Why in the news?

  • The National Awards for e-Governance, 2025 were Conferred in the 28th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) held in Vishakhapatanam.

National Awards for e-Governance (NAeG) 2025

  • What is it?:
    • NAeG are annual awards instituted by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India.
    • It intends to recognize & promote excellence in implementation of e-Governance initiatives; to encourage innovation; to disseminate knowledge of successful models.
  • Launched: Launched in 2003
  • Nodal Agency: Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
  • Objective: To recognize and promote excellence in e-Governance initiatives in government departments and organizations at the Central, State, and District levels.
  • Categories for 2025: There are six award categories in NAeG-2025-
    • Government Process Re-engineering by use of technology for Digital Transformation.
    • Innovation by Use of AI and other new-age technologies for providing Citizen Centric Services.
    • Best e-Gov Practices/Innovation in Cyber Security.
    • Grassroot Level Initiatives for Deepening / Widening of Service Delivery (district level / ULBs / Gram Panchayats)
    • Replication & Scaling up of successful national / earlier awarded e-governance projects
    • Digital transformation by use of data analytics in digital platforms by Central Ministries / States / UTs
  • Features:
    • For the first time, Gram Panchayats have a dedicated category (“Grassroots Level Initiatives for Gram Panchayats/Traditional Local Bodies”) to deepen/widen service delivery at the very local, village level.
    • A large number of entries: over 1.45 lakh entries were evaluated.
    • In 2025, 10 Gold awards, 6 Silver awards, and 3 Jury awards are being given.
    • The awards are given to organisations / projects; the funds are to be used for implementing/strengthening the project or bridging resource gaps in public welfare.
  • Significance:
    • For the first time Gram Panchayats (village level local bodies) are being directly recognized under a dedicated category in NAeG.
    • The idea showcases replicable models of digital governance at the grassroots, improving transparency, service delivery and citizen engagement.
    • The awardees highlight diverse strategies: paperless offices, digital citizen service portals, payment innovations (QR/UPI), real-time grievance tracking, etc.