E- governance , GS paper- 2

Defining e-Governance

Although the term ‘e-Governance’ has gained currency in recent years, there is no standard definition of this term. Different governments and organizations define this term to suit their own aims and objectives. Sometimes, the term ‘e-government’ is also used instead of ‘e-Governance’. Some widely used definitions are listed below:

According to the World Bank,

“E-Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions.”

Thus, the stress here is on use of information technologies in improving citizen-government interactions, cost-cutting and generation of revenue and transparency.

UNESCO defines e-Governance as:

“Governance refers to the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs, including citizens’ articulation of their interests and exercise of their legal rights and obligations. E-Governance may be understood as the performance of this governance via the electronic medium in order to facilitate an efficient, speedy and transparent process of disseminating information to the public, and other agencies, and for performing government administration activities.”

This definition visualizes the use of the electronic medium in the exercise of authority in the management of a country’s affairs along with articulation of citizens’ interests leading to greater transparency and efficiency.

Basically, e-Governance is generally understood as the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at all levels of the Government in order to provide services to the citizens, interaction with business enterprises and communication and exchange of information between different agencies of the Government in a speedy, convenient efficient and transparent manner.

Stages of e-Governance

Indian experience demonstrates that the onset of e-Governance proceeded through the following phases:

(a) Computerisation: In the first phase, with the availability of personal computers, a large number of Government offices got equipped with computers. The use of computers began with word processing, quickly followed by data processing.

(b) Networking: In this phase, some units of a few government organizations got connected through a hub leading to sharing of information and flow of data between different government entities.

(c) On-line presence: With increasing internet connectivity, a need was felt for maintaining a presence on the web. This resulted in maintenance of websites by government departments and other entities. Generally, these web-pages/web-sites contained information about the organizational structure, contact details, reports and publications, objectives and vision statements of the respective government entities.

(d) On-line interactivity: A natural consequence of on-line presence was opening up of communication channels between government entities and the citizens, civil society organizations etc. The main aim at this stage was to minimize the scope of personal interface with government entities by providing downloadable Forms, Instructions, Acts, Rules etc. In some cases, this has already led to on-line submission of Forms. Most citizen-government transactions have the potential of being put on e-Governance mode.

Types of Interactions in e-Governance

G2G (Government to Government) – In this case, Information and Communications Technology is used not only to restructure the governmental processes involved in the functioning of government entities but also to increase the flow of information and services within and between different entities. This kind of interaction is only within the sphere of government and can be both horizontal i.e. between different government agencies as well as between different functional areas within an organisation, or vertical i.e. between national, provincial and local government agencies as well as between different levels within an organisation. The primary objective is to increase efficiency, performance and output.

G2C (Government to Citizens) – In this case, an interface is created between the government and citizens which enables the citizens to benefit from efficient delivery of a large range of public services. This expands the availability and accessibility of public services on the one hand and improves the quality of services on the other. It gives citizens the choice of when to interact with the government (e.g. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), from where to interact with the government (e.g. service centre, unattended kiosk or from one’s home/workplace) and how to interact with the government (e.g. through internet, fax, telephone, email, face-to-face, etc). The primary purpose is to make government, citizen-friendly.

G2B (Government to Business) – Here, e-Governance tools are used to aid the business community – providers of goods and services – to seamlessly interact with the government. The objective is to cut red tape, save time, reduce operational costs and to create a more transparent business environment when dealing with the government. The G2B initiatives can be transactional, such as in licensing, permits, procurement and revenue collection. They can also be promotional and facilitative, such as in trade, tourism and investment. These measures help to provide a congenial environment to businesses to enable them to perform more efficiently.

G2E (Government to Employees) – Government is by far the biggest employer and like any organisation, it has to interact with its employees on a regular basis. This interaction is a two-way process between the organisation and the employee. Use of ICT tools helps in making these interactions fast and efficient on the one hand and increase satisfaction levels of employees on the other.

Advantages of E-Governance

Following are the advantages of E-Governance

1. Speed – Technology makes communication speedier. Internet, Phones, Cell Phones have reduced the time taken in normal communication.

2. Cost Reduction – Most of the Government expenditure is appropriated towards the cost of stationary. Paper-based communication needs lots of stationary, printers, computers, etc. which calls for continuous heavy expenditure. Internet and Phones makes communication cheaper saving valuable money for the Government.

3. Transparency – Use of ICT makes governing profess transparent. All the information of the Government would be made available on the internet. The citizens can see the information whenever they want to see. But this is only possible when every piece of information of the Government is uploaded on the internet and is available for the public to peruse. Current governing process leaves many ways to conceal the information from all the people. ICT helps make the information available online eliminating all the possibilities of concealing of information.

4. Accountability – Once the governing process is made transparent the Government is automatically made accountable. Accountability is answerability of the Government to the people. It is the answerability for the deeds of the Government. An accountable Government is a responsible Government.

Objectives of E-Governance

Following are the objectives/aims of E-Governance:

1. To build an informed society – An informed society is an empowered society. Only informed people can make a Government responsible. So providing access to all to every piece of information of the Government and of public importance is one of the basic objective of E-Governance.

2. To increase Government and Citizen interaction - In the physical world, the Government and Citizens hardly interact. The amount of feedback from and to the citizens is very negligible. E-Governance aims at build a feedback framework, to get feedback from the people and to make the Government aware of people's problems.

3. To encourage citizen participation - True democracy requires participation of each individual citizen. Increased population has led to representative democracy, which is not democracy in the true sense. E-governance aims to restore democracy to its true meaning by improving citizen participation in the Governing process, by improving the feedback, access to information and overall participation of the citizens in the decision making.

4. To bring transparency in the governing process - E-governance carries an objective to make the Governing process transparent by making all the Government data and information available to the people for access. It is to make people know the decisions, and policies of the Government.

5) To make the Government accountable - Government is responsible and answerable for every act decision taken by it. E-Governance aims and will help make the Government more accountable than now by bringing transparency's and making the citizens more informed.

6) To reduce the cost of Governance - E-Governance also aims to reduce cost of governance by cutting down on expenditure on physical delivery of information and services. It aims to do this by cutting down on stationary, which amounts to the most of the government's expenditure. It also does away with the physical communication thereby reducing the time required for communication while reducing cost.

7) To reduce the reaction time of the Government – Normally due to red-tapism and other reasons, the Government takes long to reply to people's queries and problems. E-Governance aims to reduce the reaction time of the Government to the people's queries and problems, because 's problems are basically Government's problems as Government is for the people.

Objectives can be coined in terms of the Acronym SMART refers to Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive, Responsible and Transparent Government.

S - The use of ICT brings simplicity in governance through electronic documentation, online submission, online service delivery, etc.

M - It brings Morality to governance as immoralities like bribing, red-tapism, etc. are eliminated.

A - It makes the Government accountable as all the data and information of Government is available online for consideration of every citizen, the NGOs and the media.

R - Due to reduced paperwork and increased communication speeds and decreased communication time, the Government agencies become responsive.

R - Technology can help convert an irresponsible Government Responsible. Increased access to information makes more informed citizens. And these empowered citizens make a responsible Government.

T - With increased morality, online availability of information and reduced red-tapism the process of governance becomes transparent leaving no room for the Government to conceal any information from the citizens.

These objects of E-Governance are achievable with the use of ICT and therefore the concept is very alluring and desirable.

 e-Governance:  Initiatives in India

·         Recognising the increasing importance of electronics, the Government of India established the Department of Electronics in 1970.

·         The subsequent establishment of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in 1977 was the first major step towards e-Governance in India as it brought ‘information’ and its communication in focus.

·         However, the main thrust for e-Governance was provided by the launching of NICNET in 1987 – the national satellite-based computer network.

·         This was followed by the launch of the District Information System of the National Informatics Centre (DISNIC) programme to computerize all district offices in the country for which free hardware and software was offered to the State Governments.

·          NICNET was extended via the State capitals to all district headquarters by 1990.

·         A National Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development was constituted in May 1998.

·         In 1999, the Union Ministry of Information Technology was created.

·         By 2000, a 12-point minimum agenda for e-Governance was identified by Government of India for implementation in all the Union Government Ministries/Departments.

·         The agenda undertaken included the following action points:

·         Each Ministry/Department must provide PCs with necessary software up to the Section Officer level. In addition, Local Area Network (LAN) must also be set up.

·         Each Ministry/Department should have its own website.

·         Ministries/Departments should use the web-enabled Grievance Redressal Software developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.

·         All Acts, Rules, Circulars must be converted into electronic form and, along with other published material of interest or relevance to the public, should be made available on the internet and be accessible from the Information and Facilitation Counter.

·         The Government approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), comprising of 27 Mission Mode Projects and 8 components, on May 18, 2006.

·         ͞Make all Government services accessible to the COMMON MAN IN HIS LOCALITY, through Common Service Delivery Outlets and ensure EFFICIENCY, TRANSPARENCY & RELIABILITY of such services at AFFORDABLE COSTS to realize the BASIC NEEDS of the common MAN

·         In the year 2011, 4 projects - Health, Education, PDS and Posts were introduced to make the list of 27 MMPs to 31Mission Mode Projects (MMPs).

·         In order to promote e-Governance in a holistic manner, various policy initiatives and projects have been undertaken to develop core and support infrastructure.

·         The major core infrastructure components are State Data Centres (SDCs), State Wide Area Networks (S.W.A.N), Common Services Centres (CSCs) and middleware gateways i.e National e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (NSDG), State e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG),and Mobile e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (MSDG).

·          The important support components include Core policies and guidelines on Security, HR, Citizen Engagement, Social Media as well as Standards related to Metadata, Interoperability, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security etc.

NeGP Outcomes -

·         27 out of 31 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) gone live -

• MCA21, Passport, Income Tax, Land Records, National UID, India Portal, Commercial Taxes, Common Services Centres, etc.

·         Establishment of core ICT Infrastructure across the country – SDC, SWAN, NSDG, SSDG, Mobile  Seva, GI Cloud, Pay Gov India

·         General Awareness on e-Governance in the country

·         Institutional mechanism built for e-Governance Standards, Technical Assistance to Departments, R&D, HRD & Trainings, Project Assessment, Innovation, etc.

·          Establishment of Common Services Centers across the country

·         Capacity Building at various levels of Government

·         Citizen rights on time bound delivery of services

e-Governance: New Initiatives

GI Cloud (MeghRaj)

·         In order to utilise and harness the benefits of Cloud Computing, Government of India has embarked upon a very ambitious and important initiative – “GI Cloud” which has been coined as „MeghRaj‟.

Objectives:

·         Optimum utilisation of infrastructure

·         Speeding up the development and deployment of eGov applications

·         Easy replication of successful applications across States to avoid duplication of effort and cost in development of similar applications.

·         Availability of certified applications following common standards at one place.

·

Policy on Adoption of Open Source Software 2012

Digital India aims to make Government services digitally accessible to citizens in their localities and to ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs. Government of India endeavours to adopt Open Source Software in all e-Governance systems implemented by various Government organizations as a preferred option.The policy shall be applicable to all Government organisations under the Central Governments and those State Governments that choose to adopt this policy for e-Governance systems.

Digital India

·         The Government of India has approved the Digital India program with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

·         Digital India is an ‘Umbrella Mission’—covering many departments, weaving together a large number of ideas and thoughts into a single, comprehensive vision so that each of them is seen as a part of a larger goal.

·          Each individual element stands on its own, but is also part of the larger picture. It was launched on 1 July 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

·         The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks.

·         In order to transform the entire ecosystem of public services through the use of information technology, the Government of India has unveiled an ambitious Digital India programme with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

·         The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was approved in 2006 with a focus on electronic delivery of services. Twenty four (out of 31) mission mode projects under the NeGP are operational providing a wide range of services.

·         It was felt that despite the successful implementation of several e-Governance projects across the country, it could not make the desired impact for delivering public services.

·         Hence, a need was felt to enhance the scope and quality of e-Governance in the country by bringing in transformational government process re-engineering, focusing on integrated services, interoperable systems, and making best use of the emerging technologies.

·         Therefore, ‘eKranti’ or NeGP 2.0 with a focus on electronic delivery of services was conceptualized

·         Digital India has three core components. These include:

·         The creation of digital infrastructure

    •         Delivering services digitally

·           Digital literacy

1)      Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen

• High speed internet

• Unique digital identity

• Mobile phone & bank account

• Access to Common Services Centres

• Private space on Cloud

• Secure cyber-space

2)       Governance & Services on Demand

• Integrated services

·         services through online & mobile platforms

• Portable Citizen entitlements on Cloud

• Ease of doing business

• Financial transactions electronic & cashless

• Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) as DSS

3)       Digital Empowerment of Citizens

• Digital literacy

• Digital resources

• Digital resources / services in India languages

• Collaborative digital platforms

• No physical submission of documents

PILLARS- nine pillars of digital India

The Government of India hopes to achieve growth on multiple fronts with the Digital India Programme. Specifically, the government aims to target nine 'Pillars of Digital India' that they identify as being:

1.       Broadband Highways

2.       Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity

3.       Public Internet Access Programme

4.       e-Governance – Reforming Government through Technology

5.       eKranti - Electronic delivery of services

6.       Information for All

7.       Electronics Manufacturing

8.       IT for Jobs

9.       Early Harvest Programmes

·         e-Kranti is an important pillar of the Digital India programme.

·         The Vision of e-Kranti is "Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance".

·         The Mission of e-Kranti is to ensure a Government wide transformation by delivering all Government services electronically to citizens through integrated and interoperable systems via multiple modes, while ensuring efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs.

The objectives of 'e-Kranti' are as follows:

i.To redefine NeGP with transformational and outcome oriented e-Governance initiatives.

ii.To enhance the portfolio of citizen centric services.

iii. To ensure optimum usage of core Information & Communication Technology (ICT).

iv. To promote rapid replication and integration of eGov applications.

v. To leverage emerging technologies.

vi.To make use of more agile implementation models.

Principles of e-Kranti or NeGP 2.0

1.      Transformation and Not Translation

2. Integrated Services and Not Individual Services

3. GPR to be Mandatory in Every MMP

4. Infrastructure on Demand

5. Cloud by Default

6. Mobile First

7. Fast -tracking Approvals

8. Mandating Standards and Protocols

9. Language Localization

10. National GIS

11. Security and Electronic Data Preservation

12. National e-Governance Academy

13. E-Governance Knowledge Portal

14. Create e-Governance Impact Index

15. Effective Use of Social Media

Principles of e-Kranti

The key principles of e-Kranti are as follow:

i. Transformation and not Translation - All project proposals in e-Kranti must involve substantial transformation in the quality, quantity and manner of delivery of services and significant enhancement in productivity and competitiveness.

ii. Integrated Services and not Individual Services - A common middleware and integration of the back end processes and processing systems is required to facilitate integrated service delivery to citizens.

iii. Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory in every MMP - To mandate GPR as the essential first step in all new MMPs without which a project may not be sanctioned. The degree of GPR should be assessed and enhanced for the existing MMPs.

iv. ICT Infrastructure on Demand – Government departments should be provided with ICT infrastructure, such as connectivity, cloud and mobile platform on demand. In this regard, National Information Infrastructure (NII), which is at an advanced stage of project formulation, would be fast-tracked by DeitY.

v. Cloud by Default - The flexibility, agility and cost effectiveness offered by cloud technologies would be fully leveraged while designing and hosting applications. Government Cloud shall be the default cloud for Government Departments. All sensitive information of Government Departments shall be stored in a Government Cloud only. Any Government Department may use a private cloud only after obtaining permission from Department of Electronics and Information Technology which shall do so after assessing the security and privacy aspects of the proposed cloud.

vi. Mobile First - All applications are designed/ redesigned to enable delivery of services through mobile.

vii. Fast Tracking Approvals – To establish a fast-track approval mechanism for MMPs, once the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of a project is approved by the Competent Authority, empowered committees may be constituted with delegated powers to take all subsequent decisions.

viii. Mandating Standards and Protocols – Use of e-Governance standards and protocols as notified by DeitY be mandated in all e-governance projects.

ix. Language Localization - It is imperative that all information and services in e-Governance projects are available in Indian languages as well.

x. National GIS (Geo-Spatial Information System) - NGIS to be leveraged as a platform and as a service in e-Governance projects.

xi. Security and Electronic Data Preservation - All online applications and e-services to adhere to prescribed security measures including cyber security. The National Cyber Security Policy 2013 notified by DeitY must be followed.

Approach and methodology for implementing e-Kranti

The following Approach and Methodology should be adopted for e-Kranti:

i. Ministries / Departments / States would fully leverage the Common and Support ICT Infrastructure (e.g. GI Cloud, National / State Data Centres, Mobile Seva, State Wide Area Networks, Common Services Centres& Electronic Service Delivery Gateways).

·         DeitY would also evolve/ lay down standards and policy guidelines, provide technical and handholding support, undertake capacity building, R&D, etc.

ii. The existing/ ongoing MMPs would also be suitably revamped to align them with the principles of e-Kranti. Scope enhancement, Process Reengineering, use of integrated & interoperable systems and deployment of emerging technologies like cloud & mobile would be undertaken to enhance the delivery of government services to citizens.

iii. States would be given flexibility to identify, for inclusion, additional state-specific projects, which are relevant for their socio-economic needs.

iv. e-Governance would be promoted through a centralised initiative to the extent necessary, to ensure citizen service orientation, interoperability of various e-Governance applications and optimal utilisation of ICT infrastructure/ resources, while adopting a decentralised implementation model.

v. Successes would be identified and their replication promoted proactively with required customisation wherever needed.

vi. Public Private Partnerships would be preferred wherever feasible to implement e-Governance projects with adequate management and strategic control.

vii. Adoption of Aadhaar based ID would be promoted to facilitate identification and delivery of benefits.

How will e-kranti be implemented?

1.      New Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) will follow the key principles of e-Kranti

2.      Existing e-Governance projects / initiatives will be revamped in accordance with the principles of e-Kranti

3.      Responsibility of each component of e-Kranti will be with respective domain Ministry / Department

4.      Financial details will be worked out project-wise by the Line Ministries/ Departments/ State Governments concerned

5.      Programme management structure institutionalized at both national and State/UT level

Key Components of e-Kranti

·         The National E-Governance Plan (NeGP) was first conceived in mid 2003, by the D/o Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) and the D/o Administrative Reform & Public Grievances (DAR&PG) and received in-principle approval at the level of the then Prime Minister on the 6th November 2003.

·         Subsequently, Cabinet Secretary took follow up meetings of the Core Group on Administrative Reforms as well as of the Committee of Secretaries on 14.11.2003 wherein 22 Mission Mode Projects were identified for implementation on a priority basis.

·          Four more projects have been added to the list of Mission Mode Projects namely e-Courts on the suggestion of the Judiciary, e-Office on the suggestion of DAR&PG, e-Procurement on the suggestion of CVC, and Employment Exchanges at the instance of the Planning commission.

·         Thereafter, Apex Committee on NeGP headed by the Cabinet Secretary reviewed the progress of NeGP and accorded in principle approval to add 4 MMPs namely Education, Health, PDS and Posts under the MMP portfolio of NeGP on 29th July, 2011.

·         Subsequent to the conceptualization of National e-Governance Plan 2.0 (NeGP 2.0), the 10 MMPs namely e-Sansad, e-Vidhaan, Financial Inclusion, Roads and Highways Information System (RAHI), Agriculture 2.0, National Geographical Information System (NGIS), Rural Development, Social Benefits, Women and Child Development and Common IT Roadmap for Para Military Forces are accorded in principle approval by the Apex Committee on NeGP headed by Cabinet Secretary on 18th March, 2014. e-Bhasha, Urban Governance and National Mission on Education Through ICT (NMEICT) are proposed as new MMPs under Integrated Services Category.

·         The e-Kranti now covers 44 Mission Mode Projects in three categories: Central, States and Integrated Services.

·         Details of these Mission Mode Projects are given in the Tables I to III below. Some of these projects are under various stages of implementation and may require some transformational process reengineering, refinements and adjustment of scoping and implementation strategy to achieve the desired service level objectives by the concerned line Ministries/Departments at the Central, State and Local Government levels.

·         All these Mission Mode Projects have the common aim of improving delivery of Government services to citizens and businesses.

·        

Pillar – 1 BROAD BAND CONECTIVITY

This covers three sub components, namely Broadband for All - Rural, Broadband for All - Urban and National Information Infrastructure (NII).

Broadband for All - Rural

·         2,50,000 village Panchayats would be covered under the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) by December 2016.

·         Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is the nodal Department for this project.

Broadband for All - Urban

·         Virtual Network Operators would be leveraged for service delivery and communication infrastructure in new urban developments and buildings would be mandated.

National Information Infrastructure (NII)

·         NII would integrate the network and cloud infrastructure in the country to provide high speed connectivity and cloud platform to various government departments up to the panchayat level.

·         These infrastructure components include networks such as State Wide Area Network (SWAN), National Knowledge Network (NKN), National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), Government User Network (GUN) and the MeghRaj Cloud.

·         NII aims at integrating all ICT infrastructure components such as SWANs, NKN, NOFN, GUN and GI Cloud.

·         It will have provision for horizontal connectivity to 100, 50, 20 and 5 government offices/ service outlets at state, district, block and Panchayat levels respectively.

·         DeitY will be the nodal Department for this project.

This initiative focuses on network penetration and filling the gaps in connectivity in the country.

Pillar – 2 Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity

•           The initiative is to focus on network penetration and fill the gaps in connectivity in the country.

•           All together 42,300 uncovered villages will be covered for providing universal mobile connectivity in the country.

•           DoT will be the nodal department and project cost will be around Rs 16,000 Cr during FY 2014-18.

Pillar – 3 Public Internet Access Programme

•The two sub components of Public Internet Access Programme are Common Service Centres and Post Offices as multi-service centres.

•         Common Service Centres would be strengthened and its number would be increased from approximately 135,000 operational at present to 250,000 i.e. one CSC in each Gram Panchayat. CSCs would be made viable, multi-functional end-points for delivery of government and business services. DeitY would be the nodal department to implement the scheme.

•         A total of 150,000 Post Offices are proposed to be converted into multi service centres. Department of Posts would be the nodal department to implement this scheme.

Pillar – 4 e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology

Government Business Process Re-engineering using IT to improve transactions is the most critical for transformation across government and therefore needs to be implemented by all ministries/ departments.

The guiding principles for reforming government through technology are:

•     Form simplification and field reduction – Forms should be made simple and user friendly and only minimum and necessary information should be collected.

•     Online applications, tracking of their status and interface between departments should be provided.

•     Use of online repositories e.g. school certificates, voter ID cards, etc. should be mandated so that citizens are not required to submit these documents in physical form.

•     Integration of services and platforms, e.g. UIDAI, Payment Gateway, Mobile Platform, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) etc. should be mandated to facilitate integrated and interoperable service delivery to citizens and businesses.

Electronic Databases – all databases and information should be electronic and not manual.

Workflow Automation Inside Government – The workflow inside government departments and agencies should be automated to enable efficient government processes and also to allow visibility of these processes to the citizens.

Public Grievance Redressal - IT should be used to automate, respond and analyze data to identify and resolve persistent problems. These would be largely process improvements.

Pillar – 5 e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services

There are 31 Mission Mode Projects under different stages of e-governance project lifecycle. Further, 10 new MMPs have been added to e-Kranti by the Apex Committee on National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) headed by the Cabinet Secretary in its meeting held on 18th March 2014.

Technology for Education – e-Education

•           All Schools will be connected with broadband.  Free wifi will be provided in all secondary and higher secondary schools (coverage would be around 250,000 schools). A programme on digital literacy would be taken up at the national level. MOOCs –Massive Online Open Courses shall be developed and leveraged for e-Education.

Technology for Health – e-Healthcare

•           E-Healthcare would cover online medical consultation, online medical records, online medicine supply, pan-India exchange for patient information. Pilots shall be undertaken in 2015 and full coverage would be provided in 3 years.

Technology for Farmers

•           This would facilitate farmers to get real time price information, online ordering of inputs and online cash, loan and relief payment with mobile banking.

Technology for Security

•           Mobile based emergency services and disaster related services would be provided to citizens on real time basis so as to take precautionary measures well in time and minimize loss of lives and properties.

Technology for Financial Inclusion

•           Financial Inclusion shall be strengthened using Mobile Banking, Micro-ATM program and CSCs/ Post Offices.

Technology for Justice

•           Interoperable Criminal Justice System shall be strengthened by leveraging e-Courts, e-Police, e-Jails and e-Prosecution.

Technology for Planning

•           National GIS Mission Mode Project would be implemented to facilitate GIS based decision making for project planning, conceptualization, design and development.

Technology for Cyber Security

•           National Cyber Security Co-ordination Center would be set up to ensure safe and secure cyber-space within the country.

Pillar – 6 Information for All

•     Open Data platform and online hosting of information & documents would facilitate open and easy access to information for citizens.

•     Government shall pro-actively engage through social media and web based platforms to inform citizens.MyGov.in has already been launched as a medium to exchange ideas/ suggestions with Government. It will facilitate 2-way communication between citizens and government.

•     Online messaging to citizens on special occasions/programs would be facilitated through emails and SMSes.

•     The above would largely utilise existing infrastructure and would need limited additional resources.

Pillar – 7 Manufacturing

Target NET ZERO Imports is a striking demonstration of intent.

This ambitious goal requires coordinated action on many fronts

•           Taxation, incentives

•           Economies of scale, eliminate cost disadvantages

•           Focus areas – Big Ticket Items FABS, Fab-less design, Set top boxes, VSATs, Mobiles, Consumer & Medical Electronics, Smart Energy meters, Smart cards, micro-ATMs

•           Incubators, clusters

•           Skill development

•           Government procurement

There are many ongoing programs which will be fine-tuned.

Existing structures are inadequate to handle this goal and need strengthening.

Pillar – 8 IT for Jobs

•     1 Cr students from smaller towns & villages will be trained for IT sector jobs over     5 years. DeitY would be the nodal department for this scheme.

•     BPOs would be set up in every north-eastern state to facilitate ICT enabled growth in these states. DeitY would be the nodal department for this scheme.

•     3 lakh service delivery agents would be trained as part of skill development to run viable businesses delivering IT services. DeitY would be the nodal department for this scheme.

•     5 lakh rural workforce would be trained by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to cater to their own needs. Department of Telecom (DoT) would be the nodal department for this scheme.

Pillar – 9 Early Harvest Programmes

IT Platform for Messages

•           A Mass Messaging Application has been developed by DeitY that will cover elected representatives and all Government employees. 1.36 Cr mobiles and 22 Lakh emails are part of the database.

Government Greetings to be e-Greetings

•           Basket of e-Greetings templates have been made available. Crowd sourcing of          e-Greetings through MyGov platform has been ensured. E-Greetings portal has been made live on 14th  August 2014.

Biometric attendance

•           It will cover all Central Govt. Offices in Delhi and is already operational in DeitY and has been initiated in the Department of Urban Development. On-boarding has also started in other departments.

Wi-Fi in All Universities

•           All universities on the National Knowledge Network (NKN) shall be covered under this scheme. Ministry of HRD is the nodal ministry for implementing this scheme.

Secure Email within Government

•           Email would be the primary mode of communication.

•           Phase-I upgradation for 10 lakh employees has been completed. In Phase II, infrastructure would be further upgraded to cover 50 lakh employees by March 2015 at a cost of Rs 98 Cr. DeitY is the nodal department for this scheme.

Standardize Government Email Design

•           Standardised templates for Government email are under preparation and would be ready by October 2014. This would be implemented by DeitY.

Public Wi-fi hotspots

•           Cities with population of over 1 million and tourist centres would be provided with public wi-fi hotspots to promote digital cities. The scheme would be implemented by DoT and MoUD.

School Books to be eBooks

•     All books shall be converted into eBooks. Min. of HRD/ DeitY would be the nodal agencies for this scheme.

SMS based weather information, disaster alerts

•     SMS based weather information and disaster alerts would be provided. DeitY’s Mobile Seva Platform is already ready and available for this purpose. MoES (IMD) / MHA (NDMA) would be the nodal organizations for implementing this scheme.

National Portal for Lost & Found children

•     This would facilitate real time information gathering and sharing on the lost and found children and would go a long way to check crime and improve timely response.

•     DeitY/ DoWCD would be the nodal departments for this project.

Central MMPs	State MMPs	Integrated MMPs
·         Banking ·         Central Excise & Customs ·         Income Tax (IT) ·         Insurance ·         MCA21 ·         Passport ·         Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration& Tracking ·         Pension ·         e-Office ·         Posts ·         UID ·         Common IT Roadmap for Para Military Forces ·         e-Sansad	·         Agriculture ·         Commercial Taxes ·         e−District ·         Employment Exchange ·         Land Records (NLRMP) ·         Municipalities ·         e-Panchayat ·         Police(CCTNS) ·         Road Transport ·         Treasuries Computerization ·         PDS ·         Education ·         Health ·         e-Vidhaan ·         Agriculture 2.0 ·         Rural Development ·         Women and Child development	·         CSC ·         e-Biz ·         e-Courts ·         e-Procurement ·         EDI For eTrade ·         National e-governance Service Delivery Gateway ·         India Portal ·         Financial Inclusion ·         Roads and Highways Information System ·         Social benefit ·         National GIS ·         National Mission on Education through ICT ·         Urban Governance ·         e-Bhasha