IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

A big and happy change is in the offing in respect of huge paperwork that is performed day in and day out in various departments and establishments of the Government. The change is to bring in e-Governance meaning digitalizing all files in the Secretariat so that any information on any case at any time can be obtained without hassles and efforts. This is bound to bring in a big revolution in the red tape system that has always been under severe criticism and scrutiny. This is the modern age and the age of electronics. We should have shifted to e-Governance many years ago. We have delayed it nevertheless even if belated, it has finally come and to the relief of thousands of people who have to cool their heels at the Secretariat throughout the year to know the status of their cases and files.

Heard of e-governance, e-commerce, e-banking, e–learning: but many of us might not be knowing G-governance. “G-governance” or good governance is a relatively new term that is often used to describe the desired objective of a nation-state’s political development. The principles of good governance, however, are not new. Good governance is, in short, efficient administrative set-up that is accountable, effective and efficient, participatory, transparent, responsive, consensus-oriented, and equitable. These are the major characteristics of good governance as outlined by the United Nations.

The World Leaders at the 2005 World Summit concluded that good governance is integral to economic growth, the eradication of poverty and hunger, and sustainable development. The views of all oppressed groups, including women, youth and the poor, must be heard and considered by governing bodies because they will be the ones most negatively affected if good governance is not achieved.

Vice Chancellor KU Prof Talat Ahmad launched the service.

Prof Ahmad on the occasion said the KU is in the mode of switching over to e-governance and the SMS service will be prove very helpful for students and candidates applying for various courses.

The workshop which is the first time of its kind in J&K was chaired by the Deputy Commissioner Kargil Fida Hussain. During the workshop it was informed that all the district of J&K will be connected with E-Governance, which will help to make all the schemes of the government easily available to the public. It was impressed upon all the Government Officers to make their Digital Signature soon and all officers should have their own Digital Signature Certificate with them.

The development will not just help in quick disposal of mutation papers but the petitions forwarded by the municipal administration will also receive quick response. Patel called upon all the municipalities functioning in the state to follow the steps taken by Hazaribagh municipality in this regard.

Saroj of the same village accompanies him to get the agro-met advisory bulletin issued by Birsa Agriculture University. For them and many others, computer is the new master that has effectively reduced their dependability on others for various services.

E-governance has come a long way to bring cheers to the common man.

Thanks to electronic governance and linking of pensioners' accounts with their Aadhaar cards, the state has weeded out 1.3 lakh fake pensioners since last summer, with around 80% of them being removed from the list in the past two months.

"We have already removed 1.3 lakh fake pensioners from the list of old-age, widowed and disabled pensioners," chief secretary RS Sharma told Hindustan Times.

Panchakshari Swami, Alevoor gram panchayat PDO, said Alevoor gram panchayat got a computer and internet facility three years ago. But, e-governance was adopted recently with the adoption of applications like e-swatthu and panchatantra. ''Schemes like MGNREGA, wherein the process of issuing job cards and their payments are made through online system, tax collection, building licenses, no-objection certificates, Form 9 and 11 (for buying and selling of land) are also processed through online system," he said.

In an interactive session with the teachers and students of Bangalore University, Gunjan Krishna, Head, SeMT, National e-governance division, Union Government stressed on the need of e-governance to simplify and standardize various processes required for good governance.

The National e-Governance Award will be given to Rashid during the proceedings of the National Conference on e-Governance 2013 at Jaipur on February 11.

“We are presenting ‘Kerala Brand’ in front of the world on how to achieve e-literacy among the rural folk within a short span of time. Through the government’s pet project, called the ‘Akshaya,’ people in each village can now enjoy all the government services for which earlier they had to approach the government’s district headquarters or state secretariat in the capital,” he said on Sunday while addressing a Meet the Press program organized by the Jeddah Indian Media Forum (JIMF).

In its initial phase, the project titled e-jaalakam (e-window) is designed as a capacity-building programme that covers women and school students in Kochi. The call is to look beyond social media networks and encourage citizen empowerment, according to promoters of the programme.

The state was blessed with a unique combination of progress in higher education, high level of social development indicators and other achievements. It was far ahead compared to states like Karnataka in this respect. But the historic opposition against computers and related technology made our position weak. Other states made use of the opportunity by providing sufficient infrastructural background to the IT business. Now Karnataka is far ahead in IT. The money generated in the IT can be used for other development projects in the social sector,” he pointed out.

The Corporation has paid 25 per cent of the bills after the TCS reportedly completed the work of key services under the ‘first two modules’ of the `8-crore e-governance project. However, sources pointed out that the work is yet to be completed. It is not clear whether the Corporation has assessed the claims of the company in an independent and scientific manner.

Kerala has become the first State in the country to implement the e-payment facility in tendering processes, ensuring total confidentiality and transparency in the business transactions and thus closing the door to corruption, Finance Minister K.M. Mani, said, while launching the new facility here on Wednesday.

He formally inaugurated the system by publishing the first e-tender of the government with e-payment facility. The launch event was hosted by the Kerala State IT Mission, which is the implementing agency for the e-governance project, with National Informatics Centre and the State Bank of Travancore.

The Group of Technology Companies (GTech), the industry body of IT/ITeS companies in the State, has appealed to the State and Union governments for assistance to set up an e-governance laboratory as part of an initiative to promote innovations.

Anoop P. Ambika, recently re-elected GTech secretary, said the proposed laboratory would work on innovations touching the lives of citizens.

This is part of a slew of measures being undertaken to take the university into e-governance, the first phase of which will be completed within six months. As part of this, the administration, examination, finance and admission wings will be fully computerized and linked in a network to make the university paperless in its operations. The entire work will be completed within one-and-a-half years.

The most effective and innovative IT strategies in transforming governance will be discussed at the two-day conference.

There will also be an attempt to ascertain the quality of service and achievements of a transparent, effective, responsive and accountable system of governance.

The Corporation is trying to get Minister for Urban Affairs Manjalamkuzhi Ali to inaugurate it. “The project is on the verge of completion after overcoming many hurdles. We are trying our best to inaugurate it by next week,” confirmed Deputy Mayor B Bhadra.