E-Governance in India: Opportunities and Challenges

*Prof. Rudra Saibaba

**Mr. Suresh Vadde

Abstract:
Public administration, governed by bureaucratic structures built on rationale
principles that dominated the twentieth century, has failed to respond to the changing
requirements of the present times. E-governance, which is a paradigm shift over the
traditional approaches in public administration, refers rendering of government
services and information to the public using electronic means. This new paradigm has
brought about a revolution in the quality of service delivered to the citizens. It has
ushered in transparency in the governing process; saving of time due to provision of
services through single window; simplification of procedures; better office and record
management; reduction in corruption; and improved attitude, behavior and job
handling capacity of the dealing personnel. The present study substantiates these
theoretical assumptions about e-governance by analyzing some experiences at the
local, state and federal levels of government in India. And is to focus on various
efforts that have been made for implementing E- Governance and how developing
countries like India, have improved government functioning and overcome various
administrative and social bottlenecks.

_____________________________________________________________________
Principal, University College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda, (A.P) India
Email: slrudra@gmail.com
*Lecturer, Department of Commerce and Business Management, Post- Graduate Centre, Lal Bahadur
College, S.P. Road, Warangal – 506007. A.P, India. E-mail:- sureshvadde@rediffmail.com
Introduction:
The prime objective of any technological revolution is to improve the quality
of human life. This can be achieved by successfully assimilating these technological
innovations into human society. Information Technology is changing the way the
society functions. The impact of IT can be felt in all economic and social activities in
every conceivable manner. The convergence of all forms of communications on the
digital playfield is opening up immense new possibilities of achieving speed,
versatility and space-time independence. Governments are no exception to this
phenomenon. In the post liberalization era governments across the country have been
engaged in improving internal efficiencies, responsiveness, coordination and
integration between various government departments and external agencies, citizens
and businesses. The global trends also point out to the emergence of e-Government
revolution after the Internet and e-commerce revolutions. E-Governance denotes the
application of IT (Information Technology) to the process of government functioning
in order to bring about better governance which has been innovatively termed as
SMART. E- Governance seeks to realize processes and structures for harnessing the
potentialities for information and communication technologies at various levels of the
government for the purpose of enhancing good governance. The E-Governance
encompasses the entire process of public administration, the processes underlying the
formulation of public policies, the HRD efforts required for re-skilling the
government machinery, prioritization, and efficient management of public resources
and above all re-designing the various instruments used to realize the concept of a
welfare state. It aims to make the interaction between government and citizens (G2C),
government and business enterprises (G2B), and inter-agency relationships (G2G)
more friendly, convenient, transparent and cost effective.
In India, the e-governance system started out in the late 60s and early 70s with
an emphasis on computerizing applications for defense services, economic planning
department, national census, elections and tax collections etc. The government mainly
did the spending and the development was entirely done by internal Information
Technology departments. In the 80s the National Informatics Centre was established,
whose main role was to implement and support large-scale computerization projects
in India. The 90s saw the emergence of a national IT initiative by the Government of
India with corresponding plans in the states. External funding was sought from
agencies such as the World Bank and external parties such as NGOs and private
corporations were involved in the computerization efforts. The focus also shifted to
external e-government systems that could provide services to the public.

Objectives of the Study:

The objective of this paper is to focus on various efforts that have been made
for implementing E- Governance and how developing countries like India, have
improved government functioning and overcome various administrative and social
bottlenecks. This paper thus is a humble attempt to understand the process of
governance not in terms of analytical or technical dimension but in terms of
behavioral and organizational dimensions. Finally, this paper focuses on the E-
Government Programmes and the Key Challenges in India.

Scope of E-Government:
While e-government encompasses a wide range of activities, we can identify
three distinct areas. These include government-to-government (G to G), government-
to-citizens (G to C), and government to business (G to B). Each of these represents a
different combination of motivating forces. However, some common goals include
improving the efficiency, reliability, and quality of services for the respective groups.
In many respects, the government to government (G to G) sector represents the
backbone of e-government. It is felt that governments at the union, state and local
level must enhance and update their own internal systems and procedures before
electronic transactions with citizens and business are introduced. Government to
government e-government involves sharing data and conducting electronic exchanges
between various governmental agencies. There are number of advantages with
government-to-government initiatives. One benefit with this is cost savings, which is
achieved by increasing the speed of the transactions, reduction in the number of
personnel necessary to complete a task, and improving the consistency of outcomes.
Another advantage, which flows from this, is improvement in the management of
public resources. Government to citizen (G to C) facilitates citizen interaction with
government, which is primary goal of e-government. This attempts to make
transactions, such as payment of taxes, renewing licenses and applying for certain
benefits, less time consuming and easy to carry out. Government to citizen initiatives
also strives to enhance access to public information through the use of websites and
kiosks. Further, one of the main goals of implementing these initiatives has been to
create a “single window” where citizens can carry out variety of tasks, especially
those that involve multiple government departments, without requiring the citizen to
initiate contacts with each government department individually. Thus, the G to C
initiatives is driven by an urge to provide “better government” through improved
efficiency and more reliable outcomes. Government to Business (G to B) sector
includes both the procurement of goods and services by the government as well as the
sale of surplus government goods to the public on line. There are two motivating
forces behind G to B. Currently the business community prefers to carry out its
activities such as sales, procurement and hiring through electronic means. There are
large numbers of software companies, which are producing number of products
focusing on performing routine business activities on line. Thus, many companies like
to extend the cost savings realized through Business to Business (B to B) transactions
to their business with union, state and local level governments. The second reason for
the growth of G to B is the demand for cost cutting and efficient procurements in the
government. Developing countries, where there is great pressure to minimize costs
due to shortage of funds, G to B are being encouraged by the governmental agencies.

E-Governance Initiatives in India: An Overview

The Government of India has started the use of IT in the government in the
right earnest by launching number of initiatives. First, the Government approved the
National E-Governance Action plan for implementation during the year 2003-2004.
The plan is an attempt to lay the foundation and provide impetus for long-term growth
of e-governance within the country. It proposed to create the right governance and
institutional mechanisms at the center, state and local levels to provide a citizen
centric and business centric environment for governance. The Government has given
approval in-principle to the plan and overall programme content; implementation
approach and governance structure. While endorsing the plan, it was observed that
weight age must be given for quality and speed of implementation in procurement
procedures for IT services; suitable system of motivating the states for quick adoption
be incorporated; provision of delivery of services to the citizens through a single
window should be encouraged; Outsourcing of services wherever and whenever
feasible; efforts be made to promote and develop public private partnerships to utilize
the full potential of private sector investments; and connectivity should be improved
and extended upto the block level in the states. Apart from the action plan, the
following measures have also been introduced:
 Adoption of “Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 by the Government of
India to provide legal framework to facilitate electronic transactions. The
major aims of this act are to: recognize electronic contracts, prevents computer
crimes, and make electronic filing possible. The Act came into force on 17
October, 2000;
 Establishment of the National Taskforce of Information Technology and
Software Development in May 1998;
 Creation of Centre for e-governance to disseminate the best practices in the
area of e- governance for the use by the Central and State Governments and
act as a nodal center to provide general information on e-governance, national
and international initiatives, and IT policies of the government(s);
 Developing e-office solutions to enable various ministries and departments to
do their work electronically. Modules such as Workflow for Drafts for
Approvals, e-file, e-notings, submission of reports, integrated personal
information and financial accounting systems have been developed;
 Setting up of a High Powered Committee (HPC) with Cabinet Secretary as its
Chairman to improve administrative efficiency by using Information
Technology in Government;
 Designating a Joint Secretary level officer as IT manager in every Ministry/
Department; and
 Instituting websites by almost all Ministries and Departments and providing
information on aspects such as their objectives, policies and decisions, contact
persons, etc. Some of them have started their electronic newsletter for giving
publicity to their activities on wider scale; and identifying departments, which
have frequent inter-face with the citizens, and computerizing them on priority
basis.
E-Governance and its relevance to India:
India is a land of diversity. This diversity spans across culture, tradition,
language, geography and the economic condition of the people. It is a nation that has
a significant number of people who are below the minimal socio-economic
benchmarks. This includes rural and urban poor, women in rural areas, street children,
people belonging to historically disadvantaged castes and people living in less
developed areas. The vulnerability of these sections of society has increased with
globalization and this section is prone to become even more marginalized -
economically and socially. Successive governments have committed themselves to
addressing these divides, but effective implementation of various economic
development programmes aimed at individuals belonging to these sections of society
has proved an elusive goal. Government of India (GoI) recognizes that e-Governance,
in the context of developing countries, provides an excellent opportunity for
improving governance. Used imaginatively, it is a trigger for introducing various
administrative reforms. These changes could not only go a long way in improving the
quality of life of these sections of society, but could actually provide them more
equitable access to economic opportunities than ever before. In this context, the
Government of India views e-Governance as a strategic tool for transforming
Governance and improving the quality of services provided by the government to its
people.
India’s experience in e-Governance/ICT initiatives has demonstrated
significant success in improving accessibility, cutting down costs, reducing
corruption, extending help and increased access to un-served groups. In this phase of
experimentation, e-government initiatives have reached millions of people belonging
to these sections of society. Improved access to information and services has provided
economic and social development opportunities, facilitated participation and
communication in policy and decision-making processes and empowerment of the
weakest groups. This has led to fostering a sense of ownership and building of social
capital, which in turn, constitute a basis for local revitalization.
E governance-administrative reforms in India:
The Government of India, in various forums, has indicated its commitment to
provide efficient and transparent government to all strata of society. E-Governance is
now mainly seen as a key element of the country’s governance and administrative
reform agenda. The Government of India aspires to provide:
Governance that is easily understood by and accountable to the citizens, open to
democratic involvement and scrutiny (an open and transparent government)
 Citizen-centric governance that will cover all of its services and respect
everyone as individuals by providing personalized services.
 An effective government that delivers maximum value for taxpayers’ money
(quick and efficient services)
Hence the Government of India views e-Governance as a vehicle to initiate and
sustain reforms by focusing on three broad areas:
Governance
 Transparency
 People’s participation
 Promotion of a democratic society
Public services
 Efficient, cost-effective and responsive governance
 Convenient services to citizens and businesses
 Greater citizen access to public information
 Accountability in delivery of services to citizens

Management
 Simplicity, efficiency and accountability
 Managing voluminous information and data effectively
 Information services
 Swift and secure communication
While pursuing these goals, it is recognized that the motivations and imperatives
for adopting e-governance in a developing country like India are vastly different from
those in developed countries. Manpower costs and constraints were among the
imperatives driving technology induction in developed countries. Further, the advent
of ICT in governance preceded the emergence of the Internet. Hence, one of the main
challenges in these countries was to integrate heterogeneous backend computer
systems through complex middleware to leverage the Internet and achieve integration
of services. By contrast, in countries like India, there was hardly any significant back
end computerization in government before the advent of the Internet. Consequently,
while planning e-governance projects today, the ubiquity, convenience and power of
the Internet can be factored in right from the planning stage itself. Moreover, it is
neither the availability constraint nor the cost of manpower that is the driver for e-
governance. Primarily, the motivations are higher efficiency, transparency,
accessibility and accountability as well as reduction of procedural complexity that
breeds corruption. It is also a realization that there is no other way to effectively
provide services to a population of over one billion people.
Besides, the economic and social environment is very different in India compared
with that in a developed country. Per capita income is much lower. Telephone, PC
and Internet penetration levels are low in comparison. Availability of reliable electric
power supply is still a problem, particularly in rural areas. Universal literacy is still a
distant goal. IT literacy is very low, both in absolute and relative terms. India has 22
official languages. Several hundreds of dialects are spoken all over the country. Less
than 5% of the population can speak English. Hence e-governance initiatives need to
be planned with reference to these ground realities in the country.
E-Government Programmes in India:
There are well over a hundred e-government projects that have been initiated
in India by the central government and the different state governments. For this study
a few projects are chosen using the following criteria.
1. The e-government project provides some service or product to a fairly large
population. This criterion would rule out internal, intra-government systems. The
emphasis is on government to- citizen systems.
2. The project has sustained for a period of time that exceeds its rollout period.
Roughly, the project should have been ‘around’ for some time, beyond the time it
took to build it. This ensures that projects of a certain scope and scale are included.
3. The project has been demonstrably used by a large number of people in the targeted
population. The exact numbers are not important, but the project has to had some
impact on the users that can be measured. Though the above criteria are somewhat
fuzzy, they do allow one to select projects that have had some impact in the e-
government scenario and that can be assessed for their impacts and detailed analysis
is possible.
The projects that will be studied for the purposes of this paper are described
here. The descriptions cover details about the origins, objectives, targets,
implementers, stakeholders, duration and current status of the projects. Stakeholder
groups are understood, for this analysis, to belong to either the demand side or the
supply side. On the supply side are the government departments, district offices,
project champions and implementation agencies (public or private) that design,
implement and maintain the system. On the demand side are the users of the system
such as citizens, departments, private institutions, public institutions and others. The
details about the projects are provided in summary fashion below. The first four
projects are possibly the most well-known in the Indian context. The last three -
Akshaya, Lokvani and Sari - are less well known and present a somewhat contrasting
picture.
1. Bhoomi Origin:
The Bhoomi project originated in the mid-nineties in Karnataka at the behest
of the central government of India that was demanding reforms in land administration.
The Karnataka government had made two earlier attempts at land records digitization
but had failed owing to the complex nature of the problem. In 1999, under a new chief
minister, the project was planned carefully and rolled out by 2001. About 20 million
records were digitized and maintained in a database. The system provides access to
farmers via kiosks located at taluk (part of district) headquarters where for a nominal
sum farmers may obtain certification of their land holding and cropping, as also
submit applications for mutation. In 2001 the Bhoomi system was legally vested and
all manual records were made illegal.
Objectives: Bhoomi was intended to ease the access of land record certificates (called
LRC certificates) that are issued by a village accountant to farmers. There were
delays, lack of transparency and corruption in the certificate delivery, where the
certificates are used to access official loans and sell produce to the government.
Targets: The main beneficiaries (intended) are the farmers of Karnataka who can
now access an RTC certificate easily from the system and also enter their requests for
land record changes (known as mutations) in the system that maintains a FIFO queue
and enables transparency.
Implementers: The system was initiated and funded by the Karnataka government
and implemented with the help of the National Informatics Centre, a central
government organization that is principally responsible for rolling out e-government
projects across India. Stakeholders: The main supply-side stakeholders are the kiosk-
operators and officials in the taluk offices. On the demand-side the main stakeholders
are the farmers and the banks and financial agencies that benefit from Bhoomi’s
improved services.
Duration: The system was initiated in 1999 and the implementation across all
districts was completed by 2001. Currently (late 2005) the system is being used across
the state. Status: Most commentators believe that Bhoomi is one of the most
successful e- government projects in India. The Bhoomi model of land records
digitization is being adopted at the national level and will be replicated across all
states.
2. CARD Origin:
Another land records project implemented in the state of Andhra Pradesh in
over 200 centers. The project was initiated by the Commissioner and Inspector
General of the Department of Revenue and Stamps, in 1996, and after a pilot
demonstration was approved for the entire state by the Chief Minister 1997. The
system was officially enabled in 1999 after the passing of an act in the legislature
allowing digital storage and handling of land records.
Objectives: The goal of the system was to introduce transparency and efficiency in
the land registration process. Owing to cumbersome procedures and delays in
transactions, the records access and mutations process was rife with corruption (via
the use of agents known as ‘document writers’). Targets: The main beneficiaries are
the land-holding citizens of Andhra Pradesh, for whom payment of land taxes and
registration duties on property was made easier.
Implementers: The AP state contracted out work to private vendors and also state
agencies. The tasks included digitization of records, implementation of hardware and
software infrastructure and training of personnel. Stakeholders: The principle
stakeholders on the supply-side are the registration office employees whose work was
changed by the system and on the demand-side are the citizens who have property and
the agents who worked with the citizens, for a fee, to help with the registration
process. Duration: The project was rolled out in 212 registrar offices of the state, over
a period of two years ending in 1999.
Status: CARD is actively used right now by citizens across the state.

3.Gyandoot Origin:
A project to directly provide e-government services to citizens in the relatively
poor Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh state. The project was initiated and championed
by the District Collector in Dhar in 1999 and by 2000 the kiosks had been rolled out
in 38 villages.
Objectives: The project aimed to bridge the digital divide by providing computing
services to rural citizens and also to generate employment for youth who were to man
the kiosks as 6 entrepreneurs. Each Gyandoot kiosk offered services such as: prices of
agricultural produce at various auction centers in the state; copies of the record of
rights to land at a nominal price; online application for revenue, caste or domicile
certificates etc.
Targets: Twenty villages opted to set up information kiosks, with their own money,
that were networked in an Intranet and served a population of about 20000-30000.
Youth from the villages were trained to man these kiosks as self-sustaining ventures.
Implementers: The state government, with assistance from the World Bank, funded
the infrastructure. Private companies participated in setting up the networks and
kiosks.
Stakeholders: The supply-side stakeholders are the kiosk operators who provided
the services and the taluk and district officials who supported the governance services.
The main demand-side stakeholders are villagers living in Dhar.
Duration: The project was initiated in 1999 and inaugurated a few months later in
2000. Initially 20 villages were connected by kiosks and later 18 more were added.
Status: Gyandoot facilities were used by up to 40,000 village users in the first few
months of its deployment, with usage ranging from auctioning cows to seeking brides.
The project won the prestigious Stockholm Challenge award in the 2000, but since the
back-end support from the government declined most of the kiosks are not used much
(and the project is considered to be a failure).
4. ESeva Origin:
ESeva is also a project in the state of Andhra Pradesh but its location is in the
urban twin cities of Hyderabad-Secunderabad. The project originated as TWINS,
which was an attempt to have a centralized location for the payment of utility bills for
citizens. Later it was expanded to include various other services.
Objectives: A central facility (distributed across the two cities via 48 centres) for
payment of taxes, delivery of certificates, bill payments, document clearance,
granting of licenses and permits, asset licensing, forms submission etc (a total of 66
services). The goal was to eliminate the multiple offices and timings that citizens had
to suffer to pay their bills and obtain other government services.
Targets: The main target beneficiaries are urban citizens.
Implementers: The system was designed and implemented by the city administration
with help from the National Informatics Centre and private companies.
Stakeholders: The supply-side stakeholders include all government departments such
as transportation, taxes, revenues, human resources and others whose services are
being offered via the eSeva centers. Closest to the system on the supply-side are the
kiosk-operators and system administrators whose job it is to maintain the kiosks for
12 hours a day (and 6 hours a day on holidays). The main demand-side stakeholders
are urban citizens.
Duration: eSeva was launched in early 2001 and the centers have been running ever
since. Status: eSeva too is widely regarded to be a very successful project where the
service delivery is very efficient.
5. Akshaya Origin:
Launched in the Malappuram district of Kerala in 2002. The project was
initiated by requests from the panchayats (or village councils) to provide computer
training to its constituents.
Objectives: To bridge the digital divide by providing computer literacy and
e government services, and also to provide employment to rural youth. Targets: The
targets are district residents who wanted to learn about ICT, in part to communicate
digitally with their relatives abroad.
Implementers: The kiosks were funded by the operators themselves, with loans from
local banks. The state government officials assisted the operators in securing the
loans.
Stakeholders: The supply-side stakeholders are the panchayat councillors who
demanded the kiosks to be set and maintained, as also the kiosk operators. The
demand-side stakeholders are the citizens who avail of the literacy content and also
the e-government services of the kiosk.
Duration: Project was initiated in 2002 and by 2004, 630 kiosks had been rolled out
across the district.
Status: By 2004, the Kerala government had decided to roll out the Akshaya model
of kiosks across the State.
6. Lokvani Origin:
This project was initiated in 2004 in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh state.
The idea was to use existing computer kiosks to provide additional e-government
facilities by entering an agreement with the district government. Objectives: The
project aimed to provide citizens of the district with access to information on
government programmes, on land records, and with a facility to file online grievances.
The grievance mechanism was such as to move the grievance to the district
magistrate’s office from where it was forwarded to the relevant department.
Targets: The citizens of Sitapur district, which is a backward district in UP, were the
targets.
Implementers: The kiosk owners were responsible for setting up the connection
with the government’s system and file the complaints and service requests. They
received a nominal fee (Rs. 20) for the service from the citizen.
Stakeholders: The supply-side stakeholders are the district offices of the various
departments that had to respond to the complaints, as also the kiosk owners who have
ensure that the complaints are filed properly and a complaint number is obtained.
Citizens of Sitapur are the demand-side stakeholders.
Duration: The system was planned and executed quite rapidly in one and half years.
Status: By March 2005 the system had registered about 29000 complaints. In
November 2005 the Chief Minister of UP declared that the services of Lokvani would
be made state-wide.
7. SARI Origin:
The Sari (Sustainable Access in Rural India) project in the Madurai district of
the State of Tamilnadu was started in the year 2000 to link up village kiosks using a
wireless technology. The kiosks would provide e-government services to rural
citizens. Objectives: The stated objectives were to improve the quality of life among
the rural poor by creating employment opportunities with the help of ICTs. The kiosks
would provide e-government services along with information about health care,
education, and economic conditions.
Targets: The rural population of Madurai district was the targeted population that
included rural farmers, casual labourers and unemployed youth.
Implementers: The Sari project received support and funding from MIT, Harvard
and IIT Madras through various programs. The project also received funding from
banks. A private company, n-Logue, was the technology provider and implementor.
Stakeholders: The supply-side stakeholders are the kiosk owners who invest in the
technology and the private partners who provided the internet connectivity to the
kiosks. The supply-side also includes district government offices that provide the
support to kiosk operators. The demand-side stakeholders are citizens of Madurai
district.
Duration: The project lasted many years and by 2004, 108 connections had been set
up.
Status: The Sari project is still functioning in Madurai although there are concerns
about its sustainability. The service volumes and revenues are not high enough to bear
the connectivity costs.
E- Governance: Key Challenges
The Government of India has embraced e-governance as a trigger and means
to redefine and streamline outdated, inefficient processes and procedures while
simultaneously exploiting the full power of modern ICT. The aim is to provide
citizens with easier and faster access to government services. India has recognized the
benefits of e-governance and through it, ushered in a paradigm of citizen-centric
service delivery. E-governance is reforming the way government manages and shares
information with external and internal clients. Specifically, it harnesses information
and communications technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and
mobile computing) to transform relations with citizens, businesses and amongst
various arms of government.
There are however, numerous challenges. Some of the key areas needing attention
are:
Clarity in objective setting: Project approval and funding of projects through
multiple departmental budgets lead to wide variations in the approach to project
objective setting, without a clear focus on outcomes or on building sustainable
services. The service needs of citizens/ businesses and those of other departments are
often either overlooked or accorded lower priority in relation to internal needs. Very
often, objective setting is purely in ICT terms such as computers, networks and so on
which are specified in great detail, while government business process outcomes are
either not defined or are defined in vague terms that do not lend themselves to
measurement post implementation.
Ensuring service delivery: E-governance projects have primarily focused on internal
process automation and generally are hardware and infrastructure driven (sometimes
even vendor driven) with little focus on citizen service delivery or outcomes.
Leveraging Private Capital: Experience of successful e-governance initiatives
indicates that well structured service-oriented projects can attract private capital
linked to explicit service-linked revenues from users or from government. The current
system of project formulation i.e. based on budgetary allocation / grants places little
or no pressure on departments to develop project structures that can attract private
capital, a goal that necessitates additional rigour and complexity at the project
formulation and development stage.
Need for Government Process Reengineering: Computerization of inefficient
processes can lead to higher rather than lower levels of inefficiency and spiraling cost.
Hence, it is essential to undertake process re-engineering as an integral part of e-
governance project implementation in order to ensure increased efficiency and
reduced costs.
Standardization: Departmental approach and absence of a national framework for
common standards has resulted in adoption of different technical standards and varied
architectures. This has significant implications for designing effective integrated
applications and also entails long-term costs and sub-optimal results.
Independent Impact Assessment: In the current system, there is no requirement or
institutional mechanism for an independent assessment of projects post-
implementation to determine whether they have achieved the set objectives, except in
purely financial terms. Further, very few projects have formal performance metrics
defined at the start of the project to measure outcomes.
Localization: ICT solutions were mostly developed with an English Language
interface. However, in India a vast majority (95%) of the citizens does not know
English and use the local language. The fact is that India has 22 official languages; for
success of e-Governance, this reality needs to be reflected in the implementation
strategy.
Internal Capacity/Project Management Expertise: Departments/ states have
limited access to any institutional mechanisms for building capacities in the areas of
e-governance project development and design, bid process management, professional
project management, development of Contractual Frameworks, Service Level
Agreements, etc.
They also have no means of accessing external (outside Government) competencies
that are difficult to procure within the governmental framework.

Conclusion
There are many success stories of E- Governance. But the success of any e
Governance application is not unconditional. It assumes E- Governance of the State in
terms of infrastructural facilities. The success rate of IT applications also in general is
not very encouraging. A hurried developed poor quality IT application can cost
heavily in terms of operation, breakdown, and maintenance costs in future. The life
cycle of an IT application rarely extends beyond ten years. Public- Private Partnership
can transfer the responsibility of development, operation, and maintenance of
application and its associated risks on to the private partner. But Public- Private
Partnership should not have the delivery of public services on the whims and fancies
of private partners. A regulatory framework may be required to ensure the efficient
functioning of the E- Governance applications themselves. What we need to do is
bridge extremities, and the only way to do that is to make both extremes meet
halfway. Any kind of development leads to change - in institutional operations,
people’s lifestyle and attitude. While some may be ready to embrace these changes,
many remain skeptical and often doubt the effectiveness of such radical change, even
if they are for the better. Hence, the changed processes would have to be properly
understood, accepted and adopted to ensure effective development. The strength that
private partners bring to the table is in providing cost-effective and intelligent
solutions for the implementation of needs related to e-Governance. This writer is
optimistic about India being self-sufficient in technology, and the government being
supportive or focused on rural development. The potential for the rural community is
limitless and the opportunities for the private and public sectors to make measurable
changes together are huge. E-Governance will stand to be the catalyst or tool to
accentuate the growth of the community.
References:
 Bhatnagar Subhash (2004), e-government from vision to implementation,
Sage Publications, New Delhi.
 Government of India, ‘Information Technology Action Plan: IT for All
Indians by 2008’,http://it-taskforce.nic.in.
 Gupta, M.P. (2004). Towards E-Government Management Challenges, Tata
McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi.
 Kaushik, P.D. (2004). E-Governance: Government Initiatives in India, in
Bibek Debroy, Agenda for improving Governance, Academic Foundation in
Association with Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, New
Delhi.
 Kochhar Sameer and Gursharan Dhanjal, (2005). E-government Report Card,
Yojna, Vol. 49, August, New Delhi.
 World Bank (1992), Governance and Development, World Bank Washington,
DC.
Websites:
 www.edevexchange.org/eGov/sfoverview.htm
 www.egov4dev.org/egodefn.htm
 www.pacificcouncil.org
 www.unpan.org/dpepa-kmb-eg-egovran ready. asp
 www.1.worldbank.org/publicsector/egov/index.htm