The governance systems in the third world have a dubious distinction of making processes difficult, and putting common people to trouble.
In India the era of Licence Raj is a part of the history of governance.
It is the pressure of economic and financial imperatives that the governments had to relax rules and make it easier to get licences and permissions.
The next stage came when the financial institutions and the markets got profusely connected to the global systems, and it was no longer possible to continue with the older practices of cumbersome procedures.
The stroke of liberalisation brought good degree of ease on account of such matters. Then came the revolution called IT.
It changed the face of governance. Now it was not possible to bury the matters for years under the tomes of files.
Under this impact governance system in India also started becoming alert, active, and relaxed. With the progress in internet connectivity, and masses getting access to this facility, systems became more responsive and user friendly.
But what defies logic is that certain things had to wait this long before taking a digital format, and making it possible for people to apply on-line.
The most shocking example is the case of physically disabled persons who were made to pay physical visits before getting the disability certificate. It is only now that online certificates will replace offline certificates.
This will reduce the visits to hospitals, and save this already disadvantageous lot from some trouble.
It was a long pending demand from this section of people that the process of getting a certificate should be made easier.
In fact there are many disturbing tales of how a disabled person was put to extreme trouble by being physically present multiple times.
Now that the Health and Medical Education Department has issued orders that the medical examination will be carried out by a medical board assembled together, it will bring ease to these people.
Further, making it online is a step that was desperately needed and should have been taken long back. In fact the disabled people must be the responsibility of a government.
They should be taken care of in every sense of the word. Just changing the nomenclature and taking some cosmetic measure won’t do.