E for express1: “Seeing” the Indian State through ICTD

Abstract

This paper examines how, in their attempts to liberalize and modernize their operations, Indian states are using ICTD e-governance services to represent themselves in a new way to their citizens. It reveals how states come to be seen by their citizens through their everyday interactions at ICTD telecenters. The research finds that, with its e-governance services, the state is trying to recast its image to fit market-friendly principles such as economic efficiency, accountability and effectiveness. Citizens simultaneously trust the government as credible and are disillusioned with it as inefficient. Telecenter-provided e-governance services are partially re-shaping the boundaries between state, civil society and markets.