PANCHAYATS IN INDIA AND THE INTERNET AGE

(Project towards fulfillment of assessment in the subject of Local Self Governance)

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Shubh Dixit (1245) Mr. Om Prakash Gautam

Chinmaya Mudgal (1320) Faculty of Law

B.A., LL.B., (Business Law Hons.

Semester VII

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, JODHPUR

SUMMER SESSION

(JULY-NOVEMBER, 2018)
 Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3

Need for Integrating Technology with Governance...................................................................4

Current Forms Of E-Governance...............................................................................................6

E-panchayats..........................................................................................................................6

Health management information services..............................................................................6

E-dhara...................................................................................................................................7

E-choupal...............................................................................................................................7

E-gram viswagram.................................................................................................................7

Gyandoot................................................................................................................................7

Case Studies...............................................................................................................................8

Rajasthan................................................................................................................................8

Plan and Strategy................................................................................................................8

Major Projects....................................................................................................................9

Current Status.....................................................................................................................9

Orissa....................................................................................................................................10

Plan and strategy..............................................................................................................10

Major Projects..................................................................................................................11

Current Status...................................................................................................................11

Concluding Remarks................................................................................................................12

Challenges............................................................................................................................13

Environmental and Social Challenges.............................................................................13

Economic Challenges.......................................................................................................13

Technical Challenges........................................................................................................14

Recommendations................................................................................................................14

Cutting Costs....................................................................................................................14

Increasing Literacy and awareness...................................................................................15

2
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................16

Articles.................................................................................................................................16

Newspapers and Articles......................................................................................................17

Internet Sources....................................................................................................................17

3
 Introduction
The words of Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President of India, e-Governance in the
context of India can be stated as,
‘A transparent smart e-Governance with seamless access, secure and authentic flow of
information crossing the interdepartmental barrier and providing a fair and unbiased service
to the citizen.’1
The term e-Governance came into existence with the advent of government websites in late
1990s. E-Governance involves Information Communication Technology (Hereinafter referred
to as ICT), especially the internet, to improve the delivery of government services to citizens,
businesses and government agencies. The use of internet not only delivers the services faster
but also brings more transparency between the government and the citizens. 2 The goal of e-
Governance is not only to digitize the records of the government but to transform the process
of governance to suit the aspirations of modern e-age. ICTs can play a vital role in this
regard. ICT applications enhance the delivery of services to citizens by improving the
process. It redefines the traditional concepts of citizenship and democracy. 3 But in developing
countries like India, where literacy level is very low and most of the people are living below
poverty line, it is very much difficult for the government to provide its services to such
citizens via means of internet. Even the e-Readiness Rank of India is very low. ‘E-readiness’
is defined as the ability to use information and communication technologies to develop one’s
economy and welfare.4 Cooperation from government officials and staff will be crucial in
realizing the goals of modernizing this nation through E-Governance. Since this is a new
concept for government officials who are used to familiar methods of work, the growth of E-
Governance is met with resistance and fear, among other infrastructural problems.5

The impact of ICTs on societies is not homogeneous. The uneven brunt of ICT is responsible
for irregular economic development in India. This aspect brings out clearly the criticality of

1 R.K.Gera, et al, Improving the Image of Rural India through E-Governance of Panchayat, International
Journal of Latest Research in Science and Technology ISSN (Online):2278-5299 Vol.1,Issue 1 :30-35 ,May-
June(2012) http://www.mnkjournals.com/ijlrst.htm.
2 Dr. Pardeep Mittal, Amandeep Kaur, E-Governance - A challenge for India, International Journal of Advanced
Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET) Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013,
http://ijarcet.org/wp-content/uploads/IJARCET-VOL-2-ISSUE-3-1196-1199.pdf
3 Supra note 1
4 See, http://deity.gov.in/content/e-readiness-assessment-reports
5 Vandana gupta & Ajay Sharma, E-Governance In India: Problems, Challenges and Prospects, Vol 1, No 9
(2012), http://www.theinternationaljournal.org/ojs/index.php?journal=rjebs&page=article&op=view&path%5B
%5D=1110

4
the role of government in the age of the information. 6 Recognizing the significance of e-
Governance, the Government of India has introduced various administrative reforms and
initiated many measures at the institutional level to further its prospect. 7 The effort is minor if
we take into consideration the need for effective and viable usage of ICT tools at the
panchayats, which represents the first level of government interaction for over 75% of the
Indian populace.8

E-Panchayat was conceived as a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under National e-

Governance Plan (NeGP) with the primary objective of introducing and institutionalizing e-
governance in Panchayats. The primary aim was to transform Panchayats into efficient units
and to strengthen their business functions and processes with the ultimate goal of ensuring
effective local area development and prompt and efficient service to common man. As per
official figures, there are approximately 2,50,000 Panchayats in India mapped by the National
Informatics Centre and Ministry of Panchayati Raj on the ministry website under the project
called e- Panchayat.9

While the aspiration of integrating technology with governance at the grass root levels
remains yet to be realized completely, the authors have, in the subsequent parts of the project
made out a case for the need of ICTs in governance of Panchayat Raj Institutions. We have
then set out the forms in which ICT is currently being used as a tool for governance, the
budget allocation for the same. In the final parts of the project, we have expounded on the
challenges in integration of ICT with governance and advanced certain recommendations.

Need for Integrating Technology with Governance

ICT facilitates in developing public service delivery and best practices in administration. It
helps in redesigning the processes and service delivery at lower transaction cost with
improvement in transparency and accountability. E-Governance information systems should
not mean just an electronic reproduction of existing system of inter- departmental
cooperation. It brings about transformational change rather than merely a technical change.
E-Governance models integrated with ICT enable administrative processes and establish
communication on line real time basis providing status tracking and information. It gets the
6 Supra note 1
7 Supra Note 5.
8 Jhumur Ghosh, Relevance and use of ICTs in grassroots’ participation in panchayat, Article - 4 Global Media
Journal-Indian Edition Sponsored by the University of Calcutta/www.caluniv.ac.in, Summer Issue/June
2014/Vol. 5/No. 1, http://www.caluniv.ac.in/global-mdia-journal/ARTICLE-JUNE-2014/A_4.pdf.
9 ibid

5
delivery of services without delay and corruption. The ICT enabled e-governance models
provide improved transparency and help bridge the performance gap.10

The Gram Sabha was formed to enable each and every voter of the village to participate in
decision- making at local level. It is a constitutional body consisting of all persons registered
in the electoral rolls of a village Panchayat and a mechanism of direct democracy.

In spite of this the operation of the gram sabhas has come under much criticism. The
functions of the Gram Sabha also vary from state to state though there are certain common
functions. The implementation of such functions can lead to a very active participatory
democratic institution. So though there is legal provision in panchayati raj for regular
meetings of the gram sabha including all members to discuss relevant issues and the gram
sabha is supposed to play an important role in preparing village plans and deciding
development priorities in the village, it is arguable whether this active and important role of
the gram sabha has been realized in reality. In many villages, gram sabha meetings have been
reduced to a mere formality.11

Nothing worthwhile has happened in making Gram Sabha a vibrant institution at local level
on account of absence of power, lack of awareness, apathy of the villagers, lack of
enthusiasm and absence of freedom on the part of this body. There is a need to throw light on
the powers of the gram sabha in this context. As pointed out earlier the gram sabha is like the
fulcrum of the Panchayati raj system.12 The enabling provision, Article 243-A has largely
resulted in giving predictable functions to the gram sabhas such as to endorse, to recommend,
to suggest, to consider annual accounts and administrative reports and audit notes, etc. But
the first step to ensuring the effectiveness of gram panchayats is to assuring the presence of
all relevant members. Here the role of information and communication tools is vital.
Administrative and technological improvements in communicating and conveying of Gram
Sabhas along with certain other points would increase their operational efficiency.

Integration of ICT in the grassroots level governance would empower all the stake holders. At
the villager level, it would give more teeth to the villagers as they will now be more aware of
their entitlements and will be beneficiaries of the transparency and accountability that comes
with e-governance. For the heads of the institutions, e-governance will make administration

10 Supra note 1
11 Supra note 8
12 Supra note 1

6
and the herculean task of dissemination of information much simpler. And finally, for the
Central and State Governments, they will be able to now track the progress of the
implementation of the schemes of the panchayat raj institutions and monitor if the funds
disbursed are used for the assigned purposes.

Current Forms Of E-Governance

E-Governance facilitates interaction between different stake holders in governance. 13
Government has undertaken many projects for the benefit of rural India. Many of these
projects have been successful. Still more initiatives can be taken and the one which are
currently working can be improved further keeping in mind the problems being face by the
people in accessing these projects.14 Some interactions to improve the life of villagers are
presented here.15
E-panchayats

In this 2,50,000 panchayati raj institutions at the gram panchayat, block and zila parishads
were identified which were to be joined with ICT. NIC developed e-panchayat for
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. All the information of the gram panchyats was collected and
based on that the e-panchayat was initiated. The e-panchayat was based on providing the
information to the villagers on various products like agriculture, irrigation, fisheries etc. and
also on other problems relating to loans from industries, housing, water etc. It also dealt with
various other services like property tax, registration and issuance of death and birth
certificates, disbursement of old age/widow and disabled pensions, building approvals for
residential purpose etc. An important feature in this was the grievance redressal where any
grievance could be registered and also later on monitored for solution. Thus the project caters
to all aspects of panchayat’s functioning including planning, monitoring, implementation,
budgeting, accounting, social audit and delivery of citizen services.

Health management information services

It provides efficient and quality health services through IT application. It provides standard
clinical & diagnostic tools, hospital management tools and integration of management
information at the state level so as to ensure online review & monitoring.

13 Supra note 1
14 Nidhi Srivastava, E-Governance in Rural India, , International Journal of Computer Science and Information
Technologies, Vol. 6 (1) , 2015, 741-744, http://www.ijcsit.com/docs/Volume
%206/vol6issue01/ijcsit20150601165.pdf
15 Supra note 1

7
E-dhara

E-Dhara enhances complete Computerization of Land Records across the state. Elimination
of Manual Records, computer controlled mutation process and self sustainability are the
leading objectives of e-Dhara system.

E-choupal

E-choupal is an initiative of ITC Ltd. This project is a success and has benefited the farmers a
lot. In this a trained villager called Sanchalak was appointed to run the ITC internet kiosk. E-
choupal contains information about the latest farming techniques, weather forecasts, crop
insurance, etc. through which the farmers remain well informed.

E-gram viswagram
E-Gram Vishwagram Project has been launched from Haripura. This Project Initiates e-Gram
Project connecting 13716 Gram Panchayats and 6000 Citizen Common Service Centres as a
part of the e-Gram connectivity Project. Some features of e-Gram Project are Video
conferencing facilities at all villages, issuing the documents and certificates, application
forms for various development and welfare schemes.

Gyandoot

Gyandoot is a government to citizen intranet based project which made use of IT for benefit
of rural areas where people do not have the facilities as those in cities. For this 21
soochnalayas were set up which had computers. Each of these soochnalayas/kiosks catered to
about 20,000- 30,000 villagers. They charged Rs.5/- for providing information about the
agricultural produce. A fee of Rs. 15/- per extract is charged for providing documents related
to farmer’s land which is considered valid by banks. Rs. 10/- is charged for submitting
applications for obtaining certificates as and when required by the villagers. A charge of Rs.
10/- is taken for lodging any complaint like mid day meal etc. Auction facility is also
provided. For a charge of Rs. 25/- for 3 months anyone can put the commodity on sale.
Further, Rs. 10/- is charged for viewing all the salable commodity. Of the total earning the
soochak pays 10% of income as commission to the zila panchayat. So, the scheme is self-
sustainable.

8
 Case Studies

Rajasthan

Plan and Strategy

The vision of the Government of Rajasthan in terms of e-governance as articulated in the
detailed project report is that “the government of Rajasthan would leverage information
technology not only as a tool for improving governance and employment opportunities, but
also more significantly as a means to enhance the quality of life and bridging the socio-
economic divide in the state ensuring that skew in the development in society is minimized
and the underprivileged sections of the society are brought at par with the more privileged
sections.”16 It is with this vision in mind that the roadmap to e-governance has been
constructed.

It can be thus be derived that Rajasthan’s e-governance plans would centrally revolve around
the following three ideas.17 First being that the using ICT to pave way for more employment
opportunities. Secondly, improvement in the quality of life of citizens and lastly using IT as a
tool of socio-economic equality.

The blueprint18 of the plan depicts the two way flow of various policies such as Meta Data
Standards, Access Control, Business Continuity, PPP, etc. via a route of applications. These
applications have been classified into group applications, Core applications and department
applications, these applications together form the e-governance gateway. From the gateway it
flows to the access channels such as the Kiosks, Call Centers, Mobiles, etc. and finally the
users – the citizens and the businesses.

The plan also lays down projected outcomes and targets. Increased customer focus and
integration of government departments are the desired outcomes. Beginning from 2006 where
the target was a humble access to downloadable forms and a grievance redressal system. By
2010 the target became more ambitious, they targeted being able to provide for the electronic
delivery of all services fully or partially.

16 Detailed Project Report, Rajasthan: An Initiative of the Government of Rajasthan under the National e-
Governance Plan (NeGP), PriceWaterCoopers,
http://www.doitc.rajasthan.gov.in/administrator/Lists/Downloads/Attachments/17/DetailedProjectReport.pdf,
Detailed Project Report
17 Ibid.
18 E-governance blueprint for Rajasthan, Ibid.

9
Major Projects
In 2002 the LokMitra and JanMitra projects which were “launched to bring together all the
departments under one single umbrella and give citizens of the State a ‘multi-
service’-‘single-window’ experience.”19 Some of the objectives were to provide for hassle free
one-stop solution to the citizen, minimize multiple interaction points for the citizen and hence
reduce the wastage of valuable time, implementation of the RTI programme, etc. In 2004-
2005 these two projects were integrated under a single umbrella called ‘e-mitra’20 E-Mitra, is
an ambitious E-governance initiative of Government of Rajasthan which is being
implemented in all 32 Districts of the state using Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for
the convenience and transparency to the citizen to deliver the services almost at their door
steps. These projects have significantly contributed to improved overall productivity of
citizen because of the facility of anytime, anywhere services and information.

Current Status
Till date the Project has been implemented in al the 32 districts and by February of 2007 there
were 778 kiosks in the state when in June of 2006 there were only 268 functioning kiosks. 21
The e-governance in Rajasthan has thus been functioning on a pretty up-scale level. In fact
recently chief Minister Vasundhare Raje in the annual state budget 2015-2016 announced 22
that under 'Digital Rajasthan and Good Governance' segment, the Primary Agriculture Credit
Society (PACS), Large Agriculture Multipurpose Society (LAMS) and 15,000 E-Mitra
centres will be made business correspondents and further new IT and e-governance policy,
video conferencing at all ATAL Sewa Kendras and establishment of District Level Officer of
IT. The government has shown great interest in extending support to enhance the 4G mobile
network in the state whereas Wi-Fi facility at specific places in Jaipur will also be provided.

Further, the cabinet recently gave approval to the Rajasthan e-Governance and IT/ITeS Policy
2015, which aims to establish 7 smart cities in Rajasthan by 2020 and to provide employment
to 5 lakh people in the IT sector by 2025.23

19 Government of Rajasthan, http://www.cscmis.emitra.gov.in/upload/rfp15.pdf

20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Rajasthan Annual State Budget 2015: New IT and e-governance policy proposed, Indiatoday.in New Delhi,
March 10, 2015, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/rajasthan-annual-state-budget-2015-new-it-and-e-
governance-policy-proposed/1/423043.html
23 Rajasthan to repeal redundant laws, Jaipur, 3 September, 2015, http://www.thestatesman.com/news/latest-
headlines/rajasthan-to-repeal-redundant-laws/87442.html#w4hgsmo3Ufc9lpyt.99

10
However, services delivery through various channels & level of “computerization of
deliverance”,24 insufficiency, less security, departmental co-operations, cost of infrastructure
are still major causes for concern.

Orissa

Plan and strategy

Odisha state was attempting to revitalize their public administration and make it more
proactive, efficient, transparent and especially more service oriented. It was in this light that
the use of ICT played a crucial role in advancing the goals of the public sector and in
contributing towards an environment of social and economic growth.

Odisha recognized Information Technology (IT) as an effective tool in catalyzing the

economic activity, in efficient governance and in developing human resource. They have,
therefore, made significant investments in it and successfully integrated it with the
development process, thereby reaping the benefits to their society. In Odisha also these
developments have impacted the industrial, education, service and Government sectors and
their influence on various applications is increasingly being felt of late. As the era of digital
economy is evolving, the concept of governance has assumed significant importance.

Keeping in line with the increased thrust on e-governance across the country, the state also
took initiatives to computerise various departments, which started in mid 80’s with a few
isolated initiatives. But since year 2000 the state has taken up statewide planned initiatives,
which includes policies, infrastructure and software application development specifically to
create an ICT enabling environment to enable citizen centric service delivery

In the year 2004 the government came out with the Information Technology & ITeS Policy.
The e-Governance roadmap of Odisha was released on 14th June 2006 which compromised
of governance Vision, governance Strategy & Blue print and Capacity Building road map.25

“15 Departments were identified to provide more than 200 services under the Mission Mode
Programme (MMP) of National eGgovernance Programme. The eRegistration Project has
also been included into the ambit of MMP. The state Government has implemented the

24 Sanjay Tejasvee And Dr. S.S. Sarangdevot, Integration Of Ict And E-Governance In Rajasthan, Indian
Journal Of Computer Science And Engineering, Vol. 2 No. 2 Apr-May
2011http://www.ijcse.com/docs/IJCSE11-02-02-55.pdf
25 Lalit Sharma & Priyadarshi Patni., Initiatives and implementation of e-Governance Programmes: A Case
Study of Odisha, International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 10, October-2012,
http://www.ijser.org/researchpaper%5CInitiatives-and-implementation-of-e-Governance-Programmes-A-Case-
Study-of-Odisha.pdf

11
eRegistration Project on PPP (Public Privat Partnership) and successfully implemented at 180
Registration Offices. Further to enable access to public utility services at citizen door step,
establish of 8558 number of Common Facility Centre has been initiated and the much need
Citizen Centric Services will be provided through these facility centres”26

Major Projects
Some of the major projects in the state are e-dhaRani which provides computerized
registration of 64 kind of deeds resulting the fast document delivery to citizens, BETAN
which is a web Based Payroll package has been implemented in all 314 Blocks, 30 DRDAs,
along with Odisha Secretariat and other state Govt offices, e-shishu which is the first of its
kind in the country. The project has two components – Child Tracking system (CTS) and
Intervention monitoring & information system (IMIS). Under CTS, a comprehensive
database of all children below 14 years has been created which includes their socio-economic
as well as demographic details. Under IMIS, all the 14 interventions under Sarva Shiksha
Aabhiyan are monitored online

Current Status
E-governance has been responsible for the progression in technology of developing countries
and in this context Odisha has implemented some good projects in the state. There are
criticisms that most of the projects initiated by government departments, are dysfunctional,
outdated, have ineffective links, and do not encourage interactive communication with the
population. In nutshell, for implementing a concept like e-governance, there is a total
transformation of the public systems and procedures led by a change in the administrative
mind-set.

Recently the Odisha government announced27 that the government will be spending two per
cent of the Annual Plan budget of various departments for providing services to the citizens
on the electronic platform. The total spending by the government departments for providing
public services on electronic platform would be around Rs 800 crore annually. As per the
resolution, the departments are needed to publish their annual e-governance action plan,
monthly e transactions and milestones containing details of investment planned in the IT
infrastructure, application development, business process re-engineering, capacity building of

26 Ibid.
27 Odisha to spend 2% of Plan Budget on e-governance, Bhubaneswar August 23, 2015, http://www.business-
standard.com/article/economy-policy/odisha-to-spend-2-of-plan-budget-on-e-governance-115082300723_1.html

12
the personnel at different levels that would make the department's e-governance initiatives
sustainable.

In early 2014 Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) was chosen for a major e-governance project
of the Odisha government. The project, costing Rs 13 crore, will be implemented over three
years. The aim of the project is to provide various types of public services such as education
certificate and trade license through a single web portal, Odisha.gov.in. TCS will develop a
state service delivery gateway (SSDG) to perform the application of services, maintain the
state portal and will rollout e-forms for various services at district levels. Apart from these
district portals, the government has plans to open as many as 8,558 Common Service Centres
(CSCs) across the state for providing services at panchayat level. Available data shows, 28 a
total no of 5427 CSCs have been set up till Aug 2013. These centres are currently offering
services such as payment of electricity bills, booking of railway tickets and online application
for college admission.

Concluding Remarks
E-governance has become the key to good-governance in a developing country like India. To
be at par with developed countries, the Government of India had made out a plan to use
Information Technology extensively in its operation to make more efficient and effective and
also to bring transparency and accountability. However, for successful implementation of E-
Governance, government officials have to realize that E-Governance “is no longer a matter
of choice, but an absolute need of the day.”29 Cooperation from government officials and staff
will be crucial in realizing the goals of modernizing this nation through E-Governance.

Another argument of concern is that “while the developed countries have been able to benefit
greatly from the wide use of Information Technology, many developing countries are still
grasping to make sense of how IT fits into their problems.” 30 In developing countries like
India, where literacy level is very low and most of the people are living below poverty line, it
is very much difficult for the government to provide its services to such citizens via means of
internet. As explained in the previous sections even the “e-Readiness” Rank of India is very
low. Many other factors like privacy and security related to user‟s personal information,
digital divide etc. are also huge challenges for the implementation of eGovernance in India.
28 Sadana, TCS bags e-governance project in Odisha after HP exit, Bhubaneswar
January 27, 2014, http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tcs-bags-e-governance-project-in-
odisha-after-hp-exit-114012700862_1.html
29 Supra Note 5.
30 Supra Note 2.

13
India’s path toward an efficient system of e-governance is thus not without hurdles. In the
following section the authors will examine these challenges and attempt to bring forward
some recommendations.

Challenges
There are a large number of obstacles in implementation of e-Governance in India. These can
be categorized under the following titles: Environmental and Social Challenges, Economical
Challenges and Technical Challenges.

Environmental and Social Challenges

These would include the challenges due to the diversity in languages spoken by people across
the country and the fact that English is not spoken by most of the people. Therefore, it
“becomes a challenge for the government to write e-Governance applications which are to
be implemented for the whole nation in more than one language so that these may be
acceptable to the users of a particular language.” 31 Low literacy and specifically low IT
Literacy contribute to a large number of problems, this is because illiterate people cannot
understand or access e-governance applications. Often these applications have a quite
difficult design, thus it becomes even more difficult for non-expert users to use them. Lack of
access to internet itself poses a major hurdle, even if the users of Internet are growing but still
there is a major part of Indian population which does not have access to internet. Other
challenges include the struggle to change, the lack of confidence in technology and lack of
integrated services.

Economic Challenges
Economic challenges are quite obvious in a country like India. In developing cost is one of
the most important obstacles in the path of implementation of e-Governance where major part
of the population is living below poverty line. E-governance is often treated as an ancillary
issue and rarely comes to the fore. Low per capita income, limited financial resources are
other aspects of economic challenges. A major cause of concern is the maintenance costs of
electronic devices. “As the IT changes fast and it is very difficult for us to update our existing
systems very fast.”32

31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.

14
Technical Challenges
These include issues relating to security, scale of operations, etc. A critical obstacle in
implementing e-Governance is the privacy and security of an individual’s personal data that
he/she provides to obtain government services. Lack of security standards can limit the
development of eGovernment projects that contain personal information such as income,
medical history etc. Further, government networks have to go into all areas which are even
unfriendly to live. It is, however, costly to wire up all the villages in the country. So the
geography of various places often poses problems.

Recommendations

Cutting Costs
Technology tends to get out of date very fast. Our government may not be in position to buy
new servers every year. So, it is better and safer to use technologies and products which are
tried and tested for longer periods of times than using the latest ones. Applications must be
transferrable from one platform to another: e-governance applications must be independent
from hardware or software platforms. Therefore, these applications can be used at any
platform irrespective of the hardware or software and from one platform to the other
platform. These applications may also help on possible reuse by other administrators. Further
there must be interoperability- the ability of systems and organizations of different qualities
to work together. The e-Governance applications must have this characteristic so that the
newly developed and existing applications can be implemented together. All of this could
reduce costs and hence prove to be more economic.

Most e-governance applications are written in English. That is why e-Governance projects do
not get success. Hence, the e-governance applications must be written in local language of the
people so that they may be able to use and take advantage of these applications. Users of e-
Governance applications are often non-expert users who may not be able to use the
applications in a right manner. Such users need guidance to find the right way to perform
their transactions. Therefore, government websites must be user friendly so that more and
more people can use them easily. Hence, these websites can be more effective. If government
websites will be designed in an easier format only then these will be more usable for the users
who are not expert users of IT.

15
Increasing Literacy and awareness
One of the major hurdles all developing countries face is the lack of awareness, IT illiteracy
is a major obstacle in implementation of e-Governance in India. So, first of all Indian people
must be made aware about the usage of Information Technology. There must be recognition
of the eGovernance facilities by citizens the so that they can trust and accept these facilities.
Right education is, as the Mahatma once opined, what is needed to make democracy function.
It is only when the citizens are educated to understand these applications and functions, it is
only then that the e-governance in India can effectuate the progress that we expect and claim.

16
 Bibliography

Articles
 Detailed Project Report, Rajasthan: An Initiative of the Government of Rajasthan
under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), PriceWaterCoopers,
http://www.doitc.rajasthan.gov.in/administrator/Lists/Downloads/Attachments/17/Det
ailedProjectReport.pdf, Detailed Project Report
 Dr. Pardeep Mittal, Amandeep Kaur, E-Governance - A challenge for India,
International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology
(IJARCET) Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013, http://ijarcet.org/wp-
content/uploads/IJARCET-VOL-2-ISSUE-3-1196-1199.pdf
 Jhumur Ghosh, Relevance and use of ICTs in grassroots’ participation in panchayat,
Article - 4 Global Media Journal-Indian Edition Sponsored by the University of
Calcutta/www.caluniv.ac.in, Summer Issue/June 2014/Vol. 5/No. 1,
http://www.caluniv.ac.in/global-mdia-journal/ARTICLE-JUNE-2014/A_4.pdf.
 Lalit Sharma & Priyadarshi Patni., Initiatives and implementation of e-Governance
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 Nidhi Srivastava, E-Governance in Rural India, , International Journal of Computer
Science and Information Technologies, Vol. 6 (1) , 2015, 741-744,
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 R.K.Gera, et al, Improving the Image of Rural India through E-Governance of
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 Sanjay Tejasvee And Dr. S.S. Sarangdevot, Integration Of Ict And E-Governance In
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journal=rjebs&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=1110

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Newspapers and Articles
 Odisha to spend 2% of Plan Budget on e-governance, Bhubaneswar August 23, 2015,
http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/odisha-to-spend-2-of-plan-
budget-on-e-governance-115082300723_1.html
 Rajasthan Annual State Budget 2015: New IT and e-governance policy proposed,
Indiatoday.in New Delhi, March 10, 2015,
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/rajasthan-annual-state-budget-2015-new-
it-and-e-governance-policy-proposed/1/423043.html
 Rajasthan to repeal redundant laws, Jaipur, 3 September, 2015,
http://www.thestatesman.com/news/latest-headlines/rajasthan-to-repeal-redundant-
laws/87442.html#w4hgsmo3Ufc9lpyt.99
 Sadana, TCS bags e-governance project in Odisha after HP exit, Bhubaneswar,
January 27, 2014, http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tcs-bags-e-
governance-project-in-

Internet Sources
 Government of Rajasthan, http://www.cscmis.emitra.gov.in/upload/rfp15.pdf
 http://deity.gov.in/content/e-readiness-assessment-reportsodisha-after-hp-exit-
114012700862_1.html

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