India Strides towards E-Governance with Digitization

India Strides towards E-Governance with Digitization

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This is unquestionably the digital era, with businesses, courts, government departments, educational institutions, and other organizations moving towards digitization of records. Conversion of records to electronic format is a great strategy to ensure ‘openness’ i governance and to make relevant information available to the public.

According to a recent report, the proceedings of the Indian Parliament dating back to 1952 when the first Lok Sabha (the Lower House) was constituted will soon be available online. The Lok Sabha has already begun digitizing its collection of documents. Working backwards, they have digitized reports dated till the 13th Lok Sabha and are now looking to computerize records from 1952. Termed ‘e-sansad’, this project will involve the scanning and indexing of all Parliament documents, including debates, speeches, committee reports and questions, for access via the Internet.

This online database is expected to be a valuable resource for researchers, historians, academicians. It will also prove

of

great

use

to

legal

professionals who need to refer to the intention of lawmakers while preparing a

case.

Indexing

will

make

document retrieval easier. A similar project, e-Vidhan, will be implemented at the state-level, too.

The directive to digitize Parliament is part of the second stage of the national egovernance plan (NeGP), under which the government has identified 10 new areas to be digitized on a mission mode manner. This initiative, when complete, will put India on equal footing with developed nations such as the U.S. and the U.K., which have advanced digital archives online. These countries are already well ahead on the path to using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support and transform the external workings of governance by processing and communicating data between the government and citizens, communities, organizations, and business.

Benefits of e-Governance 

Simplifies the process of information accumulation for citizens and businesses



Empowers people to gather information and to get involved in the process of decision making, as information on government departments can be accessed online



Ensure more transparency in the functioning of the government which will eliminate corruption



Improved participation of citizens at all levels of governance



Improves interactions between business and industry



Improves the responsibility of each government department, as information regarding each government activity is publicly available



Leads to automation of services, as information regarding every work of public welfare is easily available to citizens



Online availability of government services are much more hassle free as it allows people to get their work done online and saves the effort and time needed for traveling to various offices

Apart from providing vital information at a single button click, the digital governance system helps in better delivery of services to citizens, citizen empowerment through access to information, improved convenience, cost reductions, and much more.