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e-Governance Overview, Its

Stages of e- Stages, Significance, &
Governance
Initiatives!

E-governance is the electronic delivery of information and services to citizens, businesses, and
government agencies. It is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by the
government to provide and facilitate government services to its citizens 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. The four main stages of e-governance are presence, interaction, transaction, and transformation.
The primary goal of e-governance is to reduce corruption and ensure the timely administration of
services and information within the government.

This topic of the “Stages of e-Governance” is important from the perspective of the UPSC IAS
Examination which falls under General Studies Paper 2 (Mains) and General Studies Paper 1
(Preliminary) and particularly in the Governance section of the UPSC Exam. In this article, we shall
discuss the „Stages of e-Governance‟ and learn about e-Governance, Its stages, Significance of e-
Governance, e-Governance Initiatives, and More!

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About e Governance
 E-governance or electronic governance is the use of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) at different levels of government and the public sector, as well as outside of
these contexts, to enhance governance for citizens in a convenient, effective, and transparent
way.
 Four key pillars of e-Governance are:

1. Process
2. People
3. Technology
4. Resources
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Image Source: Puducherry Govt.

 The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the efficiency,
effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of information and transaction exchange
between:

1. Government-to-Citizens (G2C)
2. Government-to-Government (G2G)
3. Government-to-Business (G2B)
4. Government-to- Agencies (G2A)
5. Government to Employees (G2E)

 E-governance allows citizens to choose how they want to interact with their governments and
allows governments to decide how ICT will be deployed to support citizen choices.
 It is the use of information and communication technology to deliver government services and
exchange information and transactions, such as Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) with Aadhaar,
which improves transparency and reduces corruption.
 Thus, e-governance is the phase of e-government that includes digital democracy, online citizen
participation, transparency, online public debate, and quick delivery of public services.

Significance of eGovernance
 The ultimate objective of e-government is to provide enhanced public services to citizens in an
efficient and cost-effective manner.
 E-governance ensures information flow transparency, which aids in the enhancement and
redefinition of social, environmental, and economic values.
 E-governance improves government transparency by making it easier for the public to learn
about what the government is working on and what policies are in place.
 E-governance contributes to the development of trust between governments and citizens, which
is a necessary component of good governance, by utilising internet-based strategies to engage
citizens in the policy process, demonstrating government transparency and accountability.
 E-government improves the delivery and efficiency of government services, as well as improves
access to those services for citizens.
 E-governance ensures the availability and accessibility of government e-services in
disadvantageous and difficult geographical areas of the country.

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 It replaces and optimises the paper-based system when implementing an electronic government
system.

 Implementing e-governance not only saves resources, effort, and money, but it can also
significantly improve service quality and decrease time spent in government departments.

Hiller, Belanger’s, Moon’s Five Stage E-Governance Model

Hiller, Belanger, and Moon developed a Framework for Electronic Government in 2001 and 2002,
respectively, and their model of e-Governance stages consists of five stages:

1. Information - Governments disseminate information via their websites.

2. Two-way communication - Governments permit two-way communication, most commonly via
email.
3. Transaction - Governments permit online transactions to be completed.
4. Integration - Governments should integrate their services, which are usually done through a
single portal regardless of which agencies provide them.
5. Political participation - This stage includes online voting, online public forums, online
registration or posting or comments, and opinion polls for more direct and broad interaction with
the government.

Note: Moon's e-Governance Model- 2002 is an extension of Hiller and Belanger's E-Governance Model.

Stages of e-Governance: UN’s Five Stage Model

The United Nations, with its Five Stages Model, is yet another institution developing a model for e-
governance maturity (Ronaghan - 2002, Jayashree & Marthandan - 2010).

The UN's Five Stages Model suggests five stages of e-governance development:

1. Emerging presence - This stage is identified by a small number of static web pages with very
little published information.
2. Enhanced presence - This stage is distinguished by an enhanced presence in which
government agency websites are dynamic and information is up to date. It allows users to
access a wealth of information at specialised websites.
3. Interactive presence - This stage is distinguished by interactive portals that allow information
to flow in both directions, allowing users to send feedback or "read and write" data.
4. Transactional presence - At this stage, users can perform tasks and transactions such as
document renewal, personal document applications, and updating their personal records.

 Additionally, the government does provide online services to its citizens.

1. Seamless or fully integrated presence - In the highest Stage of e-governance, governments

create a so-called "one-stop shop," which is a single universal website where users can view
and perform all of the government's services.

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Stages of e-Governance: World Bank’s Three stage model

The World Bank's three-stage model is similar to the stages of e-commerce development, and it appears
that the World Bank sees e-government as G2C e-commerce with this model. In 2006, Andersen and
Henriksen supported this model.

 Publish - At this stage of e-governance, governments are publishing information online through
websites, which is one-way communication.
o Customers can obtain rules, regulations, documents, and forms.
o This stage of e governance is comparable to web 1.0, where websites are "read-only"
rather than "read/write," in terms of web evolution.
 Interact - At this stage, governments provide citizens with the opportunity to interact with
government officials at all levels.
o Citizens' participation at this stage helps to build public trust in government.
 Transact - This third stage of e-governance includes the ability to transact or make online
purchases.
o At this stage of e-governancel, users of government services can access services and
carry out tasks via web-based e-government interfaces.

Stages of e-Governance: Gartner’s 4 Stage Model

Gartner's 4-Stage Model is as follows:

1. Presence - Agencies maintain a website where the public can access basic information.
2. Interaction - Users can contact agencies via websites (e.g., e-mail) or self-service (e.g.,
download documents).
3. Transaction - Complete transactions (such as licence application and procurement) can be
completed online by users (including customers and businesses).
4. Transformation - Governments should prioritise the transformation of existing operational
processes in order to provide more efficient, integrated, unified, and personalised service.

Stages of e-Governance: Jefrey’s 4 Stage Model

E-governancet technologies are improving the management and efficacy of government information
technology resources. It assists policymakers in determining the role of e-government projects in various
challenges.

E-government efforts can be categorized not only by sector but also by degree or stage of development.
However, due to the combination of scientific, economic, and political considerations, many initiatives
will take time to attain their full potential.

As a result, some analysts employ a standard taxonomy for categorizing the stages of development of e-
governance initiatives. Thus, the initiatives are based on the extent to which information technology
features have been used to enable electronic service delivery.

According to this model, there are four stages of evolution:

 Presence
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 Interaction
 Transaction
 Transformation

It is crucial to highlight that an e-governance effort does not have to begin at the first level and go
through all stages. Instead, a project has the option of skipping tiers as it progresses or as it begins.

e-Governance Initiatives in India

 In India, e-Governance is a relatively new concept. In 1977, the National Informatics Centre
(NIC) launched the District Information System programme to computerise all district offices in
the country.
 In 1987, the National Satellite-Based Computer Network (NICENET) was launched.
 The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) takes a comprehensive look at e-Government
initiatives across the country, integrating them into a shared vision.
 Around this concept, a sizable national infrastructure that reaches down to the most isolated
villages is developing, and extensive record digitization is happening to enable simple,
dependable access to the internet.
 The ultimate goal of NeGP is to bring public services closer to citizens' homes.
 The NeGP has enabled numerous e-governance initiatives, including:

Digital India

Digital India was launched in 2015 to empower the country digitally in the field of technology. Its
primary objectives are as follows:

 To create a secure and stable digital infrastructure.

 To digitally deliver government services.
 To achieve universal digital literacy.

Aadhaar

 Aadhaar is a UIDAI-issued unique identification number that serves as proof of identity and
address based on biometric data. The Aadhaar system serves as a single point for offline and
online identity verification for residents across the country.

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Mygov.in

 The Indian government introduced the MyGov platform for citizen engagement in July 2014 to
encourage Indian citizens to actively participate in the governance and development of their
nation.

Image Source: NIC(National Informatics Centre)

Umang

 The UMANG platform was launched in November 2017 to provide a single platform for all Indian
citizens to access pan-India e-Gov services from Central to Local Government bodies.

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Digital Locker

 DigiLocker is a key initiative of Digital India, which was launched in July 2015, with the goal of
transforming India into a digitally empowered society by allowing citizens to digitally store
important documents such as mark sheets, PAN, Aadhar, and degree certificates.

Image Source: National Portal of India

Digitisation of Land Records

Land record digitisation ensures that landowners receive digital and up-to-date copies of documents
relating to their property.

e-governance initiatives at the state level for digitising land records are as follows:

e-Seva

 The Government of Andhra Pradesh is transforming the state into a knowledge society by
incorporating information technology into all aspects of development and governance.
 E-seva offers both "Government to Citizen" and "e-Business to Citizen" services.
 Allows for the payment of utility bills as well as the issuance of certificates, licences, and
permits.

KHAJANE

 Khajane is a major e-Governance initiative of the Karnataka state government to digitalize the
state's treasury system.
 It is a Government-to-Government (G2G) e-Governance initiative aimed at improving state
financial management.

Bhoomi

 Bhoomi is a self-sustaining single-window e-Government portal for the computerised delivery of

20 million rural land records to Karnataka's 6.7 million farmers.
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e-Office

 The eOffice seeks to assist governance by facilitating more efficient and transparent inter- and
intra-governmental processes.
 The goal of e-Office is to make all government offices more efficient, responsive, effective, and
transparent.
 The product integrates independent functions and systems into a single framework.

e-Courts

 The Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, has launched e-courts. The eCourts
Mission Mode Project is a national eGovernance project that aims to improve the information
and communication technology (ICT) capabilities of the country's district and subordinate courts.
 18,735 District & Subordinate courts have already been computerised as part of the e-court
project.

e-District

 The e-District is one of the State's Mission Mode Projects and Government-to-Consumer
initiatives under the National eGovernance Plan, which aims to deliver identified high volumes of
citizen-centric services electronically via Common Service Centers (CSCs).
 National eDistrict Service Tracker, a mobile App built on the Android platform, will allow citizens
to interact with the e-District Application via hand-held (mobile and tablet) devices.

MCA21

 The Government of India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has launched the MCA21
project, which enables corporate entities, professionals, and the general public to gain easy and
secure access to MCA services.
 All processes related to the enforcement and compliance of the legal requirements under the
Companies Act of 1956 will be completely automated as part of the MCA21 project.

DARPAN

 DARPAN is an acronym that stands for Dashboard for the Analytical Review of Projects Across
the Nation, and it transforms complex government data into visually appealing visuals.
 It provides the technical administration with the tool required to provide real-time, dynamic
project monitoring without coding or programming via web services.
 It improves analytical capabilities by consolidating multiple data sources into a centralized, user-
friendly platform.
 It quickly identifies trends and drills down into data to gain a better understanding of district-level
projects.

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Image Source: National Information Center

PRAGATI

 On March 25, 2015, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India launched the ambitious multi-purpose
and multi-modal platform "Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation" (PRAGATI) as
part of the Digital India program.
 Furthermore, it is a strong system for bringing e-transparency and e-accountability to key
stakeholders through real-time presence and exchange.
 This initiative has proven effective in addressing and resolving issues by reducing the inter-
departmental communication gap and thus reducing the time required for project and scheme
implementation.

e-Kranti

 The Government of India prioritises the flagship Digital India programme, which serves as an
umbrella programme for transforming The country into a digitally empowered society and
knowledge economy.
 The e-Kranti is directly linked to pillars 4 and 5 of the Digital India programme, namely 'e-
Governance: Reforming Government through Technology' and 'e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of
Services'.
 National e-Government Plan 2.0. "Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance" is
the vision of e-Kranti.
 Implementing e-Kranti is critical for Digital India and delivering e-governance, easy governance,
and good governance in the country.

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Conclusion
Implementing e-governance is critical for India to spread the many benefits of economic growth brought
about by digitization to all segments of society. In order to achieve a safer, more efficient, and
sustainable society, government activities could be boosted by combining technology and citizen-
centricity. Furthermore, e-governance contributes to the development of trust between governments and
citizens, which is a necessary component of good governance.

UPSC Previous Year Questions

Q1. “The emergence of Fourth Industrial Revolution (Digital Revolution) has initiated e-Governance as
an integral part of government”. Discuss. (UPSC Mains 2020, GS Paper 2).

Q2. Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based projects/programmes

usually suffers in terms of certain vital factors. Identify these factors and suggest measures for their
effective implementation. (UPSC Mains 2019, GS Paper 2).

Q3. E-governance is not only about utilization of the power of new technology, but also much about the
critical importance of the „use value‟ of information. (UPSC Mains 2018, GS Paper 2).

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