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H.A. KHAN
However, the challenge is to ensure proper procedures in the delivery of services. Any violation of the due process can open up a plethora of complaints from the public. E-governance must take into account the issues of fairness and universalism in providing the services. The purposes of bureaucracy are to ensure fairness, impartiality, and universalism in providing public services. Fairness ensures that all individuals are treated equally in the eyes of law. Impartiality ensures that nobody is denied the services because of either political or other reasons. The principle of universalism requires that all individuals have access to government services. Therefore, e-governance by eliminating bureaucracy must not abandon the principles of fairness, impartiality, and universalism.
Human Connections One of the concerns about the use of ICT is the lack of human connection as one encounter in face-to-face interactions. Despite the opportunity to connect with government, the issue of face-to-face interactions cannot be resolved by the development of e-governance (D’Agostino et al. 2011). The lack of human connections in e-governance can lead to the abolition of personal relationships that characterize traditional interactions. However, with the advent of video technology, human connections can be established. But it cannot replace the human connections of earlier times based on face-to-face relations. E-governance can lead to a robotic culture, diminishing the human feelings such as caring, empathy, and concern for others. People can be converted into machines lacking any human characteristics. The traditional human connection has advantages regarding understanding the individual behavior, the background, and the values each person represents. Traditional interaction can help to establish an understanding of the complexities of the situation in which a person finds themselves, his/her background, and their motivation. Any decision- making is influenced by various factors, which can be understood through the Internet. Despite e-governance, each government agency needs to provide opportunities to make contact by traditional methods because many people, especially the elderly, prefer to use traditional methods. The methods of contact need to be easily visible and accessible. Without any human connections, the government can become too remote to be accessible to the public. Therefore, the important challenge for public administrators is to maintain human connections with real people rather than the robots working for the government.
