E- Governance- A complete study

Historical Background

·         E- governance in India owes its origins to the in house development of applications during the 1970s and 1980s in defense, economic planning,census, tax administration and elections.

·         Subsequently, massive efforts were made during the 1980s by the National Informatics Centre(NIC) to connect all the district headquarters in the country througha VSAT network.

·         However, all these efforts were mainly governmentcentric with the primary objective of exploiting information andcommunication technologies (ICTs)for automating internal government functions.

·         Citizen centricity with a focus on improving delivery of services to the citizens was not the primary goal during this period.In the late 1980s, a few computerization initiatives in the government started making an impact on citizen services.

·         The most prominent among these was the computerization of the passenger reservation system by the Indian Railways (Ramani,1991).

·         E-governance during this period received a major thrust with the launch of NICNET in 1987,followed by the launch of DISNICthat aimed at computerizing all the district offices in (2nd Administrative Reforms Commission,2008).

·         During the 1990s, several government departments at both central and state levels launched projects aimed at deploying ICTs for improving services to citizens.

·         Initial attempts were made by some government departments during the latter half of this decade to use the World Wide Web mainly for providing information to the citizens.

·         Several states, particularly the southern states, achieved significant successes in using e-governance to improve delivery of services to the citizens during this period.

·         This trend continued during the early years of the last decade with Several states across the country implementing citizen-centric-government projects.

·          However,these initiatives were isolated and fragmented due to lack of adequate and integrated ICT infrastructure reaching down to the block and village levels, lack of comprehensive back end computerization, lack of connectivity, and lack of adequate capacity at all levels of government to efficiently deploy ICTs for improving the quality of governance.

·         The National e-Governance Plan(NeGP), conceptualized in the early part of the last decade, aimed at addressing all these deficiencies.

National e-Governance Plan

The National e-GovernancePlan (NeGP) is the most significant initiative taken in India during the last decade to mainstream ICT in governance at both central and state levels. It lays emphasis on creating the right governance and institutional framework within the country, establish the core IT infrastructure, and implement a number of Mission Mode Projectsat the central, state and integrated levels.

 The original vision of NeGPwas to “Make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparencyand reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man”.

The plan, consisting originally of27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs)and 8 Components, was approved inMay 2006. Subsequently, during July2011, four new MMPs on Health,Education, Public DistributionSystem (PDS) and Posts wereadded. The respective ministriesand departments in Government of India are responsible for overallformulation, financial approvalsand implementation of the MMPs.

Integrated ApproachtoImplementationThe overall strategy forimplementation envisaged anintegrated approach focusing onsix key aspects and seven guidingprinciples.

The six key aspects included

1.      Connectivity

2.      Capacitybuilding,

3.      content creation,

4.      cyber law,

5.      citizen interface, and

6.      capital.

The sevenguiding principles included thefollowing:

1.      Centralized initiative and decentralized implementation;

2.      Delivering public value;

3.      Think big, start smalland scale fast;

4.      Change management;

5.      Common core and support infrastructure;

6.      Capacity building;

7.      And public private partnerships (ppps).

Governance Structure underNeGP

NeGP has conceptualized awell-defined governance structureto ensure its implementation as a comprehensiveand integrated plancutting across various central lineministries and state governments.

·         At the highest level, there is aCommittee headed by the PrimeMinister to provide the overallleadership for the implementation oftheNeGP.

·         A National e-GovernanceAdvisory Group headed by theMinister of Communications and IThas been constituted to seek viewsof the various stakeholders anddeliberate on the policy issues andinterventions needed to mainstreamICT in governance in the country.

·         An Apex Committee on NeGPchaired by the Cabinet Secretaryhas also been constituted to monitorits implementation, provide policy directions and resolve any interministerialissues.

·         For the actualconceptualization, financialapprovals, and implementationof the MMPs, the respective lineministries and departments areresponsible.

·         DeitY(Departement of Electronics and Information Technology) serves as thesecretariat for the Apex Committeein managing the NeGP and providestechnical advisory and appraisalservices to the various departmentsimplementing the MMPs.

·         It isalso responsible for implementingthe core infrastructural and othertechnical support components ofthe plan.

Components under NeGP

The NeGP consists of eight components.

·         The three main corecomponents consist of

·         State WideArea Networks (SWANs),

·         State Data Centres (SDCs),

·         Common Service Centers (CSCs).

·         All thesethree projects are being implemented by Deity. The other five components comprise

·         Standards, awareness andcommunication,

·         Capacity building, assessment,and

·         Research and development.

DeitY plays a pivotalrole in these areas as well.

Mission Mode Projects underNeGP

The 31 MMPs under the NeGPconsist of 11 central, 7 integratedand 13 state projects.

The 11 centralMMPs are as follows:

1.      Banking - This MMP has been led by the banking industry and aims at integrating the core banking solutions across various banks in the country.

2.      Insurance – This is another industry led initiative that focuses on services in the insurance sector being provided by the public sector insurance companies.

3.      MCA 21 - This project provides various services of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs such as registration of companies,filing of documents, etc.through a secure portal. It has 8 service categories.

4.      Income Tax: It aims at providing all income tax related services to citizens and businesses under 18 service categories.

5.      Central Excise: It provides excise and customs related services such as online filing of service tax and excise returns, e-payment of customs duties, etc. under 16 service categories.

6.      National ID/UID: It aims at providing unique identification numbers to all the residents int he country.

7.      Passports: It offers all passport related services under 17 service categories including applications for new passports,renewal of passports, tracking of status of applications, etc.

8.      Immigration and Visa: It provides immigration and visa related services under 9 service categories at the Indian Missions abroad.

9.      Pensions: It provides pension related services to pensioners under 2 service categories.

10.  E-Office: It aims at automating all internal file management processes within government departments.

11.  Posts: This new MMP focuses on providing all postal services in the country including postal savings accounts and postal insurance.Out of the 11 central MPs Mentioned above, 10 have gone live and are offering services to their stakeholders. However, not all services under their defined service categories may be operational.

The 13 state MMPs are asfollows:

1.      National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP):It aims at comprehensive computerization of land records, integration of registration and mutation processes, automatic updation of land records, etc. under 16 service categories.

2.      Commercial Taxes: It provides online filing of returns and taxes, automatic refunds, etc.under 22 service categories.

3.      Transport: It includes services like vehicle registration and driving licenses under 18 service categories.

4.      E-District: It provides district and tehsil/block level G2C services such as various certificates, welfares ervices , etc. under 10 service categories. While five categories are defined,states can add five categories specific to their requirements.An E-District pilot project hasbeen implemented across 41districts in 16 states and nowthe project is being rolled outacross all the states.

5.      Treasuries: It includes allpayment related servicesthrough treasuries under 13service categories.

6.      Municipalities: It providesmunicipal level G2C and G2Bservices such as birth and deathcertificates, payment of taxesand fees, licenses, etc. under 8service categories.

7.      Police – Crime and CriminalTracking and NetworkingSystem (CCTNS): It aimsat comprehensive automationof police and criminaladministrationsystem inthe country with 23 servicecategories

8.      Agriculture: It providesservices such as market prices,crop diseases and management,best practices in agriculture,horticulture, sericulture, etc.under 12 service categories.

9.      Gram Panchayats: It includesservices like house taxes, tradelicenses, certificates, etc. under12 service categories.

10.  Employment Exchange:It includes services such asregistration of job seekers andguidance to them, potentialemployers and onlineregistration of vacancies, etc.under 6 service categories.

11.  Health, Education and PDS:These three MMPs have beenadded in July 2011 and aimat providing a comprehensiverange of services in theirrespective sectors.

Out of the 13 state MMPs fourMMPs, i.e., NLRMP, Transport,e-District (Pilot), and CommercialTaxes have gone live and aredelivering various services.Two MMPs, Treasuries andMunicipalities, have become livepartially. Three MMPs, CCTNS,Gram Panchayats, and Agricultureare under implementation andEmployment Exchange MMP isyet to be launched. The three newMMPs are under conceptualizationstage.

The 7 integrated MMPs are asfollows:

1. India Portal: It aims atproviding a single windowaccess to all governmentservices under variousdepartments at both centraland state levels.

2.National Service DeliveryGateway(NSDG): It is amessaging middleware toroute intelligently and securelyall service requests to therelevant backend databasesand the processed services tothe service seeker. It facilitatesexchange of information acrossvarious backend databases ofdifferent departments. It has 6defined service categories.

3.Common Service Centres(CSC): It provides ICT enabledfront end kiosks for deliveringvarious G2C and G2B servicesto citizens in rural areas.

4.E-Courts: It aims at automatingcourt related services suchas e-filing of cases, onlineavailability ofjudgements, etc.under four service categories.

5. Electronic Data Interchange(EDI) for Trade: It enablesonline filing and clearance ofimport and export documents,online payment of chargesand fees and exchange ofdocuments among differentgovernment departmentsand agencies such as ports,customs, etc. It has four servicecategories.

6. E-Biz: It aims at providingintegrated services through asingle window for businessesand investors related toapprovals and permissions,payment of various fees throughone lumpsum payment, etc.under 29 service categories.

7. E-Procurement: It providesall procurement relatedservices to various governmentdepartments and agencies.Except the e-Biz MMP, all theother MMPs listed above have gonelive though not all the servicesunder various categories mightbe operational. E-Biz MMP isexpected to go live shortly.

Cross-Case ComparativeAnalysis:

Issues and Challenges in Implementation of NeGP

Though several projects underthe NeGP have achieved significantsuccess in implementation andhave started delivering servicesto their stakeholders, manyprojects are facing challenges inimplementation. What are theseissues and challenges?

OperationalThe main operational issuesand challenges mentioned by theMMPs include lack of dedicatedproject teams, frequent changesin project leadership, lack ofcapacity and change management,inadequate engagement with thekey stakeholders and issues inproject management due to thesheer scale and diversity of somevery large projects.

InstitutionalThe main institutional issuesand challenges noted by theMMPs include inter-departmentalcoordination, duplication of infrastructure, lack of aninstitutionalized incentive scheme,inadequate business processreengineering (BPR), delays inobtaining necessary approvals, and exit management for PPP projects.

LegalSome MMPs pointed out thatrecognition of electronic recordsis still an issue despite the legalmandate provided by the IT Actfor the same. In some cases, BPRneeded legal enactments to beimplemented.

FinancialSome MMPs noted that delaysin obtaining financial approvalswere hampering the progress ofimplementation. Delays in releaseof funds to the states and theirutilization was also mentionedby some state MMPs as a majorchallenge in making projects go livein those states.

TechnologicalThe major technologicalchallenges pointed out by theMMPs included dependency on coreinfrastructure for implementation,software customization, systemintegration, compliance withsecurity standards and third partyaudit, lack of a central network andlack of adequate disaster recovery(DR) facilities.

Critical Factors Affecting theImplementation of NeGP

We can observe from theabove analysis that the issues andchallenges being faced by theMMPs can be broadly classified intoseven critical factors: information,people, management, process,structure, strategy and technology.This analytical framework allowsus to suggest interventions tomake the MMPs more effectiveand outcome oriented in theirimplementation.

NeGP: The Way ForwardHow can the MMPs be mademore effective in terms of theiroutcome orientation and how canthey take advantage of the latestnew and innovative technologiessuch as cloud and mobile to makeimplementation faster and moreresource efficient? Based on theanalysis in the preceding sections,tthe following recommendationscan be made for the MMPs in thisregard.

Redefining the Strategy: OutcomeOrientationThe MMPs should redefinetheir service delivery strategywith a renewed focus on outcomeorientation through provisioningof all feasible services throughthe electronic mode, well-definedservice levels and measurabletransactions either through CSCsor in self-service mode.

Process: Focus on BPR andAadhaar IntegrationThe process interventions shouldinclude comprehensive BPRdigital signing of all the documents,electronic authentication, integratedservices and integration of theAadhaar platform for servicedelivery.

New and Innovative Technologies:Cloud Computing, Mobile, andLocalizationThere is tremendous scope forexploiting the new and innovativetechnologies such as cloudcomputing and mobile platformfor making rollout of services faster and more resource efficient.Cloud computing offers tremendousopportunities for fast-tracking theimplementation of different projectsand for quickly replicating thesuccessful e-governance projectsin various states across the country.Similarly, as access to mobilephones is much higher compared tothe same for computers and internet,mobile platform holds tremendouspotential for widening the reach ofe-governance, espeically in ruralareas. Use of local languages inapplications can facilitae easyaccess to them for the people.

Institutional Structure andManagementEnsuring inter-departmentalcoordination and coordinationamong the central ministries andstate government departments aresine qua nons for the success of anyproject. They are also vital in avoidingunnecessary duplication of efforts.Such coordination can also help intimely sanctions and releases offunds to the implementing agenciesand states. There is also need foran institutionalized performancelinked incentive scheme to be putin place for the MMPs. A propermanagement information system(MIS) must be put in place by all theMMPs to effectively monitor theperformance of the projects. Properpolicies for strategic control and exitmanagement also need to be put inplace. Appropriate revenue modelsfor ensuring financial sustainabilityof the projects also need to becarefully examined.

People and Information: CapacityBuilding andEmpoweringStakeholdersCapacity building at all levelswithin the government is a mustfor the success of any project. Theimportance of dedicated projectteams and change managementcannot be overemphasized.Disseminating proper informationand empowering the key stakeholderscan go a long way in ensuring thesuccess and sustainability of the projects.

Issues and Challenges faced by MMPs	Critical Factors as per Heeks and Bhatnagar (1999) Model
Operational: dedicated project teams , project leader ship, capacity and change management, inadequate engagement with the key stakeholders, project management	Information, People, Management, Structure
Institutional: inter-departmental c o o r d i n a t i o n , d u p l i c a t i o n of infrastructure, lack of an institutionalized incentive scheme, inadequate business process reengineering (BPR), delays in obtaining necessary approvals, and exit management for PPP projects.	Management, Process, Information, Structure, Strategy
Financial: delays in financial approvals, release of funds	Process Management
Technological: core infrastructure, system integration, customization	Technology

Submitted By Neeraj Kumar

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