The role of government is changing from a controller to an enabler but still is responsible for providing certain services to the citizens, just like an organization is responsible for managing a value chain that leads to output. The use of Information technology can make the provision of services to the citizen more efficient and transparent and can save costs and lead to a higher level of efficiency. Thus the e-governance has come up as a new buzz world in the service delivery mechanism of the government. E-Governance is in essence, the application of Information and Communications Technology to government functioning in order to create ‘Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent (SMART) governance.

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.

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 organization, or vertical i.e. between national, provincial and local government agencies as well as between different levels within an organization. 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 organization, it has to interact with its employees on a regular basis. This interaction is a two-way process between the organization 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.

This new paradigm focuses on the use of information technology to bring public services to the doorsteps of citizens and businesses on the basis of revolutionary changes in institutional structures, procedures and practices that would transform the relationships between our three levels of government, businesses and citizens.

MAJOR E-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES IN INDIA

1. CARD (Computer-Aided Administration of Registration Department) of Andhra Pradesh : This project included the complete computerization of the land registration process in the state. It is being used to record the sale and purchase of properties, power of attorney etc. Within three years of the launch of this project, nearly 90% of all registrations have been performed electronically in AP. It has been well received by the citizens because it has helped them in saving their time and providing accurate and effective results.
2. Mahiti Shakti of Gujarat : It operates like a single window through which the citizens can access information related to all aspects of the government’s functioning, various schemes and services ranging from obtaining ration cards to getting sanction for old age pension. Citizens are required to submit the necessary documents at the Info Kiosk and fill the required form online to obtain desired service.
3. Bhoomi project of Karnataka : Bhoomi is a self-sustainable e-Governance project for the computerized delivery of 20 million rural land records to 6.7 million farmers through 177 Government-owned kiosks in the State of Karnataka. It was felt that rural land records are central conduits to delivering better IT-enabled services to citizens because they contain multiple data elements: ownership, tenancy, loans, nature of title, irrigation details, crops grown etc. In addition to providing the proof of title to the land, this land record is used by the farmer for a variety of purposes: from documenting crop loans and legal actions, to securing scholarships for school-children. These records were hitherto maintained manually by 9,000 village officials. Through this project, computerised kiosks are currently offering farmers two critical services – procurement of land records and requests for changes to land title. About 20 million records are now being legally maintained in the digital format. To ensure authenticity of data management, a biometric finger authentication system has been used for the first time in an e-Governance project in India. To make the project self-sustaining and expandable, Bhoomi levies user charges.
4. Friends project of Kerala : This project has been used to provide benefits of Information Technology to the day to day transactions of common man. It is a “Single Window Scheme” in which the consumer can pay for the utility services rendered to him by the various Government departments/ agencies, under a single roof.
5. PayGov India National Payment Service platform : DeitY along with NSDL Database Management Ltd (NDML) has created a common infrastructure that can be used by Center/States/Departments to offer various services through their National / State portals with a facility to make online payment using net banking, credit cards and debit cards. PayGov India offers a range of payment options through which a payment can be made by the citizen to avail a service. The different options available to a citizen are: Net banking (approx. 65+ banks); Debit card; Credit card; IMPS; Cash Cards/ Wallets and NEFT/ RTGS. This will provide One Platform for Payments and Settlement and Unified process across all channels (Net banking/ Cards – Debit+ Credit cards/ IMPS/ Wallets/ Cash Cards).
6. EBiz Portal : Ministry of Commerce and Industry has announced the launch of eBiz, India’s first Government-to-Business (G2B) portal which aims at transforming and developing a conducive business environment in the country.
7. The portal which has been developed by Infosys in a public-private-partnership model will provide a one-stop shop for providing G2B services to investors and business communities in India. The portal will also help in reducing the delays and complexity in obtaining information and services.Businesses that are already operating in India or planning to start operations can use the portal to obtain licences, approvals, clearances, no objection certificates, permits and even for filing of returns.
8. It has an in-built payment gateway that will also add value by allowing all payments to be collected at one point and then apportioned, split and routed to the respective heads of account of Central / State / parastatal (a quasi-governmental organisation, corporation, business, or agency) agencies along with generation of challans and MIS (management information systems) reports.
9.  MCA 21: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has implemented the MCA 21 Mission Mode Project under the NeGP in September 2006 and presently the project is in the post implementation phase. The project aims at providing easy and secure online access to all registry related services provided by the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs to corporate and other stakeholders at any time and in a manner that best suits them. The goals of this project were formulated keeping in mind different stakeholders. These were:
   • a. Business: to enable registration of a company and file statutory documents quickly and easily.
   • b. Public: to get easy access to relevant records and effective grievances redressal.
   • c. Professionals: to enable them to offer efficient services to their client companies.
   • d. Financial Institutions: to easily find charges for registration and verification.
   • e. Employees: to enable them to ensure proactive and effective compliance of relevant laws and corporate governance.
10. Maharashtra Crime & Criminal Tracking Network & Systems : Crime & Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) aims at creating a comprehensive & integrated system for enhancing efficiency & effectiveness of policing through creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-art tracking system around “investigation of crime & detection of criminals” in real time, which is a critical requirement for ensuring security.
11. Khajane Project in Karnataka : It is a comprehensive online treasury computerization project of the Government of Karnataka. The project has resulted in the computerization of the entire treasury related activities of the State Government and the system has the ability to track every activity right from the approval of the State Budget to the point of rendering accounts to the government. The project was implemented to eliminate systemic deficiencies in the manual treasury System. Thus it has contributed in bringing efficiency in the government and aids the decision making process.

CHALLENGES

•  Lack of technology and infrastructure
• Poor Identification of beneficiary
• Digital divide
• Lack of last mile connectivity
• Lack of indigenous technologies for cyber security