Governance may be an activity of governing/controlling a country by its Government, controlling of an organisation or a company by its CEO or Board of Directors or controlling of a house hold by the head of the house, Accordingly E-governance may also involve governing of a country, organisation, company or a household, however with the help of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
But when we talk of E-Governance in the popular parlance we only refer to the governing of a Country/State using ICT.
E-governance therefore means the application of ICT to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of exchange of information and transaction between :
A: Government to citizens.
B: Citizens to Government.
C: Government to government.
D: Government to bussiness.
A:Government to Citizen
Government to Citizen relationship is the most basic aspect of E-Governance. In modern times, Government deals with many aspects of the life of a citizen. The relation of a citizen with the Government starts with the birth and ends with the death of the citizen. A person transacts with the Government on every corner of his life. May it be birth registration, marriage registration, divorce or death registration.
The G2C relation will include the services provided by the Government to the Citizens. These services include the public utility services i.e. Telecommunication, Transportation, Post, Medical facilities, Electricity, Education and also some of the democratic services relating to the citizenship such as Certification, Registration, Licensing, Taxation, Passports, ID Cards etc.
Therefore E-Governance in G2C relationship will involve facilitation of the services flowing from Government towards Citizens with the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
1.E-Citizenship- E-Citizenship will include the implementation of ICT for facilitation of Government Services relating to citizenship of an individual. It may involve online transactions relating to issue and renewal of documents likeRation Cards, Passports, Election Cards, Identity Cards, etc. It will require the Government to create a virtual identity of every citizen so as to enable them to access the Government services online. For the same, Government would need to create a Citizen Database which is a huge task.
2.E-Registration- E-Registration will cover the online registration of various contracts. An individual enters into several contracts during his life. Many of these contracts and transactions require registration for giving it legality and enforceability. Such registration may also be made ICT enabled. E-registration will help to reduce a significant amount of paperwork.
3.E-Transportation- E-Transportation services would include ICT enablement of services of Government relating to Transport by Road, Rail, Water or Air. This may involve online
1. booking and cancellation of tickets,
2. status of vehicles, railways, boats and flights,
3. issue and renewal of Driving Licences,
4. registration and renewal of vehicles,
5. transfer of vehicles,
6. payment of the fees of licences,
7. payment of fees and taxes for vehicle registration,
4.E-Health- E-Health services would be ICT enablement of the health services of the Government. Under this interconnection of all hospitals may take place. A patient database may be created. A local pharmacy database may also be created. All this can be done.
5.E-Education- E-Education would cover the implementation of ICT in imparting of education and conducting of Courses. Distant as will as classroom education will be facilitated with the use of ICT. Use of internet can reduce the communication time required in Distance education; Internet may also help in conducting online classes.
6.E-Help- E-Help refers to facilitation of disaster and crisis management using ICT. It includes the use of technologies like internet, SMS, etc. for the purpose of reducing the response time of the Government agencies to the disasters.NGOs help Government in providing help in situations of disasters. Online information relating to disasters, warnings and calls for help can help the Government and the NGOs coordinate their work and facilitate and speed up the rescue work.
7.E-Taxation- E-Taxation will facilitate the taxing process by implementing ICT in the taxing process. Online tax due alerts and online payment of taxes would help transact faster.
B.Citizen to Government
Citizen to Government relationship will include the communication of citizens with the Government arising in the Democratic process like voting, campaigning, feedback, etc.
1.E-Democracy- The true concept of Democracy includes the participation of the citizens in the democratic and governing process. Today due to the increased population the active participation of the citizens in governing process is not possible. The ICT can help enable the true democratic process including voting, public opinion, feedback and Government accountability.
2.E-Feedback- E-Feedback includes the use of ICT for the purpose of giving feedback to the Government. Lobbying is pursuing the Government to take a certain decision. Use of ICT can enable online feedback to the Government, online debates as to the Government services.
C.Government to Government
G2G relationship would include the relationships between Central and State Government and also the relationship between two or more Government departments.
1.E-administration- E-administration would include the implementation of ICT in the functioning of the Government, internally and externally. Implementation of ICT can reduce the communication time between the Government Departments and Governments. It can substantially reduce paperwork if properly used. E-administration will also bring morality and transparency to the administration of Government Departments.
2.E-police- The concept of E-police is little different from Cyber-Police. Cyber Police require technology experts to curb the electronic/cyber crimes. E-police refers to the use of ICT for the purpose of facilitating the work of the Police department in investigation and administration. The concept of E-police includes databases of Police Officers, their performances, Criminal databases wanted as well as in custody, the trends in crimes and much more. ICT can help reduce the response time of the Police department and also reduce cost by reducing paperwork.
3.E-courts- The concept of E-Court will include the ICT enablement of the judicial process. Technology may help distant hearing, online summons and warrants and online publication of Judgments and Decrees.
D.Government to Business
1.E-Taxation- Corporate sector pays many taxes, duties and dues to the Government. Payment of these taxes and duties will be made easier by E-Taxation. Online taxing and online payment of taxes can help reduce cost and time required for physical submission of taxes. ICT can also help crosscheck the frauds and deficiencies in payment, further bringing accuracy and revenue to the Government.
2.E-Licencing- Companies have to acquire various licences from the Government, similarly the companies have to acquire various registrations. ICT enablement of the licensing and registration can reduce time and cost.
3.E-Tendering- E-Tendering will include the facilities of online tendering and procurement. It will online alerts as to new opportunities of business with the Government and also online submission of tenders and online allotment of work. It will reduce time and cost involved in the physical tendering system.
The goals of e-Governance are:
1. Better service delivery to citizens
2. Ushering in transparency and accountability
3. Empowering people through information
4. Improved efficiency within Governments
5. Improve interface with business and industry.
The types of services possible through e-Governance can be broadly classified into three categories
(1) providing information
(2) improving processing efficiency
(3) facilitating transactions.
Amongst these, providing information is the simplest and the degree of complexities increase as we move from information to transactions. But it is the second and the third category of services that provide maximum convenience to the citizens. The challenge is to cover such services.
iv
The four pillars of e-Governance are:
People
Process
Technology
Resources.
The object of E-Governance is to provide a SMART Government.
The Acronym SMART refers to Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive, Responsible and Transparent Government.
S- The use of ICT brings simplicity in governance through electronic documentation, online submission, online service delivery, etc.
M -It brings Morality to governance as immoralities like bribing, red-tapism, etc. are eliminated.
A -It makes the Government accountable as all the data and information of Government is available online for consideration of every citizen, the NGOs and the media.
R -Due to reduced paperwork and increased communication speeds and decreased communication time, the Government agencies become responsive.
R -Technology can help convert an irresponsible Government Responsible. Increased access to information makes more informed citizens. And these empowered citizens make a responsible Government.
T -With increased morality, online availability of information and reduced red-tapism the process of governance becomes transparent leaving no room for the Government to conceal any information from the citizens.
These objects of E-Governance are achievable with the use of ICT and therefore the concept is very alluring and desirable.
My Name : VISHAKHA CHAUHAN
Reference website I used : a) www.indiaegovernance.blogspot.in
b) 2nd ARC report on e-governance.
