e-Governance & Digital Governance — UPSC CSE Questions

10 UPSC CSE practice questions on e-Governance & Digital Governance, part of Indian Polity & Governance. Below are 10 of them in full, each with the answer and a written explanation.

Questions & explanations

1. Consider the following challenges of e-Governance in India: 1. Digital divide affecting rural, poor and elderly citizens 2. Data privacy and cyber-security risks 3. Complete elimination of all corruption touchpoints Which are genuine challenges?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

The digital divide and privacy/cyber-security are genuine challenges. e-Governance reduces, but does not completely eliminate, all corruption, so statement 3 is an overstatement.

2. Which of the following is generally classified as e-Government (efficiency-focused) rather than the broader e-Governance?

  1. (a) Transforming the state-citizen relationship through participation
  2. (b) Using ICT to digitise internal operations and deliver existing services
  3. (c) Enhancing transparency and accountability of governance
  4. (d) Empowering citizens to influence decisions

Answer: (b) Using ICT to digitise internal operations and deliver existing services

e-Government narrowly means using ICT to digitise operations and deliver services (efficiency), while e-Governance is the broader transformation of the governance relationship.

3. The Puttaswamy judgment (2017) is significant for e-Governance because it:

  1. (a) Made the right to privacy a fundamental right
  2. (b) Made Aadhaar mandatory for all services
  3. (c) Banned UPI transactions
  4. (d) Abolished the RTI Act

Answer: (a) Made the right to privacy a fundamental right

In K.S. Puttaswamy (2017), a nine-judge bench held that the right to privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21, shaping data-protection and Aadhaar use.

4. Which Act, enacted in 2023, strengthens the data-privacy framework relevant to e-Governance?

  1. (a) Information Technology Act 2000
  2. (b) Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023
  3. (c) Aadhaar Act 2016
  4. (d) Right to Information Act 2005

Answer: (b) Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 establishes India's framework for protecting personal data, addressing privacy concerns in e-Governance.

5. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is an e-Governance platform primarily for:

  1. (a) Citizen grievance redressal
  2. (b) Public procurement of goods and services by government buyers
  3. (c) Storing personal documents
  4. (d) Online voting

Answer: (b) Public procurement of goods and services by government buyers

GeM is an online platform for transparent public procurement, where government departments and PSUs buy goods and services from registered sellers.

6. The JAM trinity that underpins Direct Benefit Transfer consists of:

  1. (a) Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile
  2. (b) Jobs, Agriculture, Manufacturing
  3. (c) Justice, Administration, Money
  4. (d) Jan Dhan, Ayushman, MGNREGA

Answer: (a) Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile

The JAM trinity is Jan Dhan (bank accounts), Aadhaar (identity) and Mobile (numbers), which together enable leak-proof Direct Benefit Transfer.

7. CPGRAMS, a key e-Governance platform, is used for:

  1. (a) Public procurement
  2. (b) Lodging and tracking citizens' grievances against departments
  3. (c) Storing land records
  4. (d) Filing GST returns

Answer: (b) Lodging and tracking citizens' grievances against departments

CPGRAMS (Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System) lets citizens lodge and track grievances against government departments.

8. Common Service Centres (CSCs) under Digital India are typically operated by:

  1. (a) District Collectors
  2. (b) Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs)
  3. (c) Bank managers
  4. (d) Members of Parliament

Answer: (b) Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs)

CSCs are run by Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) who deliver government and private digital services in rural and small-town areas.

9. DigiLocker, a part of Digital India, primarily enables citizens to:

  1. (a) Make UPI payments
  2. (b) Store and share legally valid digital documents
  3. (c) File income tax returns
  4. (d) Book railway tickets

Answer: (b) Store and share legally valid digital documents

DigiLocker is a cloud platform for storing and sharing verified, legally valid digital documents such as licences and certificates.

10. Digital India, the flagship programme, was launched in which year?

  1. (a) 2006
  2. (b) 2014
  3. (c) 2015
  4. (d) 2017

Answer: (c) 2015

The Digital India programme was launched in 2015 to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

More Indian Polity & Governance topics

This page shows 10 of 10 questions on this topic. The full set, with progress tracking and five agent perspectives per question, is in the JupiteX app — browse the exam catalogue or browse the Learn library.