24th National Conference on e-Governance 2021

• 17 Jan 2022

For Prelims: National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG).

For Mains: concept of e-Governance and its benefits in governance, different types of interaction in e-Governance, steps taken by the government to facilitate e-Governance.

Why in News

Recently, the 24^th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions) and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), in association with the State Government of Telangana.

• DARPG is the nodal agency of the Government of India for administrative reforms as well as redressal of public grievances relating to the states in general and those pertaining to Central Government agencies in particular.

Key Points

• About:
  • The Conference provides a platform for constructive exchange of ideas on some of the latest technologies for promoting e-Governance.
  • At the conference, the ‘Hyderabad Declaration’ on e-Governance was adopted.
    • The declaration aims to bring citizens and governments closer through digital platforms and transform citizen services through the use of technology.
  • The Conference resolved that Government of India and State Governments shall collaborate to:
    • Transform citizen services through use of technology by leveraging the artifacts of India Stack that include Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, UMANG, e Sign and consent framework.
    • Fast track the implementation of the national level public digital platforms in key social sectors viz. Health, Education, Agriculture, etc by adopting open interoperable architecture for joined up connected services.
    • Operationalize the data governance framework to facilitate data sharing within Government entities as also make available all data on data.gov.in except for a negative list.
    • Foster responsible use of emerging technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, 5G, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, etc for Social Empowerment.
    • Make India the global hub for emerging technology through creation of a large pool of skilled resources on futuristic technologies.
    • Ensure resilient Government Infrastructure with robust technological solutions to withstand pandemic like disruptions.
    • Integration of all State/District portals with Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) for seamless Redressal of Public Grievances.
    • National E-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) 2021 to be adopted in collaboration with MeITY for improving e-Governance landscape.
• Theme: “India’s Techade: Digital Governance in a Post Pandemic World”
• National e-Governance Awards 2021:
  • To recognise the implementation of e-Governance initiatives, the National e-Governance Awards 2021 were presented during the Inaugural Session.
  • 26 awards were presented under the 6 categories of the Award Scheme to Central Ministries/Departments, State/UT Governments, Districts, Local Bodies, Public Sector Undertakings and Academic & Research Institutions.
  • These Awards are being given since 2003.

E-governance

• About:
  • It can be defined as the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by the government to provide and facilitate government services, exchange of information, communication transactions and integration of various standalone systems and services.
  • Through e-governance, government services are made available to citizens and businesses in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner.
• Types of Interactions in e-Governance:
  • Government to Government (G2G):
    • Information is exchanged within the government i.e., either, between the central government, state government and local governments or between different branches of the same government.
  • Government to Citizen (G2C):
    • The citizens have a platform through which they can interact with the government and get access to the variety of public services offered by the Government.
  • Government to Businesses (G2B):
    • The businesses are able to interact with the government seamlessly with respect to the services of the government offered to businesses.
  • Government to Employees (G2E):
    • The interaction between the government and its employees occurs in an efficient and speedy manner.
• Objectives:
  • To support and simplify governance for government, citizens, and businesses.
  • To make government administration more transparent and accountable while addressing the society’s needs and expectations through efficient public services and effective interaction between the people, businesses, and government.
  • To reduce corruption in the government.
  • To ensure speedy administration of services and information.
  • To reduce difficulties for business, provide immediate information and enable digital communication by e-business.
• Challenges:
  • Lack of computer literacy: India is still a developing country and a vast majority of the citizens lack computer literacy which hinders the effectiveness of e-governance.
  • Lack of accessibility: Lack of accessibility to the internet or even computers in some parts of the country is a disadvantage to e-governance.
  • Loss of Human interaction: Governance results in a loss of human interaction. As the system becomes more mechanised, lesser interaction takes place among people.
  • Risk of Data Theft: It gives rise to the risk of personal data theft and leakage.
  • Lax Administratione: Governance leads to a lax administration. The service provider can easily provide excuses for not providing the service on technical grounds such as “server is down” or “internet is not working”, etc.
• e-Governance in the Indian context:
  • There are a large number of e-Governance initiatives, both at the Union and State levels.
  • In 2006, the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was formulated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances that aims at making all government services accessible to the common man, ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise the basic needs of the common man.
  • NeGP has enabled many e-governance initiatives:
    • Digital India, Aadhaar, myGov.in, (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) App, Digital Locker, PayGov, Computerisation of Land Records.
      • myGov.in is a national citizen engagement platform where people can share ideas and be involved with matters of policy and governance.
      • PayGov facilitates online payments to all public and private banks.

Way Forward

• A hybrid approach needs to be adopted for enhancing interoperability among e-governance applications which will encompass a centralized approach for document management, knowledge management, file management, grievance management etc.
• The e-governance initiatives in rural areas should be taken by identifying and analyzing the grassroots realities.
• The government should also focus on devising appropriate, feasible, distinct and effective capacity building mechanisms for various stakeholders viz bureaucrats, rural masses, urban masses, elected representatives, etc.
• e-Governance through regional languages is appreciable for nations like India where people from several linguistic backgrounds are the participants.

Source: PIB