Women, youth deprived of e-governance benefits: CPD
Photo: Screengrab from video.
Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said although the country has initiated digital services and e-governance, women, youth, and marginalized groups remain deprived of their benefits due to infrastructural deficits, lack of skills, and poor awareness.
CPD made these remarks as it published a study titled “Establishing Effective and Accountable E-Governance to Strengthen Local Government Institutions.”
The study added that although the government set targets to create numerous categories of e-services, citizens cannot fully complete most of these services online. As a result, citizens must still visit government offices in person to obtain their services.
Presided over by CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun, the event featured the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance and Planning Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir as the chief guest. Supported by USAID, Switzerland, Canada, and the European Union, the study collected data from 2,611 citizens and 297 government offices at the union and upazila levels.
The research report highlighted that although the services are called digital on paper, citizens face suffering in reality. Only 1.8 percent of women and 2.9 percent of youth could fully complete their services through the online process.
Meanwhile, nearly 37 percent of women and youth reported that after submitting online applications, they had to hand over documents and stand in queues for the remaining steps.
More than half of the respondents had to appear in person to submit and collect papers, and nearly one-third of the citizens had to pay fees or provide signatures offline. Many citizens even raised allegations of having to pay bribes to receive these services.
A lack of necessary skills and internet disruptions stand as the primary obstacles to expanding digital services. The survey indicated that nearly half of the citizens suffer from a deficit in digital literacy, and most households lack the minimum capability to operate a basic computer.
Moreover, a significant portion of citizens expressed concern over the security of personal information. Women, in particular, fear information hacking or the misuse of their data by colleagues on digital platforms.
The report also exposed a dismal picture of the infrastructure of government offices; the local government offices scored a mere 38.9 out of 100 on the overall preparedness index.
Field-level offices have dysfunctional computers lying around, and most of these offices lack any emergency power backup system. The study found severe regional disparities in e-governance preparedness. While the Mymensingh and Rajshahi divisions occupied relatively better positions, the Rangpur division registered the worst performance.
Despite facing hurdles, most citizens do not file formal complaints due to their ignorance of institutional grievance systems. To resolve these issues, CPD proposed several urgent recommendations.
The organization believes the government should launch a “One Digital Member Per Household” program to train at least one member from every family to use government e-services.
Beyond just the application phase, CPD emphasized the urgency of shifting the entire service delivery online, ensuring uninterrupted power and modern equipment in grassroots offices, and reinforcing information security.
To alleviate public suffering, the organization also stressed the need for a simplified complaint system and the visible display of specific service delivery timeframes.
Other speakers at the event included iSocial Chairman Ananya Raihan, Public Finance Management MIS Specialist Aminul Muhaimin, a2i Senior Consultant Fazlul Zahed Pavel, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) Assistant Professor of Public Administration Mohammad Nur Ullah, and Savar Upazila Women’s Affairs Officer Mohammad Hafizur Rahman.
