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e-GOVERNANCE IN INDIA The term e-governance is a recent coinage. One of the early references to it is found in the joint report of the National Performance Review and the US Government Information Technology Services Board, Access America: Reengineering through information technology, issued on February 3, 1997. As initially used in American public discourse, e-governance meant little more than a general recognition of the confluence of Information Technology (IT) developments and the application and use of these technologies by government entities. Subsequently, it often came to be used as a symbol, an ambiguous reference to both current applications of IT to government operations and a goal of realizing more effective and less costly performance of government functions. In India, e-governance is leading to the evolution of a new approach-innovative in content-to address traditional problems of governance. When a district magistrate (DM) tries to computerize land records or a superintendent of police (SP) installs an online system of registering a complaint, they are not really addressing any new problem. They are essentially addressing traditional problems of, say, non-transparency, manipulation, corruption and, above all, delivery of some end-services to the public in general. The key enabler in the process is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) and designing a new process of coordination and sharing of powers, thereby reconfiguring the traditional mode of governance. Generally speaking, the mode of governance in India-at the Centre, States, or local levels- is uni-directional, precedent-based, driven by procedures and rules, relatively non-transparent in its public interface, paper-based, and usually having no time limits for a decision. Effectively, the systems allow ample scope and opportunity for escaping accountability. However, the advent of ICT has impacted the functioning of government departments and bodies as it has accelerated a regime of awareness on part of people in general, civil servants as a class, and political leaders as rulers. A recent study conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres reveals that e-governance is on the move in India. · Around 22% of adult Internet users in India use the Internet to access government information. · 15% of the total Internet users in India were information seekers, 7% used the net for downloading. · Nearly 6% of the global adult population used the Internet to pay for government services or products through credit cards or bank account numbers. The figure for India was relatively lower at 2%. · Male Internet users use online government services more than their female counterparts. · 47% of Internet users in India consider it safe to use the Internet to provide personal information on the Internet. The Union government has created a separate ministry of information technology to promote IT in the country. The department of administrative reforms is the nodal agency for providing all guidance and technical support along with the National Informatics Centre for implementing the e-governance agenda. Various states have framed IT policies and started implementing it. In fact, Andhra Pradesh has already gone way ahead by making Hyderabad a cyber city and aims at building better communications infrastructure, training IT manpower, computerizing government functions, and delivering several online services. Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have also come up with various e-governance initiatives. Citizen servicing through e-governance entails several potential areas such as education, healthcare, and the spread of enterprises. Illustrative listings of the possibilities in e-governance are: · Dissemination of public information. · Government schemes and notification. · Commercial information. · Agricultural information. · Educational information. · Social services. · Rural services. · EWS services. · Complaints/grievance redressal. · Utility payments and billing services. Given below are examples that highlight small to moderate experiments at local levels of administration. CASE 1: GYANDOOT It allows a villager to get information on farm product prices, make online applications and access e-mail. The Gyandoot Samiti, a society supporting the project, has developed indigenous software to run the intranet and various services. The software in Hindi is simple and menu-driven and only requires minimum data entry at the client’s end. Local entrepreneurs called Soochaks run the Soochnalays. The services offered include: · Agriculture produce auction center rates. · Online registration of applications. · Online public grievance redressal. · Rural e-mail facility. · Village auction site. · Online matrimonial site. · Information on government programmes. · Web-based newspaper. · Reading material for students. · Employment news for semi-skilled. CASE 2: PARAM, A PRIVATE INITIATIVE Taking advantage of the proliferation of STD booths and the spread of Cable TV in rural Uttar Pradesh, alternative technology solutions are being developed to bring down the costs of access to the masses. Param is based on a technology solution architecture that delivers, in today’s infrastructure conditions, broadband multimedia with interactivity in remote areas, where even landlines need not reach. The creation of a connectivity infrastructure in rural areas is a byproduct of the implementation of Param. Param caters to various information, education and progress needs besides offering basic communication and connectivity facilities. As the connectivity platform of Param is implemented, it offers itself as a ready vehicle for carrying various developmental and e-governance programs on it. CASE 3: SUPERCOP AND e-POLICING It is a crime record system at the village level.
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