Comment by architgupta | Hacker News Reader

Comment by architgupta | Hacker News Reader

Super excited by the Indian Government's focus on e-governance and technology!

Also see http://attendance.gov.in/ -- This is such a beautifully designed website that it blows my mind that the Government designed it!

Our startup ClearTax ( http://cleartax.in ) is made possible by the APIs of the Indian IRS.

The APIs aren't completely open but the registration process is not very onerous. The most interesting aspect is that the Indian IRS is keen on improving the APIs. When we make bug reports, they usually push fixes within 48 hours which is almost unexpected from the Government! Not everything is great but its one of the most advanced tax APIs in the world imo. The bug reporting process is a bit broken, but after the bug was reported they called us back and gave us information about the fix!

I am also deeply optimistic about India's progress in the next decade because of the new PM and the strong focus on development. See also: http://www.makeinindia.com/ a new initiative by the Government to get entrepreneurs building in India.

Incidentally, attendance.gov.in seems to be down. Perhaps someone can confirm from their side.

As for the design - they've used a stock "analytics" template based on bootstrap (as I remember seeing in their source code when the site was up, having been surprised at the design goodness myself!).

One of the most interesting things is that the Modi government is _not_ pioneering biometrics attendance. It's been around since 2009 [1] and an early version of the dashboard did exist, but on a domain that languishes with disuse. So if anything, there are pushes being made with a lot of PR about tightening this and that - but honestly, in the 6 months that the new government has been in power, I'm hardpressed to find _real_ measures of technological advancement in terms of policy or implementation. And let's be realistic - 6m is not enough time for any advancement in technology at the scale at which it needs to be meaningful.

I would give them props on the dahsboard being made anew, but unfortunately, that has also been frought with glaring issues. [2]

For now - fingers crossed.

[1] http://www.babusofindia.com/2010/08/chidambaram-to-tighten-a...

[2] https://medium.com/@troysk704/attendance-gov-in-4e87acae39b7

Let's do a bit of political sleuthing and indulge in a smidgen of sincere speculation, here.

This is not to judge his leadership early but to set realistic expectations in a country where hope in transformational leaders, is all too often, cruelly crushed.

So lets ask this: what clues has Mr. Modi left so far - in the present term and in his previous stints as the Chief Minister of Gujarat - to lead us to believe that he is a stickler for lasting change and not impetuous acts of political theater.

Does his track record show a penchant for thoroughness and completion?

He is known not to trust underlings, delegate little and in general not given to relinquishing control.[1]

Again these are early days, but is anyone prepared to share their hunch on how effective this man will prove to be in transforming India, say four years on?

[1] Defying Expectations in India, Modi Begins Key Trip to U.S.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/world/asia/narendra-modi-d...

Can you please share a link where I could find all government APIs? If there is none, can you tell us more about how to get the APIs?

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