E-Governance

1.INTRODUCTION:				3.9 Webciti
World economies have recognized Information				WebCITI (Web based Citizen-IT Interface) is an
Technology as an effective tool in catalyzing the				e-Governance project for building citizen-IT
economic activity in efficient governance and in				interface for services offered by district
developing human resource. They have made				administration at Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab. It
significant investments in it and successfully				provides web-based interface to citizens seeking
integrated it with the development process,				services from district administration and provides
thereby reaping the benefits to their society. In				complete workflow automation in District
India also, these developments have impacted the				Commissioners office. It is information
industrial, education, service and Government				dissemination system designed to facilitate public
sectors and their influence on various applications				to get information about various government
is increasingly being felt oflate.				schemes such as eligibility criteria, procedures,
As the era of digital economy is evolving, the				contact addresses, downloadable forms etc.
concept of governance has assumed significant				These include issuance of certificatessuch as
importance. The e-Governance has consequently				death/birth, caste, rural area etc.,licenses such as
become an accepted methodology involving the				arms license, permission forconferences/rallies
use of Information Technology in improving				etc., benefits from socioeconomic schemes etc.
transparency, providing information speedily to all				The information aboutvarious schemes and
citizens, improving administration efficiency and				procedures, status of an application etc. can be
improving public services such as transportation,				found through the web Interface available at the
power, health, water, security and municipal				intranet counters at developmental block/revenue
services.				tehsil and kiosks.
India has been harnessing the benefits provided				3.10 Drishtee
by the Information & Communication				Drishtee is a unique socio-technological effort
Technologies to provide integrated governance,				towards creating an Information backbone in
reach to the citizens faster,provide efficient				Indian Villages. Drishtee is a public limited company
services and citizen empowerment through				providing IT enabled, fee based services to
access to information. The aim is to redefine				villagers through community owned kiosks. It is a
governance in the ICT age to provide Smart				platform for rural networking and marketing
Governance. Several significant initiatives have				services for enabling e-governance, education,
been taken at the Centre and the State level in				health and allied IT based services. The services it
this direction. At the Central level, the government				enables include access to government programs
has extensively promoted the use of IT in				& benefits, market related information and
managingits internal processes and has drawn up				private information exchanges & transactions.
a 'Minimum Agenda of e-Governance'. The				4. E-GOVERNANCE IN TAMILNADU:
Ministries/Departments have provision of 2 to 3				Government has taken as a policy to promote
percent of their annual budgets to be spent on IT				e-governance initiative toensure transparent,
related activities.				speedy and responsive delivery of government
The Government has enacted IT Act 2000, which				services to thecitizens. E-governance initiatives
provides legal status to the information and				were taken in major departments like
transactions carried on the net. Several State				Registration,
Governments have also takenvarious innovative				Revenue, Transport, etc. The Electronic Delivery
steps to promote e-Governance and have drawn				of Services (EDS) is receiving a lotof thrust. The
up a roadmap for IT implementation and delivery				payment of utility payment service charges of
of services to the citizens online. The applications				TNEB, Metrowater and
that have been implemented are targeted				Chennai Corporation can be effected through the
towards providing G2B, G2C and B2C services				EDS centres. To promote egovernancein the
with emphasis on use of local language.				Government during 2004-05, a sum of Rs.2357.52
2.DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION				lakhs hasbeen provided in the State Budget under
TECHNOLOGY'S INITIATIVES:				Part-II (new) schemes for 2004-05 of which
As part of the increased thrust on e-Governance,				Rs.1836.52 lakhs is provided under Plan schemes
Ministry of Communications &				and Rs.521 lakhs under Non-
Information Technology, Department of				Plan towards hardware and software for the
Information Technology, Government of Indiahas				Departments of Commercial Taxes,
set up a Centre for e-Governance (CEG) at its				Registration, Treasuries & Accounts, Survey
premises - Electronics Niketan in New Delhi.The				& Settlement, BC & MBC, Town and
Centre, first of its kind in the country,showcases				Country Planning & Adi-Dravida Welfare, etc.
several e-Governance applications and solutions				4.1 Tamil Nadu e-governance Mission:
that have been successfullydeployed in various				As part of the increased thrust on e-governance,
states and offers such other services like				IT department is setting upan e-governance
technical consultation, proof of concept and				Directorate exclusively to work on the Policy and
thematic presentations. Conducting programmes				Planning of
for creating awareness among decision makers in				Information & Communication Technology
the Centre and State Governments and helping				initiatives of the Government and also toaugment
them in defining andimplementing process and				the e-Governance initiatives and projects of the
policy changes for effective e-Governance are				Government of Tamil
other importantobjectives of the Centre.The				Nadu. As a first initiative, e-governance cell at
primary activities of the Centre are:o To				ELCOT in the nameand style of "TN
showcase the best practices in the area of				e-governance Mission", is formed which will form a
Electronic Governance, which wouldencompass				part of the
technology, processes as well as public policies				Directorate later. TN e-governance Mission, from
Conduct programs for creating awareness among				its inception has beenscouting around for the best
decision makers in the Central and state				e-governance practices world over for adoption in
Governments				thee-governance project initiatives of the
Demonstrate the feasibility of Electronic				Government to provide electronic delivery
Governance to decision makers				ofservices to the citizen at a reasonable cost and
throughworkshops, demonstration programs,video				for improvement of Government -
teleconferencing, etc.				Citizen Interface.
Help the Central and State Governments in				The Tamil Nadu Government has decided to give
defining and implementing process and policy				a major push to its e-governance initiatives.
changes				Besides constituting panels at three different
To enrich the repository of best practices through				levels for implementation of National
continuous interaction with subject matter				e-Governance Action Plan (NeGAP), it is also
experts from India and abroad.				planning to appoint a consultant to conduct a
The Centre also draws upon leading companies,				study and prepare an information and
technical institutions and business partners in India				communication technology (ICT) roadmap for
and abroad and help initiate projects to address				e-governance.
specific needs. The Centre continuously strives to				Besides floating a global tender for appointment of
establish strong links with similar institutions				the consultant, the government has constituted a
worldwide to enrich the repository of best				State Apex Committee (SAC) that will oversee
practices through interaction andparticipation.				and provide policy direction to NeGAP and ensure
3. SOME E-GOVERNANCE PROJECTS				inter-ministerial co-ordination.
APPLICATIONS OPERATIONAL ACROSS INDIA:				There will be a State e-Governance Group (SeG)
3.1 Bhoomi (Land Records)				to provide overall direction, standardisation and
Bhoomi is a self-sustainable e-governance project				consistency through programme management of
for the computerized delivery of 20 million rural				e-governance initiatives of the state.
land records to 6.7 million farmers through 177				The SAC will be headed by the Chief Secretary,
Government owned kiosks in the Indian state of				with Information Technology secretary as the
Karnataka, which has eliminated red tape and				Chief Information Officer and the Managing
corruption in the issue of land title records, and is				Director of Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu
fast becoming the backbone for credible				(ELCOT) as the member secretary.
IT-enabled Government services for the rural				The SeG will have the Development
population.				Commissioner and Principal Secretary (Finance) as
3.2 Stamps Registration and Archiving (SARITA)				the chairman and the director of the to-be
The Stamps and Registration Department of a				created directorate of e-Governance as the
State is typically one of the top revenue earners				member secretary. The IT secretary, who will
for any Government. Stamp & Registration				also be a member of the SeG, will have the lead
software provides efficient government citizen				role in advising the government on IT trends and
interface, and also enables enhanced revenue				also coordinating technology utilization
earnings for the Stamps and Registration				The deputy director general of the National
operation. The heart of this application consistsof				Informatics Centre (NIC) will also be a member of
the Registration and Valuation module. Other				the SeG to provide technology expertise and to
modules are the Networking and Scanning				monitor new technologies, besides assessing their
modules that enable exchange of information				potential to use in the e-governance programme.
securely across departments, and "electronic				The SeG will function as a permanent advisory
copying" of the registered documents thereby				body to develop and implement processes for
enabling return of the original document within few				management of programmes like conflict
minutes of presentation.				management, audits, knowledge management,
3.3 Versatile Online Information for Citizen				financial management, risk management, and
Empowerment (VOICE)				project planning and monitoring, besides
Municipalities have a challenging task of providing				institutionalizing e-governance processes and tools.
various kinds of citizen services.VOICE caters to				The e-governance groups will also be set up at
these challenges through the use of				state government department levels, with the
state-of-the-art information Technology.In addition				secretary of the department concerned as the
to computerisation of the day-to-day				chairman, to help the departments prepare
operations,VOICE also provides a powerful				detailed project reports, business process
Community and empowers the citizen. This				re-engineering, change management, financial
application ensures a quick, transparent and				sustainability, technology expertise and manage
efficient administration at a lower operating				implementation of the project.
costwith increased revenue collections.				5. SOME OF THE IMPORTANT E-GOVERNANCE
3.4 e-SevaeSeva is the first-of-its-kind of service				PROJECTS IN TAMILNADU:
in the country, providing a wide spectrum of				5.1 TamilNadu InfoSystem on Land Administration
citizenfriendly services that save citizen the				and Management (Tamil NILAM):
bother of running around various departments.				TamilNILAM is an important e-governance initiative
The services offered are Payment of Utilities				of Government of TamilNadu. All the taluk offices
Bills,Registration of Birth/Death, Issue of Birth				in TamilNadu have been provided with computers
Death certificates, Permits/Licences, Reservations				under this programme.
etc.				The major applications on these systems are,
There are 35 eSeva centres (with 280 service				§ Land Records
counters) spread over the Twin Cities and				§ Old Age Pension Management
Ranga Reddy District.				§ Certificates Management
3.5 Gyandoot				§ Public Grievances Redressal
Gyandoot is an intranet in the tribal district of				§ Personnal and Payroll system
Dhar in Central India connecting rural Cybercafes				At present twenty nine taluks were provided with
catering to the everyday needs of the masses. It				the touch screen for the public use. The services
is a community-based, highly costeffective and				offered by it are,
financially self-reliant approach to bringing the				Land owners can view their own Land ownership
benefits of Information Technology to the				and can also obtain a copy of Chitta Exact.
doorsteps of tribal villagers. The objective of the				Birth and Death certificate particulars can be
Gyandoot project has been to establish a				viewed and a copy of the certificate can also be
community-owned, innovative and				obtained.
sustainableinformation technology project in the				Old age pension details can also be maintained in it.
most poverty stricken and tribal dominated				The welfare Scheme of the Revenue
ruralareas. The project is designed to cater to				Department are explained with the details for
social,economic and development needs of				availing these services and the benefits.
thevillagers through an innovative G2C				5.2 Simplified and Transparent Administration of
model.There are around 1600 villages in Dhar				Registration(STAR):
district and 80 information kiosks/cyber				Simplified and Transparent Administration of
offices(Soochanalayas). Each kiosk caters to				Registration is a Citizen-centric application which
about 25 to 30 villages. The entire network of 31				has been implemented at 300 sub registrar office
kiosks covers 311 Panchayats (village				in TamilNadu. With the computerized system the
committees),over 600 villages and a population of				issue of Encumbrance certificate has become
around half a million (nearly 50% of the entire				quicker and easier. The documents are scanned
district).				and archived. The Data will be maintained in Tamil.
3.6 e-Choupal				The Application software was developed by NIC
Started by ITC's international Business Division as				TamilNadu state Unit with the active involvement
a cost-effective alternative supply chain system				of the team from Registration Department. The
to deal directly with the farmer to buy products				hardware procurement and installation has been
for exports is getting transformed into a meta				carried out by the ELCOT.
market for rural India. The tobacco gianthas				5.3 Treasury Computerization:
already set up over 700 choupals covering 3,800				The Treasury computerization is one of the
villages in four states				earliest e-governance project developed for the
-- which include Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,				Government of TamilNadu. Now the system is
Karnataka and Andhra				used in the following offices,
Pradesh -- dealing with products ranging from				§ 29 District treasuries
soya bean, coffee, aquaculture and wheat.				§ 205 sub treasuries
3.7 VidyaVahini				§ 7 pay and accounts office
This portal provides the opportunity for				§ Pension Pay office, Chennai
schools,teachers and students all across the nation				The Daily transaction is captured in batch mode at
to express and share their creative and academic				sub treasuries and consolidated at the district
potential via the internet. The portal aims at				treasuries. The monthly account prepared using
creating such an environment by providing facilities				the system by the district treasuries, pay and
for content development, content deployment				accounts department are submitted to the AG's
and collaboration. Shiksha India - anon- profit				office.
organisation - is working in partnership with the				6. Conclusion:
Ministry of Information				Although e-government has been around since
Technology in the project Vidya Vahini and				the 1990s, many developing countries have not
Ministry of Human Resources under the CLASS				fully reaped its benefits because they lack the
scheme, which aims to connect 60.000 schools				key conditions for it to thrive:
(approximately 20 million students) across the				· healthy political and regulatory
country in the next five years.				environments,
3.8 Aarakshi				· well-developed IT infrastructure, and
Aarakshi is an intranet-based system for the				· a large pool of Internet users.
Jaipur City Police to facilitate FIRs,criminalsrecords,				Skeptics believe that e-government is not an
vehicle thefts, missing person's records etc. It is				appropriate tool for low-income countries with
like a private & closed user group accessible				limited technical capability. But some developing
to only authorised personnel. Its potential users				countries, such as India, have successfully
are all field level officers of the city like police				implemented e-government in certain areas,
station, circle officers SP and even district				despite this shortcoming.
collector.

DAN

E-Governance