When the public service delivery
process is providing hassles to the end users and corruption & under table
money has become a phenomenon, e-Governance shows a hope to bring transparency
in the system
The Government of India has
launched the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) with the intent to support the
growth of e-governance within the country. The Plan visualizes the conception
of exact atmosphere to put into practice G2G, G2B, G2E and G2C services.
e-Governance is the use of a range
of modern Information and Communication Technologies such as Internet, Local
Area Networks, mobiles etc. The primary focus of e-Governance is to improve the
effectiveness, efficiency, service delivery and to promote democracy. It gives
empowerment to the underpowered sections of the society.
When a person has to go for his
ration card, passport or any land records or any service even to register an
FIR, he has to stand in the queue day-to-day. He cannot get his work done in a
single attempt. It turns into a long process and the services linger
unnecessarily. Needless to say, ‘paying under table’ has become a common
phenomenon among the system to get the work done and to avoid hassles,
moreover, corruption has become one of the biggest issue in the nation. The
ongoing Anna Hazare stir is a live issue of fighting against corruption. Today
the entire nation is abused by the rogue of corruption.
If we see into the e-Governance, it
shows a way forward and heals citizens from the situation. The time is at your
next step, when everything would be available at your door step and you don’t
need to visit the government offices. You can see the e-Tickets as the live
examples of e-governance. Few years ago, it was necessary to get a train
ticket, to stand in the queue, after all kinds of hassles, you were not able to
ask from the ticket clerk about more options. Now you don’t need to go anywhere
and everything is available in your computer or at a cyber café. e-governance
gives you a hassle free service and decentralizes the public service delivery
system.
If we go through with the draft of
Electronic Service Delivery Bill 2011, which is going to be brought to the
parliament during winter season, “under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP),
the core IT infrastructure in the form of State Wide Area Networks (SWANs),
State Data Centres (SDCs) and one lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) across the
country with associated Service Delivery Gateways (routing mechanism) to
deliver public services to the citizens has largely been in place Moreover, 27
Mission Mode Projects across various Central Ministries / Departments and State
Governments are at various stages of implementation. Additionally, amended IT
Act 2008, the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) to facilitate
electronic signatures, provision of Unique Identification numbers for every
resident, increasing tele-density and broadband Internet have created the
ecosystem necessary for mandating Electronic Delivery of Services in a phased
manner but with definitive timelines. “Things will be completely changed after
passing the Electronic Service Delivery Bill 2011”, said, Sanjeev Kapoor, Head
Governance, Infosys Ltd.
On the importance of e-governance,
Union Minister for Communications & IT, Kapil Sibal said, “The Electronic
Service Delivery Bill to be brought to the parliament in the winter session and
every gram panchayat would be connected with fiber cable network. All services
would be available online even land records. No one will need to visit for his
passport to the concerned authority. He will be able to apply online and the
scrutiny will also be done online. We could not imagine 20 years back what the
world is today and now we cannot imagine the world 20 years down the line. It
is a paradigm shift for technological innovations. That is why we need to
prepare for the future. The time will come very soon when you will be able to
get your, ration card, land records, passport and any kind of governmental
information in your computer.”
Strengthening the democracy.
e-Governance
can enhance the delivery of public services, it makes an easy access to
information which empowers the citizens, enables their contribution in the
governance and improves economic and social opportunities for them, so that
they can make their lives better, for themselves and for the gen-next.
e-Governance provides access of
information to the end user easily. It makes people empowered even the
underpowered sections of the society. It minimizes the dependency upon the
government officials, they don’t need to visit to the offices to access the
information or any kind of service. If people are getting empowered, it
directly means that the democracy is getting strength.
The greater attention of
e-Governance is to advance service delivery system, enhancing the effectiveness
of production and prominence to the wider access of information.
Siddharth
Shankar, President, Drishtee Foundation, said, on the changing scenario, “In
this current scenario, people go for at least five kilometers to get his birth
certificate, caste certificate or other services. They are helpless to bring
under table money to get their work done. e-Governance will change the things
and it will reduce the corruption. They will be able to get these documents
from the Common Service Centres (CSCs)”.
To make
sure Inter-operability among e-Governance applications, The government of India
has build-up an Institutional mechanism for formulation of standards through
joint efforts of stakeholders like Department of Information Technology(DIT),
National Informatics Centre (NIC), Standardization Testing and Quality
Certification( STQC), other Government departments, Academia, Technology
Experts, Domain Experts, Industry, BIS and NGOs. In this course there is a
provision of formal public review also.
Expansion of the internet and
electronic commerce, is redefining relationships among various stake holders in
the process of governance. A new model of governance would be based upon the
transactions in virtual space, digital economy and dealing with knowledge
oriented societies. e-Governance is an emerging trend to re-invent the way for
the government works.
Delivery models
The key delivery models of
e-Governance can be divided into:
Government-to-Citizen or
Government-to-Consumer (G2C)
In this model, the G2C model
applies the strategy of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with business
concept.
Government-to-Business (G2B)
Government-to-Government (G2G)
Government-to-Employees (G2E)
Within each of these communication
areas, four types of actions take place:
Driving information over the
Internet, regulatory services, general holidays and notifications.
Two-way communications between the
agency and the citizen, a business, or another government agency, in
this model, users can engage in dialogue with agencies and post problems,
comments, or requests to the agency.
Conducting transactions, lodging
tax returns, applying for services and grants.
Governance, to enable
the citizen transition from passive information access to active citizen
participation by informing the citizen, represents the citizen, encouraging the
citizen, consulting the citizen and involving the citizen.
