ABSTRACT
The steep upward curve of economic growth has failed to distribute wealth equally to all sections of society. Deep-seated bureaucratic processes, corruption, information asymmetry and poor convergence have made accessing various schemes aimed at redistribution, social justice and inclusion a difficult process for citizens, thereby making welfare elusive. Information and communication technology (ICT) is presented as having the potential to address several of these constraints. E-governance initiatives undertaken at Pune District Council in India demonstrate the efforts made and concrete steps taken to make social welfare schemes and services easily accessible and available with complete transparency to the citizens. The three pillars of the e-governance approach adopted by the Pune District Council, namely real-time governance, transparency and accountability and operational efficiency and effectiveness, are found to have strengthened the digitalisation and logic-based automation through specific initiatives related to the enlistment of beneficiaries (Maha-Labharti), corporate social responsibility (Mahanusha), forest rights (Maha-Vanmitra) and public works (Maha-Visible).
