Design of framework to improve effectiveness of e governance in the state of Punjab

Abstract

E-Governance or electronic governanceand#8223; is an attempt to bring about Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent (SMART) Governance with the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the functioning of Government processes. It involves decisional processes and uses ICT for wider participation of citizens in Governmental decision-making regarding public affairs. It has a potential to provide all Governmental information and services online to the public as well as private sectors. E-Governance initiatives ensure a more democratic, transparent and accountable system that includes quick accessibility and security of information which is exchanged between Government and citizens. The main objective of e-Governance is to provide a friendly, efficient and affordable interface between Government and its people resulting in cost-effective and high-quality public service delivery. The study of literature on the subject brings out that use of e-Governance decreases the processing cost of many activities in comparison to the manual handling of the operations. It contributes to the elimination of mistakes inherent in manual procedures, reduces the required time for transaction, and enables faster decision- making. Expansion of e-Governance on vast scale in different states of India is a recent development to improve process of service delivery. The e-Governance projects have been implemented with great deal of commitment in different states to improve service delivery to citizens belonging to different sections of society. Still the citizens are not newlinemuch satisfied; and the Government is not getting the desired results. Hence, considerable empirical research efforts are required to find out the gaps and factors responsible for the same. In view of the above observations, there is a need to study the present impact of e-Governance and to suggest the ways for improving e-Governance in future, especially in the State of Punjab.