India’s National e-Governance Plan

Introduction:

India is a developing country. The government of India to form systematic e-government has taken many initiatives over the years at the central, state, and block level. In 2006, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) and the Department of Administrative Reform and Public Grievances (DARPG) developed the National e-Governance Plan. National e-Governance Plan is a plan through which the government provides the basic online services to the public. It was started with 27 MMPs. It aims to provide better and speedy services to the public.

World Bank explained E-governance as the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that can 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.”[1]

E-Governance refers to “Electronic governance”. The objective of e-Governance is to improve the quality of the services being provided to the citizens, enable better interaction, and create a convenient system at an affordable cost.

Types of e-Governance

1. G2G (Government to Government): This is the type when one government is interacting with other governments through electronic mode.
2. G2C (Government to Customer): This type of e-Governance is the interaction between government and customer through electronic mode.
3. G2B (Government to Businessman): This type of e-Governance is the interaction between government and Businessman through electronic mode.
4. G2E (Government to Employee): This type of e-Governance is the interaction between government and employee through electronic mode.

National e-Governance Plan, 2006

The National e-Governance Plan takes a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision, a shared cause. Around this idea, a massive countrywide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of villages is evolving, and large-scale digitization of records is taking place to enable easy, reliable access over the internet. The ultimate objective is to bring public services closer home to citizens, as articulated in the Vision Statement of NeGP.[2]               

The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), takes a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision, a shared cause. Around this idea, a massive countrywide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of villages is evolving, and large-scale digitization of records is taking place to enable easy, reliable access to the internet.[3]

Benefits:

1. Less Corruption

2. Transparency

3. Convenient

4. Cost Reduction                        

Online Service provided under NeGP:

1. Agriculture
2. Central Excise
3. Company Affairs
4. E-Courts
5. Employment exchanges
6. Gram Panchayats
7. Income Tax
8. Land Records
9. Municipalities
10. Passport/visa
11. Pensions
12. Police
13. Property registrations
14. Road Transport

Components of NeGP

1. Institutional Structure
   • National and State Level: This is also called the Macro level. The objective of Institutional structure is to monitor, formulate and ensure the uniformity of the policies and maintain a standard, monitor the implementation, progress, and evaluate the desired outcome
   • Governance Structure: In the governance structure, the decision making bodies functions accordingly.
2. Common Support Infrastructure: Common Support Infrastructure is also called “Core component”. The issues related to the implementation of State Wide Area Networks (SWANs), State Data Centres (SDCs), and Common Services Centres (CSCs) are discussed here.
   • State Wide Area Networks (SWANs): The objective of SWANs is to establish a dedicated Closed User Group (CUG) network and to provide government running and connecting State Headquarters, District Headquarters, Blocks Headquarters with safe and high-speed connectivity.
   • State Data Centres (SDCs): It is one of the most important infrastructural components of NeGP. State Data Centres (SDCs) provides key functionalities such as central repository of the state, secure data storage, online delivery of services, Citizen Information/Services Portal, State Intranet portal, disaster recovery, remote management, and service integration, among others. [4]
   • Common Services Centres (CSCs): The Common Services Centre is a pillar of the  National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) which aims to provide high-quality video, audio, and data content and services in a cost-effective way that is accessible to the maximum number of people in areas like education, utility, entertainment, etc.
     A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone, and water bills.[5]
3. Mission Mode Projects (MMPs): These issues related to the implementation of MMPs are dealt with here. It is divided into:
   • Union MMPs: Pension, Income Tax, Passport/Visa, etc.
   • State MMPs:  Land records, Agriculture, Municipalities, Employment exchanges, Gram Panchayats, etc.
   • Integrated MMPs: e-courts, CSC,e-Trade,etc.

27 MMPs are consisting of 8 integrated projects, 8 Central Projects, and 11 State Projects.

Integrated Projects:

1. E-Biz: e-Biz deals with issues related to business. It aims to provide integrated services through a single window and reduce the burden of compliance.
2. National Service Delivery Gateway: The National e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (NSDG) is an effort to reduce such point-to-point ties between departments and provide a single and standard switch for interfaces, messaging, and routing through which different players can make their applications and data interoperable, such as departments, front-end service access providers and back-end databases.
3. Common Service Centres: Common Service Centres were established as approved in 2006. CSCs aim to provide high-quality videos, audio, and data at an affordable cost.
4. e-Procurement
5. e-Office
6. e-Court: Through e-court, people can easily access case numbers, dates, summary, order, judgment, etc. of their cases.
7. Indian Portal: It is the web portal of the Indian government through which the public can access any information or online services provided by the government.
8. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI):  It is an electronic interchange of business information in a standardized format that allows companies to send information through electronic medium instead of paper.

 Central Projects:

1. Banking
2. Central Excise
3. Income Tax: It aims to provide online services to people to fill income tax returns, Payment of tax, online submission of forms, etc.
4. Insurance: The services like paying for insurance installments, etc. are provided online.
5. MCA21: It provides online services like filling forms for registration of the company, gives access public to know about the corporate affairs, etc.
6. National ID/UID:  A central database is created and a unique identification number is generated for all the residents of the country.
7. Pension
8. Passport/ Visa

  State Projects:

1. Agriculture: Online service is provided for accessing information like crop prices, seed prices, good practices in agriculture, etc.
2. Commercial Taxes: It facilitates online filing of tax returns, paying tax, etc.
3. E-District: It provides the online service for different certificates and helps enabling G2C type of e-Governance.
4. Employment Exchange: This online service facilitates people to apply for vacancies.
5. Gram Panchayat: It enables the facility of providing online services for issues related to benefits being provided to the public, trade license, housing-related, etc.
6. Land Records
7. Municipalities: It provides facilities like paying utility bills, issuing birth certificates and death certificates, etc.
8. Police
9. Property Registration: It provides facilities like verification of documents, maintaining records, etc.
10. Road Transport: Issuing of driving license, etc.
11. Treasuries: By this online service, the payment of salaries to government employees, expenses in government departments, etc. are paid.

4. Other Plan Component
   • Assessment
   • Awareness and Communication
   • Capacity Building
   • Research and Development
   • Standards

Steps taken for implementation of NeGP

In the course of implementing the NeGP, the government took the following steps were taken:

1. First of all, State Wide Area Networks (SWANs), State Data Centres (SDCs), and Common Services Centres (CSCs) were established.
2. A monitoring platform was developed to keep a check on the implementations of NeGP. This platform also has the authority to lay down guidelines. DIT was the facilitator and the monitoring unit for the implementation of the NeGP.
3. A Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is to be adopted whenever there is a need without compromising the security aspects.
4. The main aim was to integrate the national and state programs related to NeGP.
5. Then, the initiatives were centralized and the implementations were decentralized.

Stages of NeGP

1. Opportunity Identification and program initiation at central line Ministry.
2. Initiation and conceptualization of project at central line Ministry.
3. Design and development of the project at central line Ministry.
4. Core Application Development at central line Ministry.
5. Application customization at the state level.
6. Implementation at the state level.

Challenges to NeGP

1. Financial Challenge: It was observed that there were delays in getting financial approval, thus it affected in form of delay of the result expected.      
2. Operational Challenge: The primary operational problems and the difficulties identified includes periodic changes in managing projects, lack of accountability, improper management of capability, insufficient involvement with the main factors, etc.
3. Institutional Challenge: The primary institutional issue and problems observed include infrastructural duplication, lack of facilities, lack of an institutionalized system for benefits, lack of market method,  delays in receiving approvals, Getting the requisite approvals and approvals, and exit management.
4. Legal Challenge: Recognition of the electronic is the primary legal challenge for NeGP.

Conclusion

To summarize, it can be said that National e-Governance Plan has so far proved to be a convenient, transparent, and cost-effective plan. This plan has increased the interaction between the government and the public and has also reduced corruption. It has also proved to be time effective plan and is accessible to everyone. Various components and levels are helping to facilitate online service accessible to every individual.

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References:

[1]  Vikaspedia, https://vikaspedia.in/e-governance/national-e-governance-plan/concept-of-e-governance (last visited January 9, 2021)

[2] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Government of India, https://www.meity.gov.in/content/common-services-centers (last visited January 9, 2021)

[3] Vikaspedia, https://vikaspedia.in/e-governance/national-e-governance-plan/concept-of-e-governance (last visited January 9, 2021)

[4] RADHA CHAUHAN, UNU-IIST International Institute of Software Technology (United Nations University 2009)

[5] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Government of India, https://www.meity.gov.in/content/common-services-centers (last visited January 9, 2021)