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(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) New Age Technology

[December-2022]

New Age Technology

Introduction:

Digitisation and modern day data capture and analytics tools have empowered the governments across the globe with, hitherto, unprecedented and powerful insights to deliver high quality public services and manage them in real time. India has pole-vaulted herself to emerge as a torchbearer in e-governance and technology has been instrumental in this journey. Be it the famous JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity or the Common Services Centres (CSCs) or e-file systems or real-time monitoring of schemes, the Indian e-governance paradigm is based on the solid foundations of good governance.
As the Digital India program captures that e-governance is instrumental while good governance is fundamental, this spirit has been the backbone of the Indian technological transformation of governance. This article captures the foundations of good governance and what do they mean for e-governance with case studies in the field of education. The article also captures the evolution of e-governance in India, its transformation and the integration of new-age technologies in governance and the catalytic role being played by the Government of India.

Good Governance to E-Governance:

As per the second Administrative Reforms Commission, good governance aims at providing an environment in which all citizens irrespective of class, caste and gender can develop to their full potential. In addition, good governance also aims at providing public services effectively, efficiently and equitably to the citizens.

The 4 pillars on which the edifice of good governance rests, in essence are:

a) Ethos (of service to the citizen),

b) Ethics (honesty integrity and transparency),

c) Equity (treating all citizens alike with empathy for the weaker sections), and

d) Efficiency (speedy and effective delivery of service without harassment).

Scope of E-Governance

The scope of the e governance span the relationships between government-to government agencies, government to-busmess, government to citizen and government-to-employees as discussed below.

Government-to-Government (G2G):

E-Governance aims to transform the practices within the government as well. Be it intra or inter ministries/department or central or state, information flow and decision making process have often found to be slow and marred with red-tapism. Such practices result in unfair practices and rent seeking attitude within the officials and are a major source of corruption. A simple e-governance solution of electronic files or popularly known as e-files has improved the efficiency in the system. Earlier, a pensioner used to wander from one department or officer to other but would not find a solution to her problem.
E file ensures that every movement of file is time stamped and it also creates a log of delays and time taken to take decisions and hence is used by government officials to keep track of inefficiencies and malpractices within various departments. The system has also helped in faster information flows within the department and between various departments and thus pushing efficiency while creating an onus on each link of the department through the use of timestamps. Such small and incremental improvements has resulted in better working of government offices.

Government-to-Citizens (G2C):

This is the most widely used e-governance interaction where the government has created an interface using technology between the government and citizens which enables the citizens to benefit from efficient delivery of a large range of public services. Social pension schemes, scholarships, benefits of pregnancy schemes, subsidy for gas cylinders, uniform money, textbook money etc are transferred directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries and thus eliminating any middle man. The JAM trinity has further strengthened the public service delivery with digital means.

Government to Employees (G2E):

Government is by far the biggest employer and like any organisation, it has to interact with its employees on a regular basis. This interaction is a two-way process between the organization and the employee. Use of lCT tools helps in making these interactions fast and efficient on the one hand and increase satisfaction levels of employees on the other.

Government to Business (G2B):

Government has put many policies and check and balances for hassle free operations of businesses. From licence Raj to the policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, the government improved many processes and policies. But, the real change came with the IT boom. And government implemented many technological solutions to ease the burden on businesses and allow them to thrive and add value to the and allow them to thrive and add value to the economy and create jobs. But in the recent years the thrust on G2B has grown manifold and Indian has consistently improved its global rankings in `Ease of Doing Business’. A major reason for such a transformation is e-governance.

Government Initiatives and Roadmap for e-Governance

Technology for Education - e-Education – All schools will be connected to broadband. Free WiFi will be provided in all secondary and higher secondary schools (coverage would be around 250,000 schools). A programme on digital literacy would be taken up at the national level. Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) shall be developed and leveraged for e Education.
Technology for Health e Healthcare: e-Healthcare would cover online medical consultation, online medical records, online medicine supply, pan-India exchange for patient information, etc.
Technology for Farmers - This would facilitate farmers to get real-time price information, online ordering of inputs and online cash, loan, and relief payment with mobile banking.
Technology for Security - Mobile based emergency services and disaster-related services would be provided to citizens on a real-time basis so as to take precautionary measures well in time and minimise loss of lives and properties.
Technology for Financial Inclusion – Financial inclusion shall be strengthened using mobile banking, MicroATM program and CSCs/ Post Offices.
Technology for Justice - Interoperable Criminal Justice System shall be strengthened by leveraging several related applications, i.e. e-Courts, e-Police, e-Jails and e-Prosecution.
Technology for Planning - National GIS Mission Mode Project would be implemented to facilitate GIS based decision making for project planning, conceptualization, design and development.
Technology for Cyber Security - National Cyber Security Co-ordination Centre would be set up to ensure safe and secure cyber-space within the country.