• Mahesh Medtiya
• Mahesh Deshmukh
• Mohammad Dhamaskar
• Mohit Patil
• .R. Kulkarni, Madhuri Pise

India’s rapid digital transformation through initiatives such as Digital India and the Smart Cities Mission has accelerated the use of e-governance as a tool for transparent and efficient public service delivery. However, academic and policy attention has primarily focused on large metropolitan regions and officially designated Smart Cities. In contrast, Tier-2 and Tier-3 urban centers—which collectively house the majority of India’s urban population—remain understudied in terms of digital governance capacity and citizen participation outcomes. This study evaluates the effectiveness of e-governance platforms in four purposively selected non-Smart Cities of Maharashtra: Ahmednagar, Kolhapur, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, and Satara. A novel Participation Effectiveness Index (PEI) was constructed incorporating 35 indicators across five dimensions: accessibility, service delivery, transparency, citizen participation, and system reliability. Using secondary data from municipal websites, service portals, mobile applications, reports, and digital communication channels, each city was assigned a PEI score out of 70. Results show substantial variation: Ahmednagar achieved the highest score (35/70), followed by Kolhapur (28/70), Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad (25/70), and Satara (20/70). Overall, cities demonstrate moderate progress in service delivery but perform poorly on citizen participation and system reliability. The study identifies structural barriers including limited multilingual support, inadequate grievance redressal systems, insufficient technical resources, and low digital literacy. The paper concludes with recommendations for multilingual interfaces, mobile-first design, enhanced participation mechanisms, and regional capacity-building models. This research contributes to bridging the analytical gap on e-governance in non-metropolitan India and provides an actionable roadmap for improving citizen-centric digital governance.

Bridging the Digital Divide: Evaluating E-Governance Effectiveness in Citizen Participation Across Tier-2 and Tier-3 Maharashtra

"Bridging the Digital Divide: Evaluating E-Governance Effectiveness in Citizen Participation Across Tier-2 and Tier-3 Maharashtra", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no.135-145, January-2026, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRHG06014.pdf

"Bridging the Digital Divide: Evaluating E-Governance Effectiveness in Citizen Participation Across Tier-2 and Tier-3 Maharashtra", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no. pp135-145, January-2026, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRHG06014.pdf