Potential of e-governance in India:

 

  • Increased effectiveness and efficiency: Improved government services in terms of accomplishing the government purpose and functioning
  • Better services: E-government can provide quick and timely services to stakeholders
  • Transparency by dissemination and publication of information on the web: This provides easy access to information and subsequently makes the system publicly accountable. Also as the web enables the free flow of information, it can be easily accessed by all without any discrimination.
  • Accessible anytime and anywhere: As e-government services are provided through web-enabled technology they can be accessed anytime and anywhere
  • User-centred ICT enabled services: The services are primarily intended for the use of citizens, businesses, and the government itself
  • Reduced cost and time: As the services are provided through internet they are effective in terms of time and cost
  • Economic Development: The deployment of ICTs reduces the transaction costs, which makes services cheaper. For example, rural areas suffer on account of lack of information regarding markets, products, agriculture, health, education, weather, etc. and if all this could be accessed online would lead to better and more opportunities and thereby prosperity in these areas.
  • Social Development: The access to information empowers the citizens. The informed citizenry can participate and voice their concerns, which can be accommodated in the programme/ project formulation, implementation, monitoring and service delivery. Web-enabled participation will counter the discriminatory factors affecting our societal behaviour.
  • Reduced bureaucracy: E-government minimizes hierarchy of authority for availing any government services
  • Automation of Administrative Processes: A truly e-governed system would require minimal human intervention and would rather be system driven.
  • Enhanced communication and coordination between government organizations: An automated services can be accessed by different organizations coordination and further communication became relative
  • Paper Work Reduction: An immediate impact of automation would be on the paperwork. Paperwork is reduced to a greater extent with communication being enabled via electronic route and storage and retrieval of information in the electronic form. All this has led to the emergence of less paper office’.
  • Quality of Services: ICT helps governments to deliver services to citizens with greater accountability responsiveness and sensitivity. Quality of services improves, as now the people are able to, get services efficiently and instantaneously.
  • Elimination of Hierarchy: ICT has reduced procedural delays caused by hierarchical processes in the organisation. Through Intranet and LAN, it has become possible to send information and data across various levels in the organisation at the same time.
  • Change in Administrative Culture: Bureaucratic structures have been plagued by characteristics aptly described by Victor Thompson as ‘bureau-pathology’. From the day s of New Public Administration, efforts have been made to find ways to deal with the pathological or dysfunctional aspects of art.
  • Strategic Information System: Changing organisational environment and increasing competitiveness have put pressures on the performance of the functionaries. Information regarding all aspects needs to be made available to the management at every point to make routine as well as strategic decisions.