E-governance Definition
E-governance, expanded to electronic governance, is the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in all the processes, with the aim of enhancing government ability to address the needs of the general public. The basic purpose of e-governance is to simplify processes for all, i.e. government, citizens, businesses, etc. at National, State and local levels.
In short, it is the use of electronic means, to promote good governance. It connotes the implementation of information technology in the government processes and functions so as to cause simple, moral, accountable and transparent governance. It entails the access and delivery of government services, dissemination of information, and communication in a quick and efficient manner.
Types of E-Governance:
- G2G (Government to Government): When the exchange of information and services is within the periphery of the government, it is termed as G2G interaction. This can be both horizontal, i.e. among various government entities and vertical, i.e. between national, state and local government entities and within different levels of the entity.
- G2C (Government to Citizen): The interaction amidst the government and general public is G2C interaction. Here an interface is set up between government and citizens, which enables citizens to get access to a wide variety of public services. The citizens have the freedom to share their views and grievances on government policies anytime, anywhere.
- G2B (Government to Business): In this case, the e-governance helps the business class to interact with the government seamlessly. It aims at eliminating red-tapism, saving time, cost and establishing transparency in the business environment, while interacting with the government.
- G2E (Government to Employees): The government of any country is the biggest employer and so it also deals with employees on a regular basis, as other employers do. ICT helps in making the interaction between government and employees fast and efficient, along with raising their level of satisfaction by providing perquisites and add-on benefits.
Advantages of E-governance (Why do we need E-Governance?)
- Better provision of Government services.
- It ensures transparency in the operation of government services.
- It ensures a greater level of efficiency and effectiveness in government activities and operations.
- Efficient government management.
- It helps in improving the quality of public services.
- Easy implementation of Right to information.
- Increases communication between various government services.
Present Situation of E-governance in Nepal:
Even discussions on electronic governance, or e-governance, might sound like misplaced priority in present-day Nepal when, in general, the brick-and-mortar governance itself is making a volte-face. Nepal ranks 137 among 193 countries in the e-governance development index (EGDI) in a world that excelled in e-governance over the last 30 years by using information and communication technology (ICT).E-governance has the twin objectives of paperless and speedy public policy decisions through bureaucratic processes and operations and efficient and effective service delivery to citizens and businesses. The end goal is good governance by every level of government.
But, for Nepal, e-governance-enabled public service delivery has increasingly become a pipe dream for all and sundry. Long queues of people in front of the Passport Department, vehicle registration offices and a waiting list of about a million across the country to obtain a driving license are only a few examples that manifest very inefficient, if any, use of ICT by even resourceful government offices.
Despite repeated claims of successive governments of all political hues that in several areas like registration where companies can be registered online, and e-procurement protocols and platforms and consolidated e-identification like the Nagarik app are usable, the beneficiaries are still forced to be physically present at the concerned offices to obtain these services. The country experienced a disastrous failure in implementing the e-learning mode for students of all levels during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Central Bureau of Statistics chose to deploy door-to-door enumerators with pencil and paper instead of making the best use of the state-of-the-art ICT and digital platforms in the recent national census.
Nepal’s Effort in Implementation of E-governance:
It’s been two decades since the Asian Development Bank supported Nepal in the Governance Reform Programme (2001). A study report on the importance and rationale of paperless government was prepared by the then joint secretary in the Ministry of General Administration Deependra Bahadur Thapa. Nepal also enacted essential laws required for operationalising e-governance. The Electronic Transaction Act 2006, which theoretically legalised the digital signatures for “some” contracts and transactions, and the Information Technology Umbrella Act 2014 are key legal breakthroughs. The IT Policy 2010, ICT Policy 2015, e-Governance Master Plan (eGMP) 2007 and eGMP-II 2015 and 10 Year Master Plan 2011, among others, complemented these laws.
Nepal also experimented with different institutional frameworks. An independent Ministry for Science and Technology was set up as early as 1996, which was later merged with other ministries, later settling down as the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. A High-Level Commission of Information and Technology (HLCIT) was intermittently formed and dissolved on a political whim. The Department of Information Technology was established in the early 2000s. But lack of integrated and coordinated approach among the government agencies has rendered these edifices appallingly ineffective. For example, a perpetual confusion among the policymakers whether the Department of IT should be under the Ministry of Communication or the Ministry of Science and Technology has essentially marred the efficiency of the Department, which is now, weirdly enough, under the communication portfolio.
Major challenges with E-Governance implementation in Nepal:
Nepal is one of the fast-growing developing countries in Asia with the latest ICT image of the first 4G service hosting Asian countries in the world. Despite having abundant growth in the use of IT and mobile devices, the country remains behind in the light of darkness when it comes to its development in front of western countries; this is strict because of the low literacy rate of the country. The per capita is too low and the poverty is still pulling back the development of the nation. The ever fluctuating political instability, corruption and tough geographical vegetation of the country standstill causing the EG implementation in Nepal to face intense challenges. Nepal is yet to develop its infrastructure and ability to incorporate full-fledged EG. Below listed are some of the major challenges for EG implementation in Nepal
- Literacy: The literacy rate of Nepal was only around 67.91% in 2018 (“Nepal | UNESCO UIS,” n.d.) which is very low in comparison to its neighboring countries. With the presence of multiple languages and religion in the country, there also exist language issues. English cannot be considered the third language as most of the population even could not speak and understand the National language due to illiteracy.
- Lack of human resources: Today the national economy of Nepal is persistent with the remittance of Nepali migrant workers staying and working abroad in the Gulf countries. The education system is not so good and assurance of getting good opportunities is very low in the country, which has affected the flow of competent human resources outside the country. This has ultimately created the situation of human resource lagging in the multiple fields of business. On the other hand, the government personnel selected nationally lags the minimal computer knowledge requirements leading into their reluctance towards use of technology.
- Political Uncertainty: Political uncertainty is the biggest challenge for Nepal. The undeterminable changes in the country’s political representation have negatively impacted many infrastructure developments projects in the past and still today the same problem persists uniformly as the situation never improved in the last decade. The implementation of EG is still lacking which is evident from the case of the NID card itself as the project is getting extended from the last few years and despite the distribution in some parts of the country, the project is still in the phase of public acceptance.
- Lack of Coordination :The lack of coordination and senior guidance is one of the biggest challenges ever in Nepal. There are very few leaders in Nepal who remained certain with their views and deeds, the country has a lot of political influence that resulted in low participation of the experts in coordinating activities. Therefore, the Implementation of EG requires strong leadership without which the implementation is impossible.
- Weak Infrastructure: Nepal has the most dangerous roads connecting the mountains, hills and terai. Due to the geographical imbalance of landscape and hardship in transporting the goods around the country, the minimal infrastructure requirement is also not fulfilled. Most of the government organizations still are using outdated hardware and equipment to accomplish their daily transactions. The lack of telecommunication infrastructures also stands as the major challenge for the implementation of EG. In Nepal, most of the government organizations are still using poor and outdated network devices and equipment. According to eGMP, the government organizations must develop the infrastructures in order to achieve the goal, vision, and objectives of EGov.