E-Governance

The chapter revolves around the use of IT to improve the delivery of government services to citizens, businesses and other government agencies. The chapters analyses the various sorts of interactions of the government: Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Business (G2B), Government to Government (G2G), and Government to Employee (G2E). Following this, the chapter enunciates the legal recognition of digital records and electronic/digital signatures, after making a distinction between the two, making reference to the relevant provisions regarding the same as provided in the IT Act, 2000. Following this, the use of these instrument in government services is also explained. The chapter further discusses initiatives like the Electronic Record Retention Policy as well as the DigiLocker System.

Further, various models of e-governance, based on the needs of different areas that the government looks over, have been elucidated. These include the Critical Flow model, Comparative Analysis Model, E-advocacy Model, etc. The chapter makes a reference to the rules regarding the publication of rules, regulations, etc. in Electronic Gazette as per the provisions under the IT Act, 2000.

The chapter then discusses the vision, implementation strategies, structure, and division, on the basis of a federal system, of the National E-Governance Plan. Lastly, the strengths and weaknesses of the innovative and cost-effective digital social welfare system known as Aadhaar have been reviewed and analyzed.

List of documents referred: