The Challenges Faced By Indian E Governance

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

ABSTRACT

E-Governance implementation in India has certain pitfalls. In this paper, we have studied the International e-Governance Portals and traced the pitfalls in our Indian e-Governance system. As per well defined practices we have proposed solutions for improving those pitfalls and implementing it in the best of interest of Citizens of India and our Country at par. E-Governance is the development, deployment and enforcement of the policies, laws and regulations necessary to support the functioning of a Knowledge Society as well as of e-Government. E-Governance encompasses a series of necessary steps for government agencies to develop and administer to ensure successful implementation of e-government services to the public at large. E-government has an important role to play, now and in the future. This paper is an effort to study the portals of five countries based on United Nations E-government Survey rankings of 2012. India stands at 125th place as per the survey while Republic of Korea UK, USA and Singapore are amongst top 10. This paper is an effort to compare the E-governance services in India to the best defined practices. Study shows that India is lacking due to low rate of awareness because of Illiteracy. The need is to maintain a proper database of all the citizens and well developed infrastructure. Information security management issues need to be tackled very carefully supported by technical security. Most important is the social acceptability of e-governance not only in urban areas but rural areas as well.

Keywords—E-governance, E-government, Governance, Information Security Management,

Public Sector, Portal,

INTRODUCTION

E-governance is the application of information & communication technologies to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational & transactional exchanges with in government, between govt. & govt. agencies of National, State, Municipal & Local levels, citizen & businesses, and to empower citizens through access & use of information. E-governance is a big challenge and a far big opportunity to bring services to all citizens. Thus, E-governance can make governance more efficient and more effective, and bring other benefits as well [3]. E-government take a prominent role in shaping development, making it more in tune with people’s needs and driving the whole process based on their participation. Building e-government platform by information and communication technology to deliver convenient, efficient and transparent service for public is an important innovation and tool for government management all over the world [1]. E-governance is an evolutionary phenomenon, and requires a change in the mindset of one and all – citizen, executives or the government. With the support of the Internet, the government processes, defined by specializations, can be made efficient, effective, and citizen friendly. There are many challenging issues lying ahead. Security is the main concern for the citizen, and redefining rules and procedures, information transparency, legal issues, infrastructure, skill and awareness, access to right information, inter-departmental collaboration, tendency to resist the change in work culture, are the main concerns for the government to address. Other then all these factors, the government needs to make significant investments in areas such as government process re-engineering, capacity building, training, assessment and awareness. The beneficial impact of ICT and of e-governance on the rural economy and quality of life is now widely recognized. An apex committee under the Cabinet Secretary is already in place for providing the strategic direction and management oversight. The need is to maintain a proper database of all the citizens and well developed infrastructure. Security issues need to be tackled very carefully supported by technical security. Most important is the strong political will power and the social acceptability of e-governance not only in urban areas but rural areas as well.

The objective of the proposed paper is to bring some light on the issues and challenges that India is currently facing with regard to implementation of e-Governance.

e-governance

E-Government is the transformation of internal and external public sector relationships, through Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in order to optimize government service delivery and citizen participation. Digital society is a society or community that is well advanced in the adoption and integration of digital technology into daily life at home, work and play. E-Governance is the development, deployment and enforcement of the policies, laws and regulations necessary to support the functioning of a Knowledge Society as well as of e-Government [2].

TYPES OF INTERACTIONS IN E-GOVERNANCE [4]

E-Governance facilitates interaction between different stake holders in governance. These interactions can be classified as:

G2G(Government to Government)

This is used to restructure government processes involved in functioning of government entities and also to increase the flow of information and services within and between different entities.

This kind of interaction can be:

Horizontal or within the sphere of government. It is between different government agencies

Vertical or between different functional areas within an organization. It is between central, state, or local governments as well as between different levels within an organization.

Primary objective is to increase efficiency, performance and output.

G2C(Government to Citizens)

An interface is created between government and citizens, which enables the citizens to benefit from efficient delivery of a large range of public services. On one hand, it expands the availability and accessibility of public services and improves the quality of services on the other hand. It gives citizens a choice of when, where and how to interact with the government. The primary purpose is to make government citizen-friendly.

G2B(Government to Business)

E-Governance tools are used to aid the business community, to seamlessly interact with the government. The objective is to save time, reduce operational costs and to create a more transparent business environment when dealing with the government. This initiative can be promotional and facilitative, in case of trade, tourism and investment. These measures enable businesses to perform more efficiently.

G2E(Government to Employees)

Government has to interact with its employees on a regular basis. This is a two-way process between organization and their employees. On one hand, it helps in making these interactions fast and efficient and increase employee satisfaction on the other.

basic structure of e-governance

E-governance implementation in any field is measured in 5 stages, as follows: [5]

Emerging Presence: In this phase, it is necessary to have a static website where limited but basic information is made available. There must be links to Ministries and Departments of Central Government, while, regional/local Government may or may not be available.

Enhanced Presence: This phase provides more public information resources such as Policies of government, Laws, Regulations, Reports, Newsletters, etc. enhanced search and navigation features to be provided to facilitate easy access to information. But, there are no interactivity from citizens’ end as the information is only flowing towards the citizens.

Interactive Presence: This phase includes interactivity to the website. Also includes, online services to enhance convenience of the citizen. Forms and Applications can be downloaded; Government officials can be contacted via any mean. Audio and video capability is provided to increase the interactivity with citizens.

Transactional Presence: This phase offers two-way interaction between citizens and Govt. Website also provides facilities like, paying taxes, applying for ID cards, birth certificates, passports, license renewals and other C2G interactions. Allows citizens to submit forms and applications online 24/7. Goods and service providers can bid online for public contracts via secure links.

Networked Presence: This phase is most sophisticated. And provides integration of G2G, G2C and C2G interactions. There is a 2-way open dialogue and encourages citizen participation. There is an integration of public sector agencies which offers collective decision-making and encourages participatory democracy and citizen empowerment.

United Nations E-Government Survey [6]

The United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 explores the inter-links between e-government and sustainable development efforts. While presenting the United Nations e-government development rankings for 2012 it analyses how governments of the world are employing e-government policies and programmes to support efficiency, effectiveness, and inclusiveness as the parameters of sustainable development efforts worldwide.

A special focus of this year’s Survey is on environment-related services. It assesses the provision of environment and resource conservation information and services to the citizen and presents the first data set on United Nations e-environment indicators. It presents the progress made in e-government development around the world since the last Survey (2010) while cautioning against the digital divide that stems from the current worldwide disparity in the use of information technologies. It also contributes to a better understanding of the need for e-government to be deployed in order to create the required synergy and integration across institutions and processes.

ANALYSIS OF PORTALS

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

E-government development index value of US is 0.8687 and is at 5th rank according to UN E-GOVERNMENT SURVEY 2012; see Table I [6].

Analysis: The portal interface is simplified, interactive and is effectively connected to other departments. By using the portal, user can check their Bank account status. It also includes government’s policies, laws and regulations. It allows the user to file their tax returns, check health care system and also find financial consultation. User can give their feedback on the Feedback form, for the improvement of services provided to them by the portal [7]. The portal can be used on mobile phones as well.

Conclusion: Portal is at stage 5 of E-Governance that is, it has Networked Presence. It provides integration of G2G, G2C and C2G interactions. There is a 2-way open dialogue and encourages citizen participation. It can also be operated via Mobile Phone. But it should be made available in other languages as well, apart from English and Spanish. And it should be connected to Businesses, so that people can look for homes, hotels, schools, universities and medical aids near to them.

EUROPE

According to UN SERVEY 2012 UK has E-Government development index value i.e. 0.8960 and is at 3rd place, see Table I [6].

Analysis: The portal provides the clear picture of everything which is described on the portal i.e. driving, transport and travel, Education and learning, Money and tax etc. The portal contains all the information about the departments and Ministries and it also contains the policies and announcements which are recently taken by the governments The Information provided by the portal is adequate and useful. The portal also provides the transactional presence i.e. online payment of taxes, applying for driving licenses and passport [8].

The UK Location Programme has introduced over 1000 location data records into data.gov.uk and tools to support their use. Many of these datasets provide a Web Map Service too, and for some a preview of the data is available [9]. The UK government provides the feature "Freedom of information" where, everyone has right to use the information produced by the government to enhance their own research.

Conclusion: Users should be allowed to contact government officials via two-way dialog or social networking sites like, Facebook or Twitter. It should provide online services like paying taxes, applying for ID cards, birth certificates, passports, license renewals and other C2G interactions. Citizens should be allowed to submit forms and applications online 24/7.

AFRICA

Africa scores lowest among the e-government development index. Though there has been some improvement in all sub-regions, except For Northern Africa and Middle Africa, it has been Minimal, with the least e-ready sub-region being Western Africa (0.2171) [6].

Analysis: The key challenge for the e-government development of Africa remains the widespread lack of infrastructure and functional literacy. Despite recent expansion in mobile telephony, most countries in Africa remain at the tail end of the digital divide. These challenges have translated into a lower than World average e-government development [6].

Conclusion: Portal provides connectivity to Facebook. It is in Interactive phase that is, stage 3. The site is interactive and online services are included to enhance convenience of the citizen. Forms and Applications can be downloaded; Government officials can be contacted via any mean. Audio and video capability is provided to increase the interactivity with citizens. But it should be made available in other languages. There should be a two-way dialog between citizens and government officials [10].

ASIA

THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

It offers around 87 percent of all services assessed in the United Nations E-Government Survey 2012. The country’s emergence as the world leader in information and communication technologies in fields such as broadband, semiconductors and third generation mobile devices has guaranteed its fast growth and development in the area of e-government. According to UN Survey 2012 Republic of Korea has highest E-government development index value i.e. 0.9283. UN SURVEY 2012 also proposed that no country had a true single integrated portal. The Republic of Korea has come close to provide the portal with information, services and participation Services integrated on one site [6].

Analysis: The Portal possesses all public resources such as policies of government and also includes information of all the departments and Ministries. It also has transactional implementation in checking and tracking records in numerous services like accommodation in Hotels and checking air ticket availability, paying taxes, applying for passports, license renewals and other C2G interactions. The portal is exceptional in its design and provision of features to its citizens. It is an integrated system allowing citizens easy access to government information and contains features for mobile alerts, forms, transactions and online consultation [14]. The portal is quite interactive and easy to use and well categorized. The portal possesses all said above stages of E-Governance except Network presence in some cases.

Conclusion: Portal is at stage 5 of E-Governance that is, it has Networked Presence. It provides integration of G2G, G2C and C2G interactions. There is a 2-way open dialogue and encourages citizen participation. It can also be operated via Mobile Phone. Portal is available in common foreign languages like, Spanish, German, Chinese, etc. Users can connect to government officials via Facebook or Twitter.

INDIA

With 1.2 billion people and challenges associated with a large population, e-services in India are in the formative stage. The Government of India has made substantial efforts in the last few years to overcome the challenges, including that of connectivity to its 70 per cent rural population [6].

Analysis: National portal of India has interactive user interface and has all the information about its states, departments and ministries and is also well connected to them. It has covered connectivity to the nationalized and private sector banks. Information is quite useful and accessible. It also heavily facilitate the transactional presence stage of E-governance stages through which customer can pay their taxes electronically, apply for the passport, can know about the procedure of applying driving license etc. [15]

Conclusion: Despite of such wonderful portal we have certain issues or barrier to implementation of E-Governance in India. [15].

E-GOVERNANCE & INDIA

CONCERNS:-

Illiteracy:

Illiteracy is one of the major challenges in the implementation of e-governance in India. Until and unless people will not be educated, they cannot access information which is there on the portal and thus, e-governance cannot be fully implemented. Hence, citizens remain unaware of technological enhancements [11].

Digital Divide:

Most of the people still do not use IT enabled services using internet. They may not be have that knowledge and do not want to break the barrier [12].

Privacy and Security:

While using e-government portal, customer think that their personal information is not secured and they hesitate to do online transaction. So, with the implementation of e-government projects, effective measures must be taken to protect sensitive personal information. A lack of clear security standards and protocols can limit the development of projects that contain sensitive information, such as income, medical history, etc. [13]

There is a varying degree of development of e-governance among the different states. A few States have leapfrogged into a digital era whereas a few are yet to start with any initiative. There is a tremendous divergence in the extent of implementation of the concept of e-Governance.

Trust:

For the implementation of public administration functions via e-government, the presence of two levels of trust is required [13].

The first is that, the user must be confident, comfortable and trust the tool or technology with which they will interact.

The second dimension of trust pertains to trust of the government.

ISSUES AND THEIR SOLUTIONS [18]

NEED OF THE HOUR [19]

One of the major requirements for a successful e-governance is a proper and well placed database of all the citizens.

Every citizen should have a unique Id and password for the website.

Proper security measures shall be adopted for the security of the database.

Password can be replaced by fingerprints, retina scan, etc which are unique to an individual.

Instead of having card readers, there should be devices like fingerprint readers or eye scanners.

One smart card with complete detail of citizens which is fully supported and secured by Biometrics and can be used for all transactions, and information.

CIA Model and E-Governance

CIA refers to Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. E-governance portals shall comply with the model for proper implementation.

Confidentiality of information: Effective measures must be taken to protect sensitive personal information.

Integrity of information: Portal shall be connected to all the departments. There should be a single platform for bulletins, complaints or grievances regarding any of the public or private sector office. Categorization of links should be done to make access smoother.

Availability of information: Information regarding government policies, laws and regulations shall be made available to all the citizens. There should be a "Freedom of information" where, everyone has the right to use the information produced by the government to enhance their own research. A farmer in a small village shall get the required information timely. All his queries shall be answered. He shall be able to connect to the portal via cyber cafes or desktops in his village or home.

E-GOVERNANCE ACTION PLAN [17]

Make the e-government services reach rural areas of the country or develop alternative means such as e-governance kiosks in regional languages.

Since, content is the 'heart' of any IT project, hence there is a need to manage and update it efficiently and regularly.

Follow the Best Practices in e-governance. Korea’s portal has been declared as a model for developing countries by UN [14].

The e–governance architecture needs to ensure that the components are scalable and adaptable to the future requirements.

It should be made citizen-centric.

Citizen’s control and participation in a political evolution of governance systems.

Categorization of links should be done to make access smoother.

Site should be made available in other regional languages and common foreign languages.

There should be a two way open dialog between Citizens and Government officials.

Citizen’s participation should be encouraged.

CONCLUSION

Fate of e-governance in any country is dependent on its technological advancement, infrastructure, literacy, awareness among citizens, and their trust in the service. In India, E-governance came into existence just a few years back. Since then, a lot of work has been done on its implementation. NeGP [16] (or National E-Governance Plan) is one such initiative. But there is a need to take into account certain issues which are touched in the paper, for better implementation of e-governance. To overcome these limitations, India should take lessons from the best E-governance portals like that of Korea, Singapore, USA, UK, etc.

FUTURE SCOPE

E-government has been proposed as a way to increase citizen trust in government. E-government has been proposed as a solution for increasing citizen communication with government agencies and, ultimately, political trust. E-government changes citizen attitudes because it makes government more accessible.

E-governance is the nervous system of any developed country and India has to prove it.