Kerala tops the state-level performance survey conducted by central government on the basis of e-governance standards. Kerala’s achievement of being the best state to implement e-governance services effectively in India points to the state’s efficiency in delivering government services to the public via online. Kerala secured first place in the first National E-Governance Service Delivery Index Assessment (NeSDA) Survey conducted by the central government. The survey has revealed how accurately the government departments rendered their e-services to citizens, business enterprises and the success rate. Goa, Haryana and West Bengal followed Kerala in the list.
Union territories and government departments
Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the top one among union territories. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is placed first in the ranking of respective ministries. The Ministry of Human Resources, which started the Self-Education platform and the National Scholarship Portal, came in second. The NeSDA initiative was launched in 2018 as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation ‘Minimum Government Maximum Governance’. The central government departments have also been ranked accordingly.
India tops UN rankings
Interestingly, India had ranked 93rd in the UN’s 2018 e-governance survey that comprised 193 countries. With India’s overall performance rising on the Global E-Governance Index, huge investments are likely to pour into the country. The performance has been analysed based on various factors such as accessibility, availability of information, ease of use, information security and privacy and end-service delivery.
The benchmarks
The accessibility part checked the availability of online, mobile, kiosks, service centres, portals in English and the vernacular language. Updation of information and services including help desks were also scrutinized. Kerala excelled in maintaining a user-friendly page, privacy policy and OTP-enabled payment services.
What helped Kerala
The Govt of Kerala’s portal and ‘mKeralam app come with the single sign-in feature, which enables users to access services and utility payments without multiple clicks, integrate e-services and track file movements. The website has 60 services from 9 departments. The site is also integrated into the e-district services. This achievement by states, including Kerala, substantiate the user-friendliness of e-governance in the country. What worked for Kerala is that it made the e-services available even at the grass-root level like Panchayaths. States like West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have managed to find a place in the first six places.
