Essential to deliver e-Services to the Citizens at e-Disha Centre in Haryana State (India)

The e- Governance is a distinct dimension of New Public Management (NPM) which has gained considerable momentum since the early 1990s. The term ‗e- Governance‘ is often used to describe the networking paradigm and its decentralizing and communicatory implications (Sapru, 2014). The e- Governance may be defined as the delivery of government services and information to the public using the electronic means including the dissemination of information to the public and other agencies. There are three aspects of e- Governance (a) automating the routine government functions (b) web – enabling the government functions so that the citizens would have a direct access and (c) improving the government processes so that openness, accountability, effectiveness and efficiency may be achieved. So, ‗e- Governance‘ is a process which functions automatically and provides interactions with the government and citizens through using the means of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In the present day the e- Governance has become an integral part of democracy because all important government policies, acts, rules, regulations, notifications regarding the land records, examinations results, crime records, vehicle registration, birth and death registration, training and education etc, are available online

The concept of e- Governance in the Indian- sub continent has its origin after the establishment of Department of Electronics during the 1970s with a focus on the development of government application in the field of defense, economic planning, elections, census and tax administration, etc. The efforts of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) created in 1977, was a very significant development in connecting all the district headquarters for the purpose of computerization in the government sector However, the main thrust for e- Governance was provided by the launching of National Satellite- based Computer connecting the rural areas with the help of private sector and NGOs. Subsequently, the government of India created the Union Ministry of Information Technology in 1999. The Government of India has enacted IT Act in May20002 afteridentify a 12- point minimum agenda (see – 2ndAdm Reform Commission) program me of e- Governance for proper implementation in all the Union Government/ Departments. This Act provides legal status to the information and a transaction carried out with the assistance of ICT and contains the provisions related to authentication of electronic records, electronic – Governance and legal recognition of digital signature etc (11th Report of 2ndARCReport) The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)45 launched by the Government of India on May 18, 2006 which seeks to improve the delivery of government services to citizens and business establishments with the vision to ― make all government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency, and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common 5 Since then, it has been also playing an important role in the identification and prioritization of e- Governance projects in the country. The NeGP seeks to lay the foundation and provide the impetus for long term growth of e- Governance within the country. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (Deity) at the central level46 is the principal institution for policy – making in e- Governance and the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievance (DAR&PG)47 provides helps in the process re- engineering and change management. The program(e- Governance) has widely recognized as an important means for transformational improvement in quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of governance the world over. There is now a noticeable progress in the delivery of e- governance services in both developed and developing countries at the International level. The greatest impact of e- Governance (Sapru, 2014)is felt in remote areas also where citizens usually face immense challenges in getting any public services. In Nagaland which is cut off from advanced stage of development by mountains terrain , for example if citizens wanting to apply for the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) recruitment examinations used to traverse a difficult terrain for several hours to the NPSC office in the

45 (NeGP) (National e-Governance, Formulated by the department of Information Technology, (DIT) and Department of Administration Reforms and Public Grievances (DAR&PG), Comprising initially. 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) and 10 Components) 46 DIT (Facilitator & Catalyst for implementation of NeGP by various ministry and state governments and also provides technical assistant 47DAR& PG (Responsible towards Government Process Re-engineering and Change Management)

applying for the NPSC examination. The, Second Reform Commission also observed that India, s e- Governance experience shows plethora of pilot projects with varying rates of success but majority of them are not up- scaled or widely replicated. There are some limitations that hampering the smooth administration of e- Governance process such as ; difficulty in exchange of data with other organizations, overlapping in the efforts of government and lack of citizens cooperation in the functioning of government. Therefore, it is very difficult on the part of government to provide the services in rapidly and transparent manner to the citizens at their door- steps. So, it is necessary that government should give emphasis on the reforms in government procedures, structures and system for overcoming the limitation of e- Governance. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission has also examined various aspects of e- Governance reforms in India. The Commission is of view that even in any e- Governance initiative, the focus has to be on governance reforms with the technological tools provided by ICT being utilized to bring about fundamental changes in the government processes. The e- Governance projects have to be designed for specific contexts and environments in the country. It also recommended that there should be clear understanding and appreciation of the objectives to be achieved through e- Governance, making governance reforms rather than ICT the key focus for these projects, a step by step approach to maximum outcomes and benefits, complete re- engineering of government systems and procedures, constant monitoring and evaluation, and use of local language for bringing citizen- friendly interface. The commission also argued that the success of an e- Governance initiative lies in how efficiently it has enhanced people‘s participation in government functioning through the ICT access, bringing government and services it offer close r to its citizens, promoting accountability, transparency and responsiveness in government functioning and ensuring that government works better at lesser costs. In response to the needs, recommendations of ‗2ndAdministrative Reforms Commission‘ the government of India launched the new program ‗Digital India‘ on July1, 2015 (Website)for transforming India into a digitally empowered society. This program me give emphasis on e- governance system for making government services available in digitally manner ‗Digital India‘ is a step taken by the Government of India for transformation of knowledge savvy world. It brings various schemes like E- Health Digital Locker, E- Sign, E- Education and nationwide scholarship portal for the common citizens (Jaini, et.al, 2015). Under this program , the government of India having the aim for establishing such type of

access to a common service centre within their locality, secure and safe Cyber- space that become beneficial for citizens. It is also useful in making the digital empowerment of citizens through universal digital literacy, transportability of all documents with the help of cloud system where all digital resources available universally, and collaborative participative governance for digital platforms. Thus, this program will improve the processes and delivery of services through e- Governance with the help of Aadharcard, mobile platform, voter card, school certificates and payment gateway that will be provided online.

The State Government of Haryana has taken appropriate steps to implement the e- Governance projects under National e-Governance Plan ( NeGP), and also enacted necessary policies, acts for smooth implementation of ICT in the administration . The Haryana state legislature enacted the Information Technology Policy 2000(IT Policy, Govt. of Haryana) which seeks a deep impact initiative by the state government in encouraging the replacement of traditional delivery system of public service by IT driven system of governance. The Government of Haryana has also laid special emphasis on implementation the Mission Mode e- Governance Project identified under NeGP and established District – Level e- Disha Centers (DLeDCs) in all district Mini Secretariat in March 2006. These are an IT- driven electronic interfaces between government and citizens (G2C) offering a variety of citizens friendly services48 that are in government domain in a efficient, effective, economical and transparent manner at their door – steps. All the services either related to regulatory administration or welfare administration are provided under the rules, regulations, statute or Act of Parliament. Besides, other service such as; land registration, vehicle registration, nakal / jamabandi, issuance of certificates of caste, birth/ death etc, the Driving License, a common citizen- services also given under Motor Vehicle Act of 1988 , which regulate all aspects of motor vehicles. This act came into force from July1, 1989 that replaced Motor Vehicle Act of 1939, which earlier replaced Motor Vehicle Act of 1914. This act provides all guidelines regarding license of drivers/ conductors, registration of Motor Vehicle, control of vehicle, through permits and state transport undertaking, insurance, liabilities, offences and punishments etc. This Act states that no person shall drive a Motor Vehicle in any public place unless he

48 Driving License (Learner, Permanent, Duplicate, Renewal etc.), Vehicle Registration (New, Transfer etc.) Passport Application, Nakal/ Jamabandi, Certificate of Residence, Income, OBC, Handicapped) Download of forms, Old age Pension, Widow Pension, Handicapped Benefits, Family Benefit Schemes)

the vehicle and no person shall so drive a transport a vehicle (other than a motor vehicle or motor bike) (Motor Vehicle Act, 1994) hired for his own use or rented under any scheme made under sub section (2) of section 75 unless his driving license specifically entitles him so to do. The Act laid down certain eligibility in terms of age qualification for obtaining the license, a person under the age of eighteen years shall a drive a motor vehicle in any public place, provided that (a motor cycle with engine capacity not exceeding 50 cc)(Motor Vehicle Act 1994), may by driven in public place by a person after attaining the age of sixteen years. And no person also shall be granted a learners license to drive a transport vehicle unless he has had driving license to drive a motor vehicle for at least 1 year. (Motor Vehicle Act 1994) Before, introducing the e- Dishacenters in Haryana , all citizen centric services like registration of land, driving license (learners, permanent, renewal), passport application , , nakal / jamabandi, issuance of certificates related to cast, income, residence , handicapped and vehicle registration ( new, transfer, duplicate) are given in the traditional system . The citizens have to go here and there for availing the services and wait for long hours in queue. This system was very tedious, slow, time and energy consuming. Thus, it is not so efficient, effective, economical and transparent one in earlier administration qualification for obtaining the license. But after launching of e-governance in Haryana Statethis district level e- Disha centers make the provision for issuing driving license and other services accordingly this act through the single window system. Now, the citizens have to approach these centers near their locality and submitting their relevant documents with and these centers for availing concerning services. The citizens can avail all the services in efficiently, effectively and economically manner at their door – steps without any delay in comparison to earlier system of delivery mechanism. The e- Governance transformation has been progressively rapidly since 2006 when the Government of India launched a vision for stronger delivery of citizen – centric services through the Mission Mode Projects under National e- Governance Plan .But, it has been recognized that human capital, inadequate capacity building and structural mechanism are among the most critical factors for the effective delivery of services under the e- Disha project. Therefore, the concept of Digital India/ digital competency is helpful for overcoming the limitations in the functioning of e- Governance projects by making the well defined institutional structure with clear roles, responsibility and accountability, widespread access to technology platforms, internet adoption, cloud technology, open formalities of submitting of documents every times while availing the services at these centers. The concerning authority can check their documents or any identification or any other eligibility such as; age, income , domicile, caste , residence health that is correspondence to their services with the help of single depository of data base that is lying with these centers in the short time .

E- Disha centre are considered as an important means to make district administration citizen- centric and a step forward towards bettergovernment. In this context, the empirical study was conducted in the district Kurukshetra in Haryana State and 100 respondents were selected using the accidental sampling method. The information that relates to the functioning at e- Disha centre was collected with the help of an interview schedule mainly assess the problems and prospectus in delivering the driving license to the citizens especially.

The information obtained from sampled users reveals that sampled users are both from urban as well as rural, but majority of thethem from rural areaswho coming these centers for availing the services. It is only by chance, that each group of caste is represented in the sample. The respondents were also classified on the basis of their age and information reveals that a large number of users are young i.e. up to 35 years. They frequently visit e- Disha centre for availing various kind of services such as driving license, registration of land, vehicle registration, birth/ death registration, nakal / Jamabandi, issuance of various certificates, etc. It is also necessary to state that a large number of them are educated so enough to understand the functioning of governance at e- Disha centre. Thus, in overall, the young people from all section of society visit the centre in Kurukshetra district for the availing the citizen – centric services. The citizens have also right to have some expectations from the administration in specified matters. They always feel that they should be given safe, secure and sound services at these services outlets. The state requires to make certain provisions for basic services and those should not only be extended to them but should be also as per citizen- centric governance as laid down in constitutional, policy decisions and statutory. So that users were probed to express their general expectations from e- Disha centre. The sample users during interview emphasized that it should be more efficient, transparent, and more sensitive towards the needs of disabled and old –age Thereafter, the sampled users were probed about the number of visits made by them to e- Disha centre for obtaining the services of driving license, renewal of license, and addition in license. It is not quite satisfactory to note that a large majority could not get it done by visiting twice or thrice or even four visits. So, the number of visits to e- Disha centre is attributed to complexity of tasks and documents required to complete formalities at e- Disha centre. Since then, the users have to produce documents at every counter in hard copies in the matter of license in the absence of inter- departmental linkage. The waiting and frequency of visits may not be painful if the officials behaved in properly manner with the citizens. It is clearly shows that information was required about officials‘ behavior and it was found that approximately one – third rated officials‘ behavior as being courteous enough. Further, a quarter of them assumed that it was courteous only some time and other remaining were undecided, as they found a negligible level of courteously in their manner. It is often hypothesized that e- Disha centre has made governance relatively efficient, effective, accountable and transparent one. This hypothesis is also tested on the basis of sampled user‘s perceptions. A large majority of them found that e- Disha centre has not made governance so efficient, effective and accountable one in the matters of citizen centric services especially in the driving license. They have to complete various types of formalities at different- 2 window, such as submitting application , producing testimonials, health check up, driving test, depositing of fees, authentication of documents etc. But, it is not doubt it is more convenient in comparison to traditional system of delivery of services. However, for ensuring transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration , a lot of efforts are yet to be undertaken under the ‗Digital India‘ program and realization of citizen – centric governance largely depend on strong political and administrative commitment engaged to deliver service to the citizens. In last, during investigations, large majority of sampled users also reported that e- Disha centre encounters many problems or limitations being as: delay and disruption of online connection, inadequate human and financial resources, lack of data base, untrained staff, improper infrastructure, excessively overcrowded, lack of cyber- security and cloud computing technology, for giving the better services at e- Dishacentre.

As per the discussion and analysis of facts mentioned in this study, it is observed that existing system of

drawbacks that are creating hurdle for the citizens in availing the services. The collected information shows that there is room for improvement in delivery mechanism. The ‗driving license‘ that is a very common services at e- Disha centre can be make more convenient, effective, economical, and transparent one through the digitalization of information and interconnectivity of details such as; medical health check up, driving test, insurance, banking sector for submitting fees, police verification and control in violation of traffic rules and challan. Thereafter, the citizens have no need to furnish formalities every time and become capable in saving of time and energy. In this sense, the concept of Digital India will be supportive in enhancing the effectiveness of governance in total through the provision of open data base, widespread access of technology platform, internet adoption, cyber- security law, cloud technology and establishing institutional structure in the governance. The implementation and success of e- Governance is depend upon digital literacy or competencies as they are related each other and it is imminent for using the e- technologies in administration. Thus, it is desirable on the part of citizens that they should aware of them about the benefits of digital competency and also learn how digital literacy help in availing the services.

11th Reports (2008), Second Administrative Reforms Commission, Government of India. Department of IT, GOI, it Act2000 and IT Act 2008( amended) available at http://www.mit.gov.in /content/view-it-act 2000 and http://mit.gov. In /states/ipload- files/ dit/ files/ downloads/ itact 2000/it- amendment –act 2008. Pdf Department of IT, GOI, National e- Governance Plan, Available at http:// India .gov.in/ sectors/ communications/ e- governance ,php IT Policy, Government of Harayana, available at http://harayana.nic.in / policies/it-policy. HTM. Jaini Jinal and Tere Girish (2015). ―Digital India: A need of Hours‖, International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering, Vol5, Issue 8. Sapru, R.K, (2014). ‗Good Governance through E- Governance with special reference to India‖, Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol., LX, No, 2 Sapru, R.K, (2014). ‗Good Governance through E- Governance with special reference to India‖ , Indian Journal of Public Administration , Vol,LX, No, 2 Substituted by Act 54 of Act 0f 1994, Sec-5(w.e.f14.11.94) Substituted for, ―a Motorcab‖ by Act of 1954 of Act of 1994, Sec-3 (w.e.f14.11.94) Substituted for, a Motor Cycle without gear‖ by Act 54 of act of 1954, Sec- 4 (w.e.f 14.11.94) The NeGP, approved by the Government of India on May 18, 2006, initially comprises of 27 Mission Mode Projects and 10 Components. There are now over 7000 websites related to the Indian government offering informational and transactional services.

Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, University College, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India