In many parts of the country, coordinating with government offices can be very challenging. A few Indian states do not have the best internet connectivity, while others have the most overcrowded offices making all government-related tasks, at best, tiresome. However, with most of the government’s services moving to online platforms, people can access them without encountering all the hurdles they once faced, which is why e-governance is slowly becoming the new best thing.
A switch to faster modes of registrationfindia
From manual licensing to online license registration, e-governance has brought haste to every process. People are no longer burdened by the long hours of waiting or the hassle of bustling through overcrowded spaces to get to the required desk. The effectiveness of such a switch is
seen across the board – from individuals needing to register themselves for various benefits or start businesses to organisations looking to signing up for government schemes and the likes.
Even in food-related businesses, much like any company dealing with the public, getting started can be tedious and requires an FSSAI license and other paperwork to be in place before dealing with customers. According to Forbes, 17% of restaurants starting up close down within the first year. This can be for numerous reasons, but even if they make it to year two, there is tremendous competition in the space and a series of registrations along with a lot of paperwork that needs to be processed at different points in time. But for entrepreneurs who have equipped themselves with the know-how of technology, by simply visiting the government website, they can get information about all the licenses about their establishment, which category of business they fall under, as well as, where and how they should go about registering their establishment. All of this information is now available online and can be accessed by anyone, at any point in time.
For those belonging to an earlier age, getting acquainted with these online systems can be a bit challenging, but the satisfaction that comes with getting the job done without running from one office to the next definitely makes the effort worth it.
Apart from the food business, the government has also gone ahead and created a portal for individuals to register births and deaths. A process that a while back would have taken several hours, perhaps even days, to complete, can now be accomplished within a matter of minutes once all the documents are in place. Gone are the days when parents tending to their newborn child had to also run about sorting out the process of registering their child’s birth. Whether parents chose to register their child through the hospital or preferred doing it themselves, the process was a tedious one, given everything else that was happening at the time.
Registering births through the efficient e-governance
Process
To create a more efficient system, the government, through its e-governance platform worked on creating systems, allowing people to download all the documentation and information needed to get through the birth registration process across the country. They could even use the same platform and download the birth certificate after getting through the documentation and registration process.
By moving towards e-governance in every sphere, the government has come to the rescue of new and anxious parents having to deal with the arrival of a baby. They no longer need to fret about getting registered because it has been simplified to a large extent, not only because the
new parents have about 21 days to register their child’s birth but also because most of the process can be completed by sitting in your very home.
By moving most services online via e-governance platforms, the government was aware that more than 1.3 billion people were already registered on their online biometric system. With their information already available, this process was expected to be easier and would help connect the different profiles of every individual.
Through this initiative, people would use the same information to gather, upload or download their details. The idea was to create the simplest system possible to get more people to interact with it and not be afraid of using the online system. Overall, the government has witnessed an increase in the number of birth registrations online, because initially some were unable to work their way through the process, and thus a lot of births remained unregistered.
While states across the country are still working on implementing changes with their online e-governance platforms, and many are in the process of bringing in new infrastructure to support this massive shift, all are keen to move to e-governance as the model for the future.
Increased transparency with E-governance
Whether it is registering yourself for a scheme, business or simply recording your birth or death with the government, with the shift to e-governance, there is an added benefit of transparency. Not only will the government be able to access the information or check and verify it from time to time, but citizens will have this same ability by simply logging onto the portal and verifying or tracking the progress of services.
Changes in details, extensions of services, renewal of the license of your food establishment or any other government service can be availed of from one’s home. The move, which falls under the Digital India programme, not only makes things easy for every citizen, but is also used to
establish better interaction between the government and other industries or businesses.
Information about schemes, companies, organisations or bills passed is now available on the government website and can be accessed by every individual, thus enabling better accessibility for everyone.
For India, jumping onto the digital bandwagon has proven very useful. Many states are still working to create a better infrastructure to avail the many benefits of such a system. However, this change is inevitable and is going to enable better functioning of government and private
systems within a short period. The improvements can already be seen, and it is a better informed and equipped country that will emerge from the spread of such a system.