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The Impact of e-Governance on Good Governance
The State government has also initiated the ‘Information Kerala
Mission’ project for the deployment of technology at the grassroots level as a
model for participatory governance through effective use of IT
With the advent of Information Communication Technology(ICT),
Indian governance has entered into a new sphere of globalization. Previously
online and offline governance were treated as two different spheres but with
the emergence of ICT, this distinction has been blurred. There is a common assumption
of e-government as the automation of government services, yet, there is much
more to e-government. A working definition of e-government
is that it is: “the use of information technology to support government operations,
engage citizens, and provide government services” (D. Sharon, 2003). The creation of this new
cyber regime must incorporate good e-governance to deliver effectively and efficiently to citizens. The Government of India has formulated the National
e- governance Plan (NeGP) to expedite deployment of Information Technology
in governance with a vision to improve delivery of government services to
citizens, business and other stakeholders. It has
been recognized that a quantum jump in the quality of services is possible only by adoption and implementation of the
principles of e-Governance. While initially the political and managerial focus was
on developing e-services within each public institution, with limited
consideration being given to cross-organizational coherence, the focus today
has clearly shifted towards coordinated services offering one-stop shops
to citizens and businesses (OECD 2007). In this context, this study has been carried
out to examine the impact of an urban e-governance project of a South Indian
State on good governance.
Attempts on e-Governance
in India
India was one of the earliest to respond to the possibilities of
using ICTs in development administration in the developing world. It may be
noted that the Indian State began to design and execute rural development programmes
with a relatively visible ICT content in the 1970s, while international
attention on the potential of harnessing ICTs for developmental activities is a
much new phenomenon. Several attempts have been made to use ICTs for
improvising development planning, a key area of State action in the
pre-liberalisation era. The Dharampur Sub-District Infrastructure Planning for Development
(1977) is one such early example of an attempt to use computer applications for
cost optimization and decision-making. The Karwar Rural Development Information
System (1984) was yet another initiative formulated with a focus on reducing
delay and curbing corruption through a monitoring programme based on computer
applications (Kaul. et. al, quoted in Bhatnagar,
1990).
