Technology has become a part of our daily life. For most of us, mobile is the first thing they need as soon as they get up. Technology has its presence in all aspects of our life. We can say that we are living in a technology era and it has made everything easy for us.
In today’s internet’s time, we can talk to someone who in another corner for the world and we can send an e-mail in just a few seconds. Technology and the internet have made the money transitions secure, fast and free from much human interference.
The process of globalisation is a gift of technology and due to the technology and its benefits, the concept of E-governance is introduced in India.
The ‘E’ in E-governance signifies electronic and E-governance means the governance with Information technology. The increasing demand for transparency in administration, faster information transfer and other demands that can be fulfilled by the E-governance only pushed the government and public sector to chose E-governance.
Many of us think that E-governance came to India’s governance system comparatively late but the fact is that E-governance started to work in India in 1987. In 1987 NICNET (national satellite-based computer network) was launched. It was the dawn of E-governance in India.
After NICNET, District Information System of the National Informatics Centre (DISNIC) was launched to computerise all district offices in the country. Later on, in 1990 both NICNET and DISNIC got connected and NICNET extended via the State capitals to all district headquarters.
Since then technology has improved a lot and so does the networking and the work at the district level. So the required improvements have been implemented to have a secure and hassle-free E-governance in India.
In today’s scenario, E-governance is essential for the state and central government. Further, in this essay, we will cover the topics like advantages and dis-advantages of E-governance and challenges in E-governance.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
E-governance in India
The model of E-governance is highly successful in developed countries like the United Nations and others but in a counter like India, there were some doubts about its success. India is a country with much diversity. It has a different language, culture, and states with different geographical structure.
So it was not easy for all to understand the policies of the central government and roaming around the state and central government’s offices to get some of their work done. The idea of E-governance introduced efficiency, Promptness, transparency and better citizen friendly interface.
A few departments have implemented E-Governance with perfection and they are offering the best services to the citizen of the country. The railway is one of those departments who has applied E-Governance to offer better citizen friendly interface.
Now it has become easy for the countrymen to book the tickets for their train journey without visiting the railway station in their city or village.
In case of an emergency, the passengers can get help from the government with a tweet only. Another benefit of E-Governance is very much visible on E-Tender. Earlier it was said that there is always some scam or bribe was associated with the government tender systems but now with E-Tenders, it has almost vanished.
Almost all the ministries and the department of state and central government have their websites. From these websites, you can get the desired information. Both states and the central government are working to implement technology in government work.
The pace of some states is good and some are working steadily and slowly. India has a good position in Asia for the implementation of ICT (Information Communication Technology).
Advantages of E-governance
We all will be agreeing to this point that technology has made our life easy. If we talk about the advantages of E-Governance then we will have to agree that E-Governance has helped many Indians in many ways. Let’s have a look at the advantages of E-Governance.
1. Transparency
Bribe and corruption are the main concern in India and they are considered as the biggest hurdle for the development of society. E-Governance has brought transparency in the government system and it created an unfavorable situation for corruption.
ICT enables the citizen to see any information wherever they want. Now the common man can raise a finger on the government policies as now he can lodge the complaints on e-portals of government.
2. Speed
E-Governance provides the required information to the common or special person in no time.
3. Cost Reduction
The paper-based communication is much costlier than ICT. E-governance saves the cost of sending and receiving letters in order to get some information.
4. Expand Reach of Governance
E-governance has brought the government policies at the doorstep of common men. Now any Indian citizen can get access on the government policies and schemes. They can read them and ask queries online through their smartphones.
Disadvantages of E-governance
We have discussed the needs and advantages of E-Governance now let’s look at the other side of a coin. Here are the disadvantages of E-Governance.
1. Dependency
Our dependency on technology is fine until the technology is supporting us but once it stops working all the work stops. This dependency eats lots of time. For example in banks a very common phrase we listen to is. The server is not working so most of the work stops.
2. Literacy
To reach to the every Indian is the vision of government behind E-governance but in India, the literacy rate is not so high. The implementation of e-government will be more effective with a high literacy rate.
3. Availability of Computers
A computer is a common device but its not available at every home in India. In the absence of a computer, the facilities of E-Government can be enjoyed by accessing through Smartphone but it is also not available to every Indian.
4. Security
Security is a major concern for the government. The government has many E-governance projects and its government’s duty to maintain its security. Recently there was much chaos on the security of Aadhaar Card.
Challenges in E-governance
Lack of literacy, non-availability of computer and other devices is the biggest challenge in the implementation of E-governance. Marinating the cyber security is another challenge for E-governance. Insufficiency of funds, infrastructural problems, maintenance, and legal framework readiness are among the other challenges in E-Governance.
The technology is getting advanced with every passing day so to maintain the level of technology the government needs to spend some funds after a particular duration. The arrangement of funds is another challenge in E-governance as the cost of high-end technology servers is usually high.
Conclusion
E-governance has made many processes easy for us. Now we can check the live status of our speed posts through computerisation and networking of all post offices. Banks, UID, and many other processes helped the common man and they all come under the category of E-governance.
To conclude the complete easy on E-governance, we can say that it is the need of the hour. The government of India has launched many programmes to empower E-government.
Most of the trading work related to government taxes runs through E-government. This online tax system has not only made the entire process easy but it also saves time and paper costs. Data security is one of the major concern for the government and the common man as well.