National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment

Context:

Recently, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has released the ‘Annual NeSDA Way Forward Report 2023’, showing that Jammu & Kashmir dominated with 1,117 e-services mapped on the NeSDA Way Forward Dashboard.

Relevance:

GS III: Government Policies and Interventions

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Unlocking Digital Governance: NeSDA Way Forward Report 2023 Highlights
2. NeSDA Portal

Unlocking Digital Governance: NeSDA Way Forward Report 2023 Highlights

E-Service Landscape:

• A total of 16,487 e-Services integrated into the NeSDA Way Forward Dashboard by December 2023.
• Jammu & Kashmir emerges as a leader in e-service delivery, with 1,117 mapped e-services.
• Tamil Nadu (1,101), Madhya Pradesh (1,010), and Kerala (911) also showcase significant strides in digital service provision.

Regional Disparities:

• Manipur faces challenges in e-service delivery, marking disparities among states.
• The bottom four states/UTs include Lakshadweep (42), Ladakh (46), Sikkim (51), and Nagaland (64).

Jammu & Kashmir’s Exemplary Model:

• Jammu & Kashmir’s commendable progress includes providing 1,120 e-services and achieving 100% service delivery through the unified e-UNNAT platform.
• Serves as a benchmark for other regions and a model for replication.

Sectoral Saturation:

• Local Governance & Utility Services sector leads in the maximum provision of e-services.
• Tourism sector attains the highest saturation for mandatory e-services in 23 out of 36 States/UTs, followed by Environment and Labour & Employment sectors in 20 States/UTs.

Evolution of Saturation:

• Saturation of mandatory e-services witnesses a steady rise from 48% in NeSDA 2019 to 69% in NeSDA 2021 and further to 76% in NeSDA Way Forward 2023.

Challenges and Opportunities:

• Disparities among states underscore the need for concerted efforts to enhance digital governance, with a focus on lagging regions.

NeSDA Portal:

• The NeSDA (National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment) framework was launched in August 2018 to evaluate the effectiveness of e-Governance service delivery mechanisms.
• The Department has released two editions of the NeSDA study: NeSDA 2019 and NeSDA 2021.
• The framework is based on the Online Service Index (OSI) of the UN eGovernment Survey.
• It covers six sectors: Finance, Labour & Employment, Education, Local Government & Utilities, Social Welfare (including Agriculture & Health), and Environment (including Fire) sectors.

Key Findings and Impact:

• The NeSDA study has led to improvements in the country’s e-Governance landscape, resulting in the following key takeaways:
  • Increase in e-Service Delivery.
  • Rise in the use of Integrated/Centralized Portals for the delivery of e-Services.
  • Improvement across assessment parameter scores.

Biennial Assessment:

• The Department conducts the NeSDA study every two years.
• It assesses the effectiveness of e-Governance service delivery in States, Union Territories (UTs), and focus Central Ministries.
• The study helps respective governments enhance the delivery of citizen-centric services and facilitates the sharing of best practices across the country.

-Source: Indian Express