Indeed, we can say that the statement is justified. For the fairly simple objective that the site has, it packs a whole lot of data. Of the few sites that provide information on the Indian government, we found this site to be the most comprehensive despite its fairly recent launch.
All About India
As part of the national e-governance plan, the site is designed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Its Web pages have a pristine, well-segregated look and appear multi-hued at first glance. Popular customary icons and colourful images of the Indian culture are placed on the top bar. Designed for use by both nationals and visitors, the site provides the latest updates on the activities and legislations of the Indian government.
The home page: perhaps a little too much clutter and colour, but comprehensive nonetheless
The prominent sections ‘Business’, ‘Overseas’, ‘Citizens’, ‘Government’, ‘Know India’, and ‘Sectors’ are very comprehensive. Under ‘Citizens’, there are eight links-Health, Education, Employment, Housing, Law & Order, Travel & Tourism, Banking & Insurance, and Taxes. Now, if you just click Health, five other links pop up-Schemes & Programmes, Alternative Systems of Medicine, Hospitals & Medical Institutions, Government & Health, and Acts, Laws & Policies-well, you get the idea.
Right in the middle of the home page, is a section called ‘Spotlight’ featuring the Special Economic Zones Act 2005. This section is regularly updated and focuses on the most topical issues. Moreover, at the bottom of the Web site are links pertaining to Maps, Web Directories, Greetings and other miscellaneous items. Currently, the Web site is also displaying a banner regarding the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas that will be held in January 2006. The site also offers Web casts of the live proceedings of Rajya Sabha.
Useful In Its Entirety
The site has put together extremely useful, interesting and varied content. The Maps section displays demographic and sectoral maps besides containing national and state maps. Users can get themselves registered on the site. And every time a user logs into the site, say, if he or she is a resident of Bhopal, then the user can access all possible data there is on Madhya Pradesh. This section has been customised based on the user profile saved with India.gov.in. State and national directories are also available which have a search base with numbers and names and again, they all are up and running. If you have a registered phone number, it’s bound to be present here!
The ‘How Do I?’ page is a great repository of information and answers for everything India related
At the extreme right side of the page is a section called ‘How do I?’. Here, a multitude of things, from obtaining various certificates to determining the status of stolen vehicles has been explained verbatim. Although the link is divided into seven subheadings and has all possible information a citizen of India would require. Imagine being able to check the status of the speed post mail you sent! Well, you can do that here.
The Web site has its shortcomings-the login box is visible only after navigating to the right of the page. You will practically stumble across it rather than spot it when scanning the page. Although the site boasts of various links, very few of them are actually available.
All said and done, these flaws are quite trivial compared to what the site offers. Information can be accessed without losing one’s way and one can access other features easily without having to divert to the home page, courtesy a tool bar on the right side of every page. Besides, the number of links India.gov.in provides to other Web sites is exhaustive. All in all, the site collates all that is necessary and does so with ease.