E-Governance
The advancement in information technology has a profound impact in countries economy, thus the quality of life. The convergence of computer, communications and contents creates tremendous opportunities as well as challenges. The IT revolution will be of much greater significance than the Industrial Revolution of 17th century.
New public Management (NPM) approaches- ranging from triple- ‘D’, i.e., decentralization, disaggregation and downsizing to electronic delivery of public services are being tried by the public sector organizations (PSO’s) to cure the evils of misgovernance. It is in this context that the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in general and the ‘Internet’ in particular has emerged as a strategically handy tool to deliver them electronically.
The NPM seeks to make administration citizen focused and there is no doubt that technology enabled governance would not just be 24 hours, 7 hours, one stop public oriented but would also proved to be Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent (SMART) governance.
First Good Governance and Thereafter e-Governance
— Sincere Compliance of Existing laws, rules and regulation will bring 40% improvements in the delivery of Citizen Services
— Rationalization and simplification of existing laws, rules and regulation will bring another 20% improvements
— Remaining 40% improvements could be facilitated by the use of Information Technology
What is e-Government?
— An alternative way of delivering services utilizing information technology.
— E-Government should be used to enhance service delivery NOT replace it.
— E-Government is enabled with three elements – people, processes and technology.
E-governance refers to the use of Information and communication technologies (ICT), such as the Internet, Wide Area Network, mobile phones etc., to deliver services to citizens that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses and other arms of Government.
Why do we need e-Government?
— E-Government creates opportunity.
— Efficient information distribution (self-serve)
— Reduced costs
— Potential for greater transparency
— Collaboration and sharing with other governments
— E-Governance is now mainly seen as a key element of the country’s governance and administrative reform agenda. The Government of India aspires to provide:
— Governance that is easily understood by and accountable to the citizens, open to democratic involvement and scrutiny (an open and transparent government)
— Citizen-centric governance that will cover all of its services and respect everyone as individuals by providing personalised services.
— An effective government that delivers maximum value for taxpayers’ money (quick and efficient services)
Hence the Government of India views e-Governance as a vehicle to initiate and sustain reforms by focusing on three broad areas:
Governance
— Transparency
— People’s participation
— Promotion of a democratic society
Public services
— Efficient, cost-effective and responsive governance
— Convenient services to citizens and businesses
— Greater citizen access to public information
— Accountability in delivery of services to citizens
Management
— Simplicity, efficiency and accountability
— Managing voluminous information and data effectively
— Information services
— Swift and secure communication
— Indicated below are some of the key initiatives taken in the country across some of the important citizen/business related departments1:
Stages of e-Governance
It is evident that e-Governance is intrinsically linked with the development of computer technology, networking of computers and communication systems. In developing countries, such technologies and systems became available with a perceptible time lag as compared to developed nations. However, in the case of India, with the liberalization of the economy from the early 1990s onwards, there has been a convergence in the availability of cutting edge technologies and opportunities in the field of e-Governance. Generally speaking, the Indian experience demonstrates that the onset of e-Governance proceeded through the following phases:
(a) Computerization: In the first phase, with the availability of personal computers, a large number of Government offices got equipped with computers. The use of computers began with word processing, quickly followed by data processing.
(b) Networking: In this phase, some units of a few government organizations got connected through a hub leading to sharing of information and flow of data between different government entities.
(c) On-line presence: With increasing internet connectivity, a need was felt for maintaining a presence on the web. This resulted in maintenance of websites by government departments and other entities. Generally, these web-pages/web-sites contained information about the organizational structure, contact details, reports and publications, objectives and vision statements of the respective government entities. On-line interactivity: A natural consequence of on-line presence was opening up of communication channels between government entities and the citizens, civil society organizations etc. The main aim at this stage was to minimize the scope of personal interface with government entities by providing downloadable Forms, Instructions, Acts, Rules etc. In some cases, this has already led to on-line submission of Forms. Most citizen-government transactions have the potential of being put on e-Governance mode.
Types of Interactions in e-Governance
E-Governance facilitates interaction between different stake holders in governance. These interactions may be described as follows:
G2G (Government to Government) – In this case, Information and communications Technology is used not only to restructure the governmental processes involved in the functioning of government entities but also to increase the flow of information and services within and between different entities. This kind of interaction is only within the sphere of government and can be both horizontal i.e. between different government agencies as well as between different functional areas within an organisation, or vertical i.e. between national, provincial and local government agencies as well as between different levels within an organisation. The primary objective is to increase efficiency, performance and output.
G2C (Government to Citizens) – In this case, an interface is created between the government and citizens which enables the citizens to benefit from efficient delivery of a large range of public services. This expands the availability and accessibility of public services on the one hand and improves the quality of services on the other. It gives citizens the choice of when to interact with the government (e.g. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), from where to interact with the government (e.g. service centre, unattended kiosk or from one’s home/workplace) and how to interact with the government (e.g. through internet, fax, telephone, email, face-to-face, etc). The primary purpose is to make government, citizen-friendly.
G2B (Government to Business) – Here, e-Governance tools are used to aid the business community – providers of goods and services – to seamlessly interact with the government. The objective is to cut red tape, save time, reduce operational costs and to create a more transparent business environment when dealing with the government. The G2b initiatives can be transactional, such as in licensing, permits, procurement and revenue collection. They can also be promotional and facilitative, such as in trade, tourism and investment. These measures help to provide a congenial environment to businesses to enable them to perform more efficiently.
G2E (Government to Employees) – Government is by far the biggest employer and like any organisation, it has to interact with its employees on a regular basis. This interaction is a two-way process between the organisation and the employee. Use of IcT tools helps in making these interactions fast and efficient on the one hand and increase satisfaction levels of employees on the other.
National E-Governance Plan
The Government of India kick started the use of IT in the government in the right earnest by launching number of initiatives. First the Government approved the National E-Governance Action plan for implementation during the year 2003-2007. The plan is an attempt to lay the foundation and provide impetus for long-term growth of e-governance within the country. It proposed to create the right governance and institutional mechanisms at the center, state and local levels to provide a citizen centric and business centric environment for governance.
NeGP is a comprehensive “programme” of the Government of India and is designed to leverage capabilities and opportunities presented by ICT to promote good governance across the country.
One of the learning that is at the core of the NeGP is the emphasis on implementation of such projects with clear timelines and responsibility allocations – in a “Mission Mode”.
The Plan initially extends over a 4-year period at an estimated cost of over USD 3 billion. NeGP is aimed at introducing e-Governance systematically through 25 Mission Mode projects, which would touch the lives of more than 1 billion people.
The focus of the plan includes the following sectors/projects:
Agriculture:
E-governance projects in the agricultural sector can provide benefit to farmers and the rural people and also enhance the lives of urban poor. There are numerous sub-projects pertaining to provision of timely expert advice to farmers, food security, marketability and commercial information relating to agricultural products, enhancing crop productivity, enhancing the reach of and ease of access to micro-credit, etc.
Municipalities:
The coordinating agency is the Ministry of Urban Development. The main programs relevant to vulnerable and marginalized groups are registration of births and deaths, grievances and suggestions, health programs, etc.
Gram Panchayats (elected village administration):
The important programmes being implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development for poverty reduction are employment generation, provision of basic services, infrastructure development etc.
Common Service Centre’s (CSCs) is one of the integrated projects envisioned in NeGP. The CSCs provide assisted community access points – a necessity in a country with relatively low levels of literacy and ICT penetration in rural areas. These centres are very effective in providing multiple services provided by different departments at a single location. Under this program, it is aimed to establish 100,000 CSCs predominantly in the rural areas to serve the needs of the traditionally underserved areas.
Core Infrastructure such as State Wide Area Networks, Data Centres, Gateways, etc. forms another critical element of the NeGP. Approximately 15% of the total program outlay is earmarked for common core and support infrastructure that is shared across projects, excluding the cost of infrastructure that is created specific to, and as a part of, individual projects.
Urban Utilities:
Development of an online integrated information and monitoring system for delivery, accounting, compliance and payment for services- like water supply, electricity, telephones etc.
Compliance and payment of Taxes:
Payment of taxes and duties of all kinds electronically, filing of returns on account of income tax, sales tax, house tax etc.
Filling of Complaints:
FIR against any violation of law, complaint to police can be lodged electronically
Citizen centricity attributes –
Ø Reduction of visits to government offices –
It is very annoying to have to meet several officials for a task that actually takes perhaps just 5 minutes. Sometimes this also entails a number of visits that a citizen has to make to an office.
Ø User friendliness –
The service provider should have sufficient knowledge or access to it to answer the queries of the common user. The familiarity of the service provider with the services applicable to different user groups becomes an important element in faster and hassle-free service delivery.
E-Governance affords an excellent opportunity for India to radically improve the quality of governance and thereby:
— Allow for two-way communication between government and citizens not only for service delivery but also to receive opinions of citizens on policies and government performance
— Provide greater access to excluded groups, who have few opportunities to interact with government and benefit from its services and schemes
— Include all sections of the society in the mainstream of development
— Enabling rural and traditionally marginalized segments of the population to gain fast and convenient access to services in their own neighborhoods.
E- Governance in India:
Customs and Excise (Government of India)
— 98% of export and 90-95% of import documentation computerized
— Electronic filing through ICEGATE at 3 locations (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai)
— 80% of Service Tax returns electronically processed
Indian Railways (Government of India)
— Anywhere to Anywhere reservation from Anywhere
— Electronic Booking of tickets on select sectors
— Online Information on Railway reservation on Internet
Postal Department (Government of India)
— Direct e-credit of Monthly Income Scheme returns into the investors accounts
— Dematerialization of Savings Certificate (NSC) and Vikas Patras (KVP), offering full portability
Passport / Visa (Government of India)
— 100% passport information computerized
— All 33 Regional Passport Offices covered
— Machine readable passports at some locations
Benefits of e-Governance
In the end, e-Governance is about reform in governance, facilitated by the creative use of Information and communications Technology. It is expected that this would lead to:
i. Better access to information and quality services for citizens: IcT would make available timely and reliable information on various aspects of governance. In the initial phase, information would be made available with respect to simple aspects of governance such as forms, laws, rules, procedures etc later extending to detailed information including reports (including performance reports), public database, decision making processes etc. As regards services, there would be an immediate impact in terms of savings in time, effort and money, resulting from online and one-point accessibility of public services backed up by automation of back end processes. The ultimate objective of e-Governance is to reach out to citizens by adopting a life-cycle approach i.e. providing public services to citizens which would be required right from birth to death.
ii. Simplicity, efficiency and accountability in the government: Application of IcT to governance combined with detailed business process reengineering would lead to simplification of complicated processes, weeding out of redundant processes, simplification in structures and changes in statutes and regulations. The end result would be simplification of the functioning of government, enhanced decision making abilities and increased efficiency across government – all contributing to an overall environment of a more accountable government machinery. This, in turn, would result in enhanced productivity and efficiency in all sectors. Expanded reach of governance: Rapid growth of communications technology and its adoption in governance would help in bringing government machinery to the doorsteps of the citizens. Expansion of telephone network, rapid strides in mobile telephony, spread of internet and strengthening of other communications infrastructure would facilitate delivery of a large number of services provided by the government. This enhancement of the reach of government – both spatial and demographic – would also enable better participation of citizens in the process of governance.
The introduction of Information Technology in the governance process has brought about a revolution in the quality of service delivered to its citizens. It has ushered in:
(i) Transparency in the governing process;
(ii) Saving of time and cost due to provision of services to the citizens through single window;
(iii) Better decision making;
(iv) simplified office procedures;
(v) Checking corruption; and
(vi) Better office and record management.
E-Governance – Key Challenges
— Clarity in objective setting:
Project approval and funding of projects through multiple departmental budgets lead to wide variations in the approach to project objective setting, without a clear focus on outcomes or on building sustainable services. The service needs of citizens/ businesses and those of other departments are often either overlooked or accorded lower priority in relation to internal needs.
— Ensuring service delivery:
E-governance projects have primarily focused on internal process automation and generally are hardware and infrastructure driven (sometimes even vendor driven) with little focus on citizen service delivery or outcomes.
— Need for Government Process Reengineering:
Computerization of inefficient processes can lead to higher rather than lower levels of inefficiency and spiralling cost. Hence, it is essential to undertake process re-engineering as an integral part of e-governance project implementation in order to ensure increased efficiency and reduced costs.
— Standardization:
Departmental approach and absence of a national framework for common standards has resulted in adoption of different technical standards and varied architectures. This has significant implications for designing effective integrated applications and also entails long-term costs and sub-optimal results.
— Independent Impact Assessment:
In the current system, there is no requirement or institutional mechanism for an independent assessment of projects post-implementation to determine whether they have achieved the set objectives, except in purely financial terms. Further, very few projects have formal performance metrics defined at the start of the project to measure outcomes.
— Localisation:
ICT solutions were mostly developed with an English Language interface. However, in India a vast majority (95%) of the citizens do not know English and use the local language. The fact is that India has 22 official languages; for success of e-Governance, this reality needs to be reflected in the implementation strategy.
— Internal Capacity/Project Management Expertise:
Departments/ states have limited access to any institutional mechanisms for building capacities in the areas of e-governance project development and design, bid process management, professional project management, development of Contractual Frameworks, Service Level Agreements, etc. T
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