The National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) portal has recently launched its third edition. Developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), the NeSDA framework aims to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of e-Governance service delivery systems in India.
Assessing Citizen-centric e-Governance:
The NeSDA framework focuses on evaluating the extent and efficacy of e-Governance service delivery systems from the citizens’ perspective. It is based on the Online Service Index (OSI) of the UN eGovernment Survey, customized to suit India’s federal structure and the e-Governance landscape of the states and union territories (UTs). The study is conducted biennially, encompassing states, UTs, and central ministries.
Evolution of NeSDA:
The Department has successfully released two editions of the NeSDA study in 2019 and 2021, highlighting the substantial growth of e-services across all states and UTs. The studies also revealed a shift from single silo departmental portals to integrated and centralized portals for e-service delivery.
NeSDA 2023: Key Updates:
The NeSDA 2023 framework has been revised to align with contemporary citizen needs, global digital government trends, and UN e-Government Survey studies. The launch of the NeSDA 2023 portal allows the collection of online data from states, UTs, and central ministries.
- Expanded Portal Coverage: The NeSDA framework categorizes government portals into State, UT, and Central Ministry Portals, as well as State, UT, and Central Ministry Services Portals. However, recognizing the importance of localized services, the framework now includes the assessment of City Portals. These portals act as official gateways, providing citizens and stakeholders with a single window for information and services specific to the respective city or urban local body.
- Focus Sectors and Mandatory Services: The NeSDA framework covers Government to citizen (G2C) and Government to Business (G2B) services across sectors such as Finance, Labour Employment, Education, Local Governance Utility Services, Social Welfare, Environment, and Tourism. The proposed NeSDA 2023 expansion includes the addition of Transport and Public Grievance sectors. This expansion necessitates the assessment of additional mandatory services at both the state/UT and central ministry levels, totaling 59 services for states and UTs and 37 services for 21 central ministries/departments.
- Enhanced Assessment Parameters: To align with global digital government trends and make the NeSDA framework more robust, three new assessment parameters are proposed: Open Government Data (OGD), E-Participation, and Leveraging Emerging Technologies. These parameters reflect the importance of transparency, citizen engagement, and the adoption of emerging technologies in delivering efficient e-Governance services.