E-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW

ABSTRACT

E-government refers to the delivery of national or local government information and services via
the Internet or other digital means to citizens or businesses or other governmental agencies. E-
government is a one-stop Internet gateway to major government services. E-government
facilitates provision of relevant government information in electronic form to the citizens in a
timely manner; better service delivery to citizens; empowerment of the people through access to
information without the bureaucracy; improved productivity and cost savings in doing business
with suppliers and customers of government; and participation in public policy decision-making.
E-Governance refers to how managers and supervisors utilize IT and Internet to execute their
functions of supervising, planning, organizing, coordinating, and staffing effectively. The e-
Governance projects have very high potential of offering cost-effective, improved and easy-to-
access services to citizens, and improved processing of transactions both within the government
and between the government and other agencies. The planning, implementation, and monitoring
of government programmes, projects, and activities can be significantly strengthened by these
applications. Successful e-Governance projects involved, in the design process, all stakeholders
such as government officials, legislators, regulatory agencies, citizens, voluntary organizations,
technology consultants and vendors, academics, researchers, funding agencies, and media.
However, the government as well as project champions need to pay attention to the sustenance
problems faced by these projects. Proper planning is needed in working out revenue models,
ensuring the full implementations through appropriate tenure appointments of project champions,
ensuring effective monitoring and maintenance of systems.
E-GOVERNANCE INITIATIVES IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
P. Bastin Arockia Raj
Lecturer in commerce,
Loyola college, vettavalam,
Tiruvannamalai Dist.
Mobile no: - 9578893235
E-mail: bastin.co139@gmail.com
And
N.Rajalakshmi
Research Scholar (M.phil Student)
 St. Joseph’s college (Autonomous)
Tiruchirappalli – 620 002

ABSTRACT

E-government refers to the delivery of national or local government information and services via
the Internet or other digital means to citizens or businesses or other governmental agencies. E-
government is a one-stop Internet gateway to major government services. E-government
facilitates provision of relevant government information in electronic form to the citizens in a
timely manner; better service delivery to citizens; empowerment of the people through access to
information without the bureaucracy; improved productivity and cost savings in doing business
with suppliers and customers of government; and participation in public policy decision-making.
E-Governance refers to how managers and supervisors utilize IT and Internet to execute their
functions of supervising, planning, organizing, coordinating, and staffing effectively. The e-
Governance projects have very high potential of offering cost-effective, improved and easy-to-
access services to citizens, and improved processing of transactions both within the government
and between the government and other agencies. The planning, implementation, and monitoring
of government programmes, projects, and activities can be significantly strengthened by these
applications. Successful e-Governance projects involved, in the design process, all stakeholders
such as government officials, legislators, regulatory agencies, citizens, voluntary organizations,
technology consultants and vendors, academics, researchers, funding agencies, and media.
However, the government as well as project champions need to pay attention to the sustenance
problems faced by these projects. Proper planning is needed in working out revenue models,
ensuring the full implementations through appropriate tenure appointments of project champions,
ensuring effective monitoring and maintenance of systems.
INTRODUCTION

“The Government would implement a comprehensive programme to accelerate e-governance

at all levels of the Government to improve efficiency, transparency and accountability at the
Government-Citizen Interface.” – Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Declaration on Independence
Day – 15th August 2002. (www.google.com)
India has been harnessing the benefits provided by the Information & Communication
Technologies (ICT) to provide integrated governance, reach to the citizens faster, provide
efficient services and citizen empowerment through access to information. The aim is to redefine
governance in the ICT age to provide smart governance. Several significant initiatives have
been taken at the Centre and the State level in this direction.(www.scribed.com )

At the Central level, the government has extensively promoted the use of IT in managing its
internal processes and has drawn up a ‘Minimum Agenda of e- Governance’. Further Ministries /
departments have provision of 2 to 3 percent of their annual budgets to be spent on IT related
activities. The government has enacted IT Act 2000 which provides legal status to the
information and transactions carried on the net.

Several State Governments have also taken various innovative steps to promote e- Governance
and have drawn up a roadmap for IT implementation and delivery of services to the citizens on-
line. The applications that have been implemented are targeted towards providing G2B, G2C and
B2C services with emphasis on use of local language.

Objective of E-governance

The e-governance was imitated with the mission to provide the benefits of using ICT in
governance to the citizens of the district, living in distance rural areas, at their door-steps. The
major objectives envisaged were:

1. to know easy and better awareness among rural masses about various government
schemes. This would bring in transparency in governance;

2. to reduction in response time to redress complaints by the concerned departments and

thus make administration responsive and accountable; and
 3. to redressed of complaints without physically visiting the Government offices. This
would save time and harassment of the citizens.

E-Government Definitions

E-government is a generic term for web-based services from agencies of local, state and
federal governments. In e-government, the government uses information technology and
particularly the Internet to support government operations, engage citizens, and provide
government services. The interaction may be in the form of obtaining information, filings, or
making payments and a host of other activities via the World Wide Web (Sharma & Gupta, 2003
and Sharma 2006).

World Bank (www.worldbank.org) definition: “E-Government refers to the use by

government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and
mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other
arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of
government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen
empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The
resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue
growth, and or cost reductions.”

United Nations (www.unpan.org) definition: “E-government is defined as utilizing the

Internet and the world-wide-web for delivering government information and services to
citizens.”

Foundations of E-government

Gartner Group’s definition: “the continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency

participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through
technology, the Internet and new media.”

Definition of the Working Group on E-government in the Developing World

(www.pacificcouncil.org): E-government is the use of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) to promote more efficient and effective government, facilitate more
accessible government services, allow greater public access to information, and make
government more accountable to citizens. E-government might involve delivering services via
the Internet, telephone, community centers (self-service or facilitated by others), wireless devices
or other communications systems.”

While definitions of e-government by various sources may vary widely, there is a

common theme. E-government involves using information technology, and especially the
Internet, to improve the delivery of government services to citizens, businesses, and other
government agencies. E-government enables citizens to interact and receive services from the
federal, state or local governments twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

E-Governance Definitions

E-governance, meaning ‘electronic governance’ is using information and communication

technologies (ICTs) at various levels of the government and the public sector and beyond, for the
purpose of enhancing governance (Srivastava, 2001 and Uma, 2000).

According to Keohane and Nye (2000), “Governance implies the processes and
institutions, both formal and informal, that guide and restrain the collective activities of a group.
Government is the subset that acts with authority and creates formal obligations. Governance
need not necessarily be conducted exclusively by governments. Private firms, associations of
firms, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and associations of NGOs all engage in it, often
in association with governmental bodies, to create governance; sometimes without governmental
authority.” Clearly, this definition suggests that e-governance need not be limited to the public
sector. It implies managing and administering policies and procedures in the private sector as
well.

The UNESCO definition (www.unesco.org) is: “E-governance is the public sector’s use
of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and
service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making
government more accountable, transparent and effective. E-governance involves new styles of
leadership, new ways of debating and deciding policy and investment, new ways of accessing
education, new ways of listening to citizens and new ways of organizing and delivering
information and services. E-governance is generally considered as a wider concept than e-
government, since it can bring about a change in the way citizens relate to governments and to
each other. E-governance can bring forth new concepts of citizenship, both in terms of citizen
needs and responsibilities. Its objective is to engage, enable and empower the citizen.”

E-governance is defined as the, “application of electronic means in (1) the interaction

between government and citizens and government and businesses, as well as (2) in internal
government operations to simplify and improve democratic, government and business aspects of
Governance.” (Backus, 2001).

According to Kettl (2002), "Governance" is a way of describing the links between

government and its broader environment - political, social, and administrative." The application
of electronic links means the interaction between government and citizens and government and
businesses, as well as in internal government operations to simplify and improve democratic,
government and business aspects of Governance (Kettl, 2002).

E-Governance and E-Government

Some authors contend that e-government constitutes only a subset (though a major one)
of e-governance. According to these authors, e-governance is a broader concept and includes the
use of ICT by government and civil society to promote greater participation of citizens in the
governance of political institutions, e.g., use of the Internet by politicians and political parties to
elicit views from their constituencies in an efficient manner, or the publicizing of views by civil
society organizations which are in conflict with the ruling powers (Howard, 2001). It is clear that
considerable confusion exists in explaining e-government and e-governance. In what follows, we
attempt to resolve the ambiguities and come up with clear and non-overlapping definitions. Our
premise is simple: e-government’s focus is on constituencies and stakeholders outside the
organization, whether it is the government or public sector at the city, county, state, national, or
international levels. On the other hand, e-governance focuses on administration and management
within an organization, whether it is public or private, large or small.

FOCUS

Outside Inside
Type of Public Sector – e-Government (Extranet and e-Governance
Organiza Government Agency Internet)
(Intranet)
tion
Private Sector – Inter-Organizational Systems – e-Governance (Intranet)
IOS like CRM systems
MNCs or SMEs
(Extranet and Internet)

Based on this classification, e-governance concerns internally-focused utilization of

information and internet technologies to manage organizational resources – capital, human,
material, machines.

Foundations of E-government administer policies and procedures (both for the public
sector or private sector). The telecommunications network that facilitates e-governance is the
Intranet. What has been generally termed as G2E (Government to Employee) will be now under
the label of e-governance. E-governance deals with the online activities of government
employees. The activities might include information to calculate retirement benefits, access to
important applications, and content and collaboration with other government employees anytime,
anywhere.

In case of private enterprises, any interaction through information systems with external
organizational entities – customers, suppliers, partners in the global supply chain management
fall within the domain of inter-organizational systems. Such systems generally utilize extranets.
Under this category, we will have B2B (e-procurement, e-CRM, e-MarketPlace, e-Learning),
B2C (e-tailing, e-banking, e-insurance, e-Grocery, e-ticketing), and even C2C – primary
examples being Craig’s list and e-Bay.

According to Sheridan and Riley (2006), e-governance is a broader concept that deals
with the whole spectrum of the relationship and networks within government regarding the usage
and application of ICTs whereas e-government is limited to the development of online services).

According to them, e-government is an institutional approach to jurisdictional political

operations whereas e-governance is a procedural approach to co-operative administrative
relations, i.e. the encompassing of basic and standard procedures within the confines of public
administration.

Irani, (2006) formulated a four-phase e-governance (we call it e-Government) model.

According to this model, governments start with the delivery of online information, but soon
public demand and internal efficiency ask for more complex services. In each of the four phases,
the delivery of online services and use of ICTs in government operations serve one or more of
the aspects of e-governance: democracy, government, business.

E-Governance Initiatives in India: An Overview

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.

The Government has given approval in-principle to the plan and overall programme
content; implementation approach and governance structure. While endorsing the plan, it was
observed that: weight age must be given for quality and speed of implementation in procurement
procedures for IT services; suitable system of motivating the states for quick adoption be
incorporated; provision of delivery of services to the citizens through a single window should be
encouraged; Out sourcing of services wherever and whenever feasible; efforts be made to
promote and develop public private partnerships to utilize the full potential of private sector
investments; and connectivity should be improved and extended up to the block level in the
states. Apart from the action plan, the following measures have also been introduced:

PROJECT: BHOOMI

Description: The Department of Revenue in Karnataka State has computerized 20

million records of land ownership of 6.7 million farmers in the State. Previously, farmers had to
seek out the Village Accountant to get a copy of Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) – a
document needed for many tasks such as obtaining bank loans. There were delays and
harassment. Bribes had to be paid. Today, for a fee of Rs. 15, a printed copy of the RTC can be
obtained online at computerized land record kiosks (Bhoomi centers) in 177 taluk offices. This
system works with the software called “BHOOMI” designed fully in-house by National
Informatics Center, Bangalore. The Department of Information Technology, Govt. of India has
embarked upon a major programme to rollout Land Records Computerisation in several States of
the country. (www.revedept)
Beneficiaries: Rural People State where Implemented: Karnataka

PROJECT: FAST

Description: The ‘Fully Automated Services of Transport’ is another e-governance

project implemented in the cities of Andhra Pradesh. The objective of FAST is to make the
transport department citizen friendly in its functioning and provide SMART services to the
public. It is intended to build comprehensive database and provide on-line services to the public
covering all gamut of services of Transport Department like Issue of Driving Licenses,
Registration of Motor Vehicles, Issue Permits, Collection of Motor Vehicle Taxes, etc. All the
offices in the state would have interconnectivity through APSWAN.

It is decided to take up computerization process in two phases. In phase I, Regional

Transport offices of Secunderabad, Vijayawada and Chittoor have been covered on pilot basis.
The remaining offices are to be covered in the second phase. However, a less powerful central
server is to be located at the office of the Transport Commissioner for the purpose of inter-
connectivity between these three RTO offices.( www.aptransport.org)
Beneficiaries: Populace State where Implemented: Andhra Pradesh

PROJECT: FRIENDS

Description: Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for the Disbursement of

Services is part of the Kerala State IT Mission. FRIENDS counters handle 1,000 types of
payment bills originating out of various PSUs. The payments that citizens can make include
 utility payments for electricity and water, revenue taxes, license fees, motor vehicle taxes,
university fees, etc. Firewalls safeguard data from manipulation. The application has
provisions for adding more modules and for rolling back incorrect entries without affecting
the database even at the user level. One important feature of FRIENDS is a provision for
adding more modules and a queue management system( www.friendscentre.net).

Beneficiaries: Populace State where Implemented: Kerala

SUMMARY

The e-Governance projects have very high potential of offering cost-effective, improved and
easy-to-access services to citizens, and improved processing of transactions both within the
government and between the government and other agencies. The planning, implementation, and
monitoring of government programmes, projects, and activities can be significantly strengthened
by these applications.

Successful e-Governance projects involved, in the design process, all stakeholders such as
government officials, legislators, regulatory agencies, citizens, voluntary organizations,
technology consultants and vendors, academics, researchers, funding agencies, and media. The
benefits derived from such projects are very significant as seen from the above case studies.
However, the government as well as project champions need to pay attention to the sustenance
problems faced by these projects. Proper planning is needed in working out revenue models,
ensuring the full implementations through appropriate tenure appointments of project champions,
ensuring effective monitoring and maintenance of systems.

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