INRODUCTION

E-government is the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to promote more efficient and cost-effective government, more convenient government services, greater public access to information, and more government accountability to citizens . It goes beyond providing provision of online services and also, covers the use of IT for strategic planning and reaching government’s development goals.

It is a way by which governments use the new technologies to provide people with more convenient and reliable access to government information and services, to improve the quality of the services and also, providing greater opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes. “E-Government provides with some tremendous opportunities to move forward in the 21st century with better quality, cost-effective, government services and a better relationship between citizens and their government.”

The application of information technology and communication for the purpose of governance is commonly known as e-governance. Through e-governance, information can be distributed to the public in a transparent manner.

What is e-Governance?

Electronic governance or e-governance implies government functioning with the application of ICT (Information and Communications Technology). Hence e-Governance is basically a move towards SMART governance implying: simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent governance.

Electronic governance or e-governance is adopted by countries across the world. In a fast-growing and demanding economy like India, e-governance has become essential.  The rapid growth of digitalisation has led to many governments across the globe to introduce and incorporate technology into governmental processes. Electronic governance or e-governance can be defined as the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by the government to provide and facilitate government services, exchange of information, communication transactions and integration of various standalone systems and services. 

In other words, it is the use of technology to perform government activities and achieve the objectives of governance.  Through e-governance, government services are made available to citizens and businesses in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner. Examples of e-governance include Digital India initiative, National Portal of India, Prime Minister of India portal, Aadhaar, filing and payment of taxes online, digital land management systems, Common Entrance Test etc.  

What is SMART Governance?

• Simple — implies simplification of rules and regulations of the government and avoiding complex processes with the application of ICTs and therefore, providing a user-friendly government.
• Moral — meaning the emergence of a new system in the administrative and political machinery with technology interventions to improve the efficiency of various government agencies.
• Accountable — develop effective information management systems and other performance measurement mechanisms to ensure the accountability of public service functionaries.
• Responsive — Speed up processes by streamlining them, hence making the system more responsive.
• Transparent — providing information in the public domain like websites or various portals hence making functions and processes of the government transparent.

Types of interactions in e-Governance:
e-Governance can take place in four major types of interactions, apart from the processes and interactions in the back-office, within the government framework:

Interactions in e-Governance

There are 4 kinds of interactions in e-governance, namely:

1. G2C (Government to Citizens) — Interaction between the government and the citizens.
   • This enables citizens to benefit from the efficient delivery of a large range of public services.
   • Expands the accessibility and availability of government services and also improves the quality of services
   • The primary aim is to make the government citizen-friendly.
2. G2B (Government to Business):
   • It enables the business community to interact with the government by using e-governance tools.
   • The objective is to cut red-tapism which will save time and reduce operational costs. This will also create a more transparent business environment when dealing with the government.
   • The G2B initiatives help in services such as licensing, procurement, permits and revenue collection.
3. G2G (Government to Government)
   • Enables seamless interaction between various government entities.
   • This kind of interaction can be between various departments and agencies within government or between two governments like the union and state governments or between state governments.
   • The primary aim is to increase efficiency, performance and output.
   • Read about government to government initiatives in the linked article.
4. G2E (Government to Employees)
   • This kind of interaction is between the government and its employees.
   • ICT tools help in making these interactions fast and efficient and thus increases the satisfaction levels of employees.

   Government to Government (G2G) 

Information is exchanged within the government i.e., either, between the central government, state government and local governments or between different branches of the same government. 

Government to Citizen (G2C) 

The citizens have a platform through which they can interact with the government and get access to the variety of public services offered by the Government.

Government to Businesses(G2B) 

The businesses are able to interact with the government seamlessly with respect to the services of the government offered to businesses

Government to Employees (G2E) 

The interaction between the government and its employees occurs in an efficient and speedy manner.

Objectives of e-Governance

The objectives of e-governance can be listed down as given below:

• To support and simplify governance for government, citizens, and businesses. 
• To make government administration more transparent and accountable while addressing the society’s needs and expectations through efficient public services and effective interaction between the people, businesses, and government. 
• To reduce corruption in the government. 
• To ensure speedy administration of services and information. 
• To reduce difficulties for business, provide immediate information and enable digital communication by e-business. 

While e-governance provides the advantages of convenience, efficiency and transparency, it also has problems associated with it. They are as follows: 

• Lack of computer literacy: India is still a developing country and a vast majority of the citizens lack computer literacy which hinders the effectiveness of e-governance.
• Lack of accessibility to the internet or even computers in some parts of the country is a disadvantage to e-governance.
• e-Governance results in a loss of human interaction. As the system becomes more mechanised, lesser interaction takes place among people. 
• It gives rise to the risk of personal data theft and leakage. 
• e-Governance leads to a lax administration. The service provider can easily provide excuses for not providing the service on technical grounds such as “server is down” or “internet is not working”, etc.

e-Governance in the Indian context

e-Governance in India is a recently developed concept. The launch of National Satellite-Based Computer Network (NICENET) in 1987 and subsequent launch of the District Information System of the National Informatics Centre (DISNIC) programme to computerise all district offices in the country for which free hardware and software was offered to the State Governments provided the requisite impetus for e-governance. 

e-Governance thereafter developed with the growth of technology. Today, there are a large number of e-Governance initiatives, both at the Union and State levels. In 2006, the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was formulated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances that aims at making all government services accessible to the common man, ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise the basic needs of the common man.  

The NeGP has enabled many e-governance initiatives like: 

Digital India was launched in 2015 to empower the country digitally.  Its main components are:

• Developing a secure and stable digital infrastructure
• Delivering government services digitally
• Achieving universal digital literacy

• Aadhaar is a unique identification number issued by UIDAI   that serves as proof of identity and address on the basis of biometric data. It is being used to provide many benefits to the members of the society. One can e-sign documents using Aadhar. 
• myGov.in is a national citizen engagement platform where people can share ideas and be involved with matters of policy and governance. 
• UMANG is a Unified Mobile Application which provides access to central and state government services including Aadhar, Digital Locker, PAN, Employee Provident Fund services, etc. 
• Digital Locker helps citizens digitally store important documents like mark sheets, PAN, Aadhar, and degree certificates. This reduces the need for physical documents and facilitates easy sharing of documents.  
• PayGov facilitates online payments to all public and private banks. 
• Mobile Seva aims at providing government services through mobile phones and tablets. The m-App store has over 200 live applications which can be used to access various government services. 
• Computerisation of Land Records ensures that landowners get digital and updated copies of documents relating to their property.  

In addition to the above, State level e-governance initiatives include:

• E-Seva (Andhra Pradesh) facilitates payment of utility bills, issuance of certificates, licenses and permits. 
• Khajane Project (Karnataka) digitalized the treasury system of the state.
• FRIENDS (Kerala) is a single-window facility to pay taxes and other financial dues to the State government.
• Lokvani Project (Uttar Pradesh) is a single-window solution relating to the handling of grievances, land record maintenance and providing a mixture of essential services.

e-Governance Portal of India

The Indian e-governance portal is https://nceg.gov.in. On this portal, one can get comprehensive information regarding the National Conference on e-Governance and reports on earlier conferences.  

Additionally, the portal provides links to the following important pages:

• Digital India
• National Portal of India: It is developed to provide access to information and services being provided by the government
• PM India Website: provides information relating to the Prime Minister’s Office. 
• United Nations e-governance website

e-Governance Initiatives

Steps taken to promote e-governance in India are as follows:

• A National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development was set-up in 1998.
• The Ministry of Information Technology was created at the Centre in 1999.
• A 12-point agenda was listed for e-Governance for implementation in all the central ministries and departments.
• The Information Technology Act (2000) was enacted. This Act was amended in 2008.
• The first National Conference of States’ IT Ministers was organised in the year 2000, for arriving at a Common Action Plan to promote IT in India.
• Government set-up NISG (National Institute for Smart Government).
• The state governments launched e-Governance projects like e-Seva (Andhra Pradesh), Bhoomi (Karnataka), and so on.
• The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was launched. It consists of 31 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and 8 support components.
• The National Policy on Information Technology (NPIT) was adopted in 2012

The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)

• The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), provides a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country.
• Around this idea, a massive countrywide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of villages is evolving, and large-scale digitization of records is taking place to enable easy, reliable access to the internet.
• The Government has proposed to implement “e-Kranti: National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) 2.0” under the Digital India programme.

e-Kranti – Electronic Delivery of Services

• e-Kranti is an essential pillar of the Digital India initiative.
• Considering the critical need for e-Governance, mobile governance and good governance in the country, the approach and key components of e-Kranti have been approved by the government.
• The e-Kranti framework addresses the electronic delivery of services through a portfolio of mission mode projects that cut across several government departments.

By: Vikas Goyal