debate on e-goverance as an effective tool to curb corruption
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E-Governance as an effective tool to curb Corruption
Good morning everyone present here. Distinguished guests, learned jury, and my dear fellow students, I stand here to expatiate on ‘E-Governance as an effective tool to curb Corruption’, and I am going to speak in favour of it. Corruption, inefficiency, procrastination, dispatching of public service applications, redressal complaints, etc. are the banes of Indian democracy. These problems are the most detrimental forces to the national progress and prosperity. India was placed at 76th position out of 168 countries with a score of 38 out of a possible 100 in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2015.
The anguish of people concerning corruption is rising, so are the protests against this evil. The central as well as state governments have been under the pressure of implementing some anti-corruption strategies. E-governance or Electronic-governance is one such measure that will help reduce corruption and increase the efficiency of the services provided by government.
E-governance means the application of ICT to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of exchange of information and transaction in almost all aspects at all levels.
The ultimate goal of the e-government is to be able to offer an increased portfolio of public services to citizens in an efficient and cost effective manner. It allows for government transparency because it allows the public to be informed about what the government is working on as well as the policies they are trying to implement.
The main advantage while implementing electronic government will be to improve the efficiency of the current system (Paper based system). That would in return save money and time. The introduction would also facilitate better communications between governments and businesses.
For example: E-procurement makes government to government and government to business communication easier and convenient; this will permit smaller businesses to compete for government contracts as well as larger business. Hence, advantage of creating an open market and stronger economy. Businesses and citizens can obtain information at a faster speed and it is possible at any time of the day.
I strongly feel with the spread of ICT infrastructure and the boom in mobile telecommunication sector, connecting every citizen to the government’s planning, implementation, and information about the key services and facilities offered by the government is not only easy, but beneficial also. Citizens are directly connected to banks, taxation, electricity, and many other government departments that send regular information about the benefits, changes, facilities regularly on their mobile phones.
The benefits of e-government include efficiency, speed, cost and time-wastage reduction, improved services, better accessibility of public services, and more transparency and accountability.