Masala Today

e-Governance and e-Government are increasingly being emphasized as ways for governments to strengthen good governance. If implemented strategically e-governance can not only improve efficiency, accountability and transparency of government processes, but it can also be a tool to empower citizens by enabling them to participate in the decision-making processes of governments. e-Government services for the poor assist governments in reaching the yet ‘unreached’ and hereby contribute to poverty reduction in rural and remote areas. At the same time, this process also enables involvement and empowerment of marginalized groups through their participation in the political process. Despite the developmental potential, few governments in the Asia-Pacific region have planned for and implemented e-government strategically directly targeting poor people. This is despite the fact that more than 60 percent of the population in the Asia-Pacific region lives in rural areas and the majority of them are

The term e-government is of recent origin and there exists no standard definition since the conceptual understanding is still evolving. The generally accepted definition is: "e-government" or electronic government refers to the use of ICTs by government agencies for any or all of the following reasons: * Exchange of information with citizens, businesses or other government departments * Speedier and more efficient delivery of public services * Improving internal efficiency * Reducing costs or increasing revenue * Re-structuring of administrative processes. The essence of e-Government can be summarized as: "The enhanced value for customers through transformation" The full potential of e-Government can be realized only through a focused attention on people, process, technology and resources appropriately. Experiences in India and abroad reveal that e-Government is not concerned merely with purchasing of sophisticated technologies. Critical success factors for e-Govern

NeGP Approval The Government approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), comprising of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and 8 components, on May 18, 2006. The Government has accorded approval to the vision, approach, strategy, key components and implementation framework for the NeGP. However, the approval of the NeGP does not constitute a financial approval for all the MMPs and components under it. The existing/ongoing projects in the MMP category, being implemented by various Central Ministries/State departments/States would be suitably augmented/enhanced to align them with the objectives of NeGP. NeGP vision 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 realise the basic needs of the common man . e-Governance initiatives across the country Over the past decade or so, there have been islands of e-Governance initiatives in

Mr.Hemant Kanoria - Vice-Chairman &MD, SREI 27 years of experience in industry, trade & financial services. Having been the former member of the Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, he has also presided over Calcutta Chamber of Commerce as the President. He has also been a member of Regional Direct Taxes Advisory Committee under theMinistry of Finance, Government of India. He has also been a member of Economic Affairs Sub-committee, Confederation of Indian Industry, Eastern Region. He has been a member of the Steering Committee, Repository of Environmental Activities and Technology, Tata Energy Research Institute M. Damodaran - Director: A member of the premier Indian Administrative Service since 1971, Meleveetil Damodaran has held significant positions in the Central and State Governments and in India’s Financial Sector, before demitting office as Chairman Securities Board of India. He graduated with distinction in Economics and Law from the Univers

The VLE is the key to the success of the Jan Seva Kendra operations. While content and services are important, it is the VLE’s entrepreneurial ability that would ensure Jan Seva Kendra sustainability. A good VLE is expected to have some financial strength, entrepreneurial ability, strong social commitment as well as respect within the community. The quality of service at the Jan Seva Kendra would depend a great deal on the quality of VLEs. Selection and proper training of the VLE, therefore would play a vital role in making the Jan Seva Kendra Scheme a success. Apart from facilitating the development of rural communities, this scheme will generate employment opportunities for rural folks in the state since they could work as VLE and establish themselves as good entrepreneurs.

The Jan Seva Kendra is envisaged to offer different kinds of functions: 1- Providing e-governance services within easy reach and thereby save consumer’s costs on distant and repeated travel 2- Providing critical information on available government developmental programmes, beneficiary criteria and present beneficiary list to bring in transparency and efficiency in the programmes and an opportunity for development of the marginalized sections of the community 3- Providing information and opportunities for income enhancement/ generation 4- Providing the platform for e-communication 5- Providing avenues for e-marketing and e-shopping 6- Providing other services required by the community and linked to the usage of the ICT infrastructure The Jan Seva Kendra would offer a multitude of services ranging in the areas of eGovernment, education, health, agriculture, commercial, retail, etc. It is to be noted that delivery of Government services would be mandatory for the Jan Seva Kendra. To th

The State Government through its e-Governance interventions is determined to provide various government services and information in “Anytime, Anywhere access” format to the doorstep of the citizen, at an affordable cost. Common Services Centers (CSCs) will work as front-end delivery points for providing various services to rural citizens. These centres shall be known as 'Jan Seva Kendra' in the state. Getting information and other services at their doorsteps through the Jan Seva Kendra will benefit the rural citizen. A typical Jan Seva Kendra would be a retail outlet of services that are offered in a structured framework of ICT Infrastructure (PCs, Printers, Scanners, Digital Camera, Projection Systems, Tele-medicine Equipments, etc.), rural entrepreneurship and market mechanisms. The Jan Seva Kendra will be established through a bottom-up approach and will be customer centric and be a single window for various IT-related services and other retail functions. The Jan Seva Kendr