Masala Today

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