These thoughts lead me back to the time when I went to get my driving license. Even if I reached the office at 6:30 in the morning, it took me nearly six hours just to submit my form. First, you have to queue in front of one window, then you're sent to line up in front of another door, and then another until your feet get so tired that you feel they'll detach from your body.All these thoughts and experiences can't stop me from loathing our "offline government services." If we just suppose the procedure of all the government services and facilities were provided online, won't most of us devote our time uplifting the economy of our country by doing something productive instead of standing in queue for hours? The government officials could also be benefited, as they won't have to listen to the cries of all sorts of people who visit them. There would be less chances of bribery. In addition, corruption rate would decline.
I remember the time when I had to take the Microsoft Office Specialist exam. It was conducted online, and the results and certification were delivered online, too. I wasn't convinced about it at first, but when I sat down for the test, I loved it and got motivated to take another such exam if need be.
Likewise, if our government services were to be online, perhaps our loathing towards the entire system would decrease, too. Students wouldn't have to take a day off from their school/college to get one government paper ready. Professionals could come up with an important breakthrough in their career instead of lining up in government offices. If just a 56-second tremor could devastate the country, then any major event can happen within a day's time.
It's perhaps just my hypothesis based on the thought that online government services could save the time and efforts of thousands of people and corruption could decrease. Those efforts could probably be used in doing something worthwhile than just lining up somewhere. And who knows once we have a constitution and an online government, we might be a really cool, technologically advanced country!
Shraddha is an undergraduate student of Business Administration at Prime College in Naya Bazaar, Kathmandu.
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