From correspondents in Delhi, India, 10:32 PM IST

India's software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Monday called upon the central government to institutionalise e-governance and launch a portal that would act as a single window for the public to interact with various government agencies.

'This will make governments more efficient and help people get access to government departments through one window without being physically present there,' TCS CEO and managing director S. Ramadorai told reporters after releasing here a white paper on 'Roadmap for e-governance in India'.

Claiming that its project with Andhra Pradesh on the working of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was a success, the TCS has urged the central government to form a committee of parliament members for the speedy implementation of e-governance in the country.

The white paper also highlighted India's position in the global e-governance ranking, which is far behind many countries. India's per capita public sector spend on IT is $1.29, while New Zealand spends $199 and Singapore spends $153.

'Our white paper is an attempt to gain our expertise in e-governance projects to define a roadmap for India and highlight current impediments that is limiting the benefits of technology use,' Ramadorai said.

He added that vested interests were stalling the process of e-governance in India.

'There has to be synergy in the government projects. You have a government officer who pushes ahead for a change in the system of governance. But soon after he is posted out, the project gets buried,' said Tanmoy Chakrabarty, vice-president and head of global government industry solutions unit of the TCS.

Responding to a question on attrition, Ramadorai said his company had successfully managed to perform despite such problems. 'It's a global phenomena in the industry,' he pointed out. TCS' annual rate of attrition is about 12.6 percent.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)