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PRAGATI: Journal of Indian Economy Volume 5, Issue 1, Jan-June 2018, pp. 123-143 doi: https://doi.org/10.17492/pragati.v5i01.13109

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness: A Case Study for AADHAR Project in

Nidhi Jhawar* and Vivek S. Kushwaha**

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to understand the initiative of e-Governance in . The paper examines an essential element for the success of e-Initiates of , i.e., the e-readiness of people, for the state of Madhya Pradesh. Several studies have been reviewed that have helped in understanding the concept of digital governance along with case study of ‘’ project. The study reflects on the e-Governance initiatives taken by other developed and developing countries and also compared with Indian projects. Governments throughout the world have become more apt to offer public information and services via online platform and this exercise of government initiative is known as e-Governance. The appreciating finding of the study is that users are participating actively in ‘AADHAAR’ project and results of questionnaire show the proactive input and acceptance of information and communication technology initiative of government even from the low income respondents. The technological aid and government role in providing ICT infrastructure is also significant.

Keywords: e-Governance; e-Readiness; Technology; Aadhaar.

1.0 Introduction

Government of India during FY 2016-17 allocated USD 197.69 Million for the Program which covers. The budget is for manpower development, electronic governance, externally aided projects of e-governance, national knowledge network, promotion of electronics and IT hardware manufacturing, promotion of IT industries, research and development of IT and foreign trade and export promotion projects. The spending on e-Governance projects were USD 40.90 Million in FY 2011- 12. Increase budget in 2016-17 clearly brings out the digital enthusiasm for making the e-governance projects successful. ______*Corresponding Author; Assistant Professor, IPS Academy IBMR, , Madhya Pradesh, India. (Email: [email protected]) **Director, IPS Academy IBMR, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. (Email: [email protected])

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The real effort has come from bringing together the Jan Dhan accounts, the Adhaar Yojana and spread of Mobile networks. Together this vehicle is called JAM and these three pillars together reaching to the poor and excluded. The combination of JAM with digital economy created a major challenge in banking and payments like never before. All these changes will surely reveal the promise of cashless economy and financial inclusion which will benefit the Indian economy. These schemes will also enable government to transfer the financial benefits like subsidies. Transforming India digitally an empowered society is the ultimate focus of “Digital India Program”. The „Digital India‟ programme defines itself as “a programme to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy”. Creation of digital infrastructure, delivery service through digital platform and educating citizen digitally are the basics of this program. Success of these initiatives lies on citizens‟ readiness towards e-governance services however, rural India still facing the problem of internet connectivity and mobile network. So it is a challenge for both societies as well as for government. The present study examines and evaluates the success factor of this large initiative of e-governance. Paper discusses the key factor e-Readiness as the essence of the success for this digital program. 31 mission mode projects have been introduced under the e- Governance plan in various areas of citizens and government connectivity. Several projects have been discussed as a part of review of literature and also focused on “AADHAAR” project for the unique identification number. Research has done the comparative study of e-Initiative of India with other countries where these projects are the successful tool for digital government reforms. In this study objective was to find the factors of e-Readiness adoption towards e- Government services. Results were analysed after conducting the primary study and then there is discussion on the issues and challenges for the government to make the “AADHAAR” a successful project as a number of government schemes and initiatives are linked with unique identification number. The next part of the study discusses the background about the governance system along with the literature review and furthers the “AADHAAR” project case study, research methodology and results and discussion. Finally in the last part, conclusion, limitations and scope for future research is discussed.

2.0 Theoretical Framework

“In order to transform the entire ecosystem of public services through the use of information technology, the Government of India has launched the „Digital India

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness 125 programme‟ with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy”. This initiative started in 2014 with a vision of investment of Rs. 1.13 lakh crore in technology sector to create a participative, transparent and responsive government. All new and current e-Governance projects as well, which are being refurbish, should now have to follow the key principles of e-Kranti namely „Transformation and not Translation‟, „Integrated Services and not Individual Services‟, „Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory in every MMP‟, „ICT Infrastructure on Demand‟, „Cloud by Default‟, „Mobile First‟, „Fast Tracking Approvals‟, „Mandating Standards and Protocols‟, „Language Localization‟, „National GIS (Geo-Spatial Information System)‟, „Security and Electronic Data Preservation‟. Nation e-Governance plan initiated with 31 MMP‟s and now they have increased to 44. The first step of the digital India program is to create a supportive infrastructure then services which are supported by infrastructure and eventually the result will be an empowered society. Table 1 describes the steps of e-initiatives taken by the government.

Table 1: Steps of e-Initiative

Step 1. Infrastructure Step 2. Services Step 3. Empowerment 1.State wide area network, 1. Un-reserved ticket through mobile 1.Visvesvaraya phd scheme for 2.Single window interface for application (uts app) electronics and it, trade, 2. Umang (unified mobile application for 2. Targeted public distribution 3.Rapid assessment system, new-age governance), system (tpds), 4.Open data, 3. Udaan, 3. , 5.National supercomputing 4. Swayam, 4. Pradhan mantrikaushalvikas mission, 5. Swatch bhaarat app, yojana (pmkvy), 6.Mobile seva app store, 6. Sugamayapustakalaya, 5.Pradhan mantrijan-dhan yojana 7. Megh raj, 7. Startupindia portal and mobile app, (pmjdy), 8. , 8. Soil health card, 6. Pradhan mantrigramin digital 9.Irctc connect, 9.Sms-based mid-day meal monitoring sakshartaabhiyaan, 10.Integrated health scheme, 7. Paygovindia, information platform, 10. Shaalasidhdhi, 8. Pahal (dbtl), 11.Government e-Marketplace, 11. Kvshaaladarpan, 9. Openforge, 12. Garv Grameen 12. , 10. Nregasoft, 13.Vidyutikaran Mobile App, 13. Pusakrishi, 11. North east bpo promotion 14. e-Trade, 14. Public financial management system scheme, 15. ESSO-India National (pfms), 12. National mission on 16.Centre for Ocean 15. Project monitoring website for e- education through Information Services, courts, information and 17. e-Sign, 16. Project management and information communication technology 18. Electronic Development system , (nmeict), fund, 17. Passport seva project, 13. Mygov, 19. e-Basta, 18. Parivahan portal, 14. Digidhanabhiyaa, 20., 19. Online labs, 14. Bpo promotion, 21. Digitize India, 20. Nirbhaya app, 15. AADHAAR enabled

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22.Digital Saksharta Abhiyan, 21. Nikshay, payment system. 23. DigiSevak, 22. National voters service portal (nvsp), 24.Digi Locker, national ujala dashboard, 25.DeenDayal Upadhyaya 23. National scholarship portal (nsp), 26.Gram Jyoti Yojana, 24. National knowledge network (nkn), 27.Cyber Swachhta Kendra, 25. National career service portal, 28.CSC 2.0, 26. Mraktkosh, 29.CERT-In, 27. Mother and child tracking system, 30.Centre of Excellence for 28. Mkisan, 31.Internet of Things, 29. Mkavach, 32., 30. Mcessation, 33. AADHAAR 31. The ministry of corporate affairs mca21, 32. Masset, 33. Madad app, 34. Learning management system (lms), 35.knowledge management system (kms), 36. Kisansuvidha, 37. Khoya paya, 38. Icds systems strengthening and nutrition improvement project (issnip), 39. Himmat app, 40. Goods and service tax network (gstn), 41. Geological survey of india (gsi), 42. Geographic information system (gis software) , 43. Fertiliser monitoring system (fms), 44. Farmer portal, 45.e-visa, 46. E-taal, 47.e-sampark, 48. Eprocurement portal (cpp), 49. Eprison, 50. Epfo web portal & mobile app, 51. E-pathshala 52. E-office, 53.e-national agriculture market (nam), 54.e- modified special incentive package scheme (msips), 55. Ehospital, 56. E-greetings, 57. E-district, 58. Ecievm tracking, 59. E-biz, 60.e-panchayat, 61. E-granthalaya, 62. Digital aims, 63.crop insurance mobile app, 64. Crime and criminal tracking network & systems, 65. Bharat interface for money (),

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness 127

66. Betibachaobetipadhao, 67. Agrimarket mobile app, 68. Sugamyabharatabhiyaan or accessible India campaign mobile app. Implementation of these projects is along with the private participation. The outcome in Madhya Pradesh, TCS is selected for the IT projects implementation of M.P.Government with a lowest bid of Rs. 2.93 billion. TATA Consultancy Services has entered into a joint venture agreement with the Madhya Pradesh State Electronic Development Corporation Ltd. The Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation is a wholly owned corporation of the State Government (, Jan. 2017)To supports the India‟s passion towards e-Governance Microsoft also shook hand for the technological support to the & Digital India Programme. (Economic Times, Jul. 2015).

3.0 Literature Review

Key measure to success of any technology is not how it is defined and presented but it revels from how simple and useful its application is. The merger of technology with social life plays a significant role to make it valuable for them. So the Techno- Social involvement of technology is a real value for it. Notable literatures are Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis. 1989). Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) (Mallat. 2007) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et.al., 2003).The beginning of 21st century‟s government throughout the world started with providing public services through online platform. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) started the initiative named United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) application of e-Governance in member state. In 2002 the first report is published "Bench-Marking E-government: A Global Perspective" and the survey report was published in 2003 "Global E-Government Survey". Bi-annually reports are published from 2008. E-Readiness is an understanding towards how an individual is becoming comfortable in adoption technology and using the information and communication technology as part of their daily life. It is defined as "The degree in which a community is qualified to participate in the Networked World. It is measured by judging the relative advance of the most important areas for the adoption of the ICTs and their most important applications" (Budhiraja and Sachdeva, 2002). Not only the implementation but monitoring over the period on development in e-Readiness index will help to achieve the objective of this application. The UNPAN evaluate the e-Readiness of government of 193 member countries and publishes in e-Government Readiness Index. e-Readiness

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index in now converted into e-Governance Development index (EGDI). In every two year United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) with its Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) publishes the member state e-Government survey. This survey provides the insights about ranking of e-Government development of member states. Ranking of the performance is done on a relative scale and the results help the policy makers in shaping the programs of development. The reports compile the five indexes e-Government index, e-Participation index, Online service index, Human capital index and Telecommunication infrastructure index. Statistically EGDI is weighted average of three major components Online Service index (scope and quality of online services), Human Capital Index (inherent human capital) and Telecommunication Infrastructure Index (development status of telecommunication infrastructure (Table 2)

Table 2: About Online Service Index, Human Capital Index, Telecommunication Infrastructure Index

Human Capital Index Telecommunication Online Service Index (OSI) (HCI) Infrastructure Index (TII) It reflects differences in levels It is a weighted average Telecommunication of e-government development composite of the four Infrastructure Index (TII) is among countries. To arrive at a indicators: 1. Adult literacy an arithmetic average composite set of Online Service Index rate; 2. Gross enrolment ratio of five indicators: estimated values, more than 90 researchers (the total number of students internet users per 100 -qualified graduate students and enrolled at the primary, inhabitants, number of main volunteers from universities in secondary and tertiary level, fixed telephone lines per 100 the field of public regardless of age, as a inhabitants, number of mobile administration—assessed each percentage of the population subscribers per 100 inhabitants, country‟s national website in the of school age for that level);3. number of wireless broadband native language, including the Expected years of schooling; subscriptions per 100 national portal, e-services portal 4. Mean years of schooling inhabitants and number of fixed and e-participation portal, as broadband subscriptions per 100 well as the websites of the inhabitants. The International related ministries of education, Telecommunication Union is labour, social services, health, the primary source of data in finance and environment as each case. applicable. Source: Authors’ Compilation

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According to the EGDI 2016 survey India scored 107th rank with 0.4637 EGDI which is a weighted average of OSI 0.746, HCI0.1430 and TII 0.5019 falls into a medium development score cared ranges (between 0.25 and 0.50). Apart from this UN e- Government Survey also gives a supplementary index i.e. The e-participation index (EPI) that focuses on use of online services to facilitate provision of information by governments to citizens (“e-information sharing”), interaction with stakeholders (“e- consultation”) and engagement in decision-making processes (“e-decision making”).The purpose is to measure the insight into how different countries are using online tools to promote interaction between citizen and government, as well as among citizens, for the benefit of all. Other than these different methodologies are also introduced principal component analysis (Ayanso et. al., 2011) and Analytic Network Process (ANP) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) (Tavana et. al., 2013) and can be concluded no single model can fit to all the participation country due to difference in policy, demographic profiles of citizens and investment over technologies and infrastructure. This also supports the justification that the motivations for implementing E-Government is different for different governments and that will formulate the initial implementation strategies. The benefits of this digitalization of public sector have pointed out by many researches.The key purpose of E-Government is to tender public services to the citizens in well-organized way (Bannister, 2007, Ayanso et. al., 2011, Tavana et. al., 2013).Additional to these the transparency and accountability function of government, reduction in the cost of monitoring and control and single window access allows government and citizens to get into this model (Tavana et. al., 2013). Also the investment programs like FDI and FII get attracted with smooth and organized functioning (Tavana et. al., 2013). Majority of the researches focuses on e-Readiness of the government for the delivery of services through online platform (Bannister. 2007. Ostasius and Laukaitis. 2015. Liu Tucker. 2012. Ayanso et. al. 2011). But citizens orientation for these is not taken into consideration in these researches (Tavana et. al., 2013). As the citizens are the ultimate prospects for availing these services, so this study focuses on e-Readiness of citizens for e-Governance services. Framework is required to measure the satisfaction of the prospects for e- Governance services. The European Union Commission developed a project called "Citizen oriented Evaluation of E-Government Services" (CESS) in 2008. The outcome of it is the Reference Process Model to measure the E-Government standards (Lee et. al., 2008).

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The theory of planned behavior (TPB)( Ajzen. 1985), the technology acceptance model (TAM)( Davis. 1989) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et. al., 2003) are tired to explain the technology acceptance of an individual. TAM model discuss the usefulness of a technology and ease to use. Whereas in TPB a user's recognition for a technology is a result of their intention and that is determined by attitude, perceived behaviour control and subjective norms. The TPB explains the behaviour of user‟s in diverse social settings. Although TAM is a vastly referred model, researchers share mixed view point regarding its theoretical assumptions and practical effectiveness (Chuttur. 2009). Researchers have focused on e-Readiness of the Government agencies for delivery of online services. (Bannister 2007, Ostasius and Laukaitis. 2015. Liu Tucker. 2012. Ayanso et. al., 2011). Citizen point of reference is not exploited very much in the previous studies. They are the stakeholders and contribute a major portion in the success of this initiative. There was a much need of a structure which will measure the e- Readiness of from citizen prospective. For this the European Union commissioned a project called "Citizen oriented Evaluation of E-Government Services" (CESS) in 2008. Years later data envelopment analysis (DEA) is done withReference Process Model, developed by Tsohou et. al., On 13 E-Government services in Turkey with a result of insufficient e-Governance services with recommendation on improvements (Tsohou et. al., 2013). The E-Government came to vanguard in the developing Asian countries during the last decade and still it is at elementary stage in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh (Rehman et. al., 2012). As it is mentioned earlier also in the paper the objective of application of e-Governance may vary and for that reason single model cannot be applicable to all the countries. Studies concluded that Government of China is socialist and wanted to control over all the governmental entities, organizations and citizens of the country. So the e-Governance projects are designed to achieve that objective. The Chinese leadership though illustrates its objective as to empower the citizens (Kluver, 2005). E-Governance initiatives results demonstrated to be encouraging as the citizen's opinion of government's ability of service deliverance improved (Jun et. al., 2014).In Indonesia the E-Governance implementations with an objective of curtail the political corruption and reduction of poverty(Ionescu, 2013).A comparative study was established between developed and developing countries for E-Government implementation, Weerakkody et. al. have selected UK as developed country and Sri Lanka at developing stage. The study results that training programs of ICT and e-Services with the concept of localization contributes to the success of these initiatives in developing countries. All the

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness 131 programs of e-Governance should especially describe the implementation benefits to the citizens. Lack of government support was biggest obstruction in Sri Lanka (Weerakkody et. al., 2009).But now the scenario has changed and according to EGDI 2016 it has showed a remarkable progress to have a 79th rank and in EPI the 50th rank (UNDESA 2016). This is due to the policy changes and inclusiveness, those targets to connect citizens with all the government services at digital platform through Government Information Centre (GIC).The extensive portal of the Government offers 108 e-services for citizens, 51 e-services for businesses and 10 non-residence related e-services (UNDESA, 2014). After 2010 few researches done in Gulf countries and Pakistan to find the citizens' perspective of E-Governance and E- Readiness. In UAE the result shows that the citizens' view of E-Governance and acceptance of E- Services change according to the demographic factors like gender, age and education. In other Middle East countries the highlights are the complexity in implementation of e-Governance which is true to most of the developing nations. The coordination between state level and central level along with clear rules and regulation is required for the better implementation. Implementation guidelines and set standards are also very important to find the deviation from the actual (Weerakkody et. al., 2011). In Pakistan the citizens‟ awareness of e- Governance turned out to be the significant factor for the adoption (Rehman et. al., 2012). So, building up the confidence by educating them the benefits of implementation of ICT in public sector can lead to greater accomplishment. Quality service and security turned out to be significant aspect which influences citizens to transact e-Governance (Rehman et. al., 2012). According to UNDESA, 2016, though Pakistan is lagging in the bottom 150th rank in EGDI but the EPI rank is 114 which show the significant contribution of citizens‟ in ICT (UNDESA 2016). SMS based literacy programs for a woman is a valuable initiative for the inclination to e-Governance. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranked 1st, Australia 2nd, Republic of Korea 3rd, Singapore 4th and Finland 5th in row of high EGDI and with EDI United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1st, Australia 2nd,Republic of Korea 4th, Singapore and Finland 8th. The application portfolio of these companies can be learning for country like India and Pakistan. Starting from 1987 the e-Government initiative were taken with zeal to achieve the success. Appropriate government initiatives were taken into consideration for technological implementation. After IT policies the government started working how plans could be linked with this and that helps to interact to social factor with the technology (Song. 2010). Several studies have been conducted to find the e-Governance different aspects

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in India. The heterogeneity in language is one of the hindrance to achieve the success of e-Governance initiative (Mishra and Sharma. 2013; Goel et. al., 2012). High level of localization on state level will make it possible. Countries like US, UK, Japan, Australia etc. one language dominates, implementation becomes easy and expected goals can be achieved (Kumar. 2013).It becomes very laborious task as India has state wise language dominance, so government initiatives need to focus on localization to get the expected level of outcome from the citizens‟. Study done by Mishra and Sharma indicates four major factors become a problem are security, language diversity, lack of cooperation and sceptical and low efficient human resource especially in public sector (Mishra and Sharma, 2013). Apart from this extraction low literacy rate also decrease the e-Readiness and e-Adoption. Door to door information sharing through panchayat, survey, awareness camps and training programs may help citizens to increase the participation and contribution towards smooth and corruption free economy. This will help citizens to become 'Stakeholders or Shareholders' from simple beneficiaries and encourage them for active participation in the democracy (Verma and Kumari, 2010). India‟s technological infrastructure is still in the developing stage as shown in UNDESA report 2016 and it reflects 0.1430 TII (low TII).

4.0 Case Study - The AADHAAR Project

Unique Identification or AADHAAR, which means ' foundation' is a 12 digit unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory body established on January 2006 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and IT , under the provisions of the AADHAAR (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016. It provides unique identification number to the every single citizens of the country. The prime objective behind this exercise is transfer all the social security schemes and subsidy to the individual who is enrolled for it. This identification scheme is a key element to the success of e-Governance services. Table 3 reflects the total expenditure government did for the AADHAAR project. The 12 digit UI is linked with person lifetime recognizing the name, date of birth gender and address. This identity is liked with sever schemes provided by Government of India and can be used for several purposes with public and private firms.

Table 3: Total Expenditure in Aadhaar Project by Government of India

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness 133

2009 to 2017

Year-wise 2009- 2010- 2011- 2012- 2013- 2014- 2015- 2016- Cumulative Expenditure 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Total In Cr. 26.21 268.41 1187.5 1338.72 1544.44 1615.34 1680.44 1132.84 8793.9 Source: uidai.gov.in

To avoid the imitation and for the authenticity it is generated after entering 3 biometric information: , iris and face. These are coded on the card of the card holder. National database is created so that agencies can verify the authenticity of the citizen. This is also a fastest verification technique helps citizens‟ to undergo with a hassle free process of verification. Since the biometric information cannot be bogus so it is considered the appropriate identification proof and assures that government benefits are transferring to the target audience. The UDI project started in the year 2009-2010 with the estimated budget of 120 Cr. INR. Table 4 shows a huge state wise contribution in this government initiative. The major reason for the maximum number of participation is that the connect of AADHAAR with various schemes to avail subsidies and benefits.

Table 4: AADHAAR Generation in India State wise Study till October 2017

S. State-wise Population S. Population State-wise Study No Study (in Cr.) No. (in Cr.) 1 193870567 20 and Kashmir 9575602 2 113588907 21 7575740 3 96959954 22 3709234 4 91597425 23 2464599 5 Madhya Pradesh 74361641 24 2314618 6 71770136 25 1598839 7 66551022 26 Puducherry 1314020 8 61850518 27 1232323 9 60533742 28 1165107 10 51236799 29 1116952 11 42201356 30 918468 12 38407673 31 605257 13 36015054 32 495698 14 34902168 33 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 402345 15 30395918 34 369167

134 PRAGATI: Journal of Indian Economy, Volume 5, Issue 1, Jan-June 2018

16 28295234 35 214897 17 26742582 36 70461 18 21697796 37 Others 11461 19 10883193 Grand Total( in Cr.) 1187016473 Total Number of Aadhaar Card generated till 10th November 2017 : 118,74,55,664 Source: uidai.gov.in

In 2014, the prime objective of the government led by is to link the AADHAAR with several projects. The AADHAAR (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Bill, 2016 is passed in the . In the year 2016 further development have been made on account of possession of AADHAAR card, the significant was it become mandatory to avail the LPG subsidies. The Economist reports that in the public specialty AADHAAR helps to distribute subsidies worth about $40 billion a year. Around 300 million AADHAAR cards are liked to citizens‟ bank accounts till December 2016; money can be directly forwarded to their respective account. Over 30 central schemes including free mid-day meals for schoolchildren and welfare programs for the differently-able can be availed with the compulsory possession of AADHAAR card. At the end of the discussion of the cases in February 2017 Supreme Court directs the central to link the AADHAAR with mobile number of the citizens‟. The restatement of Supreme Court discuses on not to make AADHAAR compulsory for welfare schemes; however, the SC remains frozen on AADHAAR being made compulsory for other schemes.

5.0 Research Methodology

The exploratory research method is used for the study. The data is collected through structured questionnaire contains comprehensive statements. Along with the questionnaire an informal discussion is also conducted with the respondents. Survey was conducted in online format. The questionnaire is filled by specifically academicians, charter accounts, managerial level executives and entrepreneurs of Madhya Pradesh the heart of the India.

5.1 Development of research instrument Few studies have been conducted to extract the factors that contribute citizens‟ adoption of e-Governance. The studies have found in the area of technology adoption which is similar up to some extent. Therefore items are created to the measure the constructs. After that gaping study of literature is done to identify the important issues.

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness 135

The responses are taken on five point likert scale where one mean strongly disagree and 5 means strongly agree. It has ensured to the respondents that minimum time will be taken to respond to the statement that is the reason the questionnaire is designed closed ended. A pilot study is conducted on 20 faculty members, PG students of management discipline and few members are of office staffs that are aware about the e-Governance services. Pilot test is some of the improvement due to duplication in the asked statements pointed by the respondents. Multivariate data analysis is done. After certain modifications final version of the questionnaire is prepared, with the help of survey result the items with high factor loading for each factor were included in the study.

5.2 Data collection Data was collected from respondents from all parts of the Madhya Pradesh online and offline mode. The online version was shared in form of google doc and circulated on whats app and on email with friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. In addition to this the hard copy of the questionnaire is circulated to the PG students of Management discipline who are well aware about the concept and services offered by public sector with use of ICT. 270 respondents were approached to fill the questionnaire and responses collected were 160. Out of these, 85 were from online format and 75 were in the physical format. The response rate was 60%. The demographic profiles of the respondents are given in the Table 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Table 5: Gender Statistics of the Respondents

Gender Frequency Percentage Male 110 68.75 Female 50 31.25 Total 160 100 Source: Authors’ Calculation

Table 6: Geographical Statistics of the Respondents

City Frequency Percentage Indore 70 43.75 30 18.75 40 25 20 12.5 Total 160 100

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Source: Authors’ Calculation

Table 7: Age Group Statistics of the Respondents

Age Group Frequency Percentage 55 and Above 10 6.25 45-55 20 12.5 35-45 32 20 25-35 70 43.75 25-18 28 17.5 Total 160 100 Source: Authors’ Calculation Table 8: Occupation Statistics of the Respondents

Occupation Frequency Percentage Housewife 5 3.125 Retired 6 3.75 Self employed 30 18.75 Service 98 61.25 Student 21 13.125 Total 160 100 Source: Authors’ Calculation

Out of the total sample 68.75% were male and 31.25% were female. The data was collected from four cities of Madhya Pradesh called Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal and Gwalior. In the sample 43.75% of the data come from the age group of 25 to 35 years. Occupation wise 61.25 % of the respondents belong to service class.

5.3 Data analysis

SPSS 17 and MS Excel 2007 is the statistical tool used for data analysis. Before working on data analysis tool the reliability test was conducted. The Chronbach‟s Alpha was .821, so the database considered reliable for further computation and findings. The constructs validity was tested applying Bartlett's Test of Sphericity and The Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling adequacy analyzing the strength of association among variables. The Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin measures of sampling adequacy (KMO) were first computed to determine the suitability of using factor analysis. The results show that value of KMO is 0.681 which is above 0.5.

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The results for both Barlett's Test of Sphericity and KMO were highly significant as mentioned in Table 9 and so the factor analysis is suitable for the study. Factor analysis results are presented in Table 10.

Table 9: KMO and Bartlett's Test Result

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy .681 Approx. Chi-Square 8023.802 Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Df 1711 Sig. .000

Table 10: Rotated Component Matrix

Survey Instrument Items Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5 Item 1_1 .0854 - - - - Item 1_2 .884 - - - - Item 1_3 .630 - - - - Item 1_4 .638 - - - - Item 1_5 .750 - - - - Item 1_6 .586 - - - - Item 2_1 - .740 - - - Item 2_2 - .799 - - - Item 2_3 - .551 - - - Item 2_4 - .740 - - - Item 3_1 - - .550 - - Item 3_2 - - .680 - - Item 3_3 - - .664 - - Item 3_4 - - .539 - - Item 3_5 - - .640 - - Item 4_1 - - - .737 - Item 4_2 - - - .512 - Item 4_3 - - - .766 - Item 4_4 - - - .613 - Item 5_1 - - - - .620 Item 5_2 - - - - .823 Item 5_3 - - - - .840 Item 5_4 - - - - .570 Item 5_5 - - - - .670

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Item 5_6 - - - - .764

6.0 Results and Analysis

5 major factors were extracted from the analysis those approximately covering 60% of the variance explained in the study. So 5 major constructs contributing to the e- Readiness of the citizens for the e-Governance services are explained as under: Factor 1: Government‟s active role in use of ICT in policy, regulatory mechanism, incentives and tax breaks. Factor 2: Citizens are more concerned about security and safeguard issues in online transaction. Factor 3: Private participation in public projects. Factor 4:Advance technological environment and its effect on citizens‟ life and business cycle. Factor 5: Citizen's pro-activeness approach for technological adoption for goods as well as services. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique is used for factor analysis method. For factor rotation matrix and Better factor loading is analysed with the Varimax rotation method. Table 10 shows the rotated component matrix. Table shows the clear description of factor loading on individual items on respective factor. Above 0.50 loading amount has been considered to include in the factor. The factor loading amount above 0.50 has been considered to include the item in the factor. Factor 1 consists of 6 items, factor 2 consists of 4 items, Factor 3 consists of 5 items and factors 4 and 5 have 4 and 6 items respectively. The details of the items included in survey are provided in Table 11.

Table 11: Description of Items Included in Survey

Item 1 1 You are satisfied with government initiatives and investments to boost ICT Item 1 2 Theinfrastructure. e-governance schemes and strategies by government are satisfactory. Government is adequately investing in training facilities to standardize its human Item 1 3 capital for technological revolutions. Government efforts are enough at grass route level - school programs, funding, Item 1 4 providing PCs to schools, scholarships etc. Item 1 5 The policy environment correct to promote technological progression. Item 1 6 Public employees are well versed with ICT and e-business

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness 139

You are satisfied with the government safeguard and regulatory policies regarding Item 2 1 online transactions and business. You are worried using newer technologies as they make spying easier by corporate Item 2 2 and government agencies. You consider some of physical verification to any kind of online transaction Item 2 3 necessary to diminish insecurity. Replacing people with tech-gadgets requires a conservative approach as Item 2 4 technology can break down any time. Item 3 1 The environment is fair and just to support and attract global player. Government should offer more in terms of tax breaks and subsidies to promote Item 3 2 private participation. Item 3 3 Proper steps are being taken to promote private government partnership. Government has setup and made powerful committee for redressal of argument Item 3 4 and grievances for e-Initiates. Item 3 5 The environment is right to promote start-ups and entrepreneurs. Item 4 1 Technologies allow people to improved control their daily life activities. Item 4 2 E-Business provides elastic working hours, better reach, economical set up and Item 4 3 Technologyinfinite opportunities. helps in better business liveliness. Item 4 4 Use of advanced technologies in products and services make them more user- Item 5 1 Therefriendly is anda positive convenient impression to use. among the citizens for adopting technological Item 5 2 Youadvancements. find learning newer technologies benefiting. Item 5 3 You are quick in exploring and acclimatize newer technologies. Item 5 4 You pass your awareness of newer technologies to your friends. Item 5 5 You favor the most sophisticated technologies over cost. Item 5 6 You are fairly contented and self-assured on the use of ICT.

The objective of the study was to find out the factors contributing for the acceptance of technological backed services offered by Government of India. Findings suggested that citizens are proactive as discussed in the case study of AADHAAR, reason is government subsidies and schemes are connected UID. Even low incomes category of citizens finds it easy to avail the e-Services. The degree of comfort is increases parallel to this it has also contributed o reduce the corruption and red tapism. During the study this is also found that no more a less educated person find it difficult to understand the use of technological gadgets. Due to their spending limitation, the type of technology they are using they may vary. But whatever is available to them, they find it easy to operate and believe themselves comfortable in using that particular technology. Penetration of smart phones backed by superior technology at affordable rates, availability of internet even in remote areas is encouraging government to work more on e-Initiatives. Citizens can raise their voice, upfront their opinion, indeed it is a most

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promising factor of developing economy. Another significant finding of the study suggested that the role of government in providing technological based infrastructure and formation of policies are the major factor to encourage the e-Participation. Only requirement is that government needs to form conducive atmosphere, focused training programs for citizens and for employees as well to best utilization of created ICT infrastructure. Accessibility of ICT to far off place will bring economic revolution, empower public and government both.

7.0 Conclusion and Limitations

This study is done with a view point of exploring the factors contributing towards the e-Governance services with an objective of whether the government initiatives are moving towards the correct direction or might be needed some improvements which will lead to success in near future. The finding suggested encouraging participation of citizens, no matter which income group they belong what is their education level they are ready to imparting the technology in various walks of their life. Government training programs are making the society more participative. But individual is worried on security and safety issues of this automation system so still there is scope of improvement for reducing rather wave off their fear these issues. Further the interaction with the respondents shows that they still want a physical evidence and authentication of whatever transaction they did. Initiative to come out from these issues may multiple the e-Participation further. Proactive role of government in policy formation, forecasting on future challenges, grievance handling and public private partnership can bring a long way growth with e-governance and an overall development. This survey is conducted only one state of the gigantic country India and that is the biggest limitation of the research. The study conducted in M.P. and the findings cannot be applied to rest part of country due heterogeneity in the demographic profile of the respondents. Also only 160 responses on a vast topic is also a major limitation of this study.

8.0 Future Direction

Future studies can be conducted in this area by incorporating more factors in the questionnaire and respondents of all the zones of the country. Increased responses from various geographical areas will make this study more significant, in contrast finding may come contradictory due to diversified culture exists in India. Future researchers can spend more to get the more responses and from the various part of the country. India being a country of such assorted traditions and way of living life that there may exist an

Citizens’ View on Digital Initiatives and e-Readiness 141 option of conflicting findings in future researches.

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https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/Portals/egovkb/Documents/un/2016- Survey/Annexes.pdf