Does the Money Go
- Controversies
- Debate
- Suggested Reforms
- Former Directors
- Comments
- Leave a comment
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology houses three departments: The Department of Telecommunications, Department of Information Technology, and Department of Posts. Together, these departments are responsible for developing the country’s e-infrastructure, email and conventional mail services.
As India becomes increasingly prominent in software programming and engineering, the government looks to this ministry to keep India's technologically current. This goal is balanced with providing snail mail service to the world's second largest population, which remains largely rural, agrarian and mostly offline.
The East India Company first connected the presidency towns of Fort William (Kolkata), Fort St. George (Chennai) and Bombay through courier services. The service was mostly for the bureaucrats. The couriers seldom delivered private packages and when they did, it was generally too expensive for average folks to use.
The Indian Post Office was formally established in 1837. It remained elitist, with VIPs like the Governor-General of India in Council using the facility without charge. Average people paid for mail. In 1850, with the enactment of the Postal Act, provincial supervision duties were allotted to British officials. Subsequently, the introduction of postage stamps allowed changes in postal rates, which were previously fixed by distance traveled for delivery. By 1861, India had 889 post offices nationwide to meet the growing demand for communication.
During this time, an Irish physician, William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, successfully experimented with telegraph technology in Calcutta. By 1855, telegraph lines connected Calcutta, Agra, Bombay, Peshawar, and Madras. Two years later, with the development of Morse code, telegraph lines expanded and connected more Indian cities. The same year, public telegram service was established. By 1870, underwater telegraph lines connected Britain and India.
The Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, established under the British Raj, still governs the use of telecommunications today. Subsequently, major cities and towns across the country were connected by telephones during the British Raj. According to the act, a “telegraph means any appliance, instrument, material or apparatus used or capable of use for transmission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, visual or other electro-magnetic emissions, Radio waves or Hertzian waves, galvanic, electric or magnetic means.” Amendments to this Act have since been made to include newer technologies like email and cell phones.
At the time of Independence, India had more than 1,200 post offices nationwide. But India's first governing body for communications came in 1972 with the Indian Post & Telecommunications Accounts and Finance Service, which oversaw telecommunication services. By 1975, it was separated into the Department of Posts and Department of Telecommunication.
In the early 1990s, the telecommunications sector liberalized, separating the government’s policy wing from its operations. Consequently, the Indian government opened the telecom sector to private investment, effectively corporatizing most of it. By 2000, Reliance Communications, Tata Indicom, Vodafone, Airtel, and plenty of other private operators successfully entered the market, quickly making India one of the most competitive and fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Today, India enjoys some of the world's most affordable mobile rates, a consequence of the major carriers sharing cell-phone towers.
The ministry creates policies regarding various forms of communications, develops initiatives, promotes usage and accessibility, lends assistance to other departments, promotes IT education and administers cyber laws, amongst other functions. More recently, the ministry faced criticism for censoring the Internet, especially popular social networking sites. The ministry also oversees many others functions through its subordinate departments
Attached Bodies or Autonomous Bodies
Department of Telecommunications
The DOT formulates telecommunication policies. This includes granting licenses for telecom services and monitoring wireless transmissions. Until the early 1990s, the department also monopolized Indian through telecom through the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or BSNL, which served most of the country and the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), which covered Mumbai and New Delhi. Both companies reputedly offered abysmal service since they faced competition. Both BSNL and MTNL's service has remained poor. The department has expressed interest in merging the two failing companies.
Department of Information Technology
The Department of Information Technology (DeitY) captains the ministry’s promotion of IT education, interfaces with international IT agencies and creates initiatives to develop hardware and software industries to boost India's IT sector.
The department's not-for-profit company, Media Lab Asia, carries the official motto: “Innovating for Digital Inclusion.”
The department also administers the Information Technology Act of 2000, effectively policing India's cyberspace. It also runs the National informatics Centre, which provides infrastructure and e-governance support to the Indian government.
Deity's most interesting sub-division might be the Centre of Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). C-DAC’s achievements include PARAM – India’s series of supercomputers, which were designed by Vijay P. Bhatkar. C-DAC was established in 1988, the result of a joint effort between India and Russia. With the Cold War just beginning to thaw, India was denied America’s Cray supercomputer due to a technology embargo. At the time, supercomputers were considered capable of assisting in the development of nuclear weapons.
Operating under its brand name, “India Post” is the world’s most extensive post office system. First established under the East India Company, it is governed by the Indian Post Office Act of 1898. This department is responsible for traditional postal services as well as the Army Postal Services, e-Post and e-BillPost. It is also the authority for international financial remittances and other financial services.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology divides funds among its three departments.
Department of Telecommunications
Operations within the Wireless Planning and Co-ordination Wing – which deals with policy implementation and administration of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Indian Wireless Act, 1933; Controller of Communication Accounts – deals with the management of retirement and other benefits of DoT, BSNL and MTNL employees; Telecom Enforcement, Resources and Monitoring cells – performs vigilance and monitoring functions; and the Telecommunications Engineering Centre – deals with technical requirements, formulating fundamental national telecom plans, utilization of scarce resources, testing and certification, monitoring networks for compliance, and functioning as Designating Authority of India.
Much of the budget is consumed by capital outlay on other communication services. The financial review for 2011-12 shows the total telecommunication service budget estimates (BE) is Rs. 97738 crore ($17.83 billion USD), which is Rs. 1629 crore ($297.21 million USD) more than the previous financial year. The revised estimates for 2010-11 were Rs.108001.7 crore ($19.70 billion USD). The outlay for the department is Rs. 198810.9 billion ($36.27 billion USD) for 2011-2012 according to the expenditure budget.
Department of IT
The operations of the DIT are divided amongst a myriad of offices, statutory organizations, autonomous societies and non-profit companies. Much of the budget is utilized by R&D programs and infrastructure development programs. The total budgeted estimates for 2011-12 are Rs. 30486.1 crore ($5.56 billion USD). The outlay for DIT is Rs. 36190.7 crore ($6.60 billion USD).
India Post
The outlay for postal services for the 2011-12 financial year is Rs. 80000 crore ($14.60 billion USD). The focus is on development and repositioning India Post.
The Indian Watergate - 2GSCAM
The 2G spectrum scandal involves the illegal sale of telecom licenses in January 2008. Then telecommunications minister A Raja, in conjunction with close associates in the telecommunications ministry and corporate executives, awarded 122 telecom licenses in one day based on 2001 prices (as opposed to the more expensive 2008 prices). It is further alleged that Raja arbitrarily added, changed, and ignored procedures in order to benefit telecommunications companies he favored, even those that were ineligible for the frequency allotment. An actual auction of the licenses was therefore not possible. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department believe that Raja probably received around Rs. 3,000 crore ($533 million USD) in bribes for his actions.
CAG investigated the license issuance process and submitted a strongly critical report in November 2010. The report concluded that “the entire process of allocation of licenses lacked transparency and was undertaken in an arbitrary, unfair and inequitable manner.” CAG alleged that, among other things, Raja deliberately ignored the advice of the Ministry of Law and Justice; refused to adhere to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recommendations; made arbitrary changes to the application process; and issued licenses to ineligible applicants (85 out 122 were deemed ineligible). Perhaps most importantly the report alleged that Raja’s actions cost the government Rs. 1.76 lakh crore (~$31.3 billion USD) in lost revenues. This created a major political backlash. Because of the potential loss, the 2G scam is considered to be one of the worst corruption cases in Indian history. The figure, now disputed, has ignited a political debate.
In February 2011, the government established the Joint Parliamentary Committee to Examine Matters Relating to Allocation and Pricing of Telecom Licenses and Spectrum (JPC) to investigate the scandal in detail. The committee invited Vinod Rai, CAG, to testify. In particular the committee wanted to know how CAG quantified the loss to reach the Rs. 1.76 lakh crore (~$31.3 billion USD) figure. Rai has held on to the Rs. 1.76 lakh crore (~$31.3 billion USD) figure whereas JPC members as well as outsiders have disputed its accuracy.
What is 2G Spectrum Scam? (NDTV)
Performance Audit Report on the Issue of Licenses and Allocation of 2G Spectrum (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) (pdf)
'A Raja Made Rs 3,000 cr in Bribes' (by Dhananjay Mahapatra, Times of India)
Background
Should India Monitor the Internet for National Security?
As Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Kapil Sibal has taken Internet regulation to the next level. In TK, he requested that Google, Facebook and Twitter monitor posts about Indian politicians. In February 2012, Google and Facebook blocked content deemed “religiously offensive” after an Indian court warned them that they would opt for a Chinese style crackdown on these popular sites. The Indian government also expressed concern over the encrypted format of RIM BlackBerry’s messenger and email services. The government asked the Canadian company to allow access to Blackberry messages that are being sent around the country. RIM denied the request. But the growing incursions into the online lives of many Indians, raised concerns about privacy. Especially as the government revealed it taps up to 300 new phones every day.
Pro-India Monitoring the Internet for National Security
The government stands firm on its stance by stating that anything “grossly harmful,” “harassing,” or “ethnically objectionable” are disallowed in its jurisdiction. The statement released by the India government also says, “These due diligence practices are the best practices followed internationally by well-known mega corporations operating on the internet.”
The vaguely worded statement, which restricts a wide range of web content, has the opposition referring to right to freedom of speech and expression as mentioned in the Indian constitution, and brings democracy to question. However, the Indian government’s statement mentions that “the Government remains fully committed to freedom of speech and expression and the citizen’s rights in this regard.”
The widely deliberated case of cyber restrictions have questions about freedom of speech and right to information in other democracies as well. According to Google’s Transparency report, other democracies like the US, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and the UK have made even more onerous requests than the Indian government.
India Asks Google, Facebook to Screen User Content (by Heather Timmons, New York Times)
Blackberry Security Stance Sows Anxiety (by Miguel Helft and Vikas Bajaj, New York Times)
Privacy Concerns Grow in India (by Rama Lakshmi, The Washington Post)
India Censors Google, Facebook – But Other Democracies are Even Worse (by Elizabeth Flock, Washington Post)
Why India Needs Natgrid (Livemint)
Govt Gives Go-ahead for NATGRID (by Vishwa Mohan, Times of India)
Anti-India Monitoring The Internet For National Security
The widely contested and controversial ban on content has raised the ire of India’s already rebellious youth. Indian Internet users believe the country enforce the goals of the new cyber rules without violating the liberties guaranteed by the constitution. These opponents of increased monitoring are further disturbed by India's plan to set up a National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), which screens Internet data and stores users personal (and bank) information. In this case, NATGRID will be installed for counter terrorism purposes, by monitoring online interactions, even with the privacy of users at stake.
Death of Democracy in India, Birth of censorship (by Wendy Papakostandini, Alternatives International)
Google Issues Statement on New Indian Web Rules (by Amol Sharma, Wall Street Journal)
India Clarifies Controversial Web Rules (by Amol Sharma, Wall Street Journal)
India Asks Facebook and Friends to Screen Content (by Brid-Aine Parnell, A Register)
Fix Outdated Indian Government Websites
Many Indian governmental websites feel like a journey back to the dawn of the Internet. There are spinning gifs, dead links and crowded, confusing navigation. In comparison to Canadian or U.S. government websites, many Indian government websites seem inefficient and dated. There are, however, more pressing concerns. In August 2011, the ministry admitted that a Pakistani hacker comprised 117 government websites. Since the Ministry of Communications and IT is in charge of maintaining these websites, many observers think they need better sites with both design and security for this millennia.
Pakistani Hacks Indian Websites (by K. Srinivas Reddy, The Hindu)
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