E –governance and It’s Role in Sustainable Development in West Bengal

Abstract

“Governance” is a vital component of sustainable development for a country. Traditional information systems have primarily focused on supplying information but it is now recognized that past systems have been largely ineffective in addressing the needs of the rural poor. Advanced state of information technology in form of e –Governance has helped redefine the way in which the government functions. India has been a pioneer in articulating strong vision for e-Governance .The Government of India has launched the National e– Governance plan (NeGP) with the intent to support 22 projects over the next 3-4 years by both state and central government. As a part of the goal for adopting e–Governance, West Bengal has introduced significant computerization at various levels in several government departments and has been successful to implement several citizen friendly e-Governance projects like GPMS, issuance of birth and death certificates, trade licenses, e SEVA, etendering, Vahan and Sarathi, Bhumi, Bhuchitra, Hospital Management Information System and Store Management Information system, electoral governance incorporating all walks of life and help build trust, collaboration and engage people’s participation. Several departments of Information Technologies and Electronics, the State e-Governance missions team (SeMT), National Informatics centre, (NIC), West Bengal State Wide Area Network (WBSWAN), state data centres (WEBEL), Common Service Centres (CSC) or Tathyamitra Kendra’s and kiosks set up by the Government of West Bengal has been set up to spear head e Governance in every nook and corner of the state.e-Governance in West Bengal is still at it’s nascent stage. My paper aims to study e–Governance initiatives in the state of West Bengal., it’s major advantages , analyze it’s e-Readiness Index ,critically analyze the e – Governance implementation scenario and help identify it’s scope of improvement in popularizing it.