E-Governance and Decentralization: A Study in Rural Gujarat

"Governance" is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country or any other organizational unit. In the last few decades, with globalization, a discernible change has been underway in the global governance paradigm. This has in part been associated with revolutionary changes in technology and management science. In conjunction with these revolutionary technological changes, new management systems have evolved. Decentralization becomes a necessary part of the governance of a country if the government of a country is to be based on the principles of equity and justice. e-Governance is one aspect of the new techno-managerial systems which are emerging. e-Governance is the modernization of processes and functions of the government using the tools of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). Now, we have on the one hand, the changing governance systems and on the other we have a new set of techno-managerial systems, prominently e-Governace systems, whichenable them. And both the thrust towards change in the governance system and the thrust towards new techno-managerial systems are driven by the same generic set of policy imperatives.