Definition of e-Governance
E-governance is the application of information & communication technologies to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational & transactional exchanges with in government, between govt. & govt. agencies of National, State, Municipal & Local levels, citizen & businesses, and to empower citizens through access & use of information.
What e-government is NOT! :
Terms such as data resale, digital democracy, e-politics etc. are also frequently mentioned within the same breath as e-government. Neither of these terms, however, observes the principle of leveraging the Internet to simplify government. Digital democracy is, in fact, e-politics rather than e-government; that is, leveraging the Internet to simplify the election process (rather than government). It is important that these terms not muddle the objectives of e-government.
e-governance evolution : History and Present Status
The GoI initiated an e-government programme during the late 1990s by adopting the Information Technology Act in 2000. The major aims of this act were to recognise electronic contracts, prevent cyber crimes, and make electronic filing possible. Later in 2006, the govt approved the national e-governance plan (NeGP) to enhance e-govt initiatives in India. It was launched with aim of improving the delivery of govt services to the common people in their localities through common services centre (CSC)s, which were set across the country. In feb 2012, about 97,159 CSCs were operational with different names and they had delivering services to the people.
Following are some of the recent e-governance projects implemented by various state govts.
Some E-governance Initiatives
State/Union TerritoryInitiatives covering departmental automation, user charge collection, delivery of policy/programme information and delivery of entitlements
Andhra Pradeshe-Seva, CARD, VOICE, MPHS, FAST, e-Cops, AP onlineOne-stop-shop on the Internet, Saukaryam, Online Transaction processing
BiharSales Tax Administration Management Information
ChattisgarhChhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society, Treasury office, e-linking project
DelhiAutomatic Vehicle Tracking System, Computerisation of website of RCS office, Electronic Clearance System, Management Information System for Education etc
GoaDharani Project
GujaratMahiti Shakti, request for Government documents online, Form book online, G R book online, census online, tender notice.
HaryanaNai Disha
Himachal PradeshLok Mitra
KarnatakaBhoomi, Khajane, Kaveri
Keralae-Srinkhala, RDNet, Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for the Disbursement of Services (FRIENDS)
Madhya PradeshGyandoot, Gram Sampark, Smart Card in Transport Department, Computerization MP State Agricultural Marketing Board (Mandi Board) etc
MaharashtraSETU, Online Complaint Management SystemMumbai
RajasthanJan Mitra, RajSWIFT, Lokmitra, RajNIDHI
Tamil NaduRasi MaiyamsKanchipuram; Application forms related to public utility, tender notices and display
North-Eastern States
Arunachal Pradesh,Community Information Center. Forms available on
Manipur, Meghalaya, the Meghalaya website under schemes related to
Mizoram & Nagalandsocial welfare, food civil supplies and consumer affairs, housing transport etc.
Key Opportunities offered by e-governance:
(1) Increased effectiveness and efficiency-
Improved government services in terms of accomplishing the government spurpose and functioning.
(2) Better service-
E-governance can provide quick and timely services to stalkholder.
(3) Transparency-
The services provide directly from the government to recipients without any external interventions.
(4) Accessible any time and anywhere-
As e-governanace services are provided through web-enabled technology, they can be accessed anytime and anywhere.
(5) User-centric ICT-enabled services-
The services are primarily intended for the use of citizens, businesses , and the government itself.
(6) Reduced cost and time -
As the services are provided through internet , they are effective in terms of time and cost.
(7) Reduced bureaucracy-
E-governance minimizes the hierarchy of authorithy for availing any government services.
(8) Enhanced communication and co-ordination between govt organistions-
As automated services can be accessed by different organizations, co-ordination and further communication become relatively simple.
Challenges and barriers -
(1) Lack of IT Literacy and awareness regarding benefits of e-governance -
There is general lack of awareness regarding benefits of e-governance as well as the process involved in implementing successful G-C, G-G and G-B projects. The administrative structure is not geared for maintaining, storing and retrieving the governance information electronically.
(2) Underutilization of existing ICT infrastructure-
To a larger extent, the computers in the department are used for the purpose of word processing only, resulting in the underutilization of the computers in terms of their use in data mining for supporting management decisions.
(3) Lack of trust-
Variance in the degree of reliance on e-government services
(4) Digital divide -
Inequality between people in the social system in having access to and use of e-government services.
(5) Lack of coordination between Govt. Department and Solution developers-
Designing of any application requires a very close interaction between the govt. department and the agency developing the solutions. At present the users in govt. departments do not contribute enough to design the solution architecture.
(6) Lack of Infrastructure for sustaining e-governance projects on national level-
Infrastructure to support e-governance initiatives does not exist within government departments. The agony is that the government departments are not equipped to be in a position to project the clear requirements nor are there any guidelines for involving private sector.
e-Gov Action Plan Strategies for today:Vision for Future
Govt. leaders in India are starting to realize that e-governance is the key to drive todays economy with an increased participation from citizens. Providing services online is no longer going to remain optional for local and central government as demand for providing services @ internet speed has been coming from the citizens.
E-governance is about more than streamlining processes and improving services. Its about transforming Governments and renovating the way citizens participate in democracy. So how does a government agency cuts through the clutter and builds a strategy to facilitate the transition to successful online or e service delivery. Yet if the e-governance started and implemented in haste, the are doomed to fail. According to one of the surveys conducted by a reputed agency , 75% of e-governance may fail because of poor planning
. Some of the requirements for implementing successful e-governance across the nation are :
* e-Governance framework across the nation with enough bandwidth to service a population of one billion.
* Connectivity framework for making the services reach rural areas of the country or development of alternative means of services such as e-governance kiosks in regional languages.
* National Citizen database which is the primary unit of data for all governance vertical and horizontal applications across the state and central governments.
* E-governance and interoperability standards for the exchange of secure information with non-repudiation, across the state and central government departments seamlessly.
* A secure delivery framework by means of virtual private network connecting across the state and central government departments.
* Datacenters in centre and states to handle the departmental workflow automation, collaboration, interaction, exchange of information with authentication.
For success of an e-governance project and superior service delivery, it is imperative that the government agency focuses on whole citizen experience. Focusing on the citizen is essential for long term success. The govt. agency needs to integrate information from all points of citizen interaction. The overall architecture for e-Governance needs to ensure that the architecture components are extensible and scalable to adapt to the changing environments. The e-Governance applications that are emerging as islands of successes have to be interoperable. Following are some of the suggestions for the successful transformation:-
(1) Create Literacy and commitment to e-governance at high level-
The most important requirement is a training program for policy makers in E-Governance (Senior Public Servants), politicians and IT task force members. The training program needs to be focused according to the requirements of the policy makers at the top. Such programs can be need based and outsourced when required. In addition it should be made mandatory for all the stake holders in implementation and maintenance of e-governance services to have the general IT skills..
(2) Conduct Usability Surveys for assessment of existing e-governance projects-
There is a varying degree of development of e-governance among the different states. A few States have leapfrogged into a digital era whereas a few are yet to start with any initiative. There is a tremendous divergence in the extent of implementation of the concept of e-Governance.
(3) Starting with implementation of pilot projects and replicating the successful ones
The pilot projects taken in various states should be accessed for their achievement levels. They should be classified as success or failure according to the desired output written down before implementation of the projects. The study should be carried out by an independent agency for the implementation agency. Bottlenecks and causes of delays should be documented, even though they are removed later. The successful projects should be replicated over the nation with members drawn from the implementing team.
(4) Follow the Best Practices in e-governance -
The study of Best Practices will bring forward the best practices being followed nationally and internationally. The national and international Best Practices study will give a great momentum to the process of E-Governance. The State Governments will not have to re-invent wheel every time and they can learn from the developments already made.
(5) Have clearly defined Interoperability policy-
The egovernance architecture needs to ensure that the components are scalable and adaptable to the future requirements. It has also to ensure that the Local architecture fits into the State level and the same into National and Global architecture. Interoperability is a major criterion while defining the architecture.
(6) Manage and Update content on govt. websites efficiently and regularly-
Content is the 'heart' of any IT project. The govt. agency has to keep in mind some of the important technical guidelines, while developing the software and computerization, to facilitate the future integration. The department also needs to address the security of transactions and messages. The govt. agencies must ensure that the data on the sites is always updated and relevant.
Details-
Raj Singh Yadav
Reference websites-URL
1)http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/internet/documents/
2) www.egovindia.org/egovernancepaper.doc
3) yojana
4) arc.gov.in/11threp/ARC_11thReport_Ch4.pdf
