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(GIST OF YOJANA) e-Governance & Covid- 19 Pandemic

[August-2021]

During the current pandemic, e-governance stepped into the central role as a necessary element of communication, leadership, and coordination between policymakers, administration, and society. Digital technologies established through e-governance initiatives became an important source for sharing knowledge, encouraging collaborative research, and providing transparent guidance to the citizens, e-governance became an important ICT tool for disseminating Covid-19 related data in a more transparent, safe, interoperable, and secure manner.
The online database of Covid- 19 cases, lockdown guidelines, travel restrictions, locating the vacant beds in the hospitals, oxygen cylinders, financial assistance, and relief distribution, etc., were carried out only through e-governance infrastructure. Jan Dhan Aadhaar Mobile (JAM) delivery system became the main vehicle for the distribution of the cash payments, rations of food supplies through the public distribution system, the distribution of the relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan (PMGK.) scheme supported the people in the pandemic.
Aarogya Setu App and CoWIN App are the main e-governance tools that supported the citizens and government to trace the Covid patients and manage the vaccination. e-Doctor tele-video consultation facilities have been launched as an alternative to reduce hospital visits.

Challenges and Way Forward

The scope of the e-governance projects expanded at an unexpected speed during Covid-19 by adding many new features and innovative e-infrastructure. The population of India now connected withe-governance can be considered as one of the largest databases in the world having personal information of people.
The sudden surge of the ambit of e-governance in the post-Covid scenario is assuring a secure, effective, reliable, transparent system that is reconciled with the basic rights and values guaranteed in the Constitution of India.
Another challenge in e-governance is to adopt new methods to decrease the digital divide and to promote inclusive e-governance for achieving the promise, ‘to leave nobody behind’.

In the post-Covid scenario, the government is required to develop effective e-governance through:

Interoperability of e-governance infrastructure between intragovernmental departments and agencies.
Developing inclusive c-governance structure to make sure that there is no one is left out.
Legislating effective data protection law and administrative regulations.
Enhancing data security levels to avoid data leakage, misuse, etc.
Reducing digital divide by creating an inclusive digital ecosystem, e-literacy for inclusiveness, improving accessibility for higher uptake.
Mandatory sector-specific service focus to attain SDG goals.
Embracing New Age Technologies (NAT) for improved service delivery and focusing on integrated service delivery.