Policy Update
Sivasankari Sridhar
Background
The project called eGOVMMCASES was launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. It aims to develop multimedia case studies with teaching notes on e-Governance initiatives of India under the broader Digital India program. The need for this project arises because while many digital governance initiatives exist in India, few interactive teaching resources document how they work, what challenges they faced, and what lessons they offer.
The objective of eGOVMMCASES includes making these case studies available in multimedia form, adding teaching notes so that educators can use them effectively, promoting active learning in higher education institutions (HEIs), and supporting India-based cases that can be adopted widely across campuses. The project approval date (original) is 17 March 2022 for the eGOVMMCASES component, with a project outlay of Rs 1.15 crore. Beneficiaries include university and college students of management, public policy, governance, and related fields; faculty teaching these topics; public administration training institutes; and researchers interested in e-governance in India.
Functioning
The way the project works is as follows:Select relevant e-governance initiatives of the Indian government (for example, digital identity, service delivery platforms, and mobile governance apps).Gather documentation, background data, implementation details and stakeholder insights for each initiative.Develop multimedia materials- videos, animations, and infographics-to enhance learning engagement. The case is paired with teaching notes that guide instructors on how to use the case in class.Publish these cases as Open Educational Resources (OER) so that HEIs can adopt them freely and Indian students can study context-relevant material. Encourage academic adoption and possibly publication through major repositories (such as Harvard, IIM repositories) to expand reach.
In this functioning model, the project operates at the intersection of government, academia and educational technology. Because this is relatively new, several challenges arise. For example, gathering primary data on implementation can be difficult, ensuring multimedia quality requires resources, keeping the material updated with evolving digital governance environments is important, and making sure the adoption by institutions is widespread. Also, adapting regional languages or contexts may require additional effort.
Performance
Evaluating performance over the last 2-3 years:The most recent Annual Report (2023-24) of MeitY lists eGOVMMCASES under the section of mobile-based online governance and services on demand.The project outlay is Rs 1.15 crore as per government project listing.The project website states that the aim is to develop about 20 multimedia cases on different e-Governance initiatives, with at least 8 of them targeted for publication in major case repositories.
However, detailed numbers such as how many cases have been completed, how many institutions are using them, how many students reached, feedback results etc, are not publicly available in detail. The absence of a public dashboard limits granular performance analysis (for example, state-wise adoption or year-wise growth).Given this, the performance assessment is more project-output oriented (cases developed) rather than full adoption/outcome oriented. The available data shows the project is in early phase of roll-out rather than full maturity.
Impact
Assessing impact requires looking at how this project helps learning, governance understanding and ultimately better policy or service delivery.
Key points:
- By providing multimedia case studies and teaching notes, the project enhances teaching-learning in governance and public policy education. It allows students to engage with India-specific e-Governance cases rather than generic global cases.This may help prepare future administrators, policy professionals and researchers with richer contextual knowledge and problem-solving skills.
- The impact on actual service delivery or citizen outcomes is indirect: this project builds capacity rather than directly delivering services. In academic literature, case-based learning has been shown to promote active learning, deeper comprehension and application of theory to practice. The project aligns with this pedagogical approach.
The challenge remains to track how many educators use these cases, how student outcomes change and how this translates into improved governance practices.Thus, the impact so far is promising from a capacity-building perspective but measurable outcomes in the field remain to be documented.
Emerging Issues
Limited publicly available data on usage/adoption across institutions and state-wise breakdown.Keeping the content up to date given rapid changes in technology and governance frameworks.Ensuring inclusion of regional/linguistic diversity so that institutions across India with differing resources can use the material.Making sure that institutions with limited digital infrastructure can access multimedia resources (bandwidth, devices etc).Evaluating the pedagogical effectiveness: mere availability of cases does not guarantee learning outcomes.Sustaining the project over time: continuous funding, updating content and institutional adoption.
Suggestions:
Create a public dashboard showing number of cases completed, institutions using them, student reach, feedback ratings.Plan for periodic review and update of cases (for example annually) to reflect new policy and technology developments.Develop regional language versions and include state/UT-level cases to enhance relevance.Provide low-bandwidth versions of multimedia materials for institutions with connectivity constraints.Conduct impact studies tracking how use of these cases affects student knowledge, skills and possibly governance practice.Build partnerships with universities, training institutes and federations to ensure wide adoption and institutional anchoring.
Way Forward
The eGOVMMCASES project stands at a promising juncture in India’s digital governance and education ecosystem. As India advances its Digital India vision, having rich, India-specific teaching resources on e-Governance is vital. The project’s success will depend on scaling up case production, ensuring widespread adoption across HEIs, maintaining quality and relevance of content, and tracking usage and outcomes. If done well, the project can become a foundational resource in governance education and help build a generation of professionals well-versed in India’s digital governance journey.
Selected References and Important Links
About the Contributor
Sivasankari Sridhar is currently pursuing her bachelor’s in economics from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Economics, Bangalore, and is also a research intern at IMPRI.
Acknowledgment: The author sincerely thanks the IMPRI team for their valuable support.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
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