INTRODUCTION:
Governance is a broader concept that encompasses the State’s intuitional arrangements, decision-making process, implementation capacity and the relationship between government officials and the public. E-governance is the use of Information and Communication Technologies by the government, Civil Society and Political Institutions to engage citizens through dialogue and feedback to promote their greater participation in the process of governance of these institutions. Good governance being an important goal of countries across the globe, has taken up initiatives for open and participatory government. Freedom of information is being redefined and the internet revolutions have proved to be a powerful tool for god governance initiatives. E-governance facilitates government as efficient speedy and transparent process to disseminate information to public and other agencies, and to perform government administration activities.
The Concepts
e- governance: e-governance has been defined as “ 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, trans[aren’t and effective” ( UNESCO) . e-governance is multi-faceted use of ICT for information collection governance that includes making delivery services more accessible, efficient and responsive ( UNDP) . It is the use of information technologies (such as, Wide Area Networks, the internet, and Mobile) by the government agencies (World Bank). E-governance may be defined as the delivery of government services and information to the public by using electronic means1. It is sometimes known as digital governance, as the new system uses Internet as the gateway or the means by which people and government get connected with each other. The new technology facilitates the government’s capacity to respond more effectively to the needs of the people. It also facilitates better interface between people and government and more transparency in operation of public organization. E-governance leads to SMART governance which stands for SMART, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent.2
E-Government and E-Governance
The term E-governance is sometimes confused with E-governance and the two terms are often used inter- changeably. E-governance is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to transform the traditional government by making it accessible, transparent, effective and accountable. E-government does not mean putting more computers on the desks of government officials. E-government is more than just a government website on the internet. It is about a process of reform in the way governments work, shares information and delivers services to external and internal clients. Specifically, e-government harness information technologies to transform relations with citizens, business and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of 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 cost reduction. Political, Social, Economical and technological aspects determine e-governance. The system of e-governance is supported by five pillars i.e., Computer, Connectivity, Content, Consumer and Confidence building.
Good Governance:
Good Governance connotes governance for Public Good. Generally speaking, Public Good involves a synthesis of the good of the individual and the good of the people of the society as a whole. Specifically, it involves Justice- Social, Economic, and Political for the individual as well as for the collectivity. It is characterized by Human Rights, Liberty, Freedom from Exploitation and Socio-economic and Political wellbeing and development of the people of the society.
Thus viewed, there may be discerned two principal dimensions of Good Governance- these are (i) Enactment of public Policies, Laws and Programmes for Public good and welfare, and (ii) Effective implementation of these Public Policies of attainment of the good ands welfare of the people. Hence, Good Governance may be characterized by some major features such as Rule of Law, Governance on the basis of the consent of the Governed, Enactment of welfare- oriented public policies, Enactment of welfare oriented public policies and increasing magnitude, scope and scale of governmental performance, rationality in Administration. Efficient and Effective in the execution of Public Policies, Responsible and Responsive governmental behaviour. Honesty, Sincerity and Transparency of the Politico-Administrative System, and citizen-friendly governance. Good governance is a part of a development process which is participation, transparent and accountable. The emergence of new information and communication technologies has all the attributes of enabling this process.3
Impact of E-Government on Good Governance
|
Good Governance Goals |
E-governance Can help |
|
Increasing Transparency |
· Dissemination of governance rules and procedures; Citizen charters, government performance data to wider audience. · Disclosure of public assets, got.-budgets, procurement information. · Making decision of Civil Servants available to public. |
|
Reducing administrative corruption |
· Putting Procedures online so that transaction can be easily monitored. · Reducing the gatekeeper role of Civil Servants through automated procedures that limit discretionary powers. · Eliminating the need for intermediaries. |
|
Improving Service Delivery |
· Less time in completing transactions. · Reduction of costs associated with travel for citizens to internet with government. · Improving government’s ability to deliver service to larger segment of population. |
|
Improving Civil Service Performance |
· Increased ability of Managers to monitor task completion rates of Civil Servants. · Improved efficiency of Civil Servants by automating tedious work. · Increased speed and efficiency of inter and intra agency workflow and data exchange. · Eliminating redundancy of staff.
|
|
Empowerment |
· Providing Communities with limited or no access to government with a new channel to receive government services and information. · Reducing the brokerage power of intermediaries. |
|
Improving Government Finances |
· Reducing cost of transaction of government processes. · Increasing revenue by improving audit functions to better track defaulters and plug leakages by reducing corruption. · Providing better control of expenditure. |
The Indian Perspective
Full and effective participation in the
emerging global information network is of fundamental importance from the
globalization process and it is also essential for the full participation of
its citizens in all spheres of life6.
The government in
India has been continuously endeavoring to provide citizen services in a better
manner.7 Several initiatives have been undertaken by various status
in India.
Some of them are as follows8:
-
The first department of IT amounts the states in India has formally established in Andhra Pradesh in 1998 and the first department selected by the same government for computerization of all its operations was the Registration Department. This is known as (ARD Computer Aided Registration Department). It opened the gateway for the introduction of e-governance in the Indian States. E- sewa is another first kind of service in the country, providing a wide spectrum of citizen friendly services. The e-sewa centre is a one-stop-shop for more than 30 government-to-consumer and business- to- consumer services for payment of electricity, water and telephone bill to the issue of birth and death certificates etc.
Gyandoot of Madhya Pradesh is an internet connecting rural cyber cafes catering to the needs of citizens. The success of the Gyandoot Project is due to; Single window facility for the citizens to avail the information, empowerment of citizens, a model for public-private partnership in providing the e-governance service to the citizens.
SETU has been set up by government of Maharashtra in the city of Aurangabad. It is the citizen facilitation Centre. The centre attempts, through the use of ICT, to reduce the visit of citizens from one office to another.
Bhoomi is a computerized system of land records maintenance in Karnataka. The permits online updating of land records making.
The Indian Railways have introduced an online passenger reservation system where tickets can be issued for any train, class and destination. A cost benefit study under the Minstery of Information and Technology revealed that there is a large saving in the daily queuing hours for passengers.9
The State Road Transport Departments of Gujrat computerized check posts project has reduced corruption of Octroi posts on borders to zero level.
CONCLUSION:
E-governance involves a change in the philosophy of governing the people of the country. It is not the mere idea of using IT to provide service to the door steps of the citizens, but how the service will be provided and how the citizens can participate in the system. 10 It is not really the use of IT for governance, but it is a tool to ensure good governance. It is a political decision which involves the change of the attitude of the government officials. Government officials need to understand that their job is people oriented, to ensure that the government is working for the people. A shift of attitude of the government officials is very important to establish the e-governance and whole government mechanism needs to be reigned in to make it people oriented. Citizens’ voice need to be incorporated in the process not just at the time of elections. Technology will perform miracles of it is designed to incorporate all the necessary inputs- public opinion, attitude of government officials and elected representatives and most importantly the desire to make government accountable to the citizens.
E-governance is now being considered as one of the most essential tool in realizing the idea of good governance in India. E-governance can help to achieve the objectives pf good governance by disseminating government rules and procedures, putting procedures online, reducing time in completing transactions, increasing ability of managers to monitor task completion rates of civil servants, reducing the brokerage power of intermediaries, reducing cost of transaction for governmental process.
REFERENCES:
1. T. Sharma (2002): “E-Governance: Process Engineering Approach”, Indian Journal of Public Administration. Oct-Dec., p.607.
2. N. Vittal and S. Mahalingam (2001): Information technology: India’s Tomorrow, New Delhi, p.30-6.
3. Pankaj Sharma (2004): E-Governance: New Age Governance, New Delhi: APH P.34.
4. C.P. Barthwal (2003): E-Governance for Good Governance, The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 64, No.3-4. July - December.
5. R.B. Heeks (2001): Reinventing Government in the information Age. London, Rutledge.
6. Sumajeet (2006): E-Governance: An One view in the Indian Context. Vol. LXVII, No.4, Oct.-Dec.
7. Vikas Hath (2002): Digital Governance Models: Moving towards Good Governance in Developing Countries, E-Commerce, Vol. 2, No.4.
8. M.D. Tiwari (2002): E- governance: Issues, Directions and Applications”, in K.N. Agrawala and M.D. Tiwari (ed.), IT and e-governance in India, Macmillan India Ltd.
9. Subash Bhatnagar (2004): e-government: from Vision to Implementation. Sage Publications.
10. T.N. Chaturvedi (ed.) (1999): Towards Good Governance. Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.
Received on 05.07.2013 Modified on 18.08.2013
Accepted on 10.01.2014 © A&V Publication all right reserved
Int. J. Ad. Social Sciences 2(1): Jan. –Mar., 2014; Page 58-60