Anti-poverty
programs of government have multi-dimensional benefits. Esther Duflo, an
economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology known for her
data-driven analysis of poverty argued that the effects of some anti-poverty
programmes go beyond the direct impact of the resources they provide. These
programmes also make it possible for the very poor to hope for more than mere
survival. (published in 'The Economist' on May 12th 2012 under Free Exchange). This
shows how welfare schemes help in creation of positive attitude to utilize the
improving socio-economic environment, eventually accelerating the entire
development process.
Ensuring
that benefits reach to intended group of people is difficult, while implementing
welfare programs targeted at poor. It is getting wide acceptance that ICT can
reduce poverty by improving poor people's access to information, education,
health, government and financial services. ICT also helps in breaking the cycle
of disadvantaged (say by connecting small farmers and artisans to markets or by
reducing information asymmetry across different classes in society). Moreover, ICT
contributes to efficient management of efforts of government targeted at
welfare of general public and also at eradication of poverty. Therefore, establishment
of E Government is being seen as a means to improve implementation of welfare
schemes not only by increasing tractability of allocated funds in different
programs till grass root level, but also in improving functioning of government
to make it more agile, sensible, transparent and accountable to its
citizens.
In the global sphere, in E Governance Development Index (United Nations e-Government Survey 2012) India is ranked at 125th position. Findings of the survey report suggests that the steady improvement in all the indicators of the e-Government Development Index has led to a world average of 0.4877 as compared to 0.4406 in 2010. This reflects that countries in general have improved their online service delivery to cater to citizens needs. Despite progress there remains an imbalance in digital divide between developed and developing world, especially in Africa. The report has highlighted that there is an increasing gap between e-service availability and usage (mentioned in Chapter 6 – Expanding Usage to Realize the full Benefits of e-Government). The above survey also found that many member states are moving from decentralized single-purpose organizational model, to an integrated unified whole-of-government model, contributing to efficiency and effectiveness.
In
India, implementation of E Government is being carried out with a strong intent
to use ICT as a means to serve the citizens in a better way. NeGP (National
eGovernance Plan) has been designed in a systematic way to create a suitable
environment, where electronic delivery of government services can take place
across the country, in a seamless manner. It is widely being expected that
implementation of e Governance will usher a new era in Indian public
administration which would empower citizens, bring good governance in practice and
be instrumental in living up to the public expectations on reforms being
implemented through Right Based Approach (Right to Information, Right to
Education, etc).
NeGP
comprises of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) encompassing 9 Central MMPs, 11
State MMPs and 7 Integrated MMPs. As of date, all Central MMPs have crossed the
stage of conceptualization and moved to design-and-development and
implementation stages, schemes having been approved for 8 of the 9 MMPs. All
Integrated MMPs have crossed the stage of conceptualization, schemes having
been approved for 6 out of the 7 MMPs. With respect to State MMPs, schemes for
5 MMPs have been approved and scheme preparation for 3 out of remaining 6 MMPs
is in advanced stage. (source: http://www.indiaegov.org/negp.html)
However, going ahead with e
Governance initiatives is not an easy task. It needs tremendous efforts to
change the government culture and government routines evolved and stabilized
long back in history and being practiced over decades. This is evident from the
following facts mentioned in report published by Grant Thornton (Project
Management in e-Governance – Issues and Challenges in Navigating to New Normal,
September 2011):-
a)
It is
time to reflect and debate on ‘Strategic Shifts’ that need to be
institutionalized in the e-Government ecosystem for the next wave of
e-Government Reforms contemplated by Government agencies such that the distant
dream of e-Government becoming the ‘new normal’ for government in its ‘public
service delivery’ is realized.
b)
Only 15% of e Governance projects succeed
(with all stakeholders benefited and with no adverse results).
Major
challenges in execution of e-Government Projects in India are listed as under:-
a.
Lack of Citizen Centricity and Service
Orientation in Public Service Delivery
b.
High Resistance to Change
c.
Problem of establishing Person Identities
d.
Lack of Process Orientation
e.
Lack of Integrated Services
f.
Poor Information Management, Project
Management in Government Offices
g.
Poor Understanding of Technology within Government
h.
Poor Capabilities of Human Resources within
Government
i.
Poor Computer Awareness in rural areas
j.
Inflexible Inter-department communication
k.
Legal Issues in Government Process
Re-engineering
l.
Huge Population with Cultural Diversity and
Different Languages
m.
Lack of Continuous Power Supply / Internet
Connectivity in remote areas
n. Implementation is required in areas of difficult Geographical Terrains
National
eGovernance Plan (NeGP) seems to be going ahead with following strategy:-
a. Capacity
Building in Government Organizations (Develop Capability to scale up and meet
the demands of quality and volume in implementation of eGovernment)
b. Top-Down
Approach for increasing Supply of Services (Institutionalize eGovernment by
making initiatives driven by department leadership)
c. Bottom-Up
Approach for increasing Demand of Services (Generating Awareness at Grass-Root
Level to take eGovernment at the centre of Political Spectrum)
d. Well
directed Programs for step-wise evolution of e Government Platform (interlinked
systems of departments, which are seamlessly working to present a single view
of government to its citizens)
e. Impact
Analysis and Assessment of e Government Projects (Feedback mechanism to assess
success of projects on intended objectives to do performance reporting on
tax-payer funded e Governance investments)
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