UP last in e-governance among 20 States, Goa top

Bangalore, Mar 8 (UNI) Goa is ranked as the best e-governed State in the country, followed by Karnataka in a study conducted by research firm IDC India for leading IT industry magazine, Dataquest.

Delhi stood third in the ranking, while the fourth and fifth places were taken by Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh respectively, IDC said in a release here today.

Among the States having the poorest record in e-governance was Uttar Pradesh, with the other laggards being Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab and Rajasthan, which was at the second last place.

Among the four regions, Assam, Goa, Delhi, Karnataka were adjudged the best regional e-governed States.

The ranking was part of the e-governance Satisfaction Study 2006 conducted in 20 states and carried out by the CyberMedia publication in its lastest issue. A survey of the key IT functionaries in 20 States was conducted by IDC India to assess their ICT policy and vision and understand their priorities for e-governance. An evaluation of the effectiveness of IT departments was done through a survey of 3,033 citizens and business users, with rural and urban areas contributing an equal number.

The States were ranked on citizen and industry satisfaction and e-readiness of individual States. The satisfaction of citizens was measured on the ease of interaction, availability and quality of services.

The three-phase study did not take into account States like Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura and the Union Territories.

Commenting on the Dataquest-IDC study, CyberMedia Publisher and Chairman Pradeep Gupta said ''the track record of successful Government-to-business projects is steadily improving, but most States have a very long way to go in citizen services.'' Not surprisingly, residents of the IT nerve centre of India, Karnataka, were the most satisfied with the e-governance services provided by the State Government, followed by Goa and Gujarat.

Maharashtra and Assam took the fourth and fifth places. Businesses also gave thumbs up to Karnataka by ranking it at the top for e-governance services. Goa and Gujarat took the second and third place, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Assam.

The study found that corporations were least satisfied with the e-governance services and initiatives taken by Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. In services for business organisations, the maximum score was bagged by Assam for passport services, followed by Gujarat for power utilities.

UNI