E-governance is the integration of information technology with communication. With the help of e-governance, data can be made public in a transparent manner. Electronic governance is being adopted on a large scale by many countries. The increased growth of computer digitalization has forced the government to incorporate e-governance services in their governmental processes.
With the help of e-governance services in India, government services can be availed by the public much easier.
Types of E-Governance Interactions:
- Government to government: exchange of information between local or central or local and local government.
- Government to citizen: this is a platform where citizens can acquire government services and interact with the government.
- Government to business: the government also offers several benefits to businesses, using e-governance, businesses can avail the government services.
- Government to employees: the government employees are more efficient now with the use of e-governance.
E-Governance Best Practices in India
The Department of Electronics and Information Technology in India came up with a national e-Governance plan. The objective was to make government services available to the common man. Let’s see some of the e-governance practices in India:
- AADHAR card: associating every Indian citizen with a unique identification number has served as an identity proof. Now, one can easily e-sign documents using their AADHAR card.
- in: a common platform where citizens can voice out their opinions and ideas on the matters of governance.
- UMANG: the handy mobile application that gives the common man access to government services like AADHAR, digital locker, and much more.
- Digital locker: it is not safe anymore to leave important documents unprotected on your phone. Using a digital locker, one can safely store important documents like the PAN card. AADHAR card and other documents.
- Mobile Seva: another great mobile application that has made over 200 live applications that can be used to avail government services.
- Khajane project: launched by the state of Karnataka, this feature has digitalized the treasury system.
- FRIENDS: this initiative launched by the state of Kerala has been beneficial in helping the citizens pay their taxes to the state government.
These initiatives have digitalized and taken India into a whole new dimension. With many more such initiatives in the bag, e-governance services in India are becoming more advanced.
Benefits of E-Governance Services
The benefits of e-governance are many, some of them being:
- Quick implementation: paperwork that was previously tiresome has now become easy. Communicating the government policies and decisions has become simpler.
- Increased operational efficiency: citizens are more concerned about efficient services. The more the government interacts with the citizens, the more effective the government is. With the e-governance services, the operational efficiency of the government has increased.
- Increased trust: With the help of e-government software applications, transparency and accuracy is no more a problem.
- Reduction in costs: e-governance is a cost-cutting measure. Surveys and questionnaires are more economical than a person going door-to-door to conduct surveys.
- Involvement: involving citizens in the decision-making process for policies gives citizens a sense of belongingness.
E-governance in India still has a long way to go, but with the researchers and developers working on it day and night, advanced technologies and innovative platforms are coming our way for sure.
